CrinEar Reference In-Ear Headphones

The improvement in sound accuracy amazes me. Even though I am comparing the Reference to the Hisenior Mega5-EST, the sound improvement is easily heard. At first, the Reference just sounds 'different', and different eartips can also change the sound. (I wasn't happy with the Mega5-EST until I used Softears UC tips.) I tried a variety of tips - all longer tube, which typically work better for me - Softears UC, SednaEarfit, and Divinus Velvet - in addition to the Reference tips. Of the non-Reference tips, the Divinus Velvet were best, taming some of the high-end frequencies (for those thinking that the Reference is too 'hot'). But the Reference's standard or short wide worked best for me. I was surprised that the deciding difference was the better 'openness' rather than simply frequency response. My observation is that it can take some time to adjust to the 'flat/reference' frequency response. I was expecting (as Listener describes) 'my music' to sound like 'my music', but it didn't. 'My music' sounded 'different' - but better - with the Reference. So even though the Reference sounded better out of the box, it took some listening to accept 'flat/reference' as my new listening yardstick. Overall, the Reference is a wonderful new definition of great/accurate sound and is, therefore, also a good value. With some adjustment to accurate sound, you should be be thrilled with the Reference.

Very comfortable with good isolation and bass response with the medium shorter bore tips. Build quality is excellent. The neutral sound is a perfect match for my giant classical music library. I will still use my AirPods Pro 3 for workouts, but for home listening these are tough to beat.

Awesome IEMs with ONE downside. I love the premium metal build, and the leather "taco" feels nice. I'm enjoying the sound too, even though it doesn't fit my preference EXACTLY, I like hearing my music the way it's supposed to sound. My one complaint is the width of the nozzle, it barely fits in my ears and it's a little uncomfortable. And I can't seem to insert them as deep as I want. Otherwise great product.