Tanchjim OLA IEM Review
Tanchjim OLA IEM Review
Introduction:
Tanchjim audio is active in the industry since 2015 as a premium Hi-Fi In-Ear Monitors brand from China. With a professional team of acoustic engineers, Tanchjim has released several popular In-Ear Monitor in the industry including Oxygen, Hana, and more.
The Tanchjim OLA is equipped with a 10mm Diameter Single Dynamic Driver with DMT4 Architecture and Polymer Graphene diaphragm, which is located inside a transparent PC (Polycarbonate) shell with an Aerospace-Grade aluminium alloy faceplate that has a 2-Pin connector interface on the top.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank Tanchjim and HiFiGO for providing me the OLA In-Ear Monitor as review sample. I am not affiliated with Tanchjim and HiFiGO or any third person beyond this review and all these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The Tanchjim OLA is available in two different stock cable options, one with build-in Mic (microphone) and one without a Mic. The Tanchjim OLA without Mic cost actually 39.99 US$, while the one with build-in microphone is available for 42.99 US$. More information’s can be found under the link below;
Package and Accessories:
The Tanchjim OLA came inside a nice cardboard box in white colour that features product some product related brandings and the Anime cheater “Asano Tanchi” on its surface.
Inside the box are the following items/accessories;
- 1 pair x Tanchjim OLA In-Ear Monitor
- 1 x 0.78mm dia. 2-Pin Detachable Cable with 3.5mm Headphone Plug
- 3 pairs x Silicone Ear Tips with Wide Opening
- 3 pairs x Silicone Ear Tips with Small Opening
- 1 x Storage Pouch
- 1 x Print Material
Design and Build Quality:
The Tanchjim OLA is pretty small and lightweight In-Ear Monitor with a simple but beautiful design, which has a transparent PC (Polycarbonate) main shell with an Aerospace-Grade Aluminium alloy faceplate. It features a Tanchjim’s 10mm Diameter Single Dynamic Driver with its 4th-gen DMT4 architecture that has a Polymer Graphene composite diaphragm on the top.
Each faceplate has a smooth silver surface, with a laser engraved logo (OLA on the left and Tanchjim on the Right) on the top.
The transparent rear part, which is the main body of the monitors features a slightly angled sound nozzle and a small vent in order to reduce the pressure against the ear drums and to provide the necessary air for the driver to move freely. Each sound nozzle is equipped with a Dust & Water Proof SATTI filter specially imported from Italy. This filter has a nano-coating to protect the monitors from unwanted dust particles and water splashes.
On the top of each monitor shell is a 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin female connector interface that offers a tight connection with the 2-Pin male connectors, located on the detachable cable.
The build quality of the monitors is pretty good for its price tag and doesn’t show any imperfections such like burrs or gaps.
Detachable Cable:
Tanchjim OLA comes with a high-purity stock cable with standard 2-pin 0.78mm connectors and 3.5mm termination. The cable has double-core OFC wire with Kevlar fibre protected with 4N OFC silver-plated cable in a Litz braided structure.
The 2-Pin connectors do have a metal housing with a silver finish that do sport left (blue) and right (red) colour indicators.
Near the left and right connectors are heat shrink ear guides for extra comfort on the go.
The cable is equipped with a metal chin slider and y-splitter. The y-splitter sports the OLA branding on its surface.
The detachable cable comes with a 3.5mm single ended headphone plug that has a straight profiled metal housing, which has the Tanchjim branding on the top. The plug sports a semi-transparent plastic strain relief for extra durability.
Comfort and Isolation:
The Tanchjim OLA is a small and lightweight In-Ear Monitor, while it has a relative short profile, which means that the fit will be a hit or miss depending of your ear anatomy. The stock silicone ear tips are a bit short and I do recommend you to use double flange ear tips with longer profile that will increase the sound nozzle distance. The passive noise isolation is on an average level that is suitable for the use in relative noise environments such like a bus or a train.
Drivability and Pairing:
The Tanchjim OLA is an easy to driver In-Ear Monitor thanks to its impedance of 16Ω and a sensitivity of about 126dB/mW. This makes the OLA ideal for the use with sources that do have a relative weak amplification such like regular USB Adapter Dongles.
Technical Specifications:
- Driver Configuration : 10mm dia. Dynamic Driver with Polymer Graphene Diaphragm
- Impedance : 16Ω±10%.
- Sensitivity : 126dB/Vrms
- Frequency Response : 7Hz – 45kHz
- THD+N : <0.3%.
- Connectors : 0.78mm dia. 2-Pin
- Termination plug : 3.5mm
Equipment’s used for this review:
- IEM’s : Tanchjim OLA, Kinera SIF, Shozy Hibiki
- Sources : FiiO M11 Plus, Questyle M15, xDuoo Poke II
Albums & Tracks used for this review:
- Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Daft Punk – Contact (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
- Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
- Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
- Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Photek – The Hiden Camera (Spotify)
- Muse – Hysteria (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Rush – YYZ (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Rush – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)s
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
- Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
- Adele – My Little Love (Spotify)
- Randy Crawford – On Day I Will Fly Away (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
- Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sonya Yoncheva – (Giuseppe Verdi) II Trovatore, ActI (Flac 24bit/44kHz)
- Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- B.B. King – Riding With The King (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)
The Sound:
The Tanchjim OLA shows a very lively and highly transparent sound profile with a natural tonality. The overall resolution and technical performance will definitely surprise you for its price tag. The OLA offers linear and pretty controlled bass response, while the midrange and treble regions are the focal point, which are reproduced with a decent sense of clarity and extension.
This review is written after a burn-in process of about. 50 hours. I have used the stock silicone ear tips with the wide opening and the stock 2-Pin cable that are included in the standard package. Main sources are the FiiO M11 Plus, xDuoo Poke II and Cayin RU6.
Bass / Midrange / Treble / Soundstage:
The Tanchjim OLA has a very linear bass response with a pretty clean, controlled and detailed presentation. The depth of the bass is very high while the sense of layering, separation and speed are surpassingly good for a product at this price level. The subbass region is shown with an average level of depth and rumble. The OLA has an roll-off in this area, which was quite audible while listen to songs like Bro Safari, UFO’s “Drama”, Lorde’s “Royals” or Massive Attack’s “Angel”.
The midbass region is more highlighted and detailed compared to the subbass region, which is the focal point in the lower register of the Tanchjim OLA. The sense of depth and impact is on an average level, while it stands out with the decent grade of clarity and resolution for its price level. Here are no negative situations like a midbass-hump, muddiness and mixings when I do listen to complex bass passages like Charly Antolini’s “Duwadjuwandadu” or Gogo Penguin’s “Raven.
The Tanchjim OLA offers a very transparent, neutral and clean midrange presentation with above average sense of airiness, which creates a decent sense of space for instruments and vocals. The general tonality of this area is fairly neutral, while it sounds a bit dry for my taste.
Male vocals are reproduced in a pretty clean and detailed manner that is simply outstanding, while they do miss some depth and fullness to sound musical and emotional to my ears. The lower midrange of the Tanchjim OLA is shown in general with and average level of depth and intensity.
Female vocals on the other hand are the highlight of the show, which are reproduced in a highly transparent, detailed and vivid way. Female voices such like Edith Piaf, Sertap Erener, Adel and Aretha Franklin do sound pretty lively and effortless, due to the pronounced upper midrange tuning.
The instrument tonality of the Tanchjim OLA is neither too thin nor full bodied. Guitars do have a mildly bright tonality, while the extension is on a decent level. Other instruments like violins are detailed and pronounced, while side flutes are bright and stirring. The general instrument tonality of the OLA is somewhat bright and distinct.
The Tanchjim OLA shows a fairly strong upper midrange emphasis that creates a fairly neutral tonality in this area. The treble range of the OLA has a focal point in the lower treble region, which shows an above average presence that is able to produce a decent sense of clarity when I do listen to instruments such like a hi-hat or piano.
The lower treble region of the Tanchjim OLA is less highlighted and detailed compared to the lower treble register, while the grade of airiness and sparkle is on a sufficient level. The treble range doesn’t shows critical negative conditions such like over-sharpness when I do listen to percussions like snare drums or crash cymbals. The general extension and resolution of the treble range is on a moderate level, which is quite enough for a product at this range.
The Tanchjim OLA offers a pretty spacious and airy soundstage atmosphere, which creates pretty ideal conditions for relative precise separation of instruments and vocals. The soundstage has a good sense of wideness, while the depth is on an efficient level.
Some Comparisons:
Tanchjim OLA versus Shozy Hibiki:
The Shozy Hibiki has a V shaped sound signature that is warmer in tonality and fuller in its presentation compared to the Tanchjim OLA, which shows a more neutral tonality and balanced character.
The Shozy Hibiki is more emphasized in the subbass region where it offers more depth, saturation and rumble, while it is not as controlled and clean that I have heard with the Tanchjim OLA. The midbass region of the Hibiki sounds more reinforce, impactful and musical. However, the OLA is superior when it comes to the clarity, speed and authority in this area.
The midrange of Tanchjim OLA is more forward oriented, detailed and shows a higher level of clarity. The Shoszy Hibiki on the other hand sounds a bit dry, unnatural and somewhat uncontrolled, especially towards the upper midrange register. The Shozy Hibiki has a slightly advantage in terms of male vocals due to the warmer and fuller presentation lower midrange tuning, while the Tanchjim OLA is superior with female vocals thanks to the better level of resolution, clarity and detailed retrieval of the upper midrange.
The treble range of the Shozy Hibiki is brighter and more pronounced, both in the upper and lower treble regions. The Hibiki sounds also a bit dry and shouty in this are especially in the lower treble register, where the OLA offers a better sense of smoothness and control.
The soundstages of both IEM’s has a sufficient expansion for a fairly precise placement of instruments and vocals. The Tanchjim OLA has the slightly edge when it comes to the wideness of the stage, while the Kinera Hibiki offers a better sense of depth.
Tanchjim OLA versus Kinera SIF:
The Kinera SIF is another entry level IEM that I have enjoyed with its musical presentation. The Tanchjim OLA shows a more neutral tonality and a better sense of clarity and resolution.
The subbass region of the Kinera SIF offers more subbass depth and a higher sense of rumble, while the Tanchjim OLA stands out with transparency and separation in this area. The midbass region of the SIF is more impactful and full bodied compared to the OLA, which has the slightly edge when it comes to the authority and speed in this area.
The midrange of the OLA has a more neutral tonality and shows also a slightly better grade of transparency and airiness. The lower midrange of the Kinera SIF offers more depth and intensity, which makes more musical when I do listen to male voices and to violas and acoustic guitars. The Tanchjim OLA is superior when it comes to the upper midrange performance, where it offers a better level of micro detail, clarity and extension that was audible when I have listen to instruments strings and pianos or female voices.
The lower treble range of both IEM’s offers a pretty similar performance in terms clarity and extension, while the OLA has the slightly edge when it comes to the control in this register. When it comes to the upper treble register, I can say that the Kinera SIF shows a higher sense of dynamism and a better sense of extension, while the Tanchjim OLA sounds smoother and more controlled in this area.
The soundstage of the Kinera SIF has an average sense of expansion, while the Tanchjim is on another level which offers both better depth and wideness.
Conclusion:
The Tanchjim OLA is one of the most successful IEM’s for me in the price segment below the 50 US$ range, with its pretty stylish design and nicely tuned neutral sound signature. It offers a transparent and lively presentation, while the overall resolution and technical performance will definitely surprise you, especially for an entry level In-Ear Monitor.
Pros and Cons:
- + Pretty Neutral & Highly Transparent Sound Presentation
- + Controlled Bass Response
- + Decent Technical Performance & Resolution for an IEM at this Price Level
- + Spacious & Airy Soundstage
- + Stylish Design & Good Detachable 2-Pin Cable
- – Not an Ideal All-Rounder in terms of Sound Profile
- – Subbass Depth and Extension
- – Tips depended Fit, Isolation & Comfort
Thank you for the Read!
