TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[Dunring]

I've had the Sony X3 a couple of times for business and listening to the Zero now on a Topping E50/SMSL SP200 and there's no comparison. It's just better in every way except for wireless convenience. The bass is accurate instead of artificial/bloated on the Sony. This doesn't need any EQ or changes for music, but dialing down the bass for gaming is needed so explosions don't drown out other sounds. The Sony just doesn't resolve tiny details like these do. I use a long extender cable to walk around the room without taking them off. I'll take that compromise any day over the Sony. They do need current, not just a phone or onboard sound to be their best.
Also I have a Sabaj A20h and Topping L30 II and they just sound amazing. On the Moto G Power phone or onboard they just don't get loud enough for a favorite song. Also had the Bower & Wilkins PX7 Carbon a few times, better than the Sony, as was the Bose Quietcomfort II 45 and even the 35 we use for TV watching. Sony completely sold out their consumer products for artifical sounding single note bass. It's popular for teens who want to bounce in their chair during hiphop songs, but if you want to hear everything accurately, the Truthear Zero will do the job much better.

 

[Zoide]

I would suspect, a lot better, the bass on these much less bloated, and it looks a lot more tonally correct through the mids as well, the XM3 looks very off there. To an extent though, it's personal preference, a hugely bass bloated signature is a very popular one and people used to massive amounts of bass might find these thin and anemic sounding.

I haven't heard the XM3, I'm just going off the graphs/reviews and similar stuff I have heard, I have owned Sony's TOTL over-ear and that had too much bass, and it's only a fraction of what the XM3 has.

View attachment 273282

What about the soundstage and imaging, though?

And how would the passive noise cancelation of the earbuds compare to the ANC of the headphones?

Thanks

 

[sharock]

How would the sound of these compare to full-sized Bluetooth headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM3?

Thanks

I have both and use them with the Wavelet app on Android to EQ them to Harman target. I'd say the Truthears sound better overall. However, EQ does improve the Sony XM3 a lot.

For me, the XM3 are more practical on public transport and planes due to the NC and being able to easily remove them. They also make better ear warmers in winter.

 

[JRS]

Just got mine thru Alibaba--$58.00
Damn these are good! Certainly the best fifty bucks I have ever spent.
Only surprise is that they are not as sensitive as the One More quads I have been using--which is a good thing. My laptop maxxed isn't killing off the few hair cells I have left.

 

[SuicideSquid]

I would suspect, a lot better, the bass on these much less bloated, and it looks a lot more tonally correct through the mids as well, the XM3 looks very off there. To an extent though, it's personal preference, a hugely bass bloated signature is a very popular one and people used to massive amounts of bass might find these thin and anemic sounding.

I haven't heard the XM3, I'm just going off the graphs/reviews and similar stuff I have heard, I have owned Sony's TOTL over-ear and that had too much bass, and it's only a fraction of what the XM3 has.

View attachment 273282

My wife has the XM3, I have the Truthears. She likes the XM3s and they sound fine, I guess, but to me they sound very 'soft', too much midrange, not enough treble, muddy bass. The Truthears I find have a hair too much treble but otherwise are very neutral and balanced with lots of clean and articulate bass.

They're *very* different sounding.

 

[Zoide]

My wife has the XM3, I have the Truthears. She likes the XM3s and they sound fine, I guess, but to me they sound very 'soft', too much midrange, not enough treble, muddy bass. The Truthears I find have a hair too much treble but otherwise are very neutral and balanced with lots of clean and articulate bass.

They're *very* different sounding.

How does the ANC of the XM3 compare to the passive isolation of the Truthears?
Is Truthears' soundstage / imaging worse than that of the full-sized XM3's?

Thanks

 

[SuicideSquid]

How does the ANC of the XM3 compare to the passive isolation of the Truthears?
Is Truthears' soundstage / imaging worse than that of the full-sized XM3's?

Thanks

Soundstage is always narrower with IEMs than over-ear headphones.

The Sony's ANC is *very* good. I'd say the Sony's ANC is comparable or even slightly better than my Monoprice Bluetooth IEMs with ANC.

I use my Truthears with foam tips rather than rubber which provide better noise isolation, but even then, I'd say the Sony's ANC gives you better sound isolation.

 

[FrantzM]

I've had the Sony X3 a couple of times for business and listening to the Zero now on a Topping E50/SMSL SP200 and there's no comparison. It's just better in every way except for wireless convenience. The bass is accurate instead of artificial/bloated on the Sony. This doesn't need any EQ or changes for music, but dialing down the bass for gaming is needed so explosions don't drown out other sounds. The Sony just doesn't resolve tiny details like these do. I use a long extender cable to walk around the room without taking them off. I'll take that compromise any day over the Sony. They do need current, not just a phone or onboard sound to be their best.
<snip>

I have both and agree with you 92.5%
I don't agree with the point of these needing any special amplification. I have 3 headphones amplifiers capable of serious wattage and current (iFi iDSD. JDS Atom, THX789AAA), and the TCZ sound the same with any of these as when driven with the $7.95 Apple dongle.
This is so strange, but I have an endgame IEM... and it cost $50...

Peace.

 

[Blorg]

@FrantzM the Apple dongle is plenty powerful already and very low output impedance. These are very low impedance, 10Ω, so you want something at or under ~1.2Ω output impedance to keep the intended tonality. Good dongles are below that but there are plenty of phones / onboard sound that will be a lot higher than that, and this will change the frequency response, boosting the bass. Many older headphone amps and receivers will be high output impedance too. In that link Amir measured the Google V2 dongle at 8Ω for example, which would have an effect on the frequency response. I have an amp here that is 90Ω and it sure has an effect, makes it very muddy. I put measurements further up showing exactly what higher output impedance does to the FR on this, it's not subtle.

 

[Rayman30]

On sale now at Amazon for $42.49, I just ordered a pair using rewards points for $0 lol

 

[FrantzM]

@FrantzM the Apple dongle is plenty powerful already and very low output impedance. These are very low impedance, 10Ω, so you want something at or under ~1.2Ω output impedance to keep the intended tonality. Good dongles are below that but there are plenty of phones / onboard sound that will be a lot higher than that, and this will change the frequency response, boosting the bass. Many older headphone amps and receivers will be high output impedance too. In that link Amir measured the Google V2 dongle at 8Ω for example, which would have an effect on the frequency response. I have an amp here that is 90Ω and it sure has an effect, makes it very muddy. I put measurements further up showing exactly what higher output impedance does to the FR on this, it's not subtle.

Points well taken.. My 3 amplifiers indeed are low impedance.

Peace.

 

[Blue Meanie]

On sale now at Amazon for $42.49, I just ordered a pair using rewards points for $0 lol

Thanks, also on sale at Amazon in Europe, 42,49 €

 

[tawsi]

Mine stopped working, the right dynamic driver of 10mm stopped working, I'm so sad, I just used them for a little more than 1 month, I hesitate to rebuy a pair or buy the tangzu waner for cheaper... man, I will miss the bass of the crinacle truth hear zero

 

[SuicideSquid]

Mine stopped working, the right dynamic driver of 10mm stopped working, I'm so sad, I just used them for a little more than 1 month, I hesitate to rebuy a pair or buy the tangzu waner for cheaper... man, I will miss the bass of the crinacle truth hear zero

Where did you buy them? You should be able to get a warranty replacement if they died that fast.

 

[tawsi]

I bought them on amazon france , the seller was shenzen audio store

 

[tawsi]

btw I contacted truthhear and explained the issue to them, I hope I will get a replacement soon, I'm consoling myself using the sennheiser HD-25 II, cause it kind of give me a similar feeling than IEM cause the headphones is pushing on the ears quite a lot and is closed back, and by this means there is so much detail retrieval in the music, reminding me of the truth hear zero, even though there is no real correlation between the two.

 

[markanini]

btw I contacted truthhear and explained the issue to them, I hope I will get a replacement soon, I'm consoling myself using the sennheiser HD-25 II, cause it kind of give me a similar feeling than IEM cause the headphones is pushing on the ears quite a lot and is closed back, and by this means there is so much detail retrieval in the music, reminding me of the truth hear zero, even though there is no real correlation between the two.

Amazon should cover it, EU law mandates a two year guarantee for faulty goods. https://europa.eu/youreurope/busine...s-guarantees/consumer-guarantees/index_en.htm

 

[asrUser]

btw I contacted truthhear and explained the issue to them, I hope I will get a replacement soon, I'm consoling myself using the sennheiser HD-25 II, cause it kind of give me a similar feeling than IEM cause the headphones is pushing on the ears quite a lot and is closed back, and by this means there is so much detail retrieval in the music, reminding me of the truth hear zero, even though there is no real correlation between the two.

If the shipment was done by Amazon, you just need to contact the customer service. Usually you'll get a refund and can buy them again. It's not difficult.

 

[posvibes]

I have been listening very closely to

on the Crinacle Truthear Zero's for the last few days, glorious recordings and such a pleasure to listen to with these small wonderful IEM's.

Endgame for me.

In my experience IEM's make the soundstage larger for orchestral performances than headphones that tend to shrink them.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Picked up a pair of these and I'm using them OTG with my LG V 20. Primarily use it to play Qobuz playlists. I think they're very impressive. I adopted Maiky 76's Peq on USB Audio player running Morphit's Tonebooster PEQ, and with that they sound spot on to me. Without it, the vaunted bass actually seemed unimpressive, and the mids seemed recessed. Of course it's still a strictly headspace experience, but AFAIC, that's to be expected with any headphone/iem not running some sort of speaker virtualizer software. No microphonics to speak of from the cable, wide range of tips, and fitment seems good. I really like that the cable it over the ear as well. Just a great buy for $50. Think I'll stop buying IEMs now. Also nice to know if I forget these in a coffee shop, I won't feel like jumping off a bridge.