TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[Jeromeof]

Has there been any analysis done of how the different sizes of the tips make on the sound? And how does Foam compare to Silicon (I imagine foam absorbs more of the sound)?? Like others here I ordered a pair on impulse (to hear what a reference sound is like without needing EQ) but I am wondering would the choice of the tip make a considerable deviation from the Harman curve.

 

[doug2761]

Giving them a try. Used some credit card points so I'd feel less shame for another pair of IEMs. I've been using Etymotic ER2XR with good success. I like the noise isolation that Etymotics provide. Doesn't look like these will be as good with that but will be interesting to see how the sound compares.

 

[jae]

 

[Kevbaz]

What is project red?

 

[jae]

What is project red?

No idea, it's from his twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1570045286684438529

I can only assume about another IEM he is involved with. Judging by the response maybe a refined or perhaps 3-driver version of the IEM discussed in this thread? I will also assume this one would be more expensive, so there may still be a reason to buy the one reviewed in this thread if someone was still after Harman. Maybe Red will be lower price competitor to Variations? Either way, convenient marketing/hype?

 

[F1308]

Lovely.
Thank you very much indeed.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Thank you for that reference. It's a real head shaker for me in the difference from a flat response (for room speakers)

 

[Matias]

There will always be the "next great thing".

 

[RHO]

I noticed that other reviewers, on Headfi, Headphones, etc. are less enthusiatic than Amir for the Truthear.

About the "technical performance"? As if there is any objective way to define what they are actually talking about.

 

[wwenze]

Well after I spent $80 USD on a "highly-rated" IEM that sounded worse than a $15 audio-technica, I tend to believe the opposite of "enthusiasm"

 

[Jimbob54]

Has there been any analysis done of how the different sizes of the tips make on the sound? And how does Foam compare to Silicon (I imagine foam absorbs more of the sound)?? Like others here I ordered a pair on impulse (to hear what a reference sound is like without needing EQ) but I am wondering would the choice of the tip make a considerable deviation from the Harman curve.

2 factors in play there.
1. The wrong size tip for your ear will definitely have a negative impact on the sound due to poor fit.

2. But I also imagine the change in material between 2 tips that both fit well might have an impact.

The latter might be worthy of investigation, the former is not IMHO

 

[Jimbob54]

There will always be the "next great thing".

Mo' Harman, mo' money!

 

[Kevbaz]

No idea, it's from his twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1570045286684438529

I can only assume about another IEM he is involved with. Judging by the response maybe a refined or perhaps 3-driver version of the IEM discussed in this thread? I will also assume this one would be more expensive, so there may still be a reason to buy the one reviewed in this thread if someone was still after Harman. Maybe Red will be lower price competitor to Variations? Either way, convenient marketing/hype?

Cool, I dont do Twitter or any social media unfortunately (even though I work in IT) will wait till a review comes out.
Looking forward to the Zero arriving to try out.
Kev

 

[_thelaughingman]

Sure... I'll buy that... lol. BTW... is "theLaughingman" a reference to the Salinger character/story? (My dog is named "Phoebe" after Holden's little sister.)

_thelaughingman is character reference to Ghost in the Shell tv series, not sure if it is derived from salingers

 

[Jeromeof]

2 factors in play there.
1. The wrong size tip for your ear will definitely have a negative impact on the sound due to poor fit.

2. But I also imagine the change in material between 2 tips that both fit well might have an impact.

The latter might be worthy of investigation, the former is not IMHO

Thanks the only reason I was wondering about the size was I believe these IEMs come with 2 'hole' sizes as well as the usual small, medium and large tips (and then separately foam tips). I would have thought the larger hole size the more direct sound hits your ear (though it would be very marginal difference).

 

[Ajax]

Thanks yet again Amir .... long time since I purchased anything that you have't recommended.

Ordered from Amazon Australia for A$73 with free shipping, which I am pleased to advise correspondence to US$50 at today's exchange rate. Usually we get ripped off on US priced gear and prices are loaded by 20% or more.

Happy Chappy.

 

[AdamG]

These are definitely worth a listen at that price.

Nice find.

I agree and once again @amirm making me spend moar money! Ordered it from Amazon. Will be interesting to see if I end up adding any EQ via my Qudelix 5k. I do prefer a bit of BASS… I’m doubtful these will survive un-equalized. But they measure promisingly. Thank’s Amir for the review.

 

[jae]

There will always be the "next great thing".

Yeah, but especially in this Chinese IEM niche the "next great thing" is almost virtually the exact same to the "last great thing" (even to the point where a lot of these Chinese manufacturers are releasing the same product every 4-8 months in a different colour/finish material and calling it a new product despite the FR being 99% the same). There's a group of people that would buy this simply because it's good, but I feel a lot of people are buying it because it's good -and- cheap, which is why it seems so many people are impulse buying it in the thread. But for those that want to spend more or want the latest/greatest, they might prefer biding their time since the "improvement" I posted is all but confirmed if they want to pay more or aren't in a rush. Sort of like how I suffered for an entire year not buying the Stealth anticipating the Expanse, albeit Dan Clark is very tight-lipped

I think if anyone really considers themselves serious about accuracy/tonality in IEMs (and headphones), it's time to stop "product chasing" and blindly wasting money to find the "perfect earphone" because it never ends. I see three sensible options: 1) Live with a product that sounds subjectively good to them 2) pick some kind of objective standard like Harman compliance and appreciate it for what is it, maybe EQ to taste/mood 3) use that time or money to do actually something constructive like equal loudness measurement or real in-ear measurements with nice speakers in a listening room so you can more accurately find an objective measure what is neutral to YOU as an individual listener, and have objective data like a headphone transfer function to EQ to your individual ears properly. And then find the lowest distortion/comfortable product in your price range that is closest to that target for you to EQ to. Hopefully with the new individualised DSP features with products like the new Airpods Pro 2, individualized responses/DSP will become the new norm and the general audiophile will start to clue in on what is actually important in accurate reproduction.

Perhaps I'll try this Truthear. I'm looking for a cheap IEM to listen music with reasonably good sound on my smartphone while I'm travelling. For my more "serious" home listening, I have my faithfull Philips Fidelio X2 Hr and my even more faithfull and much more neutral Sennheiser HD 560 S that I connect to my Topping DX7s.

As you see, I'm on the budget side of audio mania and consider myself, as I already stated here and there, much more a music lover than an audiophile - especially classical and jazz, but I like rock/pop and good french "variétés" too. Consequently, it sounds to me crazy to spend 4K $ or € (approximately same value since a couple of months) on headphones, and even for as cheap as 50 bucks, I am not a compulsive buyer and I document myself a lot before buying something. I'm not the kind of guy ordering a new device simply because I read a good review on ASR or elsewere.

But, what bothers me more is the fact that Amir seems to be stuck on the Harman curve as a measure of fidelity or neutrality.
Well, with all my sympathy and respect for Amir, I desagree : H curve is only a measure of statistic preference, not a measure of fidelity to signal. And, as we all know, nowadays people, including a lot of sound professionnals, tend to prefer rather coloured V shaped sound. This is probably a consequence to listening or producing heavy compressed and bass/treble charged pop/hiphop/rock music material. As a listener of mainly classical, jazz and semi acoustic "variétés" musical genres, I don't consider Harman curve as my ideal for headphones and I don't think I appreciate the same sound curve target as Amir does.

So be it 50 or 4 000€, I'm not so impressed by these two last dithyrambic reviews. If I decide to try the Truthear Crinable Zero, I'll tell you what I think of its sound.
Maybe I'm wrong to stay doubtful toward Amir's enthousiasm , or maybe not, but I noticed that other reviewers, on Headfi, Headphones, etc. are less enthusiatic than Amir for the Truthear.

Amir has no choice to be stuck on it because FR at the ear drum is the single most important factor in determining sound quality/accurate timbre in a transducer. Despite any criticisms, Harman is the only relatively objective measure that's peer-reviewed and under scientific scrutiny (not to mention being effectively used in hearing-aid instrumentation and research) and can be applied to earphones, while also factoring other psychoacoustic considerations of human preference due the occluded ear and not having the room involved.

Think of it this way: if you don't like Harman, you can still learn in what way you don't like Harman, which can help you learn why, or help you EQ a compliant earphone to preference, or choose something else altogether if EQ isn't an option or you don't want to fuss with it. So it is still completely useful as a baseline. Get used to seeing all things Harman, because the industry will continue going that way for good reason. When the Harman data is eventually refined and improved (especially when it comes to treble demands/preference), the industry will follow suit.

Also, those other sites and reviewers you mentioned also go on about the "sound quality" of amps, DACs, cables and the like. If you read enough ASR you will learn and know that 99% of that stuff is nonsense, so you can probably safely ignore virtually everything that comes from these places in terms of the tonality of a headphone. If they are delusional enough to think their amps are dacs are increasing the texture and resolution of their bass and midrange, can you really believe they know how to accurately describe the tonality of a headphone more meaningfully than FR can?

_thelaughingman is character reference to Ghost in the Shell tv series, not sure if it is derived from salingers

Many references to Salinger in GITS: https://ghostintheshell.fandom.com/wiki/Laughing_Man#Salinger_references

 

[mga2009]

I would certainly have thought so. If you order the IEM, I certainly wouldnt order an upgraded amp/dac with it as Im pretty sure the Sonata should be ample.

Followed your recommendation and bought the phones... When received I will update.

 

[kopczas]

not really "live instruments" per se.

Well, I guess reproduction of sounds is basically trying to imitate reality. If Steinway Grand piano does not sound like Steinway Grand piano, then this is false interpretation of reality.