I ONLY USE IEMS, and have been since 2019
KZs, Arias, Truthear Zero Blue/Red/Hexa/Nova, Simgots, Chu/Chu2, 7Hzv:Zero, Singolo and Crinacle: Dusk
Currently daily driving Dusks, but the Nova comes very close. Basically nova gets slightly more congested in some very specific places(Anubis/Ancient Caves and Nuke B) with the footsteps. But other than that it is pretty similar to my ears in mid/top end.
Would not recommend Hexa/Pure or any reference tuned IEM
Something that dramatically augments the sound isn't a big deal? Ok Chief.
I own all three of the Zeros. The OG Blue I gave to a friend. My Zero Red delaminated, and was trashed (still use the impedance adapter for testing), and the Zero2 I returned, because that 12k peak was absolute garbage. If they ever release a Zero:RED2 that corrects the Zero2 treble spike, and is closer to JM1 in a properly budget set, I will get it too.
Just because YOU don't have a problem on a laptop (which typically has a weaker headphone putout, or if it is a Mac, they are low impedance by design), almost every PC motherboard is high impedance.
It basic electronics and electrical engineering science. Can't change physics. And it's something that everyone should be aware of, so if they encounter it, they know.
There are hundreds of measurements of the Zero out there with impedance adapters. And plenty of other multi driver IEM's that show that increased impedance in the output dramatically effects the tonality of the IEM. Its literal electrical engineering, and your arguing with it.
Do you think the earth is flat too?
https://audioamigo.squig.link/?share=Truthear_Zero,Truthear_Zero_15_Ohm,Truthear_Zero_Blue_2,Truthear_Zero_Blue_2_15_Ohm,Truthear_Zero_Red,Truthear_Zero_Red_Ruyi_Rod
Normalize that at 1k to make it make more sense.
And thats from a paltry 15ohm increase. Its not uncomon to see double that on some PC sound outputs.
And quantifying anecdotally that you used a shitty PC soundcard, doesnt mean anything. The majority of moden PC motherboards, especially nicer ones, have Headphone amps specifically designed for higher impedance headphones. Like 300ohm Bereydynamics and Sennheisers. It is a very well known, very well documented, and very understand electrical crossover issue.
Why you are sitting here denying science is unbelievable. When there are measurements, and countless questions about it, and multiple threads telling people on PC to buy dongles to prevent it from happening.
The Zero Blue is is no way "neitral", it is a very U shaped IEM. Meaning the upper mids and sub bass are boosted. The idea was to have a more "speaker like" experience with the way the upper mids were tuned, and how the sub bass is more tuned like a subwoofer with a lot of lower gain before 200hrz.
Its using a neutral sound curve known as JM1 for the mid-range presentation, but the treble and sub bass are crabked up to add wow factor.
The Zero: RED is closer to neutral, and the Zero Blue 2 has more of an OG Zero Blue feel to the bass and treble tuning, but matching the timbre and tone of the RED with more bass.
The biggest problem with these is that the nozzles are absolutely massive. One of the most over-recommended IEMs (along with the Red) given that most people will find them somewhat uncomfortable and potential painful in many cases. The tuning and technicalities are just OK in the current market.
Send them back and get something else.
The question then is what to get. You're used to a very bassy signature so you could go for something similar. The QKZ HBB is really good and has a warm/bassy signature, so that might be a bit closer to what you're used to and should be an upgrade in terms of sound quality (they're one of my favourite IEMs at any price and they're only $15).
Or you can go with a different tuning, but bear in mind that you'll want to give it maybe a week of not listening to anything else to let your brain adjust. If you want something more "clean" sounding but still with a decent amount of bass (won't be as much as the Sonys) then maybe try the Kefine Klean, or if you want to spend more there's the Aful Explorer (although I personally find vocals don't sound great on that one, despite everything else about it being really good).
I wouldn't spend time trying to adjust to the Zeroes though, because they'll just continue to hurt your ears and could potentially cause an ear infection. Don't try to struggle through if they are hurting your ear canals. I've done that and it takes weeks of not listening to IEMs at all to recover from the ear canal damage.
Overrated:
* Truthear Zero / Zero Red: The nozzles are huge and the sound is just OK for the price. They were a big deal at the time for target adherence (although the "full Harman" Zero actually has terrible Harman compliance), but that's more of a technical curiosity than actually good. Fortunately there are much better options these days, so the hype has died down a lot.
* Truthear Hexa: Bass is anaemic, treble is peaky and the nozzle is also huge, though not quite as bad as the Zero.
* Simgot EW300: The worst Simgot I've heard for coherency, although it does have the safest tuning as long as you don't get the killer treble peak around 11kHz (that's solvable with eartips, its other issues aren't).
* GK Kunten. I mean it's *OK* for the price, but it's literally just a slightly downgraded and more expensive [ZVX Pro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQc95TR0Ls), which in turn is almost identical to about half a dozen other KZ IEMs. All of which have the same driver as the Zenith too. The hype around this one is insane. A very successful astroturfing campaign though, so I guess well done for fucking up the sub with a tsunami of spam, and congrats to everyone who fell for it (including me, because I bought one too out of curiosity).
Underrated:
* Moondrop LAN (the OG one): A very good bright-neutral IEM for its price, overshadowed by the Chu 2 costing half as much, and the 7Hz Zero having nearly the same tuning (but much lower build quality, comfort and less refined treble).
* Dunu Titan S: it's like the Hexa if it were better in every way and also cheaper. Actually these were a very highly regarded IEM at launch but I believe the hype machine moved on to the bassier Moondrop Aria and they got a bit forgotten about. Still a very good IEM though. Unclear if they're still in production or not, but everyone seems to agree the S2 isn't tuned as well.
* Ikko OH300: Just one of my favourite IEMs with a fun but mostly natural-sounding warm v-shape tuning and incredibly holographic imaging. Nobody else ever talks about them.
* TRN Shell: One of the few TRN IEMs that's actually good. It's like the EW300 but better in ever possible way aside from having a more pronounced v-shape tuning (personally I like it though, especially after some tip-rolling). It's also only $40 (on frequent sale) and comes with an insane set of accessories for the price.
* Aful MagicOne: It's not an all-rounder IEM, it's not for everyone, and it's probably overpriced at RRP. But it's a very unique IEM in every way and nothing else sounds quite like it. I only paid about $60 for mine on sale and it's absolutely one of the best things I've bought.
Top IEMs on Reddit
1
7Hz
7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2
76% positive of 493 users
Budget gaming pick, but poor cables and polarizing bass.
aliasdred
