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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

vco1

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Jun 9, 2021
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Are you saying eartips brought down the highs by several dB?
I can't tell you. What I noticed (not measured) is that the 'sound' changed significantly when using different eartips. Probably because the relative strength of the bass increased when having better seal. So it all sounded (again, not measured) more even and thus less harsh. And to me more pleasant.
 

Chromatischism

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I can't tell you. What I noticed (not measured) is that the 'sound' changed significantly when using different eartips. Probably because the relative strength of the bass increased when having better seal. So it all sounded (again, not measured) more even and thus less harsh. And to me more pleasant.
Interesting.

Mine don't dramatically change when going from the silicone to the foam tips, I just get better isolation. Better isolation does lead to slightly better bass due to reducing background masking, but they are still just as bright.
 

NoiseBoyJohn

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Nov 24, 2022
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Hi,

I just registered for this forum and this is my first post. I wanted to let folks know that the Crinacle Zeros are on sale for Black Friday @ $42.49. I ordered a pair based on the strength of this review, the subsequent user comments, and what seems to me to be a bargain price. Here's hoping that I like the way they fit and sound.
 

Fregly

Senior Member
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Dec 12, 2018
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Just got these. For my ears the bass is overcooked, heard in drum kick and floor toms especially so far. Sounds quite good though overall, with a bit too much sizzle up top. I do not find them uncomfortable. The Tangzu Waner came as well today and seem quite bad in comparison -- thick weird mids, and do not seem hi fi.
 

oppie

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Thinking about getting these locally while im waiting for the variations to arive, has anyone compared the two?
 

nyxnyxnyx

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May 22, 2019
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To people that have experienced/owned several TOTL/expensive and highly appreciated IEMs:
Did these IEMs make you feel "wow"? Or were you pleasantly surprised with the sound quality?
I haven't seen many people bought them in my local community so just wanna ask further and understand your experience better.
 

Cote Dazur

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I have enjoyed those for a while now, but I now have 2 questions, no totally limited to those particular IEM, but all IEM or even headphones in general.
  1. Are the measurements dependent on what is used to feed them? Will the FR change depending on how the amp feeding them deals with the 10 ohm nominal impedance raising to 35 at 20 hz, in the case of those or any other technical particular.
  2. Is there any objective reason those IEM would sound any different at the same volume level when I use them with the Apple dongle or with the earphone jack on my IPad?
 

Fregly

Senior Member
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Dec 12, 2018
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264
To people that have experienced/owned several TOTL/expensive and highly appreciated IEMs:
Did these IEMs make you feel "wow"? Or were you pleasantly surprised with the sound quality?
I haven't seen many people bought them in my local community so just wanna ask further and understand your
My Etys and Senn 560s with treble eq are quite a bit better. Others are hearing the Zeros differently, obviously. The price is a no risk buy and try, in the end.
 

GaryH

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I have enjoyed those for a while now, but I now have 2 questions, no totally limited to those particular IEM, but all IEM or even headphones in general.
  1. Are the measurements dependent on what is used to feed them? Will the FR change depending on how the amp feeding them deals with the 10 ohm nominal impedance raising to 35 at 20 hz, in the case of those or any other technical particular.
  2. Is there any objective reason those IEM would sound any different at the same volume level when I use them with the Apple dongle or with the earphone jack on my IPad?

1. Yes, if the amp doesn't have a very low output impedance.

2. Possibly, depending on the output impedance of the iPad.

This article should explain everything:
 
Last edited:

Rottmannash

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To people that have experienced/owned several TOTL/expensive and highly appreciated IEMs:
Did these IEMs make you feel "wow"? Or were you pleasantly surprised with the sound quality?
I haven't seen many people bought them in my local community so just wanna ask further and understand your experience better.
I dont' have any TOTL IEM's but have the Blessing 2's and they are close, closer than I would have thought. I have higher end HP's but that's a different comparison.
 

nyxnyxnyx

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It seems with IEMs the tuning is partially solved if we go with Harman or DF. I wonder what could be the next step in term of sound improvement?
Here at ASR we do have extended public information and knowledge about FR, but not too much when it comes to transducer materials, designs and other physical aspects. I suspect because not many IEMs/Headphones designers are active here and publicly sharing their findings.
 

Phorize

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Don't know about Jazz, but rock and metal, two types of music especially sensitive of brightness, are unlistenable on these without EQ.
Funnily enough I bought my audiologist wife a pair-feedback was very good but abit intense. Eventually got to that being the 1000-3000 hz range. She pulled up some typical peak hearing sensitivity measurements for people with normal hearing. Turns out peak sensitivity in that same range is common, for fairly obvious reasons. Then we looked at occlusion effect. Lots of measurements showing typical impact of fuller occlusion impacting on the same frequency range the most, as attached. So we have 3 factors impacting on the 1-3k range significantly-the response of the iem (which is slightly higher than Harman iem v2) the degree of fit/occlusion (reported to very quite abit here-I get a great fit) and the actual sensitivity of the listener. That’s going to cause a lot of variation in practice making generalising difficult and personal eq very important.
 

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vitalii427

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I don't think the Zero will stand up to the Variations, but it would save a lot of money.
Why do you think so? From your EQ settings I’m thinking that Variations would be too V-shaped for you just like Zero with more subbass
 

vitalii427

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To people that have experienced/owned several TOTL/expensive and highly appreciated IEMs:
Did these IEMs make you feel "wow"? Or were you pleasantly surprised with the sound quality?
I haven't seen many people bought them in my local community so just wanna ask further and understand your experience better.
I have original Andromeda which was some kind of TOTL in 2016-2017 and yes - Zero made me feel “wow”. The right proportion from bass to lower mids especially. And most of the time now I feel it’s better with no EQ only sometimes sub bass is a tiny bit lacking
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Are the measurements dependent on what is used to feed them? Will the FR change depending on how the amp feeding them deals with the 10 ohm nominal impedance raising to 35 at 20 hz, in the case of those or any other technical particular.
Every headphone amp I recommend is a perfect fit for them. If you go for those not tested/recommended by me, then as noted, you need to make sure they have near zero output impedance. Otherwise frequency response can be impacted.
 

vitalii427

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I have enjoyed those for a while now, but I now have 2 questions, no totally limited to those particular IEM, but all IEM or even headphones in general.
  1. Are the measurements dependent on what is used to feed them? Will the FR change depending on how the amp feeding them deals with the 10 ohm nominal impedance raising to 35 at 20 hz, in the case of those or any other technical particular.
  2. Is there any objective reason those IEM would sound any different at the same volume level when I use them with the Apple dongle or with the earphone jack on my IPad?
I’ve just received measurement mic with iec711 coupler and still had no time make proper measurements. But I believe different sources can make a bit of difference in the sub bass.
JFYI Zero cable has almost 2ohm total impedance itself.
 
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