Quick Look: TangZu Audio Zetian Wu Planar Magnetic IEMs

[VSG]

TangZu Audio evokes past memories of the royal Tang Dynasty, aiming to shake up the $150-200 IEM market with its new planar magnetic set. The TangZu Zetian Wu uses a full range 14.5 mm planar driver to good effect for an excellent balance of tuning and technical performance while also boasting a neat design and good build quality too.

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[GreiverBlade]

hehe,

so, "highly recommended" plus a nice price tag ... HiFiGo pricing is just shy of 150$ : 147.18chf (4.4 Bal. 3.5 is 10chf cheaper) damn ... tempting ...

 

[VSG]

hehe,

so, "highly recommended" plus a nice price tag ... HiFiGo pricing is just shy of 150$ : 147.18chf (4.4 Bal. 3.5 is 10chf cheaper) damn ... tempting ...

Hah I didn't realize you used your new privileges to add a comment too.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Hah I didn't realize you used your new privileges to add a comment too.

yeah ... but i noticed something odd ... the review appeared in the normal thread feed for a moment ... at the moment i thought : "ohhhhh drat, did i mess up?"



but to confirm, they do look damn nice on all aspect, almost the perfect IEMs to me, and i noticed HiFiGo/Linsoul/Shenzhenaudio have free shipping to Switzerland too ...
i need to check the custom taxe rate ... up to 62.50chf : no taxes, but these are quite a bit higher than that.

 

[VSG]

Shenzhenaudio doesn't stock these unfortunately, and note that there's also a collab version out at a higher price (Linsoul exclusive). It's headed my way eventually but I am not sure the extra cost is worth it.

 

[GreiverBlade]

oh yeah, i know they are on HiFiGo, but i did notice the others also did such shipping, nonetheless they mention shipping is the same as from their respectives AliExpress store

so i could/should also order directly, as i have an account for AE but not the others

tied with the Gumiho, i guess i will take the bait and be the tester/reviewer this time, ofc result will be based of whimsical wish and personal feel rather than graph and professional analysis
cons would be, cable look a little cheap and no foam tip, but i can re use the FH1s cable and foam, probably (still it's not in the immediate future, as my workplace is going thru quite some change ... the owner died yesterday ... and his kids/grandkids are not interested in succeeding, sadly )
but if i want a true planar, the Zetian Wu would be my pick.

and note that there's also a collab version out at a higher price (Linsoul exclusive). It's headed my way eventually but I am not sure the extra cost is worth it.

well in my eyes, collabs are not always warrant of a higher price, specially if the base model hold already an excellent value.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I'd been waiting for this review for a while as this set is interesting to me as a planar to mess around with. Looks like they perform well and a worth a shot! I've been sceptacle about the cheaper ones.

Packaging is good and not anime waifu child style. Accessories are nice. The case is nice with extra space I don't mind the larger size. Being able to chose balanced vs SE on your cable is good as well. Rounded ends on the cable are very good as the rectangular 2 pin connectors always break. Interesting shell design. I wonder if one can swap the filters on them.

 

[VSG]

I'd been waiting for this review for a while as this set is interesting to me as a planar to mess around with. Looks like they perform well and a worth a shot! I've been sceptacle about the cheaper ones.

Packaging is good and not anime waifu child style. Accessories are nice. The case is nice with extra space I don't mind the larger size. Being able to chose balanced vs SE on your cable is good as well. Rounded ends on the cable are very good as the rectangular 2 pin connectors always break. Interesting shell design. I wonder if one can swap the filters on them.

Funny thing is the Zetian Wu Heyday Edition landed a few days ago, so I'll do another quick look on that.

 

[Andyr]

Great review - mine arrived yesterday and I'm very impressed. I'm a convert - they're on a different level to SE425 and Westone Mach 20 I've been using for mobile listening.

 

[VSG]

Great review - mine arrived yesterday and I'm very impressed. I'm a convert - they're on a different level to SE425 and Westone Mach 20 I've been using for mobile listening.

I have the entire MACH series here due for an article and not surprised that this did better than the MACH 20 for you haha.

 

[Andyr]

I have the entire MACH series here due for an article and not surprised that this did better than the MACH 20 for you haha.

Yeah I had a bad case of buyer's remorse there. For the price, these are unbelievable.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Westone and Shure are more "pro" than listening gear. Same can be said for Sennheisers new line of IEMs and also for Etymotic. They all sort of god fathered into the IEM situation because they were making pro stuff way before IEMs took off when the iPod hit and other companies realized this was the market to be in for on the go. You can toss Ultimate Ears and a few others into this box as well.

None of these are bad for the money. But they aren't fun products. Some of these companies pull a Sennheiser and just flat out call it pro gear but that doesn't seem to stop people from buying it. Some of them do what Jerry did and just split JH Audio off and let UE do it's own thing.

It's also all subjective. I have no issues recommending any of those brands and if someone asked if they should get it I'd tell them to go for it and you will get your monies worth. The catch is though at each price point there is another product that's just more fun. Like I love the ER-4 which invented the IEM and is still untouched in it's accuracy and famous bands like U2 use it to master their tracks. It's hard to argue with that. Invented it, been around since the 80s pretty much un changed, signed paperwork with each, and if it's good enough for U2 and Bono who the hell are you? But they are painful, harsh, and not fun.