Yeah, they are what they are. I rec them under 100usd (Olina, ER2XR, etc) if you want a bassy tuning. I also EQ them down. For more neutral signatures, Titan S kicks in as well.
They are no giant killers and CRA for sure wouldn’t be one of them. Some hyperboles were made and that killed the vibe on them.
I spent the better part of the weekend listening to the CRA and when reaching for an IEM today, I reached for the CRA and not the Timeless. Not necessarily, because I think it is better, but just because the more I listen to the CRA, the more I am fucking amazed how good they sound for 15$.
Compared to the Timeless I would say the CRA has the superior bass (which is super fun) and the treble is not far behind the Timeless. Hearing this airy treble from a DD is actually the biggest surprise to me. When it comes to resolution the Timeless is the clear winner, which I feel is more of an indication of the Timeless’ capabilities and less a flaw of the CRA.
While it took some brain burn-in for me to warm up to the CRA, if it achieved one thing, it makes me doubt spending any more money on IEMs 
I can’t make a direct comparison, but I would put the CRA above the Moondrop Aria at x5 the price, above the Moondrop Blessing 2 at x21 the price and call me crazy, but I like it better than the U12t at x133 the price.
Some thoughts:
I am saying all this, knowing I am a sucker and probably will buy some EST IEM sooner or later, but it all goes to show what an amazing value this thing is.
Sorry for my long winded rant. Take this song as an apology (best experienced with CRA):
So, almost 4 week after ordering, my order was cancelled because of the shipping issue. I was hoping it would get here by mid february, as it was supposed to be a gift, but that fell through now… I ordered it again, probably won’t see it before march.
I ordered from the official CCA store on aliexpress. They send me a chat message, that the color I chose wasn’t available, which I didn’t see for a week. After I told them, that the other color is ok as well, I got the IEM pretty fast (1-2 weeks).
This is the way.
I have got the KZ 8 Core Silver Blue Upgrade Cable on mine (@Rikudou_Goku Cable A14). I am also going to do his 500 Mesh Filter + Sony General Version Foam ‘Kaio-Ken’ mod on my second pair whenever the meshes come in. Squiglink - IEM frequency response database by Rikudou Goku
Bass is great, midrange superbly tuned, treble is hot, but the extension is great. If only those 5k and 9k peaks were tamed it would be really great.
500 mesh 4mm: 20pcs DIY Earphones Tuning Paper Damping Front Shell Filter Mesh Increase Low Frequency|Earphone Accessories| - AliExpress
I must say that build and comfort is really great. Lot of much more expensive sets could learn a lot about ergonomics from this one. Also, despite the vent, isolation is very good.
Dynamics are really special on them. Bass is really kicking and powerful. Also they are very sensitive and easy to drive.
Thoughts:
Above average hard hitting bass, especially sub bass, quantity comparable/slightly exceeding mele. Texture is lacking but have good fast decay.
Mid slightly recessed and slightly favor female voice, presentation is quite center, not laid back/forward.
Treble in general quite airy and above average detail, but that 5khz peak can be slightly sibilant in some songs (ymmv), good soundstage and imaging. Probably its best attribute compared to its peer.
Overall timbre/tonal and cohesiveness of the sound is where I found the flaw with this set. It sounded off and it seems glued unevenly. Weird, this is where Mele/Bl03/Lea is better.
Value at $15, definitely value gems, cable is standard cca/kz with qkz 0.78 connector. Alternatively DQ6, Lea, BL03, mele can be consideration depending on what you are looking for and library.
I was wondering how to do the mod. I assume it’s done by :
And what do you think of this mod vs stock? Thank you.
That’s how you do it. You stack the 500 mesh on top of the sony foam, the stock foam is not used.
See my review.
That is pretty much it. 1. Remove the original filter, it will probably get bent and unusable after anways. 2. Put in the Sony General Foam (Rikudou_Goku did not use any adhesives for the foam AFAIK). 3. Put on on the new 500 mesh filter and carefully lining up the edge with the inner lip of the nozzle.
@Rikudou_Goku not only took the time to compare a bunch of mod options for the CCA CRA, but told us the best one to use and left a lengthy review of his modded version on CCA CRA - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org, he noted that both mids and treble subjectivly improved.
Squiglink - IEM frequency response database by RikudouGoku
IMO the mod softens up the higher frequencies a bit without affecting the detail in a noticeable way, the frequency response graph only looked to be affected by a few DB here and there but the sound becomes a little thicker with the subtle scattering and pressure increase. The other mod I know of is simply replacing the stock filter with a Tanchjim Tanya filter, but the 500 mesh is close enough and comes in a 4 mm size.
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For whatever reason, I really love listening to Binker & Moses - Accelerometer Overdose (Edit) - YouTube on the CCA CRA. I am not that much of a fan of Jazz, but I like that sub bass slant and the peaky ~4.7 KHz pushes the Sax right to the front of the mix. It kind of shows off the dynamic range in frequencies while not highlighting the lack of 2 KHz rise next to the 4.7 KHz peak (either the 2 KHz could be tad more, or the 4.7 KHz peak could be less for an improved signature).
Yeah, the glue is not needed.
Two recent giants in their price category. CRA is new king of the budget v-shapes ($15), Olina is the interesting new entry in the $100 bright neutral category. They are in the very different price categories, but let see how they are compared one to another.
1 > 2
Olina wins it for me. Good build and I really like the look.
1 < 2
CRA wins it here, but it’s not that the Olina is uncomfortable. CRA is really small, light and achieve fantastic seal. Everything you expect from IEM.
1 < 2
CRA wins it easily. It is in fact one of the best isolation on a vented design I’ve heard, yet.
1 >= 2
Olina is better in tuning and naturalness. Somewhat lacking in control. CRA would have impressive control, but that is mitigated by overly boosted sub bass. Olina is better by less exaggerated tuning and warm timbre. However, CRA bass is not far behind.
Test tracks:
Chameleon - Trentemoller
Sadness - Enigma
They Just Haven’t Seen It - San Holo
1 >= 2
Both have greatly tuned mids. Olina wins on clarity, but not by much.
Test tracks:
Crazy - Daniela Andrade
My Work - JFDR
1 > 2
Biggest CRA issue. Despite achieving great treble response, tuning issues make it sharp, sibilant and unnatural. Olina can get hot in treble, but never crossing into sharp, sibilant territory.
Test tracks:
Red Light Zone - Colonia
1 > 2
Olina has great tuning over all registers. CRA has exaggerated sub bass, but done in a tasteful manner. Real problem is treble which, while extended, is sibilant and unnatural.
1 > 2
Olina is clearer and more detailed.
Test tracks:
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
1 > 2
Olina imaging is more precise and soundstage is much bigger.
Test tracks:
Nils Frahm - An Aborted Beginning
1 > 2
Olina wins it with refinement and excellent bass punch. CRA is very good with authoritative bass hits.
Test tracks:
Dire Straits - The Man’s Too Strong
Chemical Brothers - Leave Home
Technicalities are clear on the Olina side, but CRA is very good in detail and dynamics.
1 < 2
CRA is the greatest value in HiFi currently. At it’s price it managed to make so much of that good, that nothing can be compared to it. Tuning, comfort, isolation, detachable cable, optional mic. Olina is great new contender in the $100 arena, it gets most of the stuff right and very little wrong.
Olina
Pros: really big soundstage, great punch n’ slam, comfortable build, great looks
Cons: abysmal isolation, which makes it unusable in the noisy environments, hot upper mids. Hot upper mids would be manageable on medium volume, but with low isolation this makes them unusable outside
CRA
Pros: comfort, fit, very good isolation, fun but clean, controlled and detailed bass, excellent mids, fantastic treble extension (rarity with single DD), very good dynamics (rarity at the price point), very detailed sound (unavailable previously at the price point), easy to drive, microphone (optional)
Cons: too sharp in the presence region, big mid treble peak, piercing sharp sound, sibilant, unnatural plasticky cymbals
Olina mostly wins easily in every category, which is to be expected at almost 7x the price, but it is surprising how much CRA gets right for so little money. If they managed to control treble a little more, it would easily be an end set for many.
Epic write-up
Thanks for taking the time 
CRA is a beast. It totally outshines the Tanchjim OLA which is over 2x the cost of CRA.
Preamp: -6.0 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 20 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 0.600
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 100 Hz Gain 0.4 dB Q 0.600
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 140 Hz Gain -3.2 dB Q 0.500
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 810 Hz Gain 1.6 dB Q 1.300
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1500 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3100 Hz Gain 3.4 dB Q 1.700
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3500 Hz Gain 1.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 6200 Hz Gain 4.3 dB Q 2.000
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain 7.1 dB Q 2.000
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 11000 Hz Gain -6.2 dB Q 0.500
CLON CL03
Preamp: -6.0 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 2200 Hz Gain 2.7 dB Q 2.000
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 3200 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 6200 Hz Gain -2.9 dB Q 0.500
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 7300 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 1.400
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 14000 Hz Gain 6.3 dB Q 2.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain -12.0 dB Q 0.500
Loving the Squig.Link AutoEQ.
The CRA is such a beast it is get the plus treatment.
