TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[bracko]

Realizing that "Maybe I am doing something wrong here", not talking about posting too quickly, but maybe not taking the time to appreciate those, as so many of us have. you can believe us, 84% think they are great, 11% think they are fine, 95%, that is an overwhelming number from people who appreciate objectively good sound. So, you are more than likely to recover from whatever mistake you made that lead you to not getting a great experience with those.
Merry Christmas.

Thanks and Merry Christmas. I am not completely sure that 95% people who voted actually have heard these headphones. I am quite sure that many of them are just giving their opinon about the review results.

 

[bracko]

I'd be thinking you don't have a proper seal to be honest. Play some bassy music and push them in and keep fingers there. If more bass then when no fingers, not sealed right initially

I am quite sure the seal is OK. Nothing happens if I push them longer. The bass is actually quite good. My main concern is lower mids (lacking) and upper mids (pronounced) giving weird balance when listening to classical music for example.

 

[bracko]

Realizing that "Maybe I am doing something wrong here", not talking about posting too quickly, but maybe not taking the time to appreciate those, as so many of us have. you can believe us, 84% think they are great, 11% think they are fine, 95%, that is an overwhelming number from people who appreciate objectively good sound. So, you are more than likely to recover from whatever mistake you made that lead you to not getting a great experience with those.
Merry Christmas.

But I admit that I might have judged them too quickly and will give them more time

 

[Cote Dazur]

I am not completely sure that 95% people who voted actually have heard these headphones.

Good point, neither do I, now that you mention it, still, since the cost of entry is so low, I think many have tried them and vote, plus you get the recommendation from Amir, that is all I need to be confident their is good sound coming from those.
I find them amazingly good myself and they are growing on me with each month passing.
Some might prefer something else, that is fair, but not good, is more than unlikely.

 

[Rottmannash]

Good point, neither do I, now that you mention it, still, since the cost of entry is so low, I think many have tried them and vote, plus you get the recommendation from Amir, that is all I need to be confident their is good sound coming from those.
I find them amazingly good myself and they are growing on me with each month passing.
Some might prefer something else, that is fair, but not good, is more than unlikely.

perhaps a poll is in order to discover how many have the IEM's...

 

[Docmoggy]

Disaster struck! I inadvertently split my foam ear tips with a bit of ham-fistedness. However, it appears that the Moondrop MIS eartips might offer a good alternative and at $7 for two pairs it seems a good buy. I might buy a small and medium to cover possible issues with fit and function. My TCZ's are sounding great and I mean that in the most amateur way, as I await the Hexa to drop through the letter box- FYI Shenzenaudio informed shipments delayed due to popular demand and will probably be available early Jan.

 

[Robbo99999]

perhaps a poll is in order to discover how many have the IEM's...

With a popular IEM like this one that so many have bought here due to seeing Amir's review, then a seperate poll for those that actually own the IEM is probably quite feasible, but I do still think there is lots of value in the general poll that is included in speaker & headphone reviews, you don't need to own the item to offer your opinion on what you think of the measurements vs price, etc.

 

[FrantzM]

With a popular IEM like this one that so many have bought here due to seeing Amir's review, then a seperate poll for those that actually own the IEM is probably quite feasible, but I do still think there is lots of value in the general poll that is included in speaker & headphone reviews, you don't need to own the item to offer your opinion on what you think of the measurements vs price, etc.

Can I post 12 times? For the upcoming poll: I gifted a total of 10 plus I have 2 for me.

 

[Robbo99999]

Can I post 12 times? For the upcoming poll: I gifted a total of 10 plus I have 2 for me.

Ha, you can let your giftee's know about ASR then they can vote themselves as well as learn a boat load of useful stuff about audio!

 

[FrantzM]

2 of them are to become members, the others are not audiophiles ( business associates, customers, family members...). They, all are surprised by the sound quality. People may not fuss about sound quality, but they do recognize it. Two people found the gift a bit over the top as they felt it was "too expensive", it had to be, coming from a person an audiophile who in the past would find $15,000,oo loudspeakers "reasonable" .
I can't understand frankly, how they manage to provide such finish, presentation, great packaging and superb performance for $50,oo. Makes you wonder if they were to apply the same principles to loudspeakers ....

We can discuss all we want and some who have acquired the TCZ, could even be disappointed. It is OK, different strokes and all that .. The vast majority of people, audiophiles or not, is likely to find this IEM superlative. Not perfect, but Superlative.

Happy holidays!
Peace.

 

[bracko]

We can discuss all we want and some who have acquired the TCZ, could even be disappointed. It is OK, different strokes and all that .. The vast majority of people, audiophiles or not, is likely to find this IEM superlative. Not perfect, but Superlative.

I am really trying to like this IEM but the lack of weight in the sound and somewhat "harsh" and "glassy" tonality is quite unpleasant. I guess I don't belong to the vast majority of people

 

[Cote Dazur]

I am really trying to like this IEM but the lack of weight in the sound and somewhat "harsh" and "glassy" tonality is quite unpleasant. I guess I don't belong to the vast majority of people

Maybe, or something else is at play.
Have you tried with different source, like a iPhone, or anything with a headphone plug, or different cables, if you have them.
In any case you tried them and you have plenty of great Sennheiser HP to go back to.

 

[ethernode]

Hi there, FYI this IEM almost fits on the KZ-AZ09 "Bluetooth cable" (B pin version), even if the pins are a bit too shortly inserted (because of the protrusions on both sides), I'm already concerned it will separate unexpectedly, modding is probably necessary (glue or trimming). Sound wise that seems pretty close to the wired sound to me, but I'm no specialist. Bottom line: I will be returning it even if it seems really nice.

EDIT: tried to return these, eventually Amazon refused (and let me keep it !), so i took the plunge and trimmed the white plastic "collar" using a dremel, now it fits perfectly, turning these into the best price/performance ratio ever (except for free samples i guess)

 

[FrantzM]

Hi there, FYI this IEM almost fits on the KZ-AZ09 "Bluetooth câble" (B pin version), even if the pins are a bit too shortly inserted (because of the protrusions on both sides), I'm already concerned it will separate unexpectedly, modding is probably necessary (glue or trimming). Sound wise that seems pretty close to the wired sound to me, but I'm no specialist. Bottom line: I will be returning it even if it seems really nice.

NO!!! I AM NOT BUYING THIS ACCESSORY!! no... no
still a way for a good travel BT IEM...


Happy holidays!
Peace.

 

[Rottmannash]

The extra grills are so tiny many throw them away with the packaging. They are in a very thin clear plastic bag. Again- tiny. And because of the color of the grills they are very difficult to see unless against a dark background. I almost threw mine away until I read in this thread to look for them.

 

[wacomme]

Received my Zero today from Amazon. Out of box, one of the driver grills was sloppily installed as seen in photo. I was able to work it back in gently with a toothpick. I guess this is the quality you get with a mass market, low dollar item. The grill is very flimsy. No spares were in my box.

View attachment 252797
View attachment 252798

Luckily, that is where the bad stuff ends. I had a balanced cable ready to go and plugged it into my Onkyo DP-X1 DAP. (No equalization and normal gain. DSF and high rez FLAC files played with no additional processing) My first impression is that, yep, these things bring the bass. I am not used to Harmon levels of bass, but I am not in the least bothered by it. I don't think the bass is bloated at all, just pretty dominating. Luckily, the mids are not recessed and I don't feel the highs are sibilant or piercing. In fact, everything sounds really balanced except for the slight elevation in bass compared to my normal levels of listening.

I feel these are warm like my Senn HD600 with elevated bass.

I detect no distortion at higher volume where I don't usually go. Low volume listening is really great, the extra bass is very welcome there. And older recordings of rock that are bass shy are excellent. I had a go at Supertramp Crime of the Century. The recording has excellent defined bass but relatively low dB. The Zero really warmed up the sound and gave the recording superb balance.

For $50 plus the $18 cable, I am pretty impressed to say the least. No they are not the be all, end all, but they offer great value IMO. Carrying this around as a spare would satisfy me just fine.

I will be giving these extensive listening over the next couple of days with no tweaking. Not sure if they will break in a bit or not. I selected a pair of the included tips and have excellent fit. They are very comfortable in my ears and I could wear them for hours easily. So, off to a good start, once past the grill issue.

What cables did you buy?

 

[GXAlan]

I am really trying to like this IEM but the lack of weight in the sound and somewhat "harsh" and "glassy" tonality is quite unpleasant. I guess I don't belong to the vast majority of people

I voted great because it’s only $50 and bought two as gifts.

I don’t like these at all, primarily for poor fit and secondarily for poor sound.

The problem that I have reported is a subjective dynamic range compression where what sounds like detail at first is actually lack of dynamic range. Head to head against other speakers, they need a disproportionate amount of volume, so I think the highs are getting compressed which then makes you turn up the volume which then causes the low level content to be louder but unnatural.

But it’s still reasonable for the price.

 

[bracko]

Maybe, or something else is at play.
Have you tried with different source, like a iPhone, or anything with a headphone plug, or different cables, if you have them.
In any case you tried them and you have plenty of great Sennheiser HP to go back to.

I have tried them with iPhone 11, Samsung Note, Marantz CD6007 headphone out, Audiolab 8300CDQ hp out, iFi Audio Zen CAN, Topping DX3 Pro. I haven't tried different cables.
Edit: I also tried them off my MacBook Pro hp plug.

 

[Cote Dazur]

I have tried them with iPhone 11, Samsung Note, Marantz CD6007 headphone out, Audiolab 8300CDQ hp out, iFi Audio Zen CAN, Topping DX3 Pro. I haven't tried different cables.
Edit: I also tried them off my MacBook Pro hp plug.

Looks like you gave them a fair trial.
As I was enjoying them with St pepper album, followed by Beethoven 4th and 5th this morning, I was thinking of your experience, I thought, if you do not need the money, you might want to keep the Zero, just try some music from time to time, not for the sound, just for the music.
It is so strange that we can have such opposite experience with those IEMs. With speaker, the room and position of both speakers and seat is such a game changer, that it is easy to see that two different individuals can have opposite conclusions.
But with IEM's, once they sit properly in your ear, which is fairly simple and getting simpler with usage, the experience should be fairly similar. Fascinating! Proving to me once again than who ever says whatever on any forum, even a stellar one like ASR, is almost useless. Also proving to me that measurements are only important when analyzed by someone who knows what he his talking about ( like Amir) and finally that I can follow with confidence what @amirm recommends, as to me those IEM's are all he said they would be.

 

[SuicideSquid]

I have tried them with iPhone 11, Samsung Note, Marantz CD6007 headphone out, Audiolab 8300CDQ hp out, iFi Audio Zen CAN, Topping DX3 Pro. I haven't tried different cables.
Edit: I also tried them off my MacBook Pro hp plug.

Based on your reports I'm guessing you probably got a pair that deviate from the target by a few dB in the 2-5kHz range, as some of the measurements have been showing. Have you tried EQ'ing them and pulling back that range by 3-5dB? Will probably clean up the issues you've been reporting.

I have a pair and overall think they sound fantastic, but I do put a little dip at 3kHz on them to make them sound a little less bright.