TANCHJIM One IEM Review

[uwotm8]

Another perfect example that "money doesn't sound"

This si partially right if you're OK with limitations of IEM or, say, compact 2-way active speakers.
But - surprisingly! - the next step, no matter if you want to get a good pair of "normal" cans or speakers to listen from more than 1.5m distance, oh wait, maybe you want 3-way floorstanders? Good luck getting any of these for "no money"

Even a good D-class still costs some. Even chinese and non-Hypex.

 

[OldTimer]

Great $20 IEM

 

[Ajax]

This is a tough crowd.

For peanuts you can have an IEM that sounds good and performance is good. Where's the love?

 

[Jeromeof]

Just bought the DSP version - hope to see how it can be tweaked / EQed with their mobile app .

 

[August]

Would like to see a dsp version of the measurement. For a small price increase (just -$3!) You can get better factory frequency response and offline eq.

 

[peniku8]

Just bought the DSP version - hope to see how it can be tweaked / EQed with their mobile app .

Same - but the Tanya for me. Will be used on IOS, but the tweaks from the android side will be saved to the dsp, so they'll carry over. There is a Tanchjim app for IOS, but it's apparently not finished yet and you can't tweak EQs there.
Will put em on my coupler and see how they perform.

 

[FrantzM]

At this stage of the game .. perhaps

Great $20 IEM

Happy holidays!

Peace.

 

[FrantzM]

This si partially right if you're OK with limitations of IEM or, say, compact 2-way active speakers.
But - surprisingly! - the next step, no matter if you want to get a good pair of "normal" cans or speakers to listen from more than 1.5m distance, oh wait, maybe you want 3-way floorstanders? Good luck getting any of these for "no money"

Even a good D-class still costs some. Even chinese and non-Hypex.

Off topics:



Would surmise my beloved JBL LSR 308 qualify... for more than 1.5 meters.. at <$500/pair...
Aiyima A07 Max Amplifier at $85... Yes Eighty Five dollars , no typo.
From @amirm 's review:

EDIT 3:
AIYIMA A07 Max Listening Tests
I connected the A07 Max, don't laugh, to my $23,000 Revel Salon 2 speakers as requested by a member. I must say, I was not remotely prepared for what I heard. This little amp with its 36 volt/6amp power supply had no trouble driving the Revels to incredible dynamics! Resolution and detail was superb. Deep, sub-bass was produced with no sign of amp straining or wanting to turn off. I am still listening to it as I type this and can't believe what I am hearing. The binding posts on the speakers probably weigh as much as this amp!

Granted, I am scared of turning it up to max volume as to risk damaging my speakers should something go wrong. But so far, even at very elevated listening levels, the amp is performing beautifully. It defies one's or at least my intuition. Feed this amp well recorded music and pair it with great speakers and you are set.

for a more comprehensive list of speakers: See this, painstakingly put together by @sweetchaos : Passive Speaker Recommendations for USA (by @sweetchaos)
You'd find numerous under $1000.oo passive speakers/pair to .. err.. pair with the Aiyima o7 or similar...



Happy holidays!
Peace.

 

[DanTheMan]

These look significantly smaller than the other ultra cheap, great measuring IEMs. They might fit in my pocket case with the Qudelix. Of course I want to see what their DSO Dongle is all about. Perhaps I could even buy a smaller case. This is just getting mad! I used to think the Sony Walkmans of you were the golden age of portable hifi, but the game is at a whole other level now.

 

[Jeromeof]

These look significantly smaller than the other ultra cheap, great measuring IEMs. They might fit in my pocket case with the Qudelix. Of course I want to see what their DSO Dongle is all about. Perhaps I could even buy a smaller case. This is just getting mad! I used to think the Sony Walkmans of you were the golden age of portable hifi, but the game is at a whole other level now.

The way I am looking at it - its should be a great sounding IEM without the DSP cable - but since the DSP cable be used in other IEM's its like a 2:1 deal - depending on whether I think I need some DSP with this device I could swap it with the cable with another IEM and apply some EQ to that IEM.

 

[amirm]

The way I am looking at it - its should be a great sounding IEM without the DSP cable - but since the DSP cable be used in other IEM's its like a 2:1 deal - depending on whether I think I need some DSP with this device I could swap it with the cable with another IEM and apply some EQ to that IEM.

I just read in the Zero:2 thread that the DSP cable for that doesn't produce much power. For the $3 they charge for that "DSP cable," I don't have high hopes that it performs.

 

[DanTheMan]

I just read in the Zero:2 thread that the DSP cable for that doesn't produce much power. For the $3 they charge for that "DSP cable," I don't have high hopes that it performs.

But…. It wasn’t long ago that I wouldn’t have expected a $25 IEM to be worth anything. Maybe it’s every bit (no pun there) as good as the Apple Dongle? It would make for a cool test if there’s evidence it’s possible. I mean the Apple dongle is still under 10 USD and it seems audibly transparent within its limits and people claim that Apple is chronically overpriced. If it’s really not very good, I bet there will be one in a year or so. We can hope.

 

[amirm]

Apple dongle was much better than many other dongles. So not all are created equally. It might be good but I am just reporting what was said.

 

[Ajax]

This is a tough crowd.

For peanuts you can have an IEM that sounds good and performance is good. Where's the love?

just bought one

 

[KR500]

Thank you for noting this in your review Amir, I bought the Zero Red after your excellent review and really enjoy them, but as someone in their seventies feel I appear like a dork wearing them outside

“Unlike many of its competitors, the ONE doesn't attempt to look like fake jewelry and instead, conveys a modern and stylistic design”

 

[markanini]

One question: Is it fully vented?

 

[uwotm8]

Aiyima A07 Max Amplifier at $85... Yes Eighty Five dollars

My excuses, but with 1 dB channel imblanace its a junk. Other than that, it's roughly a 30 y.o. AB amp performance level. Garage sale grade
A few weeks ago Amir tested an amp module which costs ~$100-120 and is a decent TPA3255 implementation, just don't forget to add PSU, case and stuff.

You'd find numerous under $1000.oo passive speakers/pair to .. err.. pair with the Aiyima

Didn't find any good tower speaker under $1k in that list, but my meaning of "good" is a bit different from Breeze Audio and Aiyima level.
"Good" on that list starts with Revel and that's basically the case still.

Once industry will obtain good-n-cheap towers maybe but for now that miracle only happened to IEMs and active 2-ways. And desktop (50-100W) D-class, for serious business you need Hypex level still. And DACs/phone amps. All these are small units sold in big numbers. There's physically not much in there so production and shipping costs can be low.

 

[CedarX]

I have both DSP and non-DSP versions of the One (as well as both versions of the Tanchjim Zero & Tanya). To me, the One are fine IEMs, and the DSP versions allow you to correct/adjust the FR to your liking, with your corrections “following” the IEM—a great concept for entry-level IEMs IMO.

Again, in my experience, the DSP version of the One has more than enough power to play louder than what I would ever stand.
The Tanchjim app (Android) is easier to use and has been more reliable in my experience than the Moondrop app (for Moondrop’s FreeDSP, CDSP, JIU, MAY) which often fails to detect the cable/IEM.
The Tanchjim App gives you some presets + a 5-band PEQ, but only of the peak-type filters (you can adjust the Freq., Gain, and Q-factor on each of the 5 filters). Whenever you save a setting (not when you fiddle with the filters), it resets the USB connection, so you need to re-allow exclusive access in Android.

I’m not sure if the iOS app would ever work due to Apple restrictions on USB communication—there are two interfaces exposed: a UAC-1 compliant (up to 24/96) and another one (type?) with 5x endpoints, one for each of the DSP filters.

The Tanchjim DSP-enabled IEMs are built around a KTMicro chip providing the USB bridge, DSP, DAC and HPA functions (I suspect it’s a KT0210, but it’s unverified).

One detail: if you change from cable-down to around the ears, you have to swap the L & R cables so that they fit the IEM connector properly as you also swap the IEMs

EDIT: I haven’t checked if the DSP version plays DSD files (not that I care much…).

 

[Acerun]

Do you think there's any sound difference between the one with a mic or no mic? Same price.

 

[amirm]

Don't see why that would make a difference assuming all else is equal.