TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[alex-z]

Received mine this morning. Sound quality is superb, particularly the impact of kick drums, and the precision offered for objects panning between channels. These will likely be my new daily drivers for competitive gaming and running. Superior to a pair of Philips SHP9500 EQ'ed to the Harman target.

The build quality of the IEM's and connectors seems excellent, only concern is the lack of strain relief where the cable splits.

 

[Robbo99999]

Was this measured somewhere?

I think someone said it was stated on the manufacturer website that the narrow internal bore tips bring more bass (and were the ones measured here on ASR). On Schenzhen Audio they don't mention the effect of the tips, and I couldn't find a website for the manufacturer. And that idea is substantiated by the eartip "trend" information that AdamG247 linked here:

TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

An Australian reviewer had this to say: 'Just cause Crinacle puts his name on something, doesn't make it amazing Neither bad, nor good. Doesn't make an impression, but still ok IEMs.' This was a month ago. Now we have the measurements, and we know that these are designed to be a standard IEM...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[gvl]

Got mine. Amazing what $50 can still buy.

 

[Jeromeof]

I see there are a bunch of different samples with EQ values on Crinacle's AutoEQ page now - Crinacle Results


Mostly very similar but all seem to indicate a few places where EQ will be required.

So because they were cheap I also bought the Moondrop Chu (which actually arrived first) - it seems even closer to the ideal curve (except for the high end):

AutoEq/results/crinacle/harman_in-ear_2019v2/Moondrop Chu at 11cb67170491fe8d938853afd9d8c792a6fa25df · jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

Automatic headphone equalization from frequency responses - jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

github.com

 

[anphex]

Small info about the prime shipping Germany.
In this case it just means it's free shipping but still comes from China seemingly. It will arrive at 28th of september now.

 

[Pernas]

All this sounds promising and wonder if these would help med "get rid of" the q-JAYS v2.0 which still is my daily driver apart from their lack of bass...? (Even with the Comply tips)

 

[GaryH]

I see there are a bunch of different samples with EQ values on Crinacle's AutoEQ page now - https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/blob/master/results/crinacle/README.md

Mostly very similar but all seem to indicate a few places where EQ will be required.

It would be best to average all of the units' frequency responses then EQ to that.

So because they were cheap I also bought the Moondrop Chu (which actually arrived first) - it seems even closer to the ideal curve (except for the high end):

AutoEq/results/crinacle/harman_in-ear_2019v2/Moondrop Chu at 11cb67170491fe8d938853afd9d8c792a6fa25df · jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

Automatic headphone equalization from frequency responses - jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

github.com

Note AutoEQ does not use the actual Harman target by default - its target is ~3 dB short in the bass for IEMs. Also note Oratory also measured the Chu, and found it to have around 4 dB more bass then Crinacle's measurement, which suggests it has high unit variance.

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

Anime is intended for adults.

In the west, anime seems to be mostly consumed by young adults. By definition, however, the most popular anime and manga (e.g., those localized in the west) are originally targeted to teenage boys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōnen_manga. Some possible explanations for this discrepancy, off the top of my head: 1) anime is more expensive/specialty in the west and therefore out of the reach of teenage boys; 2) more competition from stuff like comic books and superhero movies; 3) young adults in the west are still pretty much kids.

Also, ordered, natch.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

Mine arrived Tuesday. They're very clean and have a ton of bass, but not to the point that it's annoying since it's tight and not at all boomy. Very pleasant. They also, however have a distinct upper midrange/lower treble peakiness that imparts a nasal quality to voices. Try saying the word "and" in the most nasal way you can, and that's the distinct coloration of the pair that I received. I'm sure I could EQ the problem away, but if you're streaming on an iPhone (as opposed to listening to files) I'm not sure exactly how that would be possible. They're worth 50 bucks though, I guess, and the funky coloration aside at least I don't think I'm missing any of the clarity of my pricier Etymotic IEMs, so they're a good IEM for rough and ready use.

I'm posting the curve on the box because that's pretty much how they sound subjectively to me. WYSIWYG, and I gave the a "fine" in the poll.

 

[Jeromeof]

Mine arrived Tuesday. They're very clean and have a ton of bass, but not to the point that it's annoying since it's tight and not at all boomy. Very pleasant. They also, however have a distinct upper midrange/lower treble peakiness that imparts a nasal quality to voices. Try saying the word "and" in the most nasal way you can, and that's the distinct coloration of the pair that I received. I'm sure I could EQ the problem away, but if you're streaming on an iPhone (as opposed to listening to files) I'm not sure exactly how that would be possible. They're worth 50 bucks though, I guess, and the funky coloration aside at least I don't think I'm missing any of the clarity of my pricier Etymotic IEMs, so they're a good IEM for rough and ready use.

I'm posting the curve on the box because that's pretty much how they sound subjectively to me. WYSIWYG.

Well if you streaming using PlexAmp on an iPhone you can apply some basic 10band EQ settings - I think unfortunately the Apple Music App has only predefined EQ - not sure about other streaming apps

 

[GaryH]

They also, however have a distinct upper midrange/lower treble peakiness that imparts a nasal quality to voices.

That'll likely be the excess (black curve) above target (thick blue curve) between 1 and 3 kHz. All measured units have shown that but some seem worse than others:

 

[AndreaT]

Well if you streaming using PlexAmp on an iPhone you can apply some basic 10band EQ settings - I think unfortunately the Apple Music App has only predefined EQ - not sure about other streaming apps

I wonder with a 10 ohm impedance how a source like iPhone, I believe unable to deliver high currents, drives the TCZ.

 

[RHO]

I wonder with a 10 ohm impedance how a source like iPhone, I believe unable to deliver high currents, drives the TCZ.

Impedance is higher in the lower frequencies. That's where you need the most current. So I think in most cases you will be fine.

 

[foxxx0]

Small info about the prime shipping Germany.
In this case it just means it's free shipping but still comes from China seemingly. It will arrive at 28th of september now.

That's still way better than my order, which is already on its way for a couple of days.
ETA: November 8th - 14th

 

[Webninja]

Got mine, and I have no reference for IEM, but using the Apple dongle, streaming from Apple Music on the iPhone they were better than expected. What I was impressed with is the quality of packaging for the $. Overall money well spent, and my daughter already snagged these, so I guess I'll have to get the Project Red ones when they come out

 

[noel_fs]

in this case i dont trust the unit reviewed, i would need it to be a random unit bought retail

 

[AdamG]

in this case i dont trust the unit reviewed, i would need it to be a random unit bought retail

Then by all means go buy one retail and drop ship it to Amir. That’s how this works here.

 

[noel_fs]

Then by all means go buy one retail and drop ship it to Amir. That’s how this works here.

tbh if i was from USA i would probably do it

anyway, i went on crinacles site and he shows 10 samples so im inclined to believe now.

i guess we finally got a proper mh1c replacement

 

[Somafunk]

in this case i dont trust the unit reviewed, i would need it to be a random unit bought retail

Thats amusing, it’s a £50 iem ffsake, not some essential bit of medical equipment. Do you apply that reasoning to everything else you own?.

 

[noel_fs]

Thats amusing, it’s a £50 iem ffsake, not some essential bit of medical equipment. Do you apply that reasoning to everything else you own?.

i dont think you get the point