Review - Tanchjim Zero (Sub 50€)

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Also available on YouTube in Spanish: Acho Reviews YouTube

The Tanchjim Zero have been sent to me by Linsoul in exchange for the publication of this review. As always, they have not made any specific requests and I will aim to be as unbiased as possible, however, you should always factor in the fact that these IEMs have not cost me anything.

The Tanchjim Zero are available from Linsoul here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/tanchjim-zero?variant=43124310442201

Intro…

It has been a while since I reviewed anything from Tanchjim, yet the previous models I have reviewed have been sub 50€ IEMs which exceeded my expectations. The Zero is another set that is firmly inside the sub 50€ category, coming in at under 15€.

I have to say that there have been some very impressive entries around this price point lately, moving the quality bar of ultra budget IEMs higher and higher. The Tanchjim Tanya, a set that cost around 18€, was already a very good set of IEMs in this price range, getting a lot of praise from many, including myself, even if the sound signature wasn’t exactly something that matched my personal preferences.

The Zero aims for a completely different tuning to the Tanya, but I will get to that in a moment.

Presentation…

For a price of 15€ we can’t expect a lot and the Zero I feel includes more than enough to meet expectations.

Arriving in a white box with an anime character on the cover, inside the packaging we get the IEMs with a non-detachable cable, 7 sets of silicone tips (in two different styles), a small bag for storage and the usual user manual & documentation etc.

I feel that this is plenty for a set of IEMs at this price and the packaging looks a lot more professional than many other presentations at a similar price point.

Build and aesthetics…

The IEMs have a completely transparent plastic shell, with a faceplate that looks like it is aluminium. The shape of the shells is completely round and while they are slightly larger than something like the Little Q I reviewed recently, with a shallower fit, they are still small enough to fit inside the ears. The nozzles are aimed slightly forwards and result in a fit that I find very comfortable.

The cable is fixed, as I just mentioned, and although it is nothing special, it is good enough to not receive any complaints from me. It is fairly thin, yet does not seem to tangle, covered in a clear silicone type sleeve that is not sticky to the touch (something that I appreciate). The hardware used is also plastic but is again of good enough quality for me not to complain considering the price that we are talking about here.

Sound…

As I already said, the Zero is aiming for a sound signature that is quite different from the Tanya, with much less bass and more presence in the upper mids. Here is a graph of the Zero in comparison to the Tanjim Tanya and also my personal preference target for reference:

Let me say straight away that if you are someone who likes an elevated quantity of bass, you can stop reading now, that is not what you are going to get from the Zero.

The subbass does not lend itself to producing any kind of rumble in the lowest regions, with my usual subbass test track “Chameleon” sounding rather thin and polite in the lowest regions. There is some subbass there, just that it maintains the same level of presence as the midbass, which I will mention next, resulting in it sounding as though there isn’t much going on way down low.

The midbass is also very polite, without any kind of boost in these frequencies, making these something that I wouldn’t recommend if you are looking to add any kind of warmth or extra punch in the lows. EDM such as “Sun Is Shining” is not really something that is going to sound impressive on these IEMs.

However, although the quantity is not there, the quality is. The lower regions are very clean and can keep up the pace even with the fastest moving tracks. Complicated bass lines do not make the Zero suffer, making each note easily appreciated, with great definition.

Moving into the lower mids, there is obviously no bleed from the bass, due to the fact that there isn’t a lot of bass to bleed over, keeping everything very clean. I find that this clean and tamed low end does leave me wanting a little more warmth from acoustic guitars, such as in “Long After You’re Gone”. Listening to a some complex flamenco, although I did miss some warmth to the guitars, the Zero did a great job presenting all the small nuances of the guitar playing.

As we move through the mids, there is a slight reduction in presence before we start to climb (around the 1kHz) towards the 2kHz area that gives the presence to vocals and other mid centric instruments. As this area is more of a plateau, or shelf, rather than a peak, the Zero actually do a good job of not being too harsh and although my dreaded 5kHz mark is where there is most presence, due to the presence leading up to it, it doesn’t jump out and attack me as it does on many other set.

But… I do feel that the whole 2kHz to 5kHz is too elevated, which, combined with the reduced presence of the low end, does push the sound signature of these IEMs towards a harsher “high mid forward” presentation.

The Tanchjim Zero does do a decent job of extending up in the higher ranges, better than a lot of single dynamic drivers at similar prices, giving a decent sensation or air and clarity, which is obviously helped by the overall tuning.

I also find the sound stage and image placement to be above average on the Zero, lending itself well to the appreciation of multiple layers of details. These are not a spectacularly detailed set yet the tuning and the sound stage help give an impressive overall “picture” of the music.

Conclusion…

The Tanchjim Zero are a set of IEMs that aim for a very forward tuning, something that will please some people and not others. As I said at the beginning of the sound section, if you are someone who likes warmth or present bass, these are not going to be for you.

I don’t dislike the overall tuning, I just find that those upper mids are a little too forward in my opinion, slightly less in that area would have worked better for my personal tastes.

What the Zero does well is keep up with fast moving tracks, keeping well defined with all kinds of things going on. They also have a soundstage that I find above average, with decent image placement.

With music that has the vocals a little too recessed in the recordings, these will certainly bring those vocals forwards, adding clarity to the whole area.

I don’t think I can say that these are going to be for everyone based on the tuning but I will say that the performance is good and with some EQ (I used the XBass a fair bit with these), they turn into a very nice set of budget IEMs. Without EQ, then it is going to depend on your music preferences and how you like it presented.