The CrinEar Reference launch is just around the corner! Launching on April 25th. Crinacle has built a pretty solid foundation with his CrinEar releases and I would expect the Reference to slide right into that solid foundation.
This post will get updated with official measurements of the Reference once embargo is over from our team.
For those who have heard the Reference at various CanJams, curious to know your thoughts!
Working on my written review for the Reference!
I will say though that the first sentence of the marketing is correct from what I heard at CanJam NYC this year. The Reference definitely is not just a Daybreak 2. It has its own character. Or lack thereof since it’s supposed to be “Reference”. Depends on your perspective 
We’re all hard at work on the reviews of this product, but Crin gave us the OK to post the measurements. Here are the B&K 5128 measurements of the CrinEar Reference:
You’ll notice these may look a bit different from Crin’s data in the treble, that’s primarily because we’re using an updated DFHRTF baseline calibration that includes more specific information about the B&K 5128’s canal transfer function. So you won’t see that typical 9khz dip you see on most other 5128 or 4620 datasets until those get updated as well. We’ll have additional information on this update soon.
Are the shortwide tips the same Decaf tips that come with the Daybreak revision? These graphs look promising!
I believe so yes. The daybreak was also improved with them.
I love the sound of Daybreak with them…the only thing that is a bit off for me is the nozzle size, and with those tips they tend to be pushed out of my ear…I hope Reference is more similar to Meta in terms of ergo-shape, I’m having a much better (and coherent) experience with that model! Can’t wait for the launch later! 
The Reference has officially launched and is available to order today CrinEar Reference In-Ear Headphones – Headphones.com
Original post has also been updated with a video review from @Resolve and written reviews from @Fc-Construct and @listener
Great review! Amazing how the recent tools, data collection and perfected HRTF have enabled the team to be more direct and descriptive in writing their impressions/judgement on products!
I am very happy about the result of this IEM, it looks to me that it fixes the problems I have with Daybreak and gives a less emphasized bass response than META while improving clarity. It fits very well with the sonic journey that CrinEar has taken and as a guitar player this might become my monitoring earpiece without the need to give 600$ to a niche brand! I hope that fitting will be great for me, that’s the only possible obstacle that I foresee…
I have one request and one criticism though:
Thanks again for the amazing coverage! Can’t wait to try my unit!
Thanks for reading. The rant is part of the review because the discussion around a product like this invariably entails many people responding to an intentionally neutral IEM by saying some version of “Neutral is boring, this thing probably sucks.” More importantly, its to speak to the other people who have heard this sentiment expressed online and thus are skeptical of a “neutral” IEM when they really shouldn’t be.
I chose to put it in the review (and not somewhere else) because the people for whom the rant is relevant—especially the latter type I mentioned—will actually read the review. They should be told that the baggage laid at their feet regarding the community’s take on “neutral” does not need to be carried further.
I’m actually not sure what you mean by the funny bit. Wondering if something came across sarcastic where it wasn’t intended to
Overall the rant is here because it serves as further explanation regarding yes, Reference being a good product that is needed in this space, but also to say in no uncertain terms that those who call this strategy non-viable for a product release have essentially no reasonable ground to stand on.
I am an opinionated person, so stuff like this often ends up in my reviews. This does make them longer than a typical written review, but enough people tell me they appreciate the perspective that I’ve only ever felt encouraged to keep doing so.
Thanks again!
I don’t know if it was an error or intentional, since you didn’t grasp what I was referring to…but there is the bit where you talk about how hard it has been to convince someone in the industry to chase neutrality where at some point the font becomes cazily small…I interpreted it as if you were emulating speaking with a very low tone of voice, as if you were writing something that can’t be said out loud without sparking controversy.
Again, I really appreciate the review and your opinion…but I felt like that rant, written and delivered in that way was damaging the piece rather than landing a proper point. I feel like this topic deserves its own article with an open comparison between IEMs and more explanation rather than adding to an already excellent and well spoken review of a specific product. At the end of the day the more people you can inform and influence with correct observations and even “rants”, the more effective you can be and the more manufacturers will listen as a consequence. I don’t think I agree that much at using a review to send personal messages to a specific category of people, I think the hobby can only benefit from being more open. I personally love the “Attenborough vibes” of the videos with Goldensound because I noticed how even my wife, who is not at all into audio engineering like me, grasps concepts and feels closer to this hobby of mine thanks to the format and how even controversial things get explained.
Obviously I’ll cut it out now because I don’t want to convince you, you do you and I get that you want to stay true to your style. I hope my feedback is taken with the right spirit: improvement. Happy weekend to you and the team! And thanks again for the content!
Typically this stuff is missed by the people who need to hear it the most though, and that’s because most people are far more interested in good products than they are in engaging with perspectives and commentary on industry direction and common community misunderstandings. We do put this kind of stuff out there on its own, it’s just less likely to reach those who are making purchase decisions than attaching it to relevant products, especially if those products a good job of exemplifying why it matters.
You could say this is us sneaking perspective-laden information into product coverage, but I’d argue it’s not misplaced. These are relevant perspectives to consider as they apply to the product in question.
LOL, literally a formatting error (happens sometimes, Shopify is kind of a pain in the butt). Thanks for pointing it out, it’s been fixed.
A fair criticism, to be sure.
Exactly. And manufacturers are more likely to read this than an op-ed, yanno? I understand your point though, and appreciate you saying it.
Hey @listener can you post the eq tweaks you would recommend to fix the bass and treble critiques you had? Thanks for a great review!
@listener Would you be uploading the Reference, Lumen and Lux’s measurements to your squiglink now that yours have the new Headphones.com IEM DF baseline?
listener please continue to put “rants” in your articles:pray:. your perspective and link to the bigger picture within the market is why you are the best iem reviewer. I appreciate that while you do have the in-situ data to justify what you are hearing, you still continue to present your opinions on sound very passionately, bridging the artistic and logical lens.
I have been using the Plunge Unity for a long time and that one also have a near flat respons. For me, I need some time to recalibrate my head while using it because its so different but after that I hear that everything is there from the deepest bass to cymbals and the resolution is absolutely fantastic. Its also not that kind to bad recordings or very compressed ones as distortion and wonky eq is heard clearly as well. But all types of music can be so rewarding regardless of scale, instrumentation, energy, electric or aucostic.
Mike
As someone who finds the Audeze MM500, a headphone that I believe to be neutral, a bit boring most of the time. Would that be my best reference point or should I take a shot on these since I’m looking to buy a new IEM sooner rather than later?
Thanks for the video & written review of this iem.
It’s the first video / article I’ve watched since the embargo lifted 
I also trust Listener taste and i’m very pleased with my first iem, the truthear pure. (I had hd650 in the past, but now hd490)
Impressed for the price, but I’m also looking to explore something even better to see how high can iems reach.
Unfurtunately we are not so blessed to be able to get pretty much every iem / headphone like reviewers so I’d like to echo what Andrea_Vultaggio said in his first reply and request a follow up video (or post in this thread) about the EQ potential of this iem.
This is something I heard NO reviewer touch on and I watched pretty much all content by now.
It seems to me (a newbie) that a reference iem with good drivers must be the perfect platform for EQ.
So how well does it handle it? How easy is to make it sound like a dsp dusk for example?
It’s the missing piece for me in order to pull the trigger on my next high end iem purchase.
Thanks for the amazing work team!
Is there any chance that this new HRTF will be made public as a target for people to use in squig and other tools? Judging by the name and the fact that it took considerable effort to create, it will probably remain proprietary to heaphones .com. Which is understandable, but a little bit of a bummer.
UPD. Nevermind, listener has it on his squig. I’m blind, sorry
It’s a good platform for EQ because the stock tuning is a great base to work off from. Same with the Pure. A +1-2 dB here and there is really what most people will need.
