Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

[LTig]

Couldn't resist and ordered them on the spot for €55, to be delivered June 3rd to 8th. We shall see (hear) how they compare to my old Ultimate Ears UA5 (€150 back then) ...

Got them today in the late afternoon and listening almost the whole time since.

What follows is my subjective biased opinion based on an aging hearing sense, so take it rather with a bucket of salt:

I didn't compare them to the UA5s but to the Sennheiser HD800, fed by the RME ADI-2 PRO fs, using EQ for the HD800 but not for the Reds. Soundstage is not as wide but SQ is incredibly good, especially the bass. They had somewhat hard mids on bright female vocals but it depends on the seal. If seal is perfect (sometimes difficult to reach) those hard mids are (almost) gone. This said I can't think the UA5 could be better in any respect ...

Young people can be happy to get such high SQ for such low price - I'm almost getting jealous thinking about the HD424 I payed with hard earned money back in the late 1970's.

 

[Robbo99999]

The wires could be poorly soldered to the iem's drivers which could increase the impedance? If they're single-driver IEMs that would manifest as a sensitivity reduction instead of a FR change.

I own a few K702 headphones, and the solder has failed in two of those units, the symptoms being that the driver stopped working completely until I soldered the wire back on - done it 3 times on two headphones. I tend to think the same thing would happen in IEM's rather than just a reduced volume of the channel - I think you either have a connection or you don't, and if it's an intermittent connection constantly flicking in & out then I guess it could crackle when being moved perhaps, but I wouldn't suspect just a lower playback volume.

 

[Grooved]

They come as bundled freebies with several of Sony's cheap Bluetooth receivers which you can still get. The point is the Red has worse treble extension than 10-year-old cheapo earphones, as well as the original Zero.

It seems you are confusing two words here: "less" doesn't mean "worse"
I already had the Blue, got the Red one week ago, so it makes 7 days that I have both and compare them, and no doubt that the Red are more natural sounding than Blue ones. We don't hear the same way, but I would be surprised to see someone finding the Blue more natural than the Red, mainly because of a better balance in the sub-bass / bass region, and even if they might lack a little bit of treble.

 

[icey.seri]

Considering I sometimes find the Red a bit bright/shouty without the impedance adapter, I'm okay with the reduced treble extension.

I should clarify that this is only with some songs at higher volumes. The Reds are unquestionably my the best iems I've owned. Some of that probably has to do with the amazing fit I get with them.

I have quite the opposite issue, low treble sounds absolutely terrible to me, I shudder to think what'll happen to my music enjoyment when I'm 80 and can barely hear 8khz

 

[Grooved]

I have quite the opposite issue, low treble sounds absolutely terrible to me, I shudder to think what'll happen to my music enjoyment when I'm 80 and can barely hear 8khz

Maybe you already hear less treble than @Elitzur–Vaidman and that's why you both get opposite opinion on the treble of the Red ?

 

[icey.seri]

Maybe you already hear less treble than @Elitzur–Vaidman and that's why you both get opposite opinion on the treble of the Red ?

I have good hearing with audibility up to 18khz, with what i reckon to be full sensitivty up to around 16 or 17

 

[lazarian]

Maybe you already hear less treble than @Elitzur–Vaidman and that's why you both get opposite opinion on the treble of the Red ?

I think it's worth pointing out that there are two different sets of ear tips included, one narrow bore the other wide. Measurements done comparing both have shown differences in treble response of a fair margin. It's possible people are using different sets of tips and getting different results therefore. The foam tips included would also likely pull somewhat back on treble compared to narrow.

See comparison here:

Squiglink - IEM frequency response database by SupOrSalad

Compare hundreds of frequency response graphs between IEMs and earphones from manufacturers like Moondrop, Sony, 64 Audio, Fiio, and more.

suporsalad.squig.link

 

[Robbo99999]

I have quite the opposite issue, low treble sounds absolutely terrible to me, I shudder to think what'll happen to my music enjoyment when I'm 80 and can barely hear 8khz

I wouldn't worry about it too much, our minds automatically adapt to the decreased hearing ability, so music will still sound normal to you. When you get to the point of needing to use hearing aids in everyday life then I can't speak for that, as this would indicate you need that extra help for dialog to be intelligible, etc. Up to the point that you need hearing aids I wouldn't worry about it. As an idea, when a person eventually does need hearing aids praps what you could do when listening to speakers & headphones is that you could EQ in your hearing aid curve directly into the speakers or headphones so that you don't need to wear the hearing aids when listening to music - which you'd think would be a higher fidelity experience. (Of course that would be a solo listening experience at that point!) Up until that point I don't agree with correcting headphone or speaker EQ for age related hearing decrease.

 

[icey.seri]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, our minds automatically adapt to the decreased hearing ability, so music will still sound normal to you. When you get to the point of needing to use hearing aids in everyday life then I can't speak for that, as this would indicate you need that extra help for dialog to be intelligible, etc. Up to the point that you need hearing aids I wouldn't worry about it. As an idea, when a person eventually does need hearing aids praps what you could do when listening to speakers & headphones is that you could EQ in your hearing aid curve directly into the speakers or headphones so that you don't need to wear the hearing aids when listening to music - which you'd think would be a higher fidelity experience. Up until that point I don't agree with correcting headphone or speaker EQ for age related hearing decrease.

I'm not 80 now, I'm just talking about the future, in case that was unclear

 

[GaryH]

It seems you are confusing two words here: "less" doesn't mean "worse"
I already had the Blue, got the Red one week ago, so it makes 7 days that I have both and compare them, and no doubt that the Red are more natural sounding than Blue ones. We don't hear the same way, but I would be surprised to see someone finding the Blue more natural than the Red, mainly because of a better balance in the sub-bass / bass region, and even if they might lack a little bit of treble.

How old are you?

 

[IAtaman]

How old are you?

It is rude to ask an audiophile their age.

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

Maybe you already hear less treble than @Elitzur–Vaidman and that's why you both get opposite opinion on the treble of the Red ?

I have good hearing with audibility up to 18khz, with what i reckon to be full sensitivty up to around 16 or 17

Honestly, my feedback on IEMs is probably not the most useful. I have massive hearing loss out of my left ear from multiple childhood cholesteatoma surgeries. I"m considering using my Qudelix 5k to develop an EQ for just my left ear.

 

[Robbo99999]

It is rude to ask an audiophile their age.

Ear aging shame!

 

[Lbstyling]

Just received mine. Obviously. They have to fit, but, Is there any advantage between the narrower inner hole eartips vs wider?

 

[LTig]

Just received mine. Obviously. They have to fit, but, Is there any advantage between the narrower inner hole eartips vs wider?

Use those which better fit your ears.

 

[Matias]

Just received mine. Obviously. They have to fit, but, Is there any advantage between the narrower inner hole eartips vs wider?

The answer is a few posts above yours...

 

[Robbo99999]

Just received mine. Obviously. They have to fit, but, Is there any advantage between the narrower inner hole eartips vs wider?

Narrow inner hole is the one that was measured by Amir. Someone has posted the difference between narrow inner bore vs wide inner bore:

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Couldn't resist and ordered them on the spot for €55, to be delivered June 3rd to 8th. We shall see (hear) how they compare to my old Ultimate Ears UA5 (€150 back then) ... Got them today in the late afternoon and listening almost the whole time since. :) What follows is my subjective biased...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Mauro]

Ear opening experience
RED… huge… NOZZLE!
Poor ears

 

[Lbstyling]

Narrow inner hole is the one that was measured by Amir. Someone has posted the difference between narrow inner bore vs wide inner bore:

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Couldn't resist and ordered them on the spot for €55, to be delivered June 3rd to 8th. We shall see (hear) how they compare to my old Ultimate Ears UA5 (€150 back then) ... Got them today in the late afternoon and listening almost the whole time since. :) What follows is my subjective biased...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thanks! Sorted.

Just did the dreaded deadlifts for the week. 100% recommend these turned up obscenely loud with ACDC 'back in black' for a PR.

 

[GaryH]

Narrow inner hole is the one that was measured by Amir. Someone has posted the difference between narrow inner bore vs wide inner bore:

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Couldn't resist and ordered them on the spot for €55, to be delivered June 3rd to 8th. We shall see (hear) how they compare to my old Ultimate Ears UA5 (€150 back then) ... Got them today in the late afternoon and listening almost the whole time since. :) What follows is my subjective biased...

www.audiosciencereview.com

@Resolve 's measurements using a genuine GRAS RA0402 (ignore the laughable target ):