TFZ BC-01 2Pin Bluetooth Cable Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TFZ BC-01 Bluetooth Cable Review

 

Introduction:

The company TFZ (The Fragrant Zither) is Chinese Company located in Shenzhen – China, which is specialized in the production of portable audio equipments like Earphones & In-Ear Monitors.

The TFZ BC-01 is and wireless solution with Bluetooth connection that supports any IEM with 0.78mm 2Pin connections.

 

 

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank TFZ and Penon Audio for providing me the BC-01 Bluetooth Cable for review purposes. I am not affiliated with TFZ or Penon Audio beyond this review and these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.

 

Price:

The MSRP price for the TFZ BC-01 is 49,00 USD and can be purchased under the following link.

Purchase Link: https://penonaudio.com/tfz-bc-02-2pin-bluetooth-cable.html

 

 

Package and Accessories:

The TFZ BC-01 Bluetooth cable is coming in a white cardboard box that sports a black brand logo on the top of the box.

This box itself is containing the following items;

  • 1 pcs x TFZ BC-01 Bluetooth Cable with 2 pin connection
  • 1 pcs x Micro USB cable

 

Design, Build Quality and Ergonomics:

The TFZ BC-01 is a pretty lightweight cable with Bluetooth connection that is mainly made of a combination of plastic and rubber material. The overall build quality is pretty good with its rubber like finish.

The cable has two parts with a plastic housing, which are sharing the size and shape. The part on the near the right connector sport the 3 buttons and the microphone that you can use for phone conversations.

This 3 buttons are the play/pause/call answer button, the volume up/next track button and the volume down/previous track button.

This part sports also the micro usb charging port which is protected by a plastic plug.

Near the left connector is the second part with the same shape that sports the brand logo. I am not sure but believe that this part is has the battery under the hood.

The cable itself has a black rubber coating that shows a low amount of microphonic effect. The TFZ BC-01 sport 2 pin type male connectors that are compatible with most IEM’s with 0.78mm pins.

The connector housing is made of metal and has left (L) / right (R) markings.

The cable has transparent plastic heat shrink tube ear guides, which means that you can wear it only over the ear, but I think that you can easily remove it but cutting it off from the cable to use it on both directions.

I have tested the cable outdoors and it was pretty comfortable to wear due to the size and lightweight design.

 

 

Hardware & Software:

The TFZ BC-01 sports the CSR8645 Bluetooth Chipset of the company Qualcomm with integrated DSP chip.

The CSR8645 is part of the CSR86xx portfolio, a range of silicon platforms for wireless audio applications which integrate a dual-mode Bluetooth radio, a low power DSP, an application processor, a battery charger, memory and various audio and hardware interfaces into a single-chip solution.

The CSR8645 SoC inside the TFZ BC-01 supports cVc voice processing technology and aptX codec technology to deliver voice and high quality music capabilities.

CSR CSR8645 Bluetooth chip of the TFZ BC-01 supports Bluetooth 4.1 with an effective distance of approx. 10 meters.

 

Supported Codec’s:

The supported audio codec’s of the TFZ BC-01 are bellow;

  • aptX, MP3, AAC and SBC audio codec’s

CSR CSR8645 Bluetooth chip of the TFZ BC-01 supports Bluetooth 4.1 with an effective distance of approx. 10 meters.

 

Battery life and Working conditions:

CSR CSR8645 Bluetooth chip of the TFZ BC-01 supports Bluetooth 4.1 with an effective distance of approx. 10 meters.

The relative small battery 80 mAH battery of the BC-01 is able to delivery up to 6 hours of continuous music playback that varies from IEM to IEM. The BC-01 was able to last for approx 5.5 Hours with the TFZ King LTD while the TFZ Secret Garden last for about 4.5 – 5 hours.

 

 

Bluetooth Paring and Usability:

The TFZ BC-01 has been easy paired with my phone and tablet. I was able to see the battery status and volume level of the BC-01 over my Samsung Galaxy S9+.

The buttons of the BC-01 are pretty responsive and the build in microphone has an above average voice transmission quality.

 

 

Equipments used for this review:

  • Bluetooth Cable       : TFZ BC-01
  • Digital Sources         : Samsung Galaxy S9+, iPad Air2
  • IEM’s                          : TFZ King LTD, TFZ Secret Garden

 

Albums & tracks used for this review:

  • Vivaldi – Le Quarttro Stagioni “The Four Season” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Steve Srauss – Mr. Bones (Flac 16bit/44kHz)
  • Otto Liebert & Luna Negra – The River (DSF) – Binaural Recording
  • Adam Taylor – Colour to the Moon (Flac 16bit/44kHz)
  • Casey Abrams – Robot Lover (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Future Heroes – Another World (Tidal Hi-fi)
  • Lorde – Team (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Tom Player – Resonace Theory “Album” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
  • Opeth – Damnation (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Metallica – Sad bu True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Minor Empire – Bulbulum Altin Kafeste (Spotify)
  • London Grammar – Interlud (Live) (Flac 24bit/44kHz)
  • Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Jehan Barbur – Yollar (Spotify)

 

 

The Sound:

The TFZ BC-01 is showing a pleasant V shaped sound signature with strong bass and soft bass reproduction.

Please note that this is a entry level hifi device and all my comments about the sound quality is in consideration of this price range.

 

Bass:

The TFZ BC-01 shows a pretty good subbass depth an extension for a Bluetooth cable. The subbass quantity is average and is not very dominant and is showing a slightly warmish and soft tonality.

The subbass presentation in Lorde’s “Royals”, Armin Van Buuren’s “Vini Vici” and Massive Attack’s “Angel” are on a adequate level and entertaining

The midbass of the TFZ BC-01 are more dominant than the subbass in the lower frequency area and is pretty strong in its presentation without any remarkable midbass hump. The hits of the midbass are pronounced and soft, which gives an overall exiting midbass performance.

The bass of the TFZ BC-01 is in general pretty has fast, tight and controlled in its presentation and there are no negative situations such as mixings or muddiness. Instruments such as cross drums are pronounced, while snare drums and guitars are fairly fast. The tonality of instruments such as contrabass is slightly thick and soft in its presentation.

Midrange:

The TFZ BC-01 BT cable has a V shaped sound signature with a slightly laid back midrange presentation. The midrange is showing a entertaining presentation with a slightly warm than neutral tonality.

 

Vocals:

The TFZ BC-01 has a good tuned upper midrange emphasis, so that female vocals are fairly transparent and detailed. Female vocals are generally sweet and soft in tonality, without any remarkable harshness, which makes listening to female vocals quite enjoyable.

The presentation of male vocals is also relative detailed with a deep and slightly thick tonality due to the lower midrange tuning. There are no negative conditions such as muddiness or mixing.

 

Instruments:

The TFZ BC-01 features a slightly warmer than neutral, transparent and musical instrument presentation. The general clarity and separation of instruments are above its price. Guitars are slightly bassy and a bit bright, while the speed and clarity is quite successful. Other instruments such as violas are warm and emotional, while pianos are a bit bright and soft in its presentation. The placement and separation of instruments are in general pretty good for this the price.

 

Upper Midrange & Treble:

The TFZ BC-01 has a good upper mid-emphasis that is not too much nor too less.

The upper midrange is soft, lightly bright and controlled, without any remarkable sharpness or mixings. There is enough clarity and extension, while listening from female vocals to instruments such as violins.

The treble range of the TFZ BC-01 is slightly bright and controlled. There are no remarkable negative situations such as mixings.

Instruments such as cymbals or bells are pretty successful, while hi-hats are a recessed. The cymbal hits are lacking slightly in extension, while the overall control and sharpness is pretty ok. Some treble intensive instruments such as crash cymbals are also showing some lack of extension, while the overall airiness of the treble range is on an acceptable level.

In short, the treble performance of the TFZ BC-01 is in general fairly good, except a slightly lack of extension.

 

Soundstage:

The TFZ BC-01 has a suitable stage for a fairly precise instrument placement. The soundstage is not too narrow or nor very wide and is showing a moderate expansion. The soundstage is not very airy because there is little bit of space between the instruments. The stage is showing better depth than its wideness.

 

 

Conclusion:

TFZ has developed a nice wireless solution that sounds pretty good for a Bluetooth device. The ability to use it with other IEMs that support a 0.78mm 2-pin connection is the main selling point in addition to sound performance. However, it could be better if TFZ also provided an MMCX variant that is becoming more common nowadays.

 

Pros & Cons:

  • + Good sound for a Bluetooth cable
  • + Overall Clarity
  • + Easy to use and to pair with other devices

 

  • – Supports only IEM’s with 2 Pin connections
  • – Not the widest soundstage

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