Tanchjim Tanya IEM Review 2: Sweetly Affordable!!
Tanchjim has grown a good reputation in the audio industry worldwide with its flagship Oxygen In-ear monitors. They have a solid fan base with their well-crafted and excellently tuned IEMs. Most of their IEMs including the flagship Oxygen, HANA, and the budget Cora follows Harman Tuning frequency curve. And so does their latest budget model, the Tanchjim Tanya. Tanya is the latest offering in the house of Tanchjim housing a 7mm micro dynamic driver with 3rd Generation Dual Magnetic Technology. I was looking to buy a simple IEM for daily usage, Tanya looked like a perfect set to me, Affordable and Small form factor exactly what I was looking for. Today, I am gonna share my impressions with you of the pair that I got a few weeks back.
Disclaimer:-
I bought the Tanchjim Tanya with my own money from HiFiGo. All the thoughts and impressions in this review are based on my own experience with the pair. It is available in two different variants, with an in-line mic, and without an in-line microphone starting at 22$ only. If you wish to buy Tanya, you can buy it from HiFiGo from the link below(It is not affiliated). The impressions are made based on its price.
Packaging & Accessories:-
Tanchjim packs the Tanya in a beautiful grey colored box with a white slip-on cover. The packaging of Tanchjim Tanya looks more like a premium pair rather than a budget one. It comes in a very beautiful designer package. The slip-on cover has an image of Tanchjim Tanya on the front along with its branding. On the back, we have the technical specifications in Chinese, English, and Japanese languages. The inner grey box has an embossed design all over it and a Tanchjim branding logo right on the front. Inside, Tanya sits right on the top in a foam cutout. The carry pouch is in a white box alongside the pair. Other contents such as the included ear tips, documentation, backup filters are stored right below the foam cutout holding Tanya. Tanya is presented beautifully in a small package, it doesn’t look like that this costs just 22$.
Package Contents:-
>Tanchjim Tanya earphones.
>Three pairs of normal bore silicone tips.
>Three pairs of wide bore silicone tips.
>Carry pouch.
>Warranty card.
>User guide.
>Product Certification.
Design & Build Quality:-
Tanya has a small form-factor with bullet-style earpieces made in a beautiful silver and black scheme. The outer shells have a silver cover while the whole inner cavity and nozzle is black. They have a semi-open back design with a small grill at the tail of the earpieces. The earpieces have a non-detachable cable that might be a dealbreaker for some people as people love to explore different signatures with different cable types. There is a bass vent at the bottom of the earpieces near the nozzle Nozzle here is wide and short. I prefer using wide bore ear tips included in the package as they provide a better, more open sound in comparison to the narrow bore ones. In terms of build quality, I am impressed with the small and sturdy Tanya.
The cable here is insulated with a smoky grey PVC covering. It has a 3.5mm termination. The chin-slider, Y-splitter, and termination plug have plastic covering, expected at this price. I didn’t notice any microphonic issues with the pair. The cable has R and L denoted on the connecting part of the earpieces.
Fit & Noise Isolation:-
Tanchjim Tanya has a small-bullet-shaped design that is supposed to be worn in a cable-down manner. While these provide a very comfy fit, easy on the ears even after long music sessions, the drawback at least for me with this is average isolation if we compare with ergonomically shaped earphones. The open-back design also contributes to the average isolation with the pair.
Driving the Tanchjim Tanya:-
Even though Tanya has low impedance and high sensitivity ratings, the pair loves amping. It can be driven off regular smartphones at adequate levels though lacks some dynamics and even sounds muffled in certain complex tracks. Just power it using a decent enough USB DAC/AMP such as Atom 2, or a high-resolution music player and you are good to go. I personally used the Tanya with Samsung S6 Lite, Shanling M3X, and xDuoo XD05 Balanced.
With the S6 Lite, the volume was adequate at about 80% but the sound lacks some texture in the lower and higher frequencies. It sounded less powerful and less energetic. But putting it with Shanling M3X like filled it with life, at around 45/100 volume on high-gain the pair sounds pretty amazing, deep punchy bass, a lively experience. And with the XD05 Bal, it is my favorite combination, the energy, the presentation is outstanding. With XD05 Bal I am at 2.5-3/9 volume on low-gain mode. Also, XD05 Bal matches well with Tanya’s tonality presenting a natural tonality and timbre with the sound.
For this review, Critical listening is done using XD05 Bal and Shanling M3X.
Sound Quality:-
The small 7mm Dynamic Driver inside the Tanya packs a good punch. It produces a powerful lower-end response with a good balance between the sub-bass mid-bass. It drops impactful slams whenever called upon while maintaining a good rumble in the sub-bass portion. Mids maintain good accuracy and clarity with rich, natural vocals and decently detailed acoustic instruments. Though in certain bass-heavy tracks we can’t help but notice a slight bit of bass bleed into the lower mids. Treble frequencies maintain a smooth, non-fatiguing response presenting good detail retrieval even in complex tracks. When underpowered, the overall signature sounds veiled and muffled but once powered properly, the pair has a pretty open sound.
Lower-End/Bass:-
Tanya produces a fast, punchy bass response with good texture and clarity. It is wonderful as a micro 7mm dynamic driver is producing this punchiness and at the same time maintaining good clarity in the output. Bass doesn’t get boomy or too overpowered, it shows its presence with a good punch in both Mid-bass and sub-bass regions. In Why So Serious by Hans Zimmer the pair shows a thunderous bass during the 3:27-5:10 segment. It complements genres that benefit from quick bass such as EDM, Hip-Hop, and more.
Mids:-
Mids are mostly precise and natural, both male and female vocals have a rich natural tonality and good clarity. They don’t get shouty or sibilant even at loud volumes. The pair has smooth transitions from the lower end to the mid-frequencies though suffers some bleed in bass-heavy tracks. But overall maintains good clarity. Vocals show good emotions to them, listening to Damien Rice, Gloria Gaynor is bliss with the Tanya. Acoustic Guitar, Piano, show good tonal weight with natural timbre. There is a good sense of airiness between the guitar strings.
High-Frequencies/Treble:-
Tanya maintains a nicely detailed, non-fatiguing treble response. Though it rolls off in the upper treble region, the pair shows good instrument separation and clarity. Electric Guitars, Violins, Trumpets have a smooth, non-sibilant response making the pair shine in complex tracks.
Soundstage & Instrument Separation:-
Tanchjim Tanya has a decently wide soundstage presentation with a good sense of height and depth. Listening to binaural tracks such as Starlings by Yosi Horikawa is an amazing experience with the Tanya. It really punches way above its price with its excellent staging. Instrument separation and imaging with the pair are quite good for the price.
Final Words:-
Who says HiFi audio is a costly hobby, there are budget IEMs like the Tanchjim Tanya here that packs so much fun and enjoyment for a very affordable price tag. This has become my daily go-to pair now thanks to its comfortable wearing experience and punchy sound. Considering its price it’s very hard to find cons in Tanya, it delivers amazing sound with fast, punchy bass that hits deep, rich-natural vocals, and overall smooth, non-fatiguing sound output. Overall, a big recommendation from my side, for just 22$ I don’t think there is anything else that is as good as the Tanya. I only wish they featured removable cables.
