Today we are talking a close took at Truthear x Crinacle Zero IEM which is the latest collaboration IEM from Crinacle. The sample for today’s episode was kindly provided by Shenzhen Audio in exchange for my honest opinion. As always I’m not asked to say anything in particular about this product and all thoughts and opinions in today’s episode are my own.
Usually Crinacle does collabs with a well known manufacturers, but this time this collab comes from an unknown company called Truthear. And there are two interesting things about this IEM that made me really curious
First – it’s closely following the Harman IE target curve (at least on the paper) and the second fact is that the IEM uses a double dynamic driver configuration with a real crossover. The IEM currently retails for 50 US Dollars which taking into consideration it’s tuning and configuration makes it very attractive.
Truthear x Crinacle Zero comes in a medium box with a sleeve. On the front of the sleeve there is a Truthear logo and model name, and yet again, another anime illustration. I have no idea if illustrations boost sales, but I’m not a big fan of it. On the back of the sleeve we have frequency response graph and list of technical specifications. When you remove the sleeve, there is a black box inside
In the box:
- Truthear x Crinacle Zero IEMs
- A de-attachable 2-pin 0.78mm cable
- 6 pairs of silicone ear tips in different sizes
- 1x pair of foam ear tips
- Carrying pouch
- Manual
- And a warranty card
And that’s a a good selection of accessories for IEM costing just $50. The Truthear x Crinacle Zero has two drivers, a 10mm and a 7.8 mm dynamic driver, one of which uses PU diaphragm, and the other one uses an LCP diaphagm. The large driver acts like a woofer, and the second driver is only reproducing mid range & treble. Impedance is stated to be 10 Ohms, but in my case it turned out to be that my pair has 50 Ohms of impedance, and we will talk about this later in this review. Sensitivity is listed at 117 dB
Design & build
Design-wise I like how Truthear x Crinacle Zero looks. The shell is large, it’s made out of plastic. It has a triangular design and a nice looking face plate that features a sparkly glitter swirl of purple and blue colors. The face plates also change color from purple to blue depending on the lighting and angle
If you look closely on the inside of the IEM where the plastic is slightly transparent, you can see the driver configuration. One driver is placed closer to the center of the IEM and it’s responsible for low frequencies. The second driver is placed near the nozzle and this driver is only handling mids & treble.
The nozzles are on a longer side, and they are quite thick. There is a metal mesh at the end of each nozzle and also a small lips that helps with ear tips retainment. The IEMs have a vent at the top of each shell, near the connector, but it does let in a minimal amount of outside noise. At the same time IEMs are absolutely usable outdoors, though you shouldn’t expect the same level of isolation as you have on pairs of unvented IEMs. The left and right channel markings are also printed at the top of each shell, next to the vents and connectors
Fit & comfort
The shells have quite ergonomic shape, they are light, but fit and comfort might be a problem for those with small ears. The nozzles are on a longer side and quite thick which will be a problem if you have a narrow ear canal
I personally just couldn’t get a comfortable fit with stock ear tips as my ears started to hurt after 20 minutes. I ended up using this IEM with Spinfit CP145 which really compliments this pair. It significantly improved the fit, seal and comfort and now I can wear this pair for hours
The cable that comes with Truthear x Crinacle Zero was getting a lot of praise recently, but I don’t think it’s anything special. The stock cable is a basic rubber braided cable that feels a bit cheap. It’s 1.2m long. From one side we have angled 3.5 mm connector and from another side we have 0.78mm 2 pin connectors. The channel markings are really hard to see, and I wish they could have used a blue/red accents or dots. The cable has a metal chin slider, it’s minimal in microphonics and works just perfectly fine.
Truthear x Crinacle Zero sound overview
Please note that all sound impressions I’m sharing on my channel are completely subjective so please take them with a grain of salt.
Truthear x Crinacle Zero closely follows Harman’s In-Ear 2019 target and it’s quite good at it. Recently a lot of people have also mentioned that this IEM is surprisingly difficult to drive. I noticed that too when I first tried it with my smartphone, which made me question, whenever the impedance was 10 Ohm or not. I took measurements with my trusted multi-meter and found out that my pair of Zero has impedance of 50 Ohms. And I guess this answers the questions regarding amplification requirements.
The bass on pair is little bit elevated, so I wouldn’t call it completely neutral. The bass is relatively fast, and I liked it’s note weight and its texture. Sub bass extension is excellent and has a good impact, rumble and feel. Mid-bass has a good amount of punch, and it sounds really natural with many genres of music.
The IEM can also handle bass heavy music very well, and EDM is especially enjoyable with this pair. In case of Zero, the bass sounds as good as it looks on the paper, so the double dynamic driver formula with the crossover works really well in practice. Overall I’m pleased with the bass on this pair and I think a lot of people will love it too.
The mid range on Truthear x Crinacle Zero is clean and well extended. There is almost no bass bleed into mids, and the lower midrange is a bit thin and recessed. While the upper mid range is boosted too much for my personal liking, in my case it was never harsh or sibilant. Vocals, both male and female sound good, but I have also I noticed that vocals frequently overshadow the instruments. The timbre of the instruments on the other hand is good. Overall I’d say that the mids have a good amount of details, definition and texture, but they lack a bit of note weight.
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Treble is definitely not the strongest part of Truthear x Crinacle Zero as the IEM lacks both in lower & upper treble extension. In addition it lacks a bit of air & sparkle and as a result, the overall treble presentation is a little dull for my personal taste. But if you are treble sensitive, you will like the treble on this pair. Overall treble has enough energy, and detail retrieval is good for its price range, but as I mentioned it still lacks extension, air & sparkle
The sound stage size is about average, and it’s more wide than deep so the music sounds slightly out of your head. I have also noticed that Spinfit CP145 ear tips that I was using with this pair made the soundstage a bit wider. Imaging is good for it’s price, and instrument separation is average. Overall clarify is good, but detail retrieval is average and micro-details retrieval is below average.
Conclusions
In my opinion, Truthear x Crinacle Zero is a very interesting, musical and engaging pair of IEMs.
Pros:
- Good design
- Excellent tuning that Harman lovers will appreciate
- Double dynamic driver formula with the crossover works really well in practice
- And as a result low freqencies have a good impact and a lot of energy
Cons:
- Long and thick nozzles might be a problem for some people
- IEM has average treble extention that lacks air & sparkle
- And upper mids can sometimes be harsh and a bit offset
Despite a few small cons, Truthear x Crinacle Zero is a quite interesting IEM in it’s price bracket and it will be appealing to those who appreciate Harman tuned IEMs.
While the competition is quite stiff under $100, I think Truthear implemented double dynamic drivers with crossover configuration really well to use it as a competitive advantage. And I need to mention that this tuning works really well with many genres, especially with bass heavy music.
So If you are looking for a well-tuned IEM under $100 to enjoy your music, and don’t mind a little bit veiled treble, you should definitely check out Truthear x Crinacle Zero.
And that concludes my review for today. If you want to see more content like this consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for future updates. Thank you for joining me, and until next time, goodbye!
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