IEMs operate in pressure-chamber conditions, as long as you get a good seal. In fact with an absolutely perfect seal between driver and ear canal this means they could have linear bass all the way down to 0 Hz (yes zero). So pretty much all of them can reach 20 Hz. The question is, do the Truthear Zero have sufficient output down there, and from your description of 'very light, very subtle', and the measurements showing the response is 5 dB below the Harman target at 20 Hz, the answer would seem to be no.
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TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review
- Thread starter amirm
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I just realized that this was a well-known issue on Android and so I deleted my post. I read the review a while ago and never went back to re-read it before I purchased the dongle. My bad. At least the dongle is a nice upgrade for my laptop headphone out. Works great with these IEMs in that use case!
Edit: Volume set to 20 is plenty. Impressive.
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Neutron Player (free trial here) or USB Audio Player Pro allow for direct hardware volume control of USB DACs, which should get you more volume from the Apple dongle on Android.
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Not sure about connection adapters, but hadn't heard of the Shure TW2 Bluetooth adapter before, just looked it up and was surprised to see its companion app has a parametric EQ. Unfortunately it's only 4-band with a low and high shelf and two peak filters...so close to challenging the Qudelix 5K's (semi-)wireless 10-band PEQ greatness!
Talisman
Major Contributor
Ok, after ordering and returning the 7hz salnotes and being quite disappointed, I found these TRUTHEAR Zero with amazon shipping ... What can I say, I was absolutely amazed, it is definitely and by the way the best sound I have ever heard from earphones .... The thing that most of all left me amazed was the ability to return deep and full-bodied bass without these invading all the other frequencies, beautiful. I piloted them with the Sharkoon mobile dac dongle, and I have enough volume to get painful. I am listening as I write and I have a huge smile on my face as song after song I find listening enjoyment never experienced before with iem.
As for the 7hz zero salnotes, I really found an abyss of difference, with those I had to equalize a lot to find a pleasant setting, but these truthear are perfect out of the box.
Thanks Amirm
As for the 7hz zero salnotes, I really found an abyss of difference, with those I had to equalize a lot to find a pleasant setting, but these truthear are perfect out of the box.
Thanks Amirm
Hey all,
These arrived in the mail today. My first IEMs. I'm running them off of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS with no EQ. The fit seems right, they are snug pressing into my ears. However, I hear like no bass at all. They sound very thin. I'm pretty sure I have the wires plugging in right, they curl up over and behind my ears. Anything I could be doing wrong?
FWIW, I have Dirac corrected Genelecs and EQ'ed HD650s for reference.
These arrived in the mail today. My first IEMs. I'm running them off of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS with no EQ. The fit seems right, they are snug pressing into my ears. However, I hear like no bass at all. They sound very thin. I'm pretty sure I have the wires plugging in right, they curl up over and behind my ears. Anything I could be doing wrong?
FWIW, I have Dirac corrected Genelecs and EQ'ed HD650s for reference.
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fieldcar
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Welcome to the downside of IEM's. You very likely do not have a good seal with the Silicone/foam tips. Try going a size larger and play around with the insertion.
If you can't accomplish a good seal, you may have to start down the rabbit hole of 3rd party tips. My favorites are the Azla Xelastec's, but spinfits are a good alternative.
Sounds like a seal issue. Try all the different tips provided. And as silly as it seems, try this: open your mouth, lift up your ear by the top with one hand (these both open up the ear canal), then insert the IEM with the other hand, and while still pushing them in snugly, close your mouth and let go of your ear (to 'close' back your ear canal around the tip). Either that or one (or both) of the bass drivers are dead. Also note the Truthear Zero's measured sub-bass is up to 5 dB short of the Harman target, so depending on how your Genelec and HD650s are EQed, and whether your music has a decent amount of sub-bass content in it, you may notice this deficiency in comparison, especially as IEMs completely lack the tactile bass of speakers (and to a much lesser extent headphones).
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I tried all the silicone ones and was about to give up, but at last I tried the memory foam ones. These seem to be working and the bass has arrived. Sound pretty good! Tonality is great. Maybe a little congested in the upper bass. Plenty of low end now, I'd say.
I also have trouble with my Apple AirPod Pros. Just can't get them to seal. Maybe I should try foam tips on them as well.
I also have trouble with my Apple AirPod Pros. Just can't get them to seal. Maybe I should try foam tips on them as well.
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Just arrived. In typical fashion I reversed plugs initially so there was no support behind the ear helix (operator error). The fit in the auditory canal is snug and the sound is balanced. I have Focal Elear headphones that sound somewhat brighter in comparison without eq. I'm amazed at the value.
You are presenting the differences like night and day, while in fact they are subtle. You would have a lot of trouble to be able to tell them apart in a blind test with music material, if you would even be able to do this at all. Looks like a very biased judgement to me.
Some units do have a fairly broadband (more audible) ~2 dB excess in the mid- to upper-bass which could explain that impression:
He likely just couldn’t get a good seal with the included tips.
In terms of how individualized sound gets per medium:
Speakers -> open-back headphones -> closed-back headphones -> in-ears
This is why if going off subjective reviews for IEMs, you really can’t just read one person‘s reviews. And even measurements of the frequency response aren't enough. The stem/nozzle for these 2 IEMs are decently different, and that insertion depth alone can cause difference from person to person (besides their individualized HRTF and whatnot).
This is why for passive IEMs, it is impossible to have one that is “perfect”, as the sound changes from ear canal to ear canal.
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AdamG
Do unto Others…
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Are you trying to be rude or does it just come naturally to you? Of course it’s his and everyone else’s biased judgement. We’re giving our personal opinions about what we hear/think. Take a break from this thread for a few days maybe.
Talisman
Major Contributor
you may be right, i may simply be conditioned by the measurement results and opinions of other users, i did not do a blind test and it would not be possible to do it with iem.
However what I can tell you is that I have no interest in "pumping" on one headphone instead of another, and my ratings are my sincerest opinion.
I ran the same test I had done with the salnotes, going from the Sennheiser momentum in ear to the Truthear, and I didn't have the feeling of lack of body at all that I had doing the same thing with the Salnotes.
The momentums remain more substantial in the bass, even compared to the Truthear, but they are lows that invade the other frequencies a bit, while the feeling with the truthear is that they are able to push deep basses where they are needed without creeping into the rest of the band making the sound dull. .
But this is a science-based site and I talk about subjective opinions, so I understand your point of view and your distrust.
What can I tell you, I immediately liked these as opposed to the 7hz salnotes.
Well, tried the Comply T-500 foam tips - the widest bore. They could just be persuaded to go on the stems. Used the small pair. Completely unable to get a seal and they promptly fell out. So back to the foam tips that came with the IEMs. Which seem a little comfier today thanks to the trick with pulling the ear and opening the mouth trick - thanks to GaryH upthread
Glad that helped! Also with foam tips, once you've put them on the IEMs and just before you insert them in your ear, make sure to roll them between your finger tips to compress them (just like you would with foam ear plugs), then they'll go in easier and deeper, and once they expand back to shape you should get a better seal. Oh and to anyone finding foam tips dampen treble too much, I've had success reducing that by cutting off with e.g. nail scissors the very top of the tips where the foam extends up past the inner plastic bore. I suspect in some narrow or somewhat bendy ear canals (like mine) that top part of the foam gets compressed/pushed partially or fully over the bore opening, and so acts as a high-frequency sound absorber.
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