TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[Redver]

Also just ordered a pair from Amazon as well. Looking forward to listening. . . . . . .going to use them on my Adi 2 dac

 

[olivier salad]

Poweramp Equalizer is another good Android option, which can now support importing PEQ from text files

Poweramp is the best, but I guess most people use streaming services these days

 

[McLenin]

Poweramp is the best, but I guess most people use streaming services these days

Not me Will try it out on Buds Pro`s. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Fregly]

Way to much base boost for me. Best tonality IMHO have Sennheiser HD560S

I have a similar preference and will likely get them anyway for kicks and giggles. Amir seems to like these better than the Blessing2 and 64Audio, going by enthusiasm.

 

[poxymoron]

Thanks Amir. Really impressive, although perhaps $50 is too much for those of you that voted poor. Really?

 

[Robbo99999]

Here's more about the two target curves:

Amir Harman IEM curve

Haven’t been able to find the answer to this. I know of 2 Harman 2019 targets for iem. My question is could someone share the background to why there are 2 and why Amir goes with the version he does. Thanks in advance.

www.audiosciencereview.com

@Robbo99999 IE2017-1 vs 2019v2 overlaid as well

Thanks, very useful, downloaded your overlay of IE2017 vs 2019 for future use in any EQ experiments and for reference, nice one!

 

[sifi36]

This level of performance at that price lead me to make one of the fastest impulse purchases I’ve ever made. Excited to listen to them in a couple of weeks.

 

[Azathoth]

Very good IEM, my headphones seem to always conform to the Harman target, so this IEM might be the next purchase I'll make for the hell of it. Great stuff.

Would there be a Crinacle tuned speaker in the future?

 

[MCH]

This level of performance at that price lead me to make one of the fastest impulse purchases I’ve ever made. Excited to listen to them in a couple of weeks.

I believe the very recent review of a very good but very expensive headphone might have set the stage for this happening. Good timing @crinacle

 

[fordiebianco]

I hate you all. How many IEMs do you want me to own?

Ordered.

 

[jae]

Arguably, from all the collaborations of crinacle, this one is by far the most Harmanish of them. So it doesn't need EQ (at least not above 50Hz, which for most music is ok), being practial just with a dongle. So what is there to complain ? Overall, there are hundreds and thousands IEMs out there, mostly from China. Clearly Amir can only test a few, so what is the problem?

It was not really a complaint, and I have no real problem with Amir reviewing any and every product or even Crinacle sending it in for review. I have never heard, owned, and probably never will own a "Crinacle" IEM, and I don't even care to use IEMs much in general. That being said, I have used Crinacle's measurements and data in some of my own independent research (preserving sound transmission characteristics of the auricle and external auditory meatus in the occluded ear- for better fidelity and localisation cues in the occluded ear) and I am even a donor to him, and also a regular Patreon supporter of his because I appreciate those contributions and effort of his earphone measurements to the space. So I clearly have no problems with "enriching" him in some way or him benefiting from his own work, and Crinacle has probably earned more money from me over the years that he will from any individual customer that buys a product he was associated with.

But it was just obvious to me and thought I had to point out why this particular one was sent in and not any others- the reason for this is obviously because ASR's SEO presence on the internet is massive and it will eventually be the first thing(s) to come up on google when someone searches for this product or his name, and this was achieved with a single, cherrypicked product. I really can't fault him too much for that because obviously, any company sending something voluntarily to Amir has this objective and they wouldn't want a negative review posted on the internet. This is why in general I prefer when unbiased users send in products, unless it's a very reputable brand with a long history of well-performing products. To me, a company like RME sending in an interface is not dubious because they were an industry giant and well regarded even before ASR, have competent engineers, and all the praise of not only their products but the brand, warranty etc. is completely justified. But I can't ignore the clear benefit of companies sending in their own products, because it results in more reviews. So ultimately there's no problem if it helps users find the best products to buy, and I would consider this product worthy from its response and pricing.

It was more so just a gentle reminder that one good product from some "entity" doesn't necessarily mean others/future ones will be, especially if his previous collabs are any indication of what to expect. Ironically, Crinacle himself does not even consider any part of the Harman curve to be neutral to him (yet he pushes his ridiculous target to everyone on his website), and his IEM "recommendations and ratings" are by extension generally awful and dubious at best, of which he also profits from. Me pointing out all of this was to make aware the eventual influx of people finding this product via ASR from a Google search, so they would not by extension assume Crinacle's opinions, ratings, or other products he was associated with have any substance or veracity to them by default, because it's of my opinion (and many others) that they don't.

That being said, I'm glad to see a compliant IEM with his name on it, and hopefully the future is brighter from what I consider to be the mess/laziness of some of his previous collabs which simply seemed like an easy cash grab from slapping his name on a product and pushing it to his following. At least this one meets some objective standard at a reasonable price.

So it doesn't get much better than the HD650? How do you know, did you try all other headphones? Or just a wild guess ? Or maybe just because you will/can not spend more the other headphones just should't be better?

When I say "better", I am referring to a more objective and broad-fitting tonal accuracy that's applicable to a variety users. Other things like price, comfort, affordability, warranty etc. come into the equation as far as I'm concerned when offering a suggestion to someone that might ask me. I've tried dozens, if not hundreds of headphones. I've also seen measurements for all of them from multiple reputable sources, even ones I have not yet tried personally. That is just my conclusion after spending spending many hundreds and thousands of hours with various cans over the years. For the price, it's my opinion HD6XX has the least things wrong with it compared to other headphones despite it being an old product, and some of its biggest flaws can be fixed with EQ. My main point was, the headphones that I would consider an "upgrade" (which many people would consider more of a "side-grade" in many cases) to the HD6XX tend fall in the $1000-2000+ range, at which point I don't find the upgrade justified when you can get a very obvious and clear upgrade by shelling out more for a Stealth, Expanse, or LCD-5. An exception to this would be some of the sub-$1000 DCA headphones which I mentioned, but they all need EQ as well and have their own flaws.

People will always have a subjective taste, so whether or not I can say a certain headphone will be to your subjective liking is impossible. Objectively, I cannot even say if a headphone will be completely tonally accurate for you since everyone has a different transfer function. This is why the Harman target is used, since at least it is some objective measure/standard for the population. Price does not bother me much if I find it justified, considering I am likely buying the Expanse at $4000. The only reason why I don't have a Stealth yet is because I was waiting for an open version, and didn't want to spend $4000 on something that might be replaced in 1-3 years. And I next purchase after that will probably be >$10k on Genelec or similar loudspeakers. If someone thinks $4000 is too much but will happily spend $1000-$2000 for something they like, more power to them. But it's my experience that DCA and 6XX is overall better than a majority of those headphones for most people at a fraction of the price. But I digress, I'm getting a bit off topic here from these IEMs.

Poweramp is the best, but I guess most people use streaming services these days

Wavelet allows systemwide EQ on android!

 

[kopczas]

Are there any details on methodology that stands behind Harman curve? To be truth, I`ve been musician for most of my life (started at age 7, now I`m 38, typical classical trening and pro life), any time I`ve been listeting to HPs close to, or EQed to Harman curve, they sounded faaaaar from what instruments sound like in reality.

 

[delta76]

Ordered - thanks Amir. what (reasonably cheap) portable amplifier can drive this ?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Are there any details on methodology that stands behind Harman curve? To be truth, I`ve been musician for most of my life (started at age 7, now I`m 38, typical classical trening and pro life), any time I`ve been listeting to HPs close to, or EQed to Harman curve, they sounded faaaaar from what instruments sound like in reality.

Yes. For Speakers see Floyd Toole and for Headphones see Sean Olive.

Simply put: The preferred flat anechoic frequency response of speakers translates directly to the “squiggly” headphone preference curve.

 

[Vacceo]

Ordered - thanks Amir. what (reasonably cheap) portable amplifier can drive this ?

I'd like to extend your question to Bluetooth adapters. What do you guys recommend? Fiio? TRN? Others?

 

[staticV3]

Ordered - thanks Amir. what (reasonably cheap) portable amplifier can drive this ?

The $9 Apple A2049 will drive it to 113dB SPL before clipping. Should be enough.

 

[beagleman]

Fantastic in just about every way!

I usually "Bitch" about things not being worth the asking price...NOT HERE!

 

[jhaider]

Does anyone know of a compatible cable with microphone? I don’t need them - in the IEM space I’m happy with AKG N5005 for deep listening and AirPods Pro for casual listening and calls - but these with mic would be an good option for our elementary schooler to keep in her school bag. Their recommended ones are disposable priced but sound terrible, so I don’t mind the extra cost to acclimate to good sound.

??? I don't think there is a variation with tips. Anyway, i used the medium sized one.

It actually would be interesting to see what treble difference exists between silicone and foam. I believe @Sean Olive measured some treble attenuation with Comply tips on AirPods Pro’s, consistent with my and Erin’s subjective take.

 

[sifi36]

I believe the very recent review of a very good but very expensive headphone might have set the stage for this happening. Good timing @crinacle

As an owner of the DCA Aeon Noire, that review had little influence on me, though I can see that it might for others.

 

[jae]

Are there any details on methodology that stands behind Harman curve? To be truth, I`ve been musician for most of my life (started at age 7, now I`m 38, typical classical trening and pro life), any time I`ve been listeting to HPs close to, or EQed to Harman curve, they sounded faaaaar from what instruments sound like in reality.

There are numerous peer-reviewed published papers on various target curves, Harman included. The tonality is more or less intended to match the sound of listening to objectively performant full-range speakers, in an ideal listening position, facing forward, in a semi-reflective treated listening room... not really "live instruments" per se. To put it simply it is an "average" over many subjects to represent a good baseline for the population, and it factors in features of both accurate tonality and listener preference. If you are a trained musician with a good ear, you will prefer less bass probably.

Bass = Most subjective, could depend on your own physiology somewhat and whether or not your ears are occluded. Trained listeners and I expect musicians tend to prefer 1-3 db less than Harman, because it is technically more tonally accurate. Lots of idiosyncrasies here and could largely depend on how the music is produced and the spectral content/genre you listen to mostly. Its possible to have a nice subjective subbass boost without masking important lower bass/mid frequencies which is not really possible to do in any other frequency range to this degree

Mids = Harman does this more or less right in my opinion, but this sounds most accurate at upper average/higher listening SPLs. A more linear or less harman-like response might sound better to a lot of people at a wider range of SPL

Highs = almost entirely dependent on your own physiology (ear gain) and level of age-related hearing loss, harman response is a good mean across the population but it is very smoothed, so that it is not offensive to a majority of people and relatively balanced with the mids. Accuracy of the Harman model starts to decrease heavily after 8-10k, and even lower depending on how old you are and your level of hearing loss.

Lots of information on the scholarly side, read Floyd/toole publications etc., and lots of discussion on it on ASR.

EDIT: Attached an excerpt from Olive about the target curve

It actually would be interesting to see what treble difference exists between silicone and foam. I believe @Sean Olive measured some treble attenuation with Comply tips on AirPods Pro’s, consistent with my and Erin’s subjective take.

I'm certain there will be some appreciable treble differences. Even slightly changing insertion depth that many tips do, will move the resonance along which could impact localisation negatively especially if it starts to get closer to 10k.