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TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

Rate this IEM

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 13 2.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 21 3.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 73 12.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 493 82.2%

  • Total voters
    600

Robbo99999

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Yeah either that or the MH755 come bundled with some Sony Bluetooth receivers which can be had new for as low as ~$15-20, although I've heard rumors that the new ones of those actually now use the MH750 driver, which is a bit too bassy for my taste (still good with EQ though):

View attachment 231177

The MH750 also come bundled with Xperia phones.
They look like they could be a bit muddy & dull though, as you've got that superwide excess energy from 500Hz down to 20Hz.
 

Robbo99999

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Unfortunately succumbed to fear of missing out and ordered, looked at them on Amazon a couple of days ago but they were showing as 2 week delivery so I didn’t bother ordering. Browsing Amazon now and I noticed they were on with next day delivery so bought them. Don’t need another set of iem’s as I have 7Hz Timeless, Dunu Vulkan and Moondrop Chu but they’re only £50 so they’ll be a good Harman comparison standard to compare against my other choices.
That's weird, I bought them on a 2 week delivery, and when I look now they're still on a 2 week delivery (here in the UK like you). I see you're in Scotland, but I don't think it would be a Scottish thing, Amazon distribution network should be the same I would have thought for all UK.
 

respice finem

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Just a guess: By ship (plus customs) it can take like two weeks?
Provided there's no lockdown at the production or shipping site.
 

Robbo99999

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I must say though, they ought to reconsider the packaging. My wife is an audiologist and is often asked by her patients to recommend headphones etc. She is aware of the Harman research finds it helpful to be able to say ‘you’ll probably like this’. Can’t see that many hearing aid wearers would want an iem, but many people with good hearing see an audiologist too. Just no way she can recommend something with a waifu on the box, it’s just too weird in a professional setting.
Lol, that's quite true! Ha, or actually, she could make a joke about it......use it as a way of making them laugh.....maybe citing "internet/gaming/audio geeks" but with the caveat that some of them do know good sound! (It could be a little Spiel she uses to brighten their day....just before she introduces a pic of box with an optional facepalm!)
 
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Robbo99999

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(I'd just like to add that this is scary!) :p
index.php
 

Robbo99999

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Same for me. The few I have tried that get good ASR approval ratings were absolutely atrocious in the bottom end for my liking and like you said, dull sounding in general.
Have you tried EQ'ing your over ear headphones to the Harman 2013 Curve rather than the 2018 Curve? It's theoretically more accurate to flat speakers in a room, and has less bass. I did a post here on it (link following), but note it's only applicable to over ear headphones (not IEM's), I don't know enough about how the IEM curve was created to suggest ways of converting that to a more Harman 2013 sound (it that is at all applicable when it comes to how the IEM curve was created).
Actually, thinking about it, when it comes to the IEM curve the first thing you can do is play about with reducing the bass shelf - try adding a Low Shelf filter at 105Hz, Q0.707, then add negative gain to that until it sounds more acceptable.
 

Jimbob54

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That's weird, I bought them on a 2 week delivery, and when I look now they're still on a 2 week delivery (here in the UK like you). I see you're in Scotland, but I don't think it would be a Scottish thing, Amazon distribution network should be the same I would have thought for all UK.
@Somafunk too

On Amazon UK- the first listing has Shenzhenaudio as the seller- not Amazon themselves. This is usually the case for such products. As such, delivery will be as if you ordered from their own website unless they have a stock of the particular items warehoused in the UK. I guess with these they dont.

Any yes, when I buy from Shenzhen , assuming no production issues things take about 10 days from order to delivery.
 

Robbo99999

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I’d like to know why you can’t see a head shadow in the Harman Curve? I placed 2 different mics in the sweetspot of a stereo triangle Then placed those mics in my ear canal openings and took measurements. I get dramatically different results from the Preference curve. Harman goes from this:View attachment 231200
To this:
View attachment 231201

I put all my lines on one graph and I think they are self explanatory:
View attachment 231202
Knowing that we listen to a stereo source, the head is roughly the same width as 1,500Hz and frequencies around that size or smaller will either reflect or diffract and larger frequencies will largely ignore me, my graph seems to make sense. The notch at 9kHz makes sense because of the 30 degree offset. Pinna gain is present, but there’s no ear canal resonance involved because it’s not included in the graph. With my fairly flat in room graph, you can see the a totally different shape than the Preference curve. You’d think that the Harman Curve would be a more exaggerated form of mine. The common criticisms I read (and personally hear) is a thin midbass and a forward pinna gain on the Harman Preference. My in-home, citizen scientist approach would suggest why, but I’d love to understand why the Harman curve looks nothing like that. Is there a reason for the lack of head shadow?
View attachment 231210
Thank you very much in advance,

DanTheMan
Note: my experience here is in reference to over ear headphones
I'll let someone who really understands HRTFs properly in terms of head shadows answer the details of your question, but I'll probably comment that a blocked ear canal is gonna show a different frequency response than measuring at the eardrum, and I don't know if it's possible to extrapolate your blocked canal measurements to that. I'll also add that for me personally, on your comment of "common criticisms I read (and personally hear) is a thin midbass and a forward pinna gain on the Harman Preference" , that this is the opposite of my experience - when I compare it against my flat studio monitors then if anything the pinna gain is slightly more forward than the Harman Curve and also slightly higher, as in if I try to tune against my studio monitors I'd need to draw that area a bit higher and just a little bit earlier. I generally don't bother with running my headphones to that target curve I once created though, as I don't really prefer it, and I'm not totally sure on it.....but I did do a sincere attempt to tune it once to my studio monitors (using reference music tracks I use for EQ tuning), and that's what I came up with. Re your comment on midbass, I find that accurate & fine re Harman Curve & studio monitors.

EDIT: managed to dig up the modified Harman Curve that I tuned to my studio monitors (highlighted line is the modified curve), I did this ages ago, and don't really use it, but it was a sincere attempt to match my studio monitors (note: over ear headphones):
Rob's Reference Headphone Curve vs Harman.jpg
 
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Robbo99999

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@Somafunk too

On Amazon UK- the first listing has Shenzhenaudio as the seller- not Amazon themselves. This is usually the case for such products. As such, delivery will be as if you ordered from their own website unless they have a stock of the particular items warehoused in the UK. I guess with these they dont.

Any yes, when I buy from Shenzhen , assuming no production issues things take about 10 days from order to delivery.
lol, it's changed to a 2 day delivery now (Sunday 18th Sept), within the last hour! But then weirdly says on the same page "Usually dispatched within 6 days" - so that doesn't compute!
 

nyxnyxnyx

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Great review , thanks Amir. Ordered, I do not really needed it, but it will be interesting to compare against my Monarch MKII, and 7Hz Timeless; my 2 best sounding IEMs ( I have also the Dusk , several high end Shures collecting dust these days after long period of AB testing)
So these 3 follow the Harman curve, but at different prices, 50-200-1000, AB testing will be quite interesting.
do you have the KSE1200/1500? with EQ they are even more amazing.
it's absolutely one of the very best IEMs I've ever extensively owned/listened to.
my bias don't think any low budget IEMs will sound better than it, even if it flawlessly follows any specific targets .
 

Jimbob54

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lol, it's changed to a 2 day delivery now (Sunday 18th Sept), within the last hour! But then weirdly says on the same page "Usually dispatched within 6 days" - so that doesn't compute!
Wait and see when it arrives. Must have a batch in country if it arrives 2 or 3 days after order.
 

Astoneroad

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my bias don't think any low budget IEMs will sound better than it, even if it flawlessly follows any specific targets .
So, without any other hardware or EQ changes, just raising the price elevates an IEM to "better"? Once the foundation of our bias is identified, we can either hold on tight, or let go. My $50 pair is due today. I'll make them "better" by selling them to you for $250. Then, I'll reorder another "less better" pair for $50. Robert Pirsig describes this as "The Monkey Trap". (Drop the rice and run away.)
 
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Robbo99999

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Wait and see when it arrives. Must have a batch in country if it arrives 2 or 3 days after order.
(I ordered mine shortly after this review came out, it's definitely in China right now according the parcel tracking.)
 

Feelas

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my bias don't think any low budget IEMs will sound better than it, even if it flawlessly follows any specific targets .
"Bias" is the right way to call it - if R&D and production costs can be covered by $50 for any IEMs then anything over $50 is expensive.
 

nyxnyxnyx

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So, without any other hardware or EQ changes, just raising the price elevates an IEM to "better"? Once the foundation of our bias is identified, we can either hold on tight, or let go. My $50 pair is due today. I'll make them "better" and sell them to you for $250, then order another, "less better", pair for $50. Robert Pirsig describes this as "The Monkey Trap". (Drop the rice and run away.)
"Bias" is the right way to call it - if R&D and production costs can be covered by $50 for any IEMs then anything over $50 is expensive.
I am aware that my hunch is lacking statistic and evidence to back it up, that's why I called it my bias.
The KSE (both stock sound and EQ'ed sound) is very good, I did not mention it but of course many other highly expensive and overpriced IEMs don't sound that good too, not just budget ones.

For R&D, quality and longevity of this model time shall answer it. If it's cheaper and better of course it will always be better for us, but I'm in the camp that this model (along with many others """giant killer""" IEMs in the past) can be very overhyped, plus we don't know if they cut any corners or not. So to be fair, I'll try or buy a pair and see how good it is this time because the landscape and reception in IEMs community often change really quickly.

Lastly, I'm just glad we can have something that hits the target and is very affordable. I do think that if there was something like this 5-7 years ago, they can easily price it $500 or more.
 

maverickronin

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Try searching for SBH20, SBH24 or SBH54.

Cool, those are actually available.

Lacking in bass, and has the same excess around 1-3 kHz as the Truthear:

They're closer to my preferred target anyway. I know you prefer strict Harman target compliance which is why I added the ;)
 

Astoneroad

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If it's cheaper and better of course it will always be better for us, but I'm in the camp that this model (along with many others """giant killer""" IEMs in the past) can be very overhyped, plus we don't know if they cut any corners or not.
There can be little rational debate about "overhype" in our shared character flaw (HiFi). Showing performance by measurement and assessing value, (performance/cost) is IMO the appropriate objective response to "overhype". Granted, there are missing components to the value proposition such as longevity and reliability, and debate about if target performance is the Harmon curve or the Kobayashi Maru. Given the knowns of performance and cost/value, overhype happens outside of the objective domain, no?
 
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