TFZ My Love III Review

 

About TFZ (The Fragrant Zither):

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 My Love III is the latest member of the My Love Series and is using the new 9mm 2 crossover double magnetic circuit graphene driver

 

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank TFZ and Penon Audio for providing me the My Love III 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 actual price for the TFZ My Love III is 169,00 USD and can be purchased under the following link.

Purchase Link: https://penonaudio.com/tfz-my-love-iii.html

 

 

Package and Accessories:

The TFZ My Love III is coming in a rectangular white cardboard box, which has the TFZ and model branding on the top.

This box is containing the following items;

• 1 pair x TFZ My Love III In-Ear Monitor
• 1 pcs x detachable cable with 0,78mm 2 pin connection
• 6 pairs x Silicone ear tips
• 1 pair x Foam ear tips
• 1 pcs x White Carry Pouch
• 1 pcs x Shirt Clip
• 1 pcs x User Manual/Warranty Card

 

Design, Fit/Isolation and Build Quality:

The TFZ My Love III has a semi custom 3D printed resin shell which is available in black, purple, blue and red color options. My review unit came in red color and looks pretty nice.

The general build quality of the TFZ My Love III is good without any quality issues such as burrs, openings, etc.The faceplate on the front of the monitor shell sports the beautiful looking My Love logo which is in silver color.

At the rear side of the each monitor shell is one vent with a metal ring to serves as pressure balancer that is occurring inside the monitor.

On the inner surface of the monitor shell is a TFZ-IEM description and serial number printed in gold color.  The sound nozzle sports a tick lip and a metal mesh to prevent the driver form dust and earwax.

On the Top of each monitor is a standard 0.78mm female 2-pin connector.

The My Love III is a quite comfortable to wear In-Ear Monitor thanks to its semi-custom shell. The isolation is on a moderate level and pretty ideal for the use in the public.

 

 

The Cable:

The cable that comes with the TFZ My Love III has a nice twisted profile and is made of a 4 core, 5N purity OFC (Oxygen Free Cooper) wire material, which has a soft rubber like black coating. This coating is very efficient to avoid any possible microphonic effect.

The 2-pin male connectors have transparent metal housing, where you can find the left and right markings.

This cable has a Y splitter, which is made of a soft black colored plastic material that sports on both sides the new TFZ logos.

The 3.5mm unbalanced (3 pole) headphone jack has a straight profiled metal housing that sports also the TFZ logo.

 

 

Specifications:

• Driver               : 9mm 2 crossover double magnetic circuit graphene driver
• Impedance       : 32 ohm
• Sensitivity         : 107 dB mW
• Freq. response : 5 Hz – 40 kHz
• Lowest power  : 8 mW
• Connectors      : 2-pin 0.78mm
• Plug                 : 3.5mm (TRS) Unbalanced
• Cable length    : 1.2m

 

 

Drivability:

The TFZ My Love III has a rated impedance of 32 ohms and sensitivity of 107dB, which makes it to an easy to drive In-Ear Monitor. It is quite suitable for the use with devices that are showing a relative low amplification, such as Smartphone’s, Tablet’s, etc.

 

 

Equipment’s used for this review:

• IEM’s                          : TFZ My Love III, Shozy & Neo CP, FiiO F9 Pro
• DAP/DAC/AMP         : Cayin N5II, QLS QA361, xDuuo XD10 Poke

Albums & tracks used for this review:

• Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (DSF) – Binaural Recording
• Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Wav 24bit/88kHz)
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Elton John – Your Song (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• David Bowie – Black Star (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Unplugged Album (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• B.B. King – Riding With The King (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• First Aid Kit – My Silver Lining (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• London Grammar – Interlude (Live) (Flac 24bit/88kHz)
• Aretha Franklin – I Say a Little Prayer (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
• Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
• No Doubt – Hella Gut (Spotify)
• Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Twerl – Lishu (Spotify)
• U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Opeth – Windowpane (Wav 16bit/44kHz)
• Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Slayer – Angel of Death (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Spotify)
• Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Photek – The Hidden Camera (Spotify)
• Tom Player – Resonace Theory (16bit/44.1kHz)
• Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Portishead – The Hidden Camera (MP3 320kbps)

  

 

 

The Sound:

The sound signature of the TFZ My Love III can be described as W shaped, in contrast to the most widely used V shape tuning. The subbass and upper midrange are emphasized, while male vocals are slightly in the background compared to female vocals due to the W-shaped sound signature.

The general presentation of the My Love III is slightly warmer than neutral and shows a strong subbass presence, with pronounced upper midrange and a quite forgiving treble range.

Bass:

The TFZ My Love III has a good extending, deep and strong subbass presentation. It has a warmish tonality and a full bodied but soft character.

It is possible to hear and feel the strong subbass tuning in Lorde’s “Royals”, Massive Attack’s “Angel” and Armin Van Buuren’s “Vini Vici”.

The subbas has a high intensity and quantity than the midbass region it has.

The My Love III shows a good midbass slam and good intensity, while the amount will be sufficient for most listeners except the bassheads.

The bass of the My Love III has an average speed which is enough for genres like Pop, Hip-Hop, Rock, while Metal Music needs a bit more speed than the My Love III has.

Instruments like drums, snare Drums and bass guitars have a strong emphasis, while bass guitars are slightly thick and soft in tonality.

 

Midrange:

The midrange of the TFZ My Love III is slightly recessed due to the W shaped sound signature and is showing a slightly warmer than neutral presentation. The midrange sounds in general clean, spacious and has an average transparency.

 

Vocals:

The vocal performance of the TFZ My Love III is pretty successful for an In-Ear Monitor in this price range. The Male vocals are positioned behind female vocals and are coming slightly from the background.

Male vocals like B.B King or Eric Clapton are presented in a musical and fairly transparent way, without to show any unwanted situations like muddiness.

The female vocals have a slightly warm, a bit colored and very sweet tonality. The detail retrieval and extension of female vocals that comes form the upper midrange is slightly above average and doesn’t show any sibilance and ear piercing conditions. I like the very well done softness and brightness level of female vocals.

Instruments:

The TFZ My Love III has a vivid and clean instrument presentation that has a slightly warmer than neutral tonality. The pianos are a bit bright, pronounced and vibrant, while acoustic guitars are slightly warm, fairly transparent and musical. It was especially enjoyable for me to listen to Eric Clapton’s “Unplugged” album.

Other instruments like violins are slightly bright but not harsh, while violas are pretty warm and emotional.

 

 

Upper Midrange and Treble:

The upper midrange of the TFZ My Love III is more pronounced and detailed than the treble range.

The My Love III performs quite well in terms of upper midrange control and detail when the instruments play at high distortion. The general presentation of the upper midrange can also be described as controlled and smooth.

The TFZ My Love III has a soft and forgiving treble presentation that is less dominant than upper midrange and subbass region.

The general brightness level of the treble range is on an average level, while the emphasis, extension and detail level is decreasing from the lower treble (presence) to the upper treble (brilliance) region.

Especially instruments like Hi-Hats in jazz music are quite prominent and have a good extension in the lower treble region.

Soundstage:

The soundstage of the TFZ My Love III is not very expansive and shows an average performance in terms of wideness. The depth, on the other hand, is pretty good for an IEM in this price range, while the clean background is worth mentioning.

 

 

 

Some Comparisons:

TFZ My Love III versus FiiO F9 Pro:

The FiiO F9 Pro has a mildly V shaped sound signature with a fairly linear bass response and good midrange/treble detail and clarity reproduction.

The FiiO F9 Pro has an average performance in terms of subbass depth. The TFZ My Love III on the other hand shows a better subbass performance in terms of depth and extension.

The bass of the FiiO F9 Pro has the upper hand in terms of speed and tightness. The impact and slam effect of the midbass is more noticeable with the My Love III, while the F9 Pro shows a more linear tuning.

The midrange of the TFZ My Love III sounds warmer, softer and more emotional than those of the FiiO F9 Pro, which has a thinner and more neutral tonality. The My love is superior in terms of male vocals, while the F9 Pro is more successful with female vocals due to the better upper midrange tuning.

The upper midrange of the FiiO F9 Pro is brighter and more pronounced compared to the TFZ My Love III. The treble range of the F9 Pro has better extension, while the My Love III sounds softer, fatigue free and controlled.

The soundstage of the FiiO F9 Pro is wider and more airy, while the TFZ My Love III has the upper hand in terms of depth.

 

 

TFZ My Love III versus Shozy & Neo CP:

The Shozy & Neo CP is a slightly warmer than neutral sounding In-Ear Monitor with an upfront midrange presentation, which is musical and detailed. The bass of this IEM is fast and fairly solid, the upper midrange is lightly pronounced, while the treble is slightly recessed and forgiving.

The TFZ My Love III is superior in terms of subbass depth and extension. The My Love III has aslo the upper hand when it comes to the bass speed, depth and quantity.

The midrange of the Shozy & Neo CP is more successful with both male and female vocals due to the more forward oriented midrange tuning. The midrange of the My Love III has a warmer and more musical character compared to the Shozy & Neo CP.

The treble range of the Shozy & Neo CP and the TFZ My Love III are a bit recessed and not very pronounced, which makes the treble presentation of both IEM’s soft but musical.

The soundstage of the Shozy & Neo CP is wider, while the TFZ My Love III is superior in terms of soundstage depth.

 

Conclusion:

The TFZ My Love III is a warm and emotional sounding In-Ear Monitor with a W shaped sound signature. It offers a powerful bass, a musical and sweet midrange presentation and a fatigue free treble tuning which is packed in to a nice looking 3D printed monitor shell.

 

 

Pros and Cons:

• + Subbass Depth and Midbass Impact
• + Musical and Emotional Midrange Tuning
• + Smooth & Fatigue-Free Treble Presentation
• + Nice Looking 3D Printed Monitor Shell

• – Soundstage Width
• – Upper Treble Roll-Off