TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[FrantzM]

Hi

Frankly, this little gem has me thinking...
It shouldn't be that good for so little.. Perhaps we have been conditioned by the Audio Industry to think in term of vast money expenditures for little to no gains.. Seriously, every audiophile should get one of these, drive it with an inexpensive USB DAC/Amp, I am doing that with the Apple dongle ... and I am floored. Out of the box, it is better, Yes! Better, than my HifiMan HE-6SE2, out of the box. When EQ-ed the HE-6Sev2 is its superior, especially in spatial presentation and, yes, bass slam,,, One of the few headphones which give the impression of a subwoofer in your ears ... This IEM however isn't lacking in bass or slam... I tried to Equalize it ... Differences are slight...
It boggles my mind that $60.oo (TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero @ $50.oo + Apple Dongle @ $9.95) can provide Reference Sound.. Portable , practical and easy to use...

It has become an habit to belittle what the Chinese Audio Industry is churning at bargain prices, as "Chi-Fi"... Do drop these prejudices that hint of xenophilia... The Chinese Hi-Fi Industry is serious, is designing and selling high performance products. I'd like to see what they will produce, when they put their mind to speakers. People will advance that it is easier to make headphones or IEM than speakers .. Fine .. It begs those questions: 1) What IEM do you think is, its better? 2)Does anyone know of another IEM with similar performance for at least10 times the price? Just asking? And to top it off, the darn thing comes with 5 different tips!
I started with the memory-foam tip but found another one that fit my ears canal better... Improvements? Don't know, perhaps better bass and external noise isolation... Else, mostly the same stellar transducer. Did I mention this IEM, doesn't need EQ? The only earphone that I have that doesn't need it.. The Stax 007 needs a lot of it, yet lacks in bass and won't play loud, the HE-6SEv2, become a superlative headphones with EQ, but without, is merely good.. The Sony WMX-1000 v3 mandates EQ, This TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero doesn't need EQ... Plays loud , clean and has bass.. Serious bass, is accurate, is ...

For those who are on the fence: This may well be the greatest bargain in all Hi-Fi. For those who have Apple and lament, the lack of EQ., the Apple dongle drives it to unhealthy (for me) levels. No EQ necessary

Wow!

Peace.

 

[Chromatischism]

My FiiO FH3 sounds better out of the box. The highs are almost perfect; my preference is -1 dB from the highs and that's it. It's main flaw is the thicker upper bass into the mids, but that could be easily addressed. I could EQ the FH3, but the Truthears are a polycarbonate shell, which I'm preferring the weight and comfort of (they aren't cold when I put them on). The only thing I'm not liking right now is the ear loop on the cable. It's too large. I don't want a thicker aftermarket cable though. I'm sticking with the Truthear Zeros for now, with EQ to fix the upper mid-range and bass issues. Once that is in place, they are great. I'm not sure what could be better sounding.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Welp I finally got enticed and bought these to get on the hype wagon. It’ll be fun to alternate between these and the KZ Zex Pro.

 

[Vovgan]

Gave them “terrible” rating in the quiz. They may be as good as reported during the ideal seal, but for that I have to keep pressing them inside ear canals and once the press is released the bass is gone. Why keep making such terrible designs when Apple nailed the in-ear fit with their AirPods long ago.

 

[RHO]

Why keep making such terrible designs

For you maybe. For many this design is great.

 

[FrantzM]

Gave them “terrible” rating in the quiz. They may be as good as reported during the ideal seal, but for that I have to keep pressing them inside ear canals and once the press is released the bass is gone. Why keep making such terrible designs when Apple nailed the in-ear fit with their AirPods long ago.

"terrible" is not a fair descriptor for this design. If you have to press, it mean that the seal is not correct, thus that the chosen tip doesn't fit your ear canals.. There are 5 tips, have you tried them all? That the provided tips , if they were all tried, did not fit, still, do not make of this earphone a "terrible" design ..And there are some truly inexpensive tips out there., that could fit you..In Hi-Fi as in may other things in life, one must experiments, if just a little, to reach best results...

Peace.

 

[Walter]

Gave them “terrible” rating in the quiz. They may be as good as reported during the ideal seal, but for that I have to keep pressing them inside ear canals and once the press is released the bass is gone. Why keep making such terrible designs when Apple nailed the in-ear fit with their AirPods long ago.

I can't stand the fit of Airpods!

 

[Phorize]

Not sure if I should start a new thread for this, but thought it worth mentioning. I’ve just had a sudden failure of my right ear piece, mid range/high frequency has gone, so I’m speculating that it’s a driver failure. Of course the odd failure does not mean that these aren’t a perfectly good product most of the time, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the reliability pans out given how new the brand is. Going to see if I can get an replacement pair under the warranty which I’ll confess I haven’t read yet.

 

[Jimbob54]

Not sure if I should start a new thread for this, but thought it worth mentioning. I’ve just had a sudden failure of my right ear piece, mid range/high frequency has gone, so I’m speculating that it’s a driver failure. Of course the odd failure does not mean that these aren’t a perfectly good product most of the time, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the reliability pans out given how new the brand is. Going to see if I can get an replacement pair under the warranty which I’ll confess I haven’t read yet.

Any cables you could swap first?

(not that a cable fail is much better from a QC angle- but its an easier fix)

 

[SalutaryGraveness]

Gave them “terrible” rating in the quiz. They may be as good as reported during the ideal seal, but for that I have to keep pressing them inside ear canals and once the press is released the bass is gone. Why keep making such terrible designs when Apple nailed the in-ear fit with their AirPods long ago.

I think the included ear tips are not good.
Once I swapped them with ear tips that came with my Blessing 2
I had no problem whatsoever with fit, comfort, seal and bass response. Effortless

I still gave these iems a "golfing panther" rating
but they should have included just 3 pairs of high quality ear tips
instead of 7 pairs of lower quality tips.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Fascinating thread, as using IEM, is the closets to an even playing field that we can have in reporting on what we think we ear from the same product.
I have had my Zero for over a week and plenty of time to enjoy them on plenty of material, all kind of music, movies, speech.
I am still delighted with them, so glad that I followed Amir advice and tried them.
The only adjustment (Discounting EQ) are ear placement and the different tips. Originally after an extensive trial period , I had elected one set as the set, with more “clarity”, “better highs”, “cleaner and deeper lows”, I realize, now that I have selected a more “balanced” set of tips, that the Zero are even better than I originally thought.
As it often happen to me and suspect happens to many ears here, my first selection was more a typical audiophile “tizz and boom” result, and that I am now more with a “musical” selection, as it gives me better music. Their is a lot of music available form the zero, once passed the initial awe period.

 

[Somafunk]

Gave them “terrible” rating in the quiz. They may be as good as reported during the ideal seal, but for that I have to keep pressing them inside ear canals and once the press is released the bass is gone. Why keep making such terrible designs when Apple nailed the in-ear fit with their AirPods long ago.

Perhaps try a different ear tip, I’m currently using Spinfit W1, the supplied ear tips were an ok fit for myself but the Spinfit W1 has a very supple construction with the ability to flex with the shape of your ear canal, they have a very secure fit due to the tacky feeling silicone material and do not fall out nor move once a seal is achieved,

 

[AdamG]

Welp I finally got enticed and bought these to get on the hype wagon. It’ll be fun to alternate between these and the KZ Zex Pro.

Is it Hype when the claims are measured and accurate? For $50 bucks? It’s really not Hype when it’s true right? How often do you see Amir and a majority of ASR members Recommend anything ? Rarer than Hens Teeth or Unicorn and Sasquatch sightings The deep note sub-bass is pretty incredible in these. The recommendations are sound and backed up by reproducible measurements.

 

[KikoKentaurus]

How does this track sound in Zero's? Do vocals distort?

 

[SalutaryGraveness]

So, I've been trying to refine some EQ for these iems based on @amirm's data and target curve
But the result is always the same: Just a bit more boring presentation of the same tuning

Which is basically the same situation I have with my Blessing 2, which is a dangerous
thing to say because I am not willing to accept some equivalence between a $50 iem
and a $320 iem.

But I guess this is just a convoluted way of saying that these iem don't really need EQ.

Yet, I feel they sound better with the apple dongle with its <1ohm impedance and even
better with my guitar multi-effects processor which I assume has a very good DAC.
Maybe just placebo, IDK.

 

[F1308]

How does this track sound in Zero's? Do vocals distort?

Sounds very well indeed.

No distortion to my ears.

Although there are at times some confronting tones from choir and double bass, but that fact is clearly distinguished and in the end they do not clash.

Curiously, I have been suffering for years as I went hearing her beautiful voice clipping for a mere millisecond on this astoundingly recorded audio track, myself always thinking the microphone failed at that very point, and just found out it is simply gone when played with the Zero, so it was all my previous devices the ones to be blamed, not the recording, which is majestic, as all from Savall.

 

[Chromatischism]

I think the included ear tips are not good.
Once I swapped them with ear tips that came with my Blessing 2
I had no problem whatsoever with fit, comfort, seal and bass response. Effortless

I still gave these iems a "golfing panther" rating
but they should have included just 3 pairs of high quality ear tips
instead of 7 pairs of lower quality tips.

I actually don't think they are low quality. I like them, and the large silicone seals best for me and does not fall out while working and cleaning, and my ears are average.

 

[Χ Ξ Σ]

Wait until we find out that the tips on Zero and Blessing 2 are made of the same material, from the same supplier, just in different colors.

 

[Jimbob54]

Wait until we find out that the tips on Zero and Blessing 2 are made of the same material, from the same supplier, just in different colors.

Doubtful- the stock B2 tips are like a limp swimming sock.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Is it Hype when the claims are measured and accurate? For $50 bucks? It’s really not Hype when it’s true right? How often do you see Amir and a majority of ASR members Recommend anything ? Rarer than Hens Teeth or Unicorn and Sasquatch sightings The deep note sub-bass is pretty incredible in these. The recommendations are sound and backed up by reproducible measurements.

Listen Linda, i gobbled up the recommendations and now I'm asking for seconds