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Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Maiky76
Senior Member
This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $55.
View attachment 286738
I was relieved that they are more mahogany/darker red than what the name implies. Compared to the previous Zero version, they are supposed to have slightly different frequency response and lower distortion. We will test both. Different silicone tips are included. Here are the sets I used for testing:
View attachment 286739
Measurement set was recommended by the company and are the same ones that I used for original Truthear Crinacle Zero IEM review.
If you are new to my testing, please watch this video on headphone measurements.
Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response measurement:
View attachment 286750
That is very good match to our target with just a bit less bass. The original zero had slightly more energy in the 2 to 5 kHz:
Given the precise matching to our frequency response, the differential to our target is quite small and limited to bass:
View attachment 286751
Edit: there is an inline resistor which reduces sensitivity some but effectively boosts bass:
View attachment 286757
I was happy to see nice reduction in distortion:
View attachment 286743
That's incredibly low distortion even at 114 dBSPL! Love it....
View attachment 286744
The dual elements and crossover within cause non-flat frequency response:
View attachment 286745
Company takes advantage of this by including an inline resistor adapter which would cause more losses where impedance is low. This means you get less highs or put the other way, you get more bass, albeit with some power loss. I would not mess with the adapter.
Group delay is non revealing as is the case with most IEMs:
View attachment 286746
The Red remains in the class of less sensitive IEMs:
View attachment 286747
Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED Listening Tests
I was so anxious to start listening to these but imagine my surprise when the first track sounded anything but correct. I quickly realized bass was not there and bam, I had forgotten to go to the next size up! Did that and immediate joy was to be had with accurate and deep bass complimenting the higher frequencies. The low distortion and detail gave me goosebumps sometimes.
I did find the sound a bit closed so I dialed in a low Q (2) 1 to 2 dB gain filter centered at 3 kHz. This substantially improved the spatial effects. But also caused some brightness at times. The designer expressed dissatisfaction with the original Zero's higher response and lowering it in this revision. I think the truth, pun intended, is somewhere in the middle.
EDIT: in the original review, I used the wrong target which showed great matching with target in bass. With the correct target, we see a bit of bass deficiency which would explain why boosting treble caused brightness.
Conclusions
Folks, we have another reference class IEM for hardly any money. Yes, there is a bit different tuning but whether that is better or not, is hard to determine given the uncertainty in measurements, and listening preference at granular level. I am happy with either but like the lower distortion in RED. If I want more spatial effects, I can dial up the mid treble. I could not reduce distortion the original Zero. So the RED gets my vote as to the better of the two by small margin.
It is my pleasure to add Truthear x Crinacle Zero RED to my recommended list. Skip a lunch or two out and put this in your arsenal even if you are not a regular IEM user.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $55.
View attachment 286738
I was relieved that they are more mahogany/darker red than what the name implies. Compared to the previous Zero version, they are supposed to have slightly different frequency response and lower distortion. We will test both. Different silicone tips are included. Here are the sets I used for testing:
View attachment 286739
Measurement set was recommended by the company and are the same ones that I used for original Truthear Crinacle Zero IEM review.
If you are new to my testing, please watch this video on headphone measurements.
Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response measurement:
View attachment 286750
That is very good match to our target with just a bit less bass. The original zero had slightly more energy in the 2 to 5 kHz:
Given the precise matching to our frequency response, the differential to our target is quite small and limited to bass:
View attachment 286751
Edit: there is an inline resistor which reduces sensitivity some but effectively boosts bass:
View attachment 286757
I was happy to see nice reduction in distortion:
View attachment 286743
That's incredibly low distortion even at 114 dBSPL! Love it....
View attachment 286744
The dual elements and crossover within cause non-flat frequency response:
View attachment 286745
Company takes advantage of this by including an inline resistor adapter which would cause more losses where impedance is low. This means you get less highs or put the other way, you get more bass, albeit with some power loss. I would not mess with the adapter.
Group delay is non revealing as is the case with most IEMs:
View attachment 286746
The Red remains in the class of less sensitive IEMs:
View attachment 286747
Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED Listening Tests
I was so anxious to start listening to these but imagine my surprise when the first track sounded anything but correct. I quickly realized bass was not there and bam, I had forgotten to go to the next size up! Did that and immediate joy was to be had with accurate and deep bass complimenting the higher frequencies. The low distortion and detail gave me goosebumps sometimes.
I did find the sound a bit closed so I dialed in a low Q (2) 1 to 2 dB gain filter centered at 3 kHz. This substantially improved the spatial effects. But also caused some brightness at times. The designer expressed dissatisfaction with the original Zero's higher response and lowering it in this revision. I think the truth, pun intended, is somewhere in the middle.
EDIT: in the original review, I used the wrong target which showed great matching with target in bass. With the correct target, we see a bit of bass deficiency which would explain why boosting treble caused brightness.
Conclusions
Folks, we have another reference class IEM for hardly any money. Yes, there is a bit different tuning but whether that is better or not, is hard to determine given the uncertainty in measurements, and listening preference at granular level. I am happy with either but like the lower distortion in RED. If I want more spatial effects, I can dial up the mid treble. I could not reduce distortion the original Zero. So the RED gets my vote as to the better of the two by small margin.
It is my pleasure to add Truthear x Crinacle Zero RED to my recommended list. Skip a lunch or two out and put this in your arsenal even if you are not a regular IEM user.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Here are some thoughts about the EQ.
Notes about the EQ design:
- The average L/R is used to calculate the score.
- The resolution is 12 points per octave interpolated from the raw data (provided by @amirm)
- A Genetic Algorithm is used to optimize the EQ.
- The EQ Score is designed to MAXIMIZE the Score WHILE fitting the Harman target curve (and other constrains) with a fixed complexity.
This will avoid weird results if one only optimizes for the Score.
It will probably flatten the Error regression doing so, the tonal balance should be therefore more neutral. - The EQs are starting point and may require tuning (certainly at LF and maybe at HF).
- The range around and above 10kHz is usually not EQed unless smooth enough to do so.
- I am using PEQ (PK) as from my experience the definition is more consistent across different DSP/platform implementations than shelves.
- With some HP/amp combo, the boosts and preamp gain (loss of Dynamic range) need to be carefully considered to avoid issues with, amongst other things, too low a Max SPL or damaging your device. You have beed warned.
- Not all units of the same product are made equal. The EQ is based on the measurements of a single unit. YMMV with regards to the very unit you are trying this EQ on.
- I sometimes use variations of the Harman curve for some reasons. See rational here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pro-review-headphone.28244/page-5#post-989169
- https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pro-review-headphone.28244/page-6#post-992119
- NOTE: the score then calculated is not comparable to the scores derived from the default Harman target curve if not otherwise noted.
- Occluding IE devices generally must have very good fitting/seal in the user's ear canal for best performance.
please spend a few minutes to pick up the best ear tip... Be sure to perform this step otherwise the FR/Score/EQ presented here are just worthless. - 1. more bass = better seal
2. More isolation from the outside world = better fit
3. Comfort
Good L/R match.
I have generated thre EQ, the APO config file is attached.
Score no EQ: 82.4%
Score Min EQ: 92.5%
Score Full EQ: 97.1%
All you probably need
Code:
Truthear x Crinacle Zero RED Harman Min EQ
May202023-214346
Preamp: -3 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 33.26 Hz Gain 2.77 dB Q 0.27
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 8343.57 Hz Gain 3.1 dB Q 0.82
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 13467.71 Hz Gain -4.8 dB Q 4.74Over the Top...
Code:
Truthear x Crinacle Zero RED Harman Full EQ
May202023-214121
Preamp: -4.4 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 30.26 Hz Gain 2.82 dB Q 0.27
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 155.16 Hz Gain 1.79 dB Q 1.82
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 909.79 Hz Gain -1.12 dB Q 0.27
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 693.18 Hz Gain 1.83 dB Q 1.77
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2399.17 Hz Gain 1.83 dB Q 3.3
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 8437.11 Hz Gain 6.43 dB Q 1.18
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 8163.94 Hz Gain -4.71 dB Q 5.96
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 13464.71 Hz Gain -5.78 dB Q 4.74The following scores are not comparable to the others as the Harman target was substituted by the Knowles target.
Code:
Truthear x Crinacle Zero RED Knowles EQ
May202023-213853
Preamp: -9.8 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 27.34 Hz Gain 2.91 dB Q 0.27
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 155.57 Hz Gain 1.85 dB Q 1.71
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1062.22 Hz Gain -1.31 dB Q 0.27
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 701.33 Hz Gain 2.02 dB Q 1.77
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2330.15 Hz Gain 1.32 dB Q 3.56
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 4090.86 Hz Gain -1.66 dB Q 2.64
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 13465.04 Hz Gain 10.78 dB Q 0.52
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 8221.25 Hz Gain -3.64 dB Q 5.91
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 13134.63 Hz Gain -3.55 dB Q 6.3
Last edited:
khensu
Active Member
I‘m trying not to go order a pair. This isn’t helping! I also have the originals, which are sharing daily duties with the Khan (which I also love, but where I raise the bass a tad on the zeros, I lower it a tad on the Khans.). They are so good already, the other half of my brain says I don’t need these. Whatever “extra” distortion exists in the originals has never bothered me.
I'm in Aus. I ordered from their AliExpress store. No real need to wait for it to be on Amazon AU.
khensu
Active Member
Just blanked out for a few minutes and came to to realize someone placed an order. I suppose owning several pair of sub-$100 IEMs is easier to justify than several pair of >$200 headphones. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Very interesting product, still don't know if I'll consider buying since already have 7Hz Zero and Truthear Hola, that out of the box are respectively very close to Red and Red+Bass adapter in terms of tuning, at least looking at the measures with 711:
7Hz Zero vs Zero:Red
Hola vs Zero:Red with Bass+ adapter
Surely the great distortion measures are appealing, but I normally listen at not high levels, so don't know if worth.
Certainly the new measurements with B&K show a strange deviation with 7Hz Zero above 10 Khz that I couldn't imagine from the previous graph, where Red show even higher peak at 13 Khz, maybe it's just me not accustomed to the new graph
Anyway, great job.
7Hz Zero vs Zero:Red
Hola vs Zero:Red with Bass+ adapter
Surely the great distortion measures are appealing, but I normally listen at not high levels, so don't know if worth.
Certainly the new measurements with B&K show a strange deviation with 7Hz Zero above 10 Khz that I couldn't imagine from the previous graph, where Red show even higher peak at 13 Khz, maybe it's just me not accustomed to the new graph
Anyway, great job.
Last edited:
NoteMakoti
Member
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The lower distortion is the biggest deal for me; I honestly thought the original Zero didn't have enough bass, and trying to EQ that bit of the band at all was playing with fire.
Thanks! Could you do the same for the frequency response using the impedance adapter (no need for the Knowles target)?
We don't know the distortion with the impedance adapter attached.
respice finem
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2021
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BTW, which tips are the right ones for you? The only problem I have with the Zeros (and with other IEM) is hearing my own breath and pulse far too loud.
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A$82.99
It's a Shenzhen Audio exclusive, so it won't be available anywhere else, other than "Truthear Official Store" on Ali, which I suspect may very well be run by Shenzhen Audio as well, similar to how Leiyin Audio (which is also Shenzhen Audio) run Moondrop's official store. They seem to have an exclusive distribution relationship with Truthear.
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Cote Dazur
Addicted to Fun and Learning
It might not be just about FR, although it is obviously a very important aspect. I have bought the Hola, after having bought the Truthear Zero a little while ago after @amirm review.
To me the difference between what I hear from the Zero and the Hola, is a lot more than the variation in FR response. I am eagerly waiting for @amirm review of the Hola, hoping it will shine some lights on why they are so different. My money is on level of distortion, but TBH, I am clueless.
As for choosing between the blue and the red, or have both. If I did not have the Blue, I would buy the Red, but since I have the blue, totally happy with it, I have (pardon the pun
) zero interest in the Red. If I ever buy an other IEM, it will be very different, not the almost exactly same model and design. Less distortion? I cannot even start to imagine how it would be audible, as the Zero distortion is about that when listening: zero!@respice finem “The only problem I have with the Zeros (and with other IEM) is hearing my own breath and pulse far too loud.” That is kind of a nice problem to have with IEM, as it tells you you have good seal, which is not as easy as one can hope when using IEM. Good seal will yield the more balanced and close to the measured FR from the IEM.
The world of Hight Fidelity those Truthear Zero IEMs opens when connected to a mere mobile device is astonishing, it give access to SOTA sound anywhere and any situation, provide a reference when in doubt, like quality of a recording. HI-FI has never been so accessible for so little money and so great convenience. Eternal gratitude for @amirm to showing me the way to IEMs.
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I have the original Zeros, and even though I have an LCD X and HD 800s, and a 5 channel speaker based system, I find I use them all the time at the gym, and in bed when I read before going to sleep. The originals do need EQ, I used Maiky76's eq and did a further filter at 3 khz with a 2,0 Q to bring that down 1.5 db. Doing all that they sound superb. I am intrigued by the Reds because of their state of the art distortion, but I did try Crinacle's EQ to bring them to "Red" tuning. I found I liked the originals with Maikey's tuning better than Crinacle's Red tuning.
I really don't know what any of the multi-kilobuck IEMs could offer that would best what they are doing, and, most importantly, what the measurable would be that would prove the superiority of the higher priced product.
Fit is also really good with these for me.
I really don't know what any of the multi-kilobuck IEMs could offer that would best what they are doing, and, most importantly, what the measurable would be that would prove the superiority of the higher priced product.
Fit is also really good with these for me.
Same housing, same 6.6mm nozzle.
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