TRUTHEAR GATE REVIEW

>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translation tools to help<<

INTRO:

It’s already known that the Truthear Hola was discontinued by the company, which is a pity, because the IEM had excellent build quality for the price it cost. And even because of that – I think – the IEM was discontinued, it became expensive to deliver a $20 USD IEM 3D printed by HeyGears.

The Truthear Gate now hits the market, which would be the IEM that came to fill the space left after the sad and painful end left by Hola’s early departure.

The Truthear Gate was sent by SHENZHENAUDIO, one of the main distributors of Truthear products, as well as several other brands and audio products. More information on the links below.

Price: $19.99 USD
Colors: Black or White
Cable: Mic or no Mic

Truthear Reviews: Hexa, Hola, Shio, Nova

SHENZHENAUDIO LINKS:

https://amzn.to/460diDn

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oF6E7vh

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkiKX0f

SPECIFICATIONS:

Single DD:

• (1) 10mm Carbon LPC Dynamic Driver per side

– Frequency range: 10Hz – 45kHz
– Effective frequency: 20Hz – 20kHz
– Sensitivity: 122dB/Vrms @1kHz
– Impedance: 28Ω ±15%
– THD: ≤1% @1kHz (94dB)
– Termination Plug: 3.5mm (L design)
– Connectors: 2pin 0.78mm
– Cable size: 1.2m (detachable)
– Cable: Copper OFC
– Shell: Plastic resin
– Earphone weight: 2.7g (one side)(without eartips)
– Cable weight: 18.1g
– Total weight (packaging, iems, etc): 136g
– Packaging size: 10cm [H] x 10cm [W] x 4cm [D]

UNBOXING:

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

Construction: In the introduction I already started talking about the Truthear Hola and it is inevitable not to compare it with the Gate… In this sense of construction, there was a downgrade from one IEM to the other. The Gate is an all-plastic IEM, while the Hola was 3D printed, so the consumer lost out in this “replacement” (which is actually a new product). It was very interesting that the company placed the faceplate with a transparent plastic, so we can see the internal components of the earphone, however, they used a low-cost plastic, which can scratch easily, and apparently can also break more easily.

Eartips: In my opinion, the kit was good, for an IEM costing around $20 USD and coming with two types of eartips, there’s nothing to criticize. The eartips are simple, but I confess that I liked it because there are more expensive IEM that come with worse eartips, so we are at a profit here with the Gate. The two types of eartips are: “normal” (standard) and wide bore. The wide bore ones came in sizes S/M/L/XL, and the normal ones came in sizes S/M/L. As usual, wide bore eartips aren’t my style, so I stuck with the “normal” ones. First I tested them with size M, and unfortunately I didn’t like the sound with them, so I switched to size L, and then I think it improved. The sound changed drastically, from a thin IEM to a fuller one, just by changing the size of the eartips. I also used the Gate with the SpinFit CP100 and thought the sound improved even more (for my taste), but I evaluated the Gate with the stock eartips in size G.

Cable: The cable is simple but very effective. Very positive point for the product. It’s not very refined, but the functionality is very good. It’s a very light, thin cable, easy to roll up for storage, has no microphonics, doesn’t tangle, and has no memory. The earhooks are also great, smooth and with great curvature. The chin slider works well. It’s exactly the same cable that came with the Hola, if by chance you’ve never tested the Hola, you can rest assured that this is a very good cable. The only thing that doesn’t close 100% is that the P2 plug is L-shaped, and I prefer cables with a straight plug (but this can’t even be seen as a negative point, it’s just a matter of taste).

Fit and comfort: Another very positive point about the IEM. The fit is great, without complications, the shell has a format already established in the earphone market. It’s basically the same shape as the Hola, although I think the Hola was a little smaller in size, which created more comfort (I no longer have the Hola on hand to compare). The insertion is average, and the isolation is also average. The comfort is excellent, mainly because of the weight of the IEM, just 2.7g! You forget that you are using the IEMs, and it’s even strange at times to realize that sound is coming from such a light product. IEM more than recommended for spending long hours in your ear without feeling discomfort. Honestly, the quality of the Hola shell is superior to that of the Gate… as it is a 3D printed IEM, the Hola was softer when in contact with the skin (in my opinion), due to the material used in the product.

Accessories: Of the included accessories, it came with exactly the same carrying case that came with Hola, it’s like a synthetic leather pouch. Naturally I think this is not the best type of carrying case to store IEMs, I always prefer something rigid or semi-rigid. So, for me it didn’t work out very well, but I can’t complain too much because in this price range other IEMs don’t even come with anything, or when they do come with a little fabric pouch (which is even less useful) [in my opinion].

SOUND ASPECTS:

First, to say that some important considerations were made in the “eartips” paragraph, there I said something that could make the earphone experience completely different due to a very small detail.

I understood the sound of Truthear Gate as a mild V-Shape. The Gate offers a boost in the bass region, mids more in the front, and treble further forward. Now, all frequencies are well controlled (in my opinion).

I no longer have the Hola on hands to do a side-by-side comparative, but from my memories, the Gate came with a little more bass and treble. It’s true, the increase in the bass is possible that it was an interaction between the eartips and my ear, since on the Hola I evaluated it with the M eartip, and the Gate with the L. The Hola had the feeling of being a more neutral with bassboost, the Gate brought an increase in the treble region, which made it more inclined towards to the V-Shape.

To be quite honest, I didn’t really like the Hola, at the time I had the Tin C2 which I thought was better, although the C2 for me only worked with the SpinFit CP100 eartips (to reduce the treble a little bit). For me, the Gate already has a sound that I like more, it’s a more “lively”, an IEM that has a more fun side, while the Hola I found to be a bit of a “water with sugar”.

Bass:

Quantitative: I consider the bass to be moderate, and as I said before, if it weren’t for changing of the eartips, it would be moderate to low. The sound of the IEM really changed with this simple change, for the better. The region became more present and in a way more balanced (for my taste). IEMs with few bass aren’t ideal for me, but nothing in excess is good either. The Gate has sub-bass and mid-bass in linearity, that is, it has a very nice boost in both regions, and both are on the same level. I didn’t feel any roll-off, the extension is good. The Gate has enough bass to play different musical genres, I myself like EDM, Hip-Hop, POP, and I felt that the level here is good. Note that this isn’t a basshead IEM.

Qualitative: This qualitative part I found very interesting, because I’ve heard bass from more expensive IEMs that had a lower performance than the Gate’s bass. Therefore, a very positive point for the IEM. The bass is clean, controlled, and has great definition for the price range (or even more). It has a moderate texture and physicality. The impact is good, it’s more tight, outlined, it also has strength and is audible without sounding exaggerated. They are “slim” bass, they aren’t the star of the show, and it’s actually difficult to pinpoint which frequency is the star, because the IEM has a well-balanced sound. They aren’t massive, aren’t bloated or out of context bass, and they also don’t invade the midrange.

Mids:

Quantitative and qualitative: The Gate has well-developed midrange, has a dose of frontality without sounding harsh or aggressive. There are already a lot of IEMs that have the same amount of midrange as the Gate, it seems that the companies have found a measure that is “acceptable” for a greater number of people. It’s neither too recessed nor too forward. Of course, this is a bit subjective, but I think that those who want to avoid very high mids will enjoy the Gate, and those who want to avoid very dark mids will also enjoy the Gate.

The midrange is a region that in the Gate has good definition and transparency, although I think that the Hola was an that delivered more performance and even quantity (but as I said, I couldn’t compare both side by side, they are just rescues of what already was experienced). Unfortunately Hola has already died, so perhaps this information is only useful for those who have already listened to Hola. Also remember that there’s the phenomenon of the eartips, certainly if I used a more open eartip, the sound would be clearer and more detailed (in the Gate).

Voices: It is an IEM that doesn’t excel with any type of voice in particular – lower voices or higher voices. For example, if you really like female/high voices to be more prominent, the Gate will deliver a performance just good/ok, not excellent (and the same goes for lower timbres). However, if that’s not what you’re looking for when listening to music, then the Gate plays a good role, as it balances the performance for both types of voices and everything looks good.

Treble:

Quantitative: The treble is at a level between moderate and high. I put this “high” because this is certainly not a dark IEM but it isn’t a bright IEM either. As I said at the beginning of the text, this is an IEM that leans towards V-Shape, and even though I think the Gate doesn’t have excessive treble, it is known that V-Shape earphones have more present treble. So, if you like dark IEMs, or if you are really very sensitive to any type of treble, perhaps the Gate isn’t ideal for you. I didn’t feel any roll-off, the treble extension is good. I understand that here the company used the trick of slightly increasing the amount of treble to gain more performance in the presentation.

Qualitative: The Gate’s treble is lively, has good speed, great definition, great detail, good airy. I think they have a slight coloring in the higher sounds, but not all music will show this slightly more colorful side of the IEM, it will be easier to appear when there are many high-pitched instruments playing at the same time. The sparkle on some instruments is more crystalline, such as a carillon or a mandolin. In any case, I didn’t feel harshness, I didn’t feel shrill, I didn’t feel piercing, and I didn’t hear any sibilance either. This slight increase in the treble region really makes the IEM more resolved, you can perceive greater detail. I didn’t feel any sense of hearing fatigue. I think that if someone uses a wide bore eartips and hears a sound that tends to bright, then it’s possible that the presentation will be cold.

Soundstage: I found the soundstage to be very good, especially if we consider the price of the IEM and also the construction… as the faceplate is transparent, we can see exactly where the driver is, and you can see that it isn’t so far from the nozzle… I imagine this could influence the issue of spatiality. But regardless of that, the depth of the earphone is good, the sound is presented satisfactorily, without sounding as if it were lost/hollow (with a lot of echo) nor as if it were glued to the eardrum.

Imaging: I found the separation to be average to good. The IEM has a nice bass, which is easy to identify, and we also have the treble which has a touch more brightness, which also makes it easier to identify instruments with higher frequencies. Of course, don’t expect the level of separation like a hybrid IEM, but for a single DD for less than $20 dollars, I think it’s good. Both the Gate’s soundstage and imaging are better than the Hola’s (from memory and my review of the product).

Driver Flex Test: I didn’t hear any driver flex sound when I inserted the IEMs into my ears.

Amplification: I used the FiiO M11S DAP to do this review. The output used was 3.5mm and the DAP in High Gain mode. Volume was 70% of the 120% available through M11S. The Truthear Gate is an easy-to-play IEM that doesn’t require dedicated amplifiers. I tested the Gate on the FiiO KA11 and it played easily. The Truthear Gate will certainly play on smartphones, iPads, and notebooks. I always recommend that the person at least have a good quality dongle to play the IEMs. Currently, I recommend the FiiO KA11 as a good cost-benefit dongle.

PROS AND CONS:

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