Where to start? This is a special IEM. Not because it’s the best I have ever heard (although its up there) but more because of so many dimensions this set of earphones excels in. I purchased these because I heard good things from people I trust and I was interested in listening to these myself.
The box/packaging is very “formal” and down to business which I like. I will say that when I saw the cables it came with I was surprised, in a bad way. The cables are not very nice, both 3.5mm, one with a mic. I expect the cable it came with in a under $50 set, not these. So right away I was worried that I was not going to be impressed, I mean lets face it these are $269 (as purchased) and for that price you expect more.
But much to my surprise they sounded good. I let them play laying on my desk for about 20 min a loud volume to break in the Dynamic driver a bit. Side note, if you need to let a DD “burn in” for more than 20 minutes then something is wrong, really 5 minutes should be good. Your just getting the driver moving and loosening its coil.
I immediately heard some very refined bass and mid’s. I threw an Amy Winehouse song on that was recorded at the BBC live. Many IEM’s cannot play this well, it sounds like crap on them. But some, with excellent tuning around the mid’s and good stage can make this song really stand out, and the TANCHJIM’s delivered. Next I tested for detail and treble with several Jazz songs I prefer, Diana Krall Live in Paris, John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk – A Love Supreme and of course Hotel California. The detail retrieval was very good. The separation in these songs was also very good, above average for sure. But the tuning was fantastic, songs sounded very 3 dimensional no doubt due to the timbre and stage these deliver. I could easily place instruments. Symbols sounded “just right” with the seemingly right amount of roll-off and decay. But vocals are a treat on these. Diana Krall’s musky voice was a very powerful experience to hear on these earphones. The one song that gave me any problem was Metallica – Ride The lightning, In some of the hard hitting guitar riffs that included detailed drumming it seemed separation fell apart a bit and things blended together more than I would like.
Though with that, these have been my daily drivers (until a recent acquisition of the Fearless Tequila) but I still have these on my desk and listen to them often. They have a sound that makes me want to listen to them rathe than finding a reason that I have too. I will be keeping these for sure and they are currently in my top 3 all time favorites.
They can be easily driven with a Phone but for sure they shine with a good DAP or AMP. I tested with, RME ADI-2, FiiO M11 Pro, FiiO BTR5 and an Iphone.
Cables aside I can easily recommend these as a “buy”.
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