CCA CRA wired IEM review

04 July 2022
Best budget in-ear monitors you can get today.

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Aan2007, 04 Jul 2022is there anything with same sound as Xiaomi Piston 3.0 ? I ... moreYes, I'd say the Moondrop Quarks have a similar sound to it. Also the old KZ ATE is a good pick too.

All the new KZ's have that metallic hollow sound to it (except for CRN).

    imparanoic, 04 Jul 2022this iem was reviewed by what hifi (whathifi don't rev... moreAny idea how do these two phones compare with Soundmagic E80C?

      Anonymous, 04 Jul 2022Its got a 3.5mm jack not usb c. Ok, I guess I saw the pic and concluded this.

        I bought it last month and it's the best IE ever! the audio and sound quality are way better than my hd600 and focal. Buy it now, you won't regret!

          • J
          • JD
          • 7kb
          • 04 Jul 2022

          You have reviewed the type C earphone but it is not available on headphone zone, they are selling 3.5 mm jack earphone on website.

            imparanoic, 04 Jul 2022if you want frequency response graphs, should look at crina... moreagreed. a few years ago I saw people upgrading frequently to the latest KZs, they can't help it. earlier I was able to find a site similar to crinancle, the CCA CRA beats my SE215 in bass especially high frequencies. I discovered my Shure is poor in high frequencies since I bought a Xiaomi triple driver years ago. now the CCA CRA also beats my Xiaomi in deep bass and around 10khz. really amazing

              Anonymous, 04 Jul 2022Detachable cable is extremely useful because you can easily... moreTWS are just a lifestyle gadget. nothing special. they break easily for the right channel buds. once if your sweat is reactive to the charging contacts, then you can no longer recharge your earbuds properly. i'd rather have a wireless headphones. or, i can use the detachable iems with bluetooth module if i have more money to buy those.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • n1u
                • 04 Jul 2022

                Detachable cable is extremely useful because you can easily turn these into wireless using a bluetooth module. And these would sound would be way better than those wireless earbuds even at significantly higher price because of better quality setup to begin with. Better these+bluetooth module than gimmicky TWS

                  NeonHD, 04 Jul 2022Guys, there's a new budget contender in the "chi-... moreis there anything with same sound as Xiaomi Piston 3.0 ? I bought later KZ ZSN and was very disapointed with metalic hollow sound, currently using overhead AKG K72, but wouldn't mind to heave some cheap IEM with decent sound like Piston 3 I loved before their cable broke

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • sUS
                    • 04 Jul 2022

                    Lccy , 04 Jul 2022“And it goes without saying but even though these cost just... moreHaha. Nailed it. Gotta love the social media memes about wrapping wires around phones just so they work when their BT sets have issues even when they work.

                      suggest me any earphones/iem that are bass oriented. i have budget range of $50

                        • R
                        • Rkm
                        • FY0
                        • 04 Jul 2022

                        Javier, 04 Jul 2022I got some earphones from the last review of cheap earphone... moreWell, mention the model you bought please

                          Is it too much effort to write that this headphone has 3.5mm jack? TRRS doesn't clearly state "3.5mm headphone jack with extra ring for inline microphone".
                          You should also clearly state that most modern phones do not have 3.5mm jack and thus are not compatible with these wired headphones. You'd need to use a dongle to connect it to the phone, and you'd lose the ability to charge the device when using that dongle (because, you know, the charging slot is occupied).

                            still using zsn pro for 2 years the sound quality is superb and clear, the build quality is superb, i used really dirty it broke many times but everything still 100%, the sound quality getting better after you burn that's why i love chinese iem its cheap and superb unlike so many overpriced japanese iem which is can't detachable and the cable really fast broken.

                              • J
                              • Javier
                              • 8sL
                              • 04 Jul 2022

                              I got some earphones from the last review of cheap earphones with this kind of techonology. To be honest, the sound is horrible. I would recommend people don't to expect too much. The driver is too small to provide any sound quality. They provide a powerful sound but the quality is far from good.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 6wN
                                • 04 Jul 2022

                                I got my first in ear monitors. Model - Fiio FH3. Not that cheap. Around 130$. But it is awesome. Really really load that I listen with 50% maximum volume. Superb sound quality with clean and good bass. Also cool build quality and design. Really good pair. Also have 7 pair of earbuds/headphones. An over ear Skullcandy Crusher Evo with monster bass. An on ear Sony MDR-XB550AP with great bass. Two true wireless Jabra Elite 85t with ANC and great sound and cheap pair Philips TAT2206 with decent sound. A wireless/neckband JBL Tune 125BT with unique bass. Two earphones Sennheiser CX300s with very natural sound and Remax-RM535 with flat sound which is good for rock music. All of them costed me Almost 800$.

                                  by my experience at least with KZ ZSN they are overrated, it's just cheap IEM, there was no depth/richness to sound, it sounded like going through tinpot, had better experience with cheap Xiaomi Piston 3 years before, thought KZ ZSN will be some step up from them (after cable broke), but they are not and mind I'm not some bass freak, listening to pretty flat overhead studio headphones, but maybe after listening to better headphones for years even Piston 3 would feel muddy as do cheap Sony IEM, who knows...

                                    Dometalican, 04 Jul 2022Ever since I got the Tri i3 IEMs, I have no desire getting ... moreYES. I have the TRI I3's and absolutely love them.

                                    I dunno why BGGAR (popular IEM reviewer) thinks they're bad but to me the sound quality is incredible. Best tuned treble I've ever heard.

                                      Guys, there's a new budget contender in the "chi-fi" IEM market now: the TANGZU Shimin Li

                                      It's around $15 more on aliexpress but it's totally worth it. Recent reviews of it describe it as neutral-bright sound signature.

                                      I would also highly recommend the Moondrop Chu or the HZ Heart Mirror as other great budget options. Or, if you can't spend that much, then the Moondrop Quarks would be a better option than the CRA especially in terms of mids.

                                      Also one last recommendation: KZ ED9. A classic but always never fails to impress.

                                        I love my ZSN PRO X but they make a lot of buzzing and white noise, even when nothing is playing.
                                        To be fair, it does not always happen while something is playing but still.
                                        I might try these, still thinking about the Chu. Not so sure yet.

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