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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

Somafunk

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There’s a new blessing 3 coming soon, could be the new Crinacle project red
 

IAtaman

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There’s a new blessing 3 coming soon, could be the new Crinacle project red
I believe I read or heard somewhere that it might be a re-tuning of the 7Hz Zero (aka the other zero)
 

Matias

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I believe I read or heard somewhere that it might be a re-tuning of the 7Hz Zero (aka the other zero)
 

brandall10

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I don't really agree with Equal Loudness EQ. For a start you're not supposed to hear all frequencies to the same loudness, due to Fletcher Munson, so the A16 would have to take that into account. Also Equal Loudness will EQ out your natural hearing deficits you have in some areas, which is probably useful if you need a hearing aid, but otherwise I don't agree with EQ'ing out natural hearing degredation or born individual hearing quirks (as long as it's not severe) - because we get used to what "normal" sounds like with our non-perfect ears, so straying from that would be unnatural sounding.

I think the person you're responding to if in fact advocating for a feature using FM - "which is an equal subjective loudness tuning". As far as personal variations, would be curious to see if it has a way to create an audiogram.
 
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Dunring

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Just got a pair of these and really impressed. They need an amplifier, onboard sound and the Moto G Power phone wouldn't get them loud enough for a favorite song every once in a while. The Topping L30 II is a shining star with these. Still takes medium gain at 12 oclock to get them up there which was surprising that low gain couldn't cut it. Using a Topping E50 DAC, and of course on the SMSL SP200 it was childs play to power these... The low noise floor on the L30 II just really completes them. The tips used for testing fit well, which means I can shop now at "Test Dummy Gap" and everything off the rack will fit me :)
There's currently a Hifiman Ananda behind me and I prefer these. There's some FLAC files I've already noticed have some things I didn't notice about them before. Going to throw into Destiny 2 now and see how they fare for gaming. The first impression is they really don't need any EQ, wouldn't change a thing. The Yincrow X6 is staying as well, that's the under $10 bargain, and at $42 the Zero just blows away so many expensive headphones out there.
 

renaudrenaud

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Of course the question you should ask is what is your wife buying that she is not telling you about?
And do not understand clearly these debates, my wife buy what she wants and the same for me.
But 2 days ago she told me I want a pair of iem. Ordered, and I am pretty impatient to test the effect on me.
I showed her the golfing panther and she answered it's OK if Amir gave them a positive review.
 

Robbo99999

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And do not understand clearly these debates, my wife buy what she wants and the same for me.
But 2 days ago she told me I want a pair of iem. Ordered, and I am pretty impatient to test the effect on me.
I showed her the golfing panther and she answered it's OK if Amir gave them a positive review.
Hey, if that's what your wife said, that's all I need to know!
 

Zoide

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How would the sound of these compare to full-sized Bluetooth headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM3?

Thanks
 

Blorg

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How would the sound of these compare to full-sized Bluetooth headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM3?
I would suspect, a lot better, the bass on these much less bloated, and it looks a lot more tonally correct through the mids as well, the XM3 looks very off there. To an extent though, it's personal preference, a hugely bass bloated signature is a very popular one and people used to massive amounts of bass might find these thin and anemic sounding.

I haven't heard the XM3, I'm just going off the graphs/reviews and similar stuff I have heard, I have owned Sony's TOTL over-ear and that had too much bass, and it's only a fraction of what the XM3 has.

1679282569108.png
 

Dunring

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I've had the Sony X3 a couple of times for business and listening to the Zero now on a Topping E50/SMSL SP200 and there's no comparison. It's just better in every way except for wireless convenience. The bass is accurate instead of artificial/bloated on the Sony. This doesn't need any EQ or changes for music, but dialing down the bass for gaming is needed so explosions don't drown out other sounds. The Sony just doesn't resolve tiny details like these do. I use a long extender cable to walk around the room without taking them off. I'll take that compromise any day over the Sony. They do need current, not just a phone or onboard sound to be their best.
Also I have a Sabaj A20h and Topping L30 II and they just sound amazing. On the Moto G Power phone or onboard they just don't get loud enough for a favorite song. Also had the Bower & Wilkins PX7 Carbon a few times, better than the Sony, as was the Bose Quietcomfort II 45 and even the 35 we use for TV watching. Sony completely sold out their consumer products for artifical sounding single note bass. It's popular for teens who want to bounce in their chair during hiphop songs, but if you want to hear everything accurately, the Truthear Zero will do the job much better.
 

Zoide

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I would suspect, a lot better, the bass on these much less bloated, and it looks a lot more tonally correct through the mids as well, the XM3 looks very off there. To an extent though, it's personal preference, a hugely bass bloated signature is a very popular one and people used to massive amounts of bass might find these thin and anemic sounding.

I haven't heard the XM3, I'm just going off the graphs/reviews and similar stuff I have heard, I have owned Sony's TOTL over-ear and that had too much bass, and it's only a fraction of what the XM3 has.

View attachment 273282
What about the soundstage and imaging, though?

And how would the passive noise cancelation of the earbuds compare to the ANC of the headphones?

Thanks
 

sharock

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How would the sound of these compare to full-sized Bluetooth headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM3?

Thanks

I have both and use them with the Wavelet app on Android to EQ them to Harman target. I'd say the Truthears sound better overall. However, EQ does improve the Sony XM3 a lot.

For me, the XM3 are more practical on public transport and planes due to the NC and being able to easily remove them. They also make better ear warmers in winter.
 

JRS

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Just got mine thru Alibaba--$58.00
Damn these are good! Certainly the best fifty bucks I have ever spent.
Only surprise is that they are not as sensitive as the One More quads I have been using--which is a good thing. My laptop maxxed isn't killing off the few hair cells I have left.
 

SuicideSquid

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I would suspect, a lot better, the bass on these much less bloated, and it looks a lot more tonally correct through the mids as well, the XM3 looks very off there. To an extent though, it's personal preference, a hugely bass bloated signature is a very popular one and people used to massive amounts of bass might find these thin and anemic sounding.

I haven't heard the XM3, I'm just going off the graphs/reviews and similar stuff I have heard, I have owned Sony's TOTL over-ear and that had too much bass, and it's only a fraction of what the XM3 has.

View attachment 273282
My wife has the XM3, I have the Truthears. She likes the XM3s and they sound fine, I guess, but to me they sound very 'soft', too much midrange, not enough treble, muddy bass. The Truthears I find have a hair too much treble but otherwise are very neutral and balanced with lots of clean and articulate bass.

They're *very* different sounding.
 

Zoide

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My wife has the XM3, I have the Truthears. She likes the XM3s and they sound fine, I guess, but to me they sound very 'soft', too much midrange, not enough treble, muddy bass. The Truthears I find have a hair too much treble but otherwise are very neutral and balanced with lots of clean and articulate bass.

They're *very* different sounding.
How does the ANC of the XM3 compare to the passive isolation of the Truthears?
Is Truthears' soundstage / imaging worse than that of the full-sized XM3's?

Thanks
 

SuicideSquid

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How does the ANC of the XM3 compare to the passive isolation of the Truthears?
Is Truthears' soundstage / imaging worse than that of the full-sized XM3's?

Thanks
Soundstage is always narrower with IEMs than over-ear headphones.

The Sony's ANC is *very* good. I'd say the Sony's ANC is comparable or even slightly better than my Monoprice Bluetooth IEMs with ANC.

I use my Truthears with foam tips rather than rubber which provide better noise isolation, but even then, I'd say the Sony's ANC gives you better sound isolation.
 

FrantzM

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I've had the Sony X3 a couple of times for business and listening to the Zero now on a Topping E50/SMSL SP200 and there's no comparison. It's just better in every way except for wireless convenience. The bass is accurate instead of artificial/bloated on the Sony. This doesn't need any EQ or changes for music, but dialing down the bass for gaming is needed so explosions don't drown out other sounds. The Sony just doesn't resolve tiny details like these do. I use a long extender cable to walk around the room without taking them off. I'll take that compromise any day over the Sony. They do need current, not just a phone or onboard sound to be their best.
<snip>
I have both and agree with you 92.5% :)
I don't agree with the point of these needing any special amplification. I have 3 headphones amplifiers capable of serious wattage and current (iFi iDSD. JDS Atom, THX789AAA), and the TCZ sound the same with any of these as when driven with the $7.95 Apple dongle.
This is so strange, but I have an endgame IEM... and it cost $50...

Peace.
 
Last edited:

Blorg

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@FrantzM the Apple dongle is plenty powerful already and very low output impedance. These are very low impedance, 10Ω, so you want something at or under ~1.2Ω output impedance to keep the intended tonality. Good dongles are below that but there are plenty of phones / onboard sound that will be a lot higher than that, and this will change the frequency response, boosting the bass. Many older headphone amps and receivers will be high output impedance too. In that link Amir measured the Google V2 dongle at 8Ω for example, which would have an effect on the frequency response. I have an amp here that is 90Ω and it sure has an effect, makes it very muddy. I put measurements further up showing exactly what higher output impedance does to the FR on this, it's not subtle.
 

FrantzM

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@FrantzM the Apple dongle is plenty powerful already and very low output impedance. These are very low impedance, 10Ω, so you want something at or under ~1.2Ω output impedance to keep the intended tonality. Good dongles are below that but there are plenty of phones / onboard sound that will be a lot higher than that, and this will change the frequency response, boosting the bass. Many older headphone amps and receivers will be high output impedance too. In that link Amir measured the Google V2 dongle at 8Ω for example, which would have an effect on the frequency response. I have an amp here that is 90Ω and it sure has an effect, makes it very muddy. I put measurements further up showing exactly what higher output impedance does to the FR on this, it's not subtle.
Points well taken.. My 3 amplifiers indeed are low impedance.

Peace.
 
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