Tanchjim Tanya Review
Tags: Review, Tech, Music, Headphones, Audio

The Tanchjim Tanya comes in a small grey rectangular cardboard box with a white slipcover. Six silicone eartips (S, M, L), a grey cloth drawstring bag embossed with the Tanchjim logo, a user manual, and a warranty card are included with the Tanya. I would prefer a zippered carry case instead of a pouch but at this price point, I cannot complain.

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN:

The Tanchjim Tanya has a bullet design with fixed cables, which may be a dealbreaker for some. Its nozzles have lips for securing eartips. The cable is sleek and simple, with a straight 3.5mm jack. There is strain relief above the jack and where the cable enters the IEM housing, but none at the Y-split. The cable has a chin adjustment slider, which is greatly appreciated. The cable is not tangle-prone.

COMFORT, FIT, AND ISOLATION:

The Tanchjim Tanya can be worn either cable-up or cable-down. Because of the cable placement, the Tanya has a deeper insertion depth if worn cable-up. The Tanya is extremely comfortable. I did not experience driver flex with the Tanya. Isolation is above average.

MEASUREMENTS:

Measurements of the Tanchjim Tanya can be found on my expanding squig.link database:

Tanchjim Tanya — Squiglink by Bedrock Reviews

My measurements are conducted with a Dayton iMM-6 microphone using a vinyl tubing coupler and a calibrated USB sound interface. The measurements use a compensation file derived from relating my raw measurements to published measurements from Crinacle and Antdroid. There is a resonant peak at 8k. Measurements above 10 kHz are not reliable.

SOUND:

The Tanchjim Tanya has a U-shaped sound signature. It has a moderate mid-bass hump, a healthy but not overbearing amount of pinna gain, and limited treble extension. Mercifully, Tanchjim has avoided the jagged mountains typically exhibited by the upper midrange and lower treble regions of IEMs at this price point and has given the Tanya the kind of tuning one would expect from a more expensive IEM.

The Tanya’s bass response is snappy and textured, with clean articulation. I was impressed by its ability to keep up with densely orchestrated electronic music. The mid-bass hump gives kick drum samples a sense of visceral impact. It is worth mentioning that if one wears the Tanya cable up, the improved seal increases the bass to a level I find overwhelming and creates distracting mid-bass bleed into the lower midrange.

The Tanya has a clear, cool midrange with a slightly dry timbre. Clarity and vocal intelligibility is emphasized over warmth and body, but the latter two characteristics are present enough to avoid a shrill or hollow presentation. Male and female vocal intelligibility are both excellent. One of the few negative things I can say about the Tanya is that I feel there is still slightly too much presence, which can create harshness when listening to electronic music. That said, this region is much more controlled than one typically finds with a $25 IEM.

The Tanya plays it safe with its treble, prioritizing a smooth presentation over perceived detail retrieval. The lower treble is roughly in line with the presence region but the top end rolls off rapidly as one nears 10 kHz. There is little in the way of sparkle but there is some air.

The Tanya is most resolving in the midrange and least resolving in the treble. While instrument separation and layering are quite good, there is a pervasive sense of graininess throughout the treble response. The soundstage is wide but shallow, and imaging is average.

ELEMENTS AND SOURCE PAIRING:

The Tanchjim Tanya could be readily driven with any of my sources, and I did not notice hiss with any of them.

CLOSING WORDS:

The Tanchjim Tanya is the most competently tuned IEM below $40 I have ever heard. Like the slightly more expensive Moondrop SSR and SSP, the Tanya stands out from its similarly-priced competitors because of the intentional effort of its designers to make it sound coherent. I see no reason to buy any other IEM at its price point or below so long as it remains unique in this respect.

The Tanchjim Tanya can be purchased below:

TANCHJIM Tanya 7MM Dynamic Earphone 3.5mm Line Plug HiFi Earbuds with (shenzhenaudio.com)