The BIGGEST RIP-OFF in IEM History

[@ShyamKrishnanSuresh]

We definitely need a story time about the scams in the audio world

[@VQR420]

I'd love a vid on the Furutech wall outlet plug covers, or how BS the Chord M-Scaler is. I can imagine Crin suffering a major heart attack from them.

[@XiaOmegaX]

He'd be sitting there for years.

[@SusanIvanova2257]

You could make that a weekly fixture and have content for years...

[@extremeloader7471]

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@new1412]

@@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811 This is new to me. I'm not into the dac/amp but have heard of dragonfly for years. Never thought it was gonna be like that.

[@ram3n515]

That campfire looks so good, it almost looks fake...

[@lareveur6094]

Too good to be tru

[@edenem]

he didn't use the screen overlay mode 😭😭😢😢🥺🥺

[@lordlopes2424]

Damn that campfire is kinda mid

[@kimiko3811]

this is what i call suspiciously real

[@bobcoco6047]

It's an Audiophile campfire, it *Feels* so good, it almost looks slamingly fake

[@FrantaBina701]

One more funny thing about Prelude - some people were saying they were superior thanks to skipping any inner cables, just having direct pin connection to connector.

[@TR-qf2gt]

they be the same type of people who think placing some weird crystals/geodes on their amps and dacs will make their speakers sound better lol 😂😅

[@6HoleOnTheShirt]

@@TR-qf2gt stickers 💀💀

[@maegnificant]

​@@6HoleOnTheShirt stickers?

[@tangyboi386]

@@maegnificant hi res audio stickers, probably 💀

[@6HoleOnTheShirt]

@@tangyboi386 negative ion-absorbing, rare earth material stickers 💀💀

[@hammyjammies]

So what I'm understanding from the Emperor's New clothes analogy is that to fully appreciate the Prelude, I need to use them naked

[@MapleAddictZX3]

😂

[@UNSCPILOT]

*While parading threw the streets, with the person who sold them to you, while being rich or powerful enough no one can arrest you for indecent exposure* Sure it'll take some work but it can totally be done XD

[@MINDTHEHEADPHONE]

Damn, the man is unstoppable. Such a great video! Your channel is going to surpass mine in subscriber count in no time, even though it's much newer. But well, as a fan first and foremost, can't say that I'm surprised!

[@NBFL]

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand the Prelude. The tuning is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of acoustical engineering most of the technicalities will go over a typical listener's head. There's also Warbler's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into its design - Warbler's philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these tuning choices, to realise that they don't just sound good- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Prelude truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the insight in Warbler's existential tagline "Be Moved," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Warbler's genius wit unfolds itself in their ears. What fools.. how I pity them. 😂 And yes, by the way, I DO have a Hi-Res Audio sticker tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid 😎

[@noragrettispaghetti]

classic

[@mjodyh]

wubbalubbadubdub

[@watermelon1221]

warblerwarbwarbwarbler

[@nemurerumori5855]

i'm going to pretend you're serious just for comedic effect

[@lilpain1997]

This comment is pure gold lmfao

[@tsuchii5213]

Man the way you tell stories is pretty immersive and definitely informative! tbh I didnt even noticed the vid was 20 minutes long. Do something like this again!

[@hufranklin9925]

actually i'm more interested in single BA IEM, i just wonder which one on the market right now is the best single BA🤔

[@raspucin70]

"You are not paying 1,100 usd for average driver with a long audio tube bend at 90º. You are paying 1,100 usd for the knowledge WHERE to bend that tube" - a guy that used to work for Beats marketing

[@304290]

That reminds me of the story of a plumber who charged someone 500 to come out the uncloge a pipe. All he did was tap it a couple of times with a hammer. The home owner was like you charged me 500.00 just for that. The plumber replied, for the act of tapping the pipe with a hammer, that was only 10.00. But knowing where to tap it, cost 490.00.

[@goldenoodles6281]

​@@304290except the difference is that you should even bend that tube 😭

[@HeadphoneHangover]

Loved this story time video, and OMG please don't remind me of the mindless times of being on audiophile forums in the past with people who hated any scientific/quantifiable approach of any kind towards audio in general. Wait did I say please don't remind me of those times, lol there are still forums filled with snake oil products and dubious reviews to this day. But thankfully, we no longer have to put up with them being everywhere or being the only prominent voices in this industry.

[@rudeskalamander]

Audiophile SSD lmao

[@fleetingsound]

Who's to say that they even DID 5 years of research, let alone any. It feels like it was a quick-buck type scheme and they made off with a lil bit of money. I'd love to see more talks about the snake oil products in the scene. LTT has touched a couple already and that's been fun and insightful.

[@MiGujack3]

Oh boy there's a never ending supply of that.

[@Natsukashii1111]

Tech moan did some too, on shaving your cd audio so they sound better lmao

[@MLWJ1993]

​@@Natsukashii1111 oh god, that THING... 😂 It's kind of difficult to believe anyone would even think that'd do anything positive at all...

[@OrinSorinson]

@@MLWJ1993 It makes the bits more binary. That's simple stience. Up to 30% better than magic.

[@ChrisStoneinator]

It really bugs me when people use “let alone” backwards

[@kittyfriend7689]

Prelude: “I use a one balanced armature” Crinacle: “what did it cost” Prelude: “everything”

[@TheTrenya]

Literally..

[@黃于軒-j1o]

11:05 I wish my Asian parents would tell me that getting 85-90 is "almost perfect" instead of "a disgrace to the family" :P

[@OrinSorinson]

Not even 50 likes... Disappointing. I had hoped for so much more from you.

[@ProjectExteria]

emotional damage?

[@JLa748]

This is so healthy to know. To our pockets as well as to the industry. Please keep coming more stories of this kind to scare, entertain and educate the children. I know there are sets that made their way to my collection, that have successfully made the hype and made me spend way more for the sound quality i got.

[@Wfgming-ko3wn]

10:05 The placebo was so strong that he was tasting "...bitter, sour salty and spicy all in one."

[@SkeledroMan]

We need the Trinity and LH storytimes too.

[@Jorj57]

PLEASE do more storytime videos like this dude!

[@DHRME]

Yes uncle Crin, story me please. (Edit: reading out the reviews in a semi-English accent was the best bit!)

[@donindiana8504]

When I reached that point in the video, I stopped to leave a like.

[@ValorZeroAdvent]

I really like this format, looking forward to more

[@joolibreakingmore]

I’d love to listen to more story time, especially about audio scams in the hifi world!

[@LordChimkin]

props to you Crin for exploring new video format cuz this is great

[@audi5747]

I really wasn't expecting crinacle to make this type of video but honestly now after watching it, I really wish in the future for him to make more story time vids

[@maanga888]

I really enjoyed the video. Making connections to common children stories and having someone like ben's input made it very immersive. I would love to see more storytelling videos like this.

[@GregDunn123]

Superb, Crin. Sadly, a large part of the current audio market is still propped up by marketing hype and sycophantic reviewers - whether for transducers or electronics. Kudos for puncturing the balloon and sharing facts. Of course, the audiophools will dismiss this and go on believing whatever their egos need to have.

[@dnb5661]

Even saw some "HiFi" Ethernet switch. Just get Cat-7 cable if you are worried about EMI or whatever. Ethernet devices already have isolation inductors too.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Wow, Crin's dedication to set up an open fire in his living room just to make us feel cozy.

[@peterduffy271]

I bought a trinity audio as one of my first like..."audiophile" things and it broke after not very long. Tried to get it repaired and the company didn't exist anymore by the time I reached out lol. I'd love to hear you talk about it

[@tomcruz3774]

I still have my trinity audio atlas somewhere lol

[@Xerpocalypse_]

I would love to see a video on Trinity and LH or other scams. Being a keyboard hobbyist, I’m familiar with the scams that have happened in that scene (Team Redline, etc) but not in audio.

[@CyberTuxedo]

I know the LHLabs one, they produced some good small-scale products (portable DAC-AMP) and ran multiple crowdfunding for full-sized DAC & AMP (costing couple thousand dollars each) And hasn't delivered still - almost 10 years now

[@maegnificant]

MQA is still going strong, too

[@1974UTuber]

I loved this story time. I have always been suspicious of rave reviews full of sunshine, lollipops and ranbows. It's like a wine review that describes things as having Notes of this and that. It's a drink, not a Beethoven concerto.

[@johnnytiong8947]

Love story telling, very insightful for new hobbyists.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Most entertaining thing I've seen in a while, even regardless of my adoration of affordable hifi IEMs and ect, learning the story of the emperor's new cloths was just a cherry on top, *so many good old stories people can still learn from from so many cultures*

[@Simon-er2zx]

These videos are great as there are so many scams in the audio market. It can be difficult for so many beginners to know what is and isn't a good product. More of these please!

[@roadeoh]

I’m so damn lucky I wasn’t an audiophile in 2017 because that review had me at SULTRY

[@UNSCPILOT]

Aye, started in 2020 so I missed all this, got Fiio FH3's and just kinda got hooked from there

[@Problematist]

10:00 It really makes you _feel_ like you're listening to music

[@LordofDiamondsMetal]

10:46 that exasperated "Gee, I wonder why!" sounded almost out of character for crinacle when compared to his usual calm voice... I love it

[@Mishael_Agyei-Boamah]

Not you casually interviewing FATfreq CEO😂. Their Maestro Mini holds a special place in my heart

[@kittencaboodle8124]

The tonal whiplash between "and that, my children" and "... fuck off" is so clean

[@seansandison579]

I enjoyed this video greatly and would find more of the same of interest. (By the way DHRME is spelled out, an acronym used in the same way BA of BA drivers is, it is not a word per se but as I said spelled out. They are 2 Dutch guys and have their own KZbin channel)

[@absolutezero11385]

Great video! More storytime vids please c:

[@catdampawshaker2735]

Nice video, interesting to peer back to a strange time. Looking forward to your future videos and your tierlist update

[@Shekefie]

Need that story time for trinity and LH labs. I’m not an audiophile but I love learning about the space.

[@MrBlitzpunk]

I'd definitely love to see more crinacle audio story time

[@kshitijvarshney]

More of these if possible!! I know nothing about any of music or audio tech history and would love to know!

[@btfr5129]

IEM history videos are quite intriguing, would love to see more!

[@krayozmines]

The fact that diy iem makers on ali express make better sounding products💀💀💀

[@lc1565]

I would love to hear more stories of scams in the audiophile space.

[@Seanweekhaizhen]

See every single campfire audio iem

[@tastykimchiOFDOOM]

I actually own a LH Labs Geek Pulse and I've been using it every day since I got it. I bought the bundle with the Hifiman HE-400i and because my bank goofed the transaction I thought I wouldn't be getting anything so I was incredibly surprised when I got the shipping notification and shipping fees were all that I paid for it. Since then the 400i, to no one's surprise, got a faulty driver after a few years and the Geek Pulse is still holding up fine after nearly a decade of daily use.

[@techmed-rainer]

Interesting topic, thank you. I personally quite like the Sennheiser IEM, which are all single drivers. What do you think about them? I personally own the IE 400 Pro (got them customised) and for private, enjoyable listening I use my IE 900, which are quite expensive as well. Any thoughts?

[@crin]

Dynamic drivers are not as acoustically limited as BA drivers; in fact most engineers would recommend using only a single DD to reduce complexity.

[@techmed-rainer]

@@crin Thank you for clarification!

[@Goodbutevilgenius]

In case you haven't yet seen, the Sennheiser IEM that Crin thinks most highly of is IE600.

[@viCoN24]

They spent 5 years checking that all BAs are properly mounted and then decided to change that and push money through marketing pipeline to make people believe that this "uniqueness" is something special through the high price. Once someone bought it, they won't complain or else they would look dumb for spending that much money on a shitty product.

[@xionico09]

I’m not much of an audiophile, I’m completely satisfied just daily driving my Senn HD 560s which I chose over other headphones because it was the only one that I didn’t think looked dumb. But I really dig the story time content. It’s really engaging despite barely having a foothold of knowledge in the space

[@maegnificant]

Try the Neumann NDH-30, if you can. Completely switched me off the 560s

[@xionico09]

@@maegnificant With that high of a price tag, I don't think I can 😅

[@maegnificant]

@@xionico09 that's understandable.

[@legenjerry96]

I've been watching Crinacle for a good year now. Anytime I watch a video, I always watch until the very end because for some weird reason, I like to be told "don't die" and "fuck off" in that specific order.

[@TexelGuy]

I'd love a video on PSB/NAD's "RoomFeel" tech for their headphones. Apparently it's built to sound like speakers in a room for a more "natural" listening experience. It sounds great on paper and is actually something I'd be interested in if I knew how well (or if) it worked.

[@dxb526]

Option 3: rip off audiophools to fundraise your actual company. Worked out brilliantly it seems.

[@plainseed]

Woo this is gonna be a rabbit hole as audio product in general is very subjective in terms of sound quality. We need to hear more stories but at the same times your channel will stay alive when you touch some sort of controversial topic or company

[@jsvn1357]

could we pls have the list of all reviewers that praised this IEM? like at least give us a hint if u can't just tell us directly

[@fclp67]

this is great, I used to watch a lot of headphone reviews when I was genuinely interested in the subject but after realizing I will never afford more than a Sundara and my Galaxy Buds Pro the interest has wained off and so the only reason I would watch a headphone video these days is because the story is made out to be interesting. Even though I respect the headphone show for being the gold standard in least-biased review of audio products with a focus on sound quality I don't watch them anymore simply because I can never try the high quality products myself and participate in the game of rating headphones. So I love to see videos about headphones that don't just focus on things that are relevant to people who have enough disposable income to buy the thing.

[@_innerscape_]

5 years on R&D? They ment 5 years of reading on head-fi...

[@terratenientesalgo2511]

a series of videos where crin just thanos every overpriced hypebeast IEM could be nice.

[@GadZookz]

Gotta get one ASAP! Love those balanced amateur drivers and they did it with just one while others need 4, 6, 8 or even more. 🤩

[@stevenkutschat]

@14:50 YES!!! We need more story time!

[@andewnivar8926]

Another bad iem to cover has to be the Rose Technics QT-X, with 6 ba and 1 8mm DD no amount of EQ-ing could save its downright horrible performance

[@Saitama07]

More storytime with crinacle would cure me of everything 😂❤

[@treiz01]

I'm more of an over the ear headphone guy, as I like my drivers to be in the 50mm range... but I found this video extremely interesting and would gladly watch another story time.

[@BOOGA97]

this is wonderful, id love it if you would story time us on the audio world, and i will ask about the new space, i like the openness it brings so far, preciate all you do crin

[@TheRuddegga]

deffo give us more stories like this crin, best vid in a while.

[@ElvenSpellmaker]

Love the _"High Rez Placebo"_ XD

[@TheJo4an]

I would love MORE storytime with Uncle Crin.

[@n.o.b.s.8458]

I own a set of the kbears neon.they have single DD, properly setup for actual treble. It’s not unpleasant or dull, but it is relaxed. It’s smooth and easy to listen to, but lacks detail, punch or any particular highlights. If you have any interest in seeing what the fuss is about, they’re better sounding preludes for $25-$50 depending on sales.

[@BassDad8]

There was something called the POS1000 back in the 80s. A stereo amp I believe, that was successfully marketed as a TOTL receiver for a time. POS actually, literally stood for Piece of Sh*t. I can’t remember the parent company, or what happened to them, but I do remember the name. lol.

[@jediJT]

Yeah, definitely need more story time and words of warning. It’s good to know when to be skeptical and cautious.

[@edisonl1756]

I listened to the full video while I was working. I hope you can produce more of these stories!!!

[@Sonatafade]

I really enjoyed the story time style video. You mixed story with technical learning for the audience.

[@TainoNZ]

Absoultely love this style of video

[@tan_ori]

Even today I find it suspicious that technical performance is so well correlated with price. Given that 1, scaling up manufacturing of a high price low volume iem to high volume is no harder than making a high volume iem in the first place. And 2, no one will purposefully sabotage their high volume models to have less technical performance.

[@unruler]

Aful MagicOne is literally the same concept of single armature driver. It's nowhere near 1100 $ though.

[@TR-qf2gt]

at least AFUL didnt make the acoustic tube so far up and bend it 90 degrees 😂😂😂

[@HybRidChrome]

I'm pretty new to this world of audio, it's been really interesting so far!

[@lordjimenez5660]

Dayum, I was just thinking about how I've been missing some Crin vids

[@RealLockheedMartin]

Yes, please tell me about real scams and ripoffs. I love these kinds of stories!

[@keplers_dog]

14:52 „Let me know if…“ - „YES!!11“

[@TonkyTronicus]

I have a modern Trinity Audio IEM (IMR nowadays). Don't worry, got it secondhand. Bob got none of my dosh.

[@terryss95]

One of Crin's best videos yet, had a blast, this was fucking amazing!

[@comiccultivation]

Awesome content! I'd love to see it more regularly

[@johnnywong7230]

Isn't Shure like the SE846 also using BA drivers in a 90 degree setup?

[@MechFrankaTLieu]

we need more of these kind of stories

[@ShaneCutting]

Absolutely need more "Story Time". Super informative

[@Icemanz666]

More story time content please. This was a very gripping story.

[@Epidemike]

@crinacle Have you or anyone you know tried Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite I couldnt find them on your ranking list, or can we expect a vid on them eventually?

[@sweep-]

I am no audio file. I only found your channel because I wanted to find out about the antlion duos… I didn’t find a video on them, but I watched a whole bunch of your vids, simply because they’re fun to watch. Thanks for the entertainment! (And knowledge)

[@AverieS820]

Very cool, especially the insight into making and designing IEMs. More interviews with fatfreq folks please.

[@maxb.simonsen2459]

I have a local dealer that tries to make me feel like a peasant when I'm not appreciating the "awesome" quality of his products, and simply boils my opinion down to being unworthy of recognition.

[@giannisapostolopoulos9217]

Great video mate! Please do more of these unless they are keeping you from finalizing project red!

[@jcudejko]

Yes, I really want to hear about both of those - Trinity and LH labs subbed, will look forward to it sir!

[@im_ricebowl]

their R&D is just 1 guy that was doing this as a hobby but had another main job and just to get it over with he pulled a Steve Jobs with that 90 degree tube

[@Beedulgi99]

More storytime please!! this is so interesting to hear

[@M65V19]

You know what is special? The Wobbler's customers.

[@DankoleClouds]

I wouldn't be surprised if they just used the preludes as a way to generate a bunch of cash so they could form a real audio company.

[@dionforest8326]

Damn, crinacle roasted my first diy ciem attemp 🤣, it really mostly similar down to the angled and far tube, it sound quite harsh but i though it's because i cant fit a proper filter. Spend like $60 from start to finish btw.

[@taidee]

Come on man, do more of these stories 🙏🏽

[@EdTheNerd]

Great video! Also do you plan to measure the Fiio TWS earbuds?

[@miltonm1906]

hello crinacle, i know you hate getting asked what headphones one should buy but most of the stuff i see on your website are expensive items. i just wanted to ask what headphones you recommend one should buy with a budget of $250 at most?

[@khabib29-0goat3]

im notr crin but i would like to recommend my personal daily driver. audio technica ath-r70x, it cost around 240 usd in my country. its a high impedance headphone so some will say you need a powerful amp with it but i honestly tried it on my cheap android phone and it doest lack volume.

[@nicolerichwine5767]

that third reviewer in the reading montage (9:39) definitely goes out to eat that one gold leaf sundae every weekend

[@aloutsis]

Jeez..... Not that it will matter much ( or at all ) but it kinda sucks that I only discovered your channel now. Well, at least you have a big catalog for me to binge watch ( which I am already doing ) and learn a few stuff to educate myself up from the normie status I am right now. I am glad you're here, for whatever's worth. Thank you.

[@Splomf]

I'd love to hear about the stories behind more audio brands. Especially of the Scam and snake oil variety.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Agreed, this was great, came with a free cautionary tale too, more of this would be awesome