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Audio Review - Tangzu Shimin Li
Hello all: Thanks for reading my feedback.
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright or bassy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a aggressive U shape in that I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all; and in quantity. With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids. Imagine the bass of a 5-10" Sub in a small sealed enclosure (My Preference) vs a 12-30" Sub in a big ole ported 3-4th order enclosure with the fat, tubby, musical kind of bass.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Nano Carbon Driver of my LetShuoer EJ07M there are exceptions as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass!
I spent 25 years in the Audio Industry, building , designing , selling and Installation of high end car audio at first and moved on the home and ultra high end home audio at a few boutique stores. I worked with studios and club for commercial sound and worked with a few speakers manufacturers in design, enclosure construction , crossover builds , and sound evaluation.
As Such here is my take on the: ($45 CDN)
Sources: Strictly I used , Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip.
DAP/TRASPORT:, Hiby R6 2020 Ultra with DSD Files.
Amps: Topping A90D
Tips Used for Best Result for me was and of course is subjective: AZLA Crystal ML
Cable Used for me best pairing was the XINHS 4 Core Graphene Cable- use anything with less Silver to tame the highs.
(Also this cable looks DOPE on the Silver Shimin Li!
My Cable take as a generalization; is this as I detest cable shillers: I can hear a difference not so much in cable to cable but in the materials used. For this I think cables are EYE CANDY 1st and second If I can hone the sound signature a tad then great. IEM/SOURCE MATERIAL/TIPS/SOURCE/AMP/CABLE that’s my order of importance to what I think makes the most difference.
It has been observed the Pure OFCC Copper gives a nice bottom end and seems to not enhance the high frequencies.
Silver Or SPC seems to enhance the highs. The Golden element seems to make the sound a bit warmer.
PRO’S:
- Nice Clear Vocals both Male & Female
- Nice top end extenuation for the highs making a engaging listen
- Love Jazz on the Shimin LI
- Bass has nice Sub Bass and Snappy with a faster decay ( Non Boomy )
- Shape , Nozzle Length , build Quality all top notch - Perfect for me.
- All Metal Build feels solid - premium and perfect weight
- Included Tips give you a nice selection
- Stage has good width still a very enjoyable presentation
- Has great value for its sound signature and enjoyment at $45 CDN
CON’S:
- Cable is absolute stiff piece of scat!
- Was a bit shouty on a few tracks until I modified with a 4.5mm 400 Level filter on nozzle overtop stock one.
- Stage width was good but what I found was IEM’s in this price point the depth and height is usually the weak point. Not a huge negative again look at its price point.
EVALUATION SCORE FOR SOUND IMPRESSIONS: 1-10 ( 1 Lowest - Poor 10 Highest - Mind Blown )
OVERALL TheDeafMonk - SCORE: Based on Price Paid and current competition ( Dec 2020 $45 ) Out of possible 130 Points : 111/130 85% Great Value Blind Buy without Fear. The Shimin Li has enough special sauce to say it’s worth trying.
BUILD QUALITY: 10
SUB - BASS Quantity: 8
SUB - BASS Quality: 9
MID - BASS Quality: 8.5
MID - HIGH Quality: 8
TREBBLE: 7 (Needs to be tamed for me)
EXTENTION: 8
STAGE: 6 Great for this Price Point
- WIDTH: 8
- HEIGHT: 5
- DEPTH: 5
COHERIENCY (Drivers Blend in together) : 10
MACRO DYNAMICS: 8.5
- (How well does the IEM convey a emotional and skillful use of change of volume in the musical piece your listening to make it interesting and bring a tear to your eye.)
- Elements of good Micro-Dynamics (Drums have the snap and impact your feel in your chest and this was observed to be best achieved with a slower attack on the bass notes to add weight and blend the proper attack relative of the rest of the mix; Also how does the IEM express its ability to replay the song mix in a way you can enjoy the dynamics in different volumes not only with the various different instruments ; but as well as give you a sense of space of whether or not your listening to a live recording or a large , medium, small recording studio.
MICRO DYNAMICS: 8
- (How well does the IEM give you the sense of emotion in the overall relay: Does the emotion of the entire song change tone with verses having various rises? Did the engineer make the choruses feel more powerful?)
SOURCE & RECORDING PLAYBACK QUALITY MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERECE AND ONLY GOOD IEM’S CAN GET HIGH MARKS ON ABOVE!
MY VALUE SCORE: 20
1-20 ( 1 Nobody Should Buy This - 10 Good Value as over-all package this IEM will appeal to some who will love It - 20 ( SOUND/WALLET/EMOTION/FIT/COMFORT )
- ( My score purely subjective to current selling price and competition at time of review)
SUMMARY FOR : Tangzu Shimin Li
- This one sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I Immediately liked what I heard out of the box with the mids. and highs not so much on the bass.
- Dynamic drivers In my opinion require the driver to loosen up and “Burn In” as the surround, capstan, and voice coil need to become less stiff in order for the bass to become more extended and less stiff. After 2 solid days of running on my burn in rig this in fact made the Shimin Li come into its own and let it get nice sub bass extension and proper solid bass hits. The Shimin Li has great snap still not for bass heads but a nice musical replay. I didn’t find it lacking at all in the bass department.
- I would describe the Shimin Li as a U shape IEM with a top end Mid - Forward replay of most everything I listed to the vocals has some shine and a nice tonal balance with the low end. Actually quite a fun listen.
- I used the Wide Bore tips almost 100% of the time because I love soundstage and don’t mind putting a filter on nozzle or other cheap mods to get my preferred or as close to it as possible. ( I used a 4.5mm 400 Level overtop existing factory one. )
- I am listening to my library as I type this and right now to Roger Waters " Comfortable Numb" Live 2001 and you can hear a really wide stage and deceit depth, even more important I can tell it was a medium sized venue. For a IEM to give you the ability to hear this that’s a true statement of how good a under $50 IEM has come really quite impressive!
- Kings of Leon " Find Me " nice snappy Mid Bass without to much bleed and just the right of decay for rock music for me. Great Vocals again the Shimin Li is a really fun listen!
Some Comparisons I had the Kiwi Ears Cadenza , The KBEAR Rosefinch, Tin Hifi T2, Kinera DB005 PRO on hand.
KiwiEars Cadenza - Smoother more meaty Male vocals sounds more neutral than the Shimin Li, The Cadenza has the widest stage and less forward presentation. I would call the Cadenza warmer than the Shimin Li , but its not a warm iem just sounds like it compared to this Tangzu fare. Whereas I had to tame the highs on the Tangzu Shimin LI with a filter and cable , I had to do the opposite with the Cadenza , I found sometimes wished it a bit more sparkle so I paired it with a Silver Plated OFCC cable
KBEAR Rose Finch was basically a classic V shape Bass and treble elevated some might like this but I find it a hot mess compared to the Cadenza and the Shimin Li.
The Tin HiFi and DB005 both lack the proper low end for a balanced sound for me.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I Like this IEM! It does have some wonky tuning not the best soundstage or resolution. But for someone who likes a bit more energy in the top end and still really likes snappy bass with good extension and a preference for female singers look no further you absolutely can’t go wrong in this price point with the TANGZU Shimin Li, Looks killer and sounds the part for $45 I think it competes with the Cadenza and the new TinHiFi C3 not as a direct step up , but rather a complimentary partner. When I want more detail and female vocal reach for the Shimin Li , for a smoother marathon sit down listen go for the Cadenza. Winner Winner Chicken Diner! @$45 CDN or $30 USD My $0.02
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