TANGZU Shangguan Wan'er Studio Edition Single Dynamic Driver In-Ear HiFi Earphones

I'm a Sennheiser fanboy. I grew up in the Sennheiser world, and you know how much we love neutrality and good midrange. The sound of this thing for the price is awesome. The mid-range is good, and the low-end rumble is well represented. However, it can be a little bit tiring or fatiguing until your ears get used to it, mostly because it peaks a little bit too much around the 12khz range (I might be wrong about the frequency range, but there is a slight issue somewhere). If we can control that peak around a bit, man, this IEM is really good for long listening sessions. I'm not an IEM guy, but coming from the headphone space and mostly Sennheiser, this is a very comfortable listening experience compared to other IEMs I've tried. Even if you look at the measurements, you can see the bass is very well done (for my personal taste). I was a bit worried about that treble peak when i saw the measurements because i really hate ear piercing sharp treble, the treble has a really high peak around 12Khz. There is also tiny sensation like something is trying to drill into your ears, and that turned out to be the 15khz boost. they must control it and turn it down.

There are 3 main reasons why I would choose a neutral IEM, and my Rating for each reason,
1. Extremely long listening sessions without ear fatigue - 7 / 10 ( let's fix that pinna gain)
2. Get an accurate representation of the Audio your listening to if you enjoy realism and natural touch - 7/10 ( The lower mid range is a bit scooped out, needs more air without harshness)
3. Doing some professional work - 6/10 ( can't pick up sibilance issues when monitoring. But I don't think it's possible to have a really good treble response with good air without making it harsh and fatiguing, especially in a single driver IEM, so I'll let the engineers decide)

BAD ISSUES

1. The ear hook man the ear hook. Tangzuuu, why did you try to overdo it?
2. The connector, 2 Pin Socket BROKE OFF!!! ( pictures included). Man, I was gonna buy a cable for this, and yes, I know a cable for a $20 IEM is pretty stupid, but I was gonna do it anyway. The 2 pin socket broke off randomly, i wasn't even trying to unplug the cable it just came out on it's own. very fragile, so... FIX IT ASAP!. cuz this happened in less than 2 months of use.

FINAL CONCLUSION

Would I recommend it? yes. Absolutely yes, IF AND ONLY IF you're not a bass head and you love natural neutral sound. But beware of a broken connector socket, and it might be a bit fatiguing cuz of that pinna gain around 2khz to 3khz (maybe I'm wrong about the range)

**UPDATE v1.0 (Ear Fatigue issue)**

I played around with EQ a bit and turns out the sharp ear piercing (drilling) sensation was coming from the 15khz range. i tried to turn down the 12Khz but that didn't fix the piercing issue, it's only when i turned down the 15khz the fatigue went away. You can see the treble region which i've lowered significantly to fix the slight fatigue issue in the screenshot i've posted below.

Blue Line - Original measurements of the Studio Edition
Green Line - Fatigue Fix EQ

Note :- I don't think you have to lower the treble this much but if you are young and in your early to mid 20's you might find the 15khz fatiguing and sharp and ear piercing (drilling)

there's absolutely no complaints on the IEM, it has a great sound and is very competitive with IEMS triple, even quadruple it's price.
however, the cable is leaving much to be desired. the thin cable doesn't bother me much, though it might to some. what i don't like is the "memory foam" earhooks, they just look tacky, and feel bad to use.

would still recommend the the set, especially at this price.

They're more flat and a little bit colder, but not so much than the originals one, i like them, they're a good fresh air

4 étoiles

Man, this one is absolute crazy. Great design, top notch audio quality. everything is perfect. But the cable is a litte bit anoying