Intro
The CrinEar Daybreak is the first release that you can actually buy from CrinEar. Technically the Project Meta was their first release, but that was very limited and sold out in minutes – the Daybreak, however, is actually buyable for the masses.
Crinacle himself said that the Daybreak is “the best performance at its price point.” So is it? Spoiler: it’s spectacularly good and the easiest recommendation under $200 ever. But of course, there’s more to the story than that, so keep reading to find out more.
Tech Specs
Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver, 2 Balance Armatures, 2mPT (Micro-Planar Tweeters)
Sensitivity: 105dB/mW @1kHz
Impedance: 20Ω@1kHz
Frequency Response: 2 – 40 kHz
Connector: .078mm 2 pin
Price: $169.99
Sound
Overall
The sound overall is very Meta/JM-1. That is to say, it’s smooth and lightly warm. It’s almost a light U-shaped sound, but more neutral than that. The bass and treble are boosted a tiny bit, resulting in a largely neutral sound with a hit of fun at both ends. Taking into account the entire tuning, nothing stands out and the whole sound is incredibly cohesive. This is a set that isn’t fatiguing and is something that you can listen to all day long without wanting to rip them out of your ear-holes.
The Daybreak handles every single genre of music that I could throw at it without breaking a sweat – it’s a true jack of all trades. Sure, other IEMs or tuning styles might be better at specific genres, but they won’t be able to handle all of the other genres nearly as well.
Just like its bigger brother, the CrinEar Meta, the Daybreak has some tactility that you can feel in your ear – not just in the bass, but throughout the mids and treble as well.
In fact, this review might be a little shorter than usual, as it’s hard to even write anything negative because it’s all so good…maybe even perfect.
Bass
While the sub bass is emphasized, it’s balanced by a small boost in the mid bass. This makes the bass super satisfying without overdoing it. It has some richness, good texture and body. The bass isn’t slow, or fast…it’s the perfect amount to sound natural and lifelike across genres. Kick drums are fantastic and authentic, and bass guitars sound perfect – they have heft and depth, while not overpowering everything around them. The extra mid bass is a welcome addition over the Project Meta and really helps give a naturally warm body to the entire sound signature.
Mids
Dare I use the word perfect here? The mids are perfect to my ears and are exceptionally good. They’re not overemphasized, not lacking, they land spot on in between. They’re clean, open, lifelike for both male and female vocals, and that mid bass instills a little warmth that contributes to the natural sound.
Crinacle/CrinEar absolutely nailed it. Consider my jaw dropped.
Treble
So far I’ve been raving about the sound. Is this where it all goes wrong?
Not at all. The treble is also brilliant.
While there is a little extra treble, it lands in a fun place and not in an ear-murdering area. It helps provide extra details and airiness, while maintaining the smooth sound, not just in the treble, but in the overall balance of the sound signature. It’s definitely there, but not too much. To compare, the treble is less intense than the Project Meta and smoother.
This might be the only slightly negative thing I have to say about the Daybreak: the treble can feel occasionally zingy from the micro-planar drivers. But they only step out of line every so often and it’s only for a split second. With everything else sounding so exceptionally good, this is a very minor complaint and I’m happy to deal with this slight imperfection.
Technicalities
Overall the technicalities of the Daybreak are really, really good for the price, but at the same time, they won’t blow you away either if you’re used to hearing some higher tiered IEMs. The Project Meta and the Moondrop Dusk are much better, but then again, they’re significantly more expensive. When compared to both of these higher priced IEMs, the Daybreak is less analytical, but smoother overall. Detail retrieval is good, but these aren’t an extreme detail set either.
Instrument separation and imaging are quite good, while the width, height, and overall staging size are good for under $200. If you’re coming from sub-$100 IEMs, the Daybreak here will be quite the step up.
How to Get the Most from Daybreak
To my ears and my head-related transfer function (HRTF) the wide bore tips really help smooth out the treble and mid bass, while opening up the staging a little bit. The latest versions of the Daybreak now come with wide bore ear tips, so feel free to try them out for yourself. If you have an early model like I do, the widely praised coffee tips also do the trick.
Lastly, a couple more dB of volume also helps open up the Daybreak, helping it become less warm while boosting the mids and treble by a dB or two. The Daybreak really can come alive with a good source and a small amount of extra volume.
Conclusion
While the CrinEar Daybreak isn’t 100% perfect, it’s 99% perfect to my ears. Really, it’s that good. For under $200, this is an easy recommendation for just about anyone, and they’re only $169. The Daybreak would even be a good blind buy for someone who doesn’t know what kind of sound they prefer.
While the Truthear Pure are spectacular in its own right and price-point, if you can save up the extra for the Daybreak, it’s totally worth it and is a massive step up.
The Daybreak makes listening to music so enjoyable that I keep getting lost in the music and not the equipment. I think that is probably the biggest compliment I can give any IEM and the Daybreak has become my daily driver because of this. Highly, highly recommended.