Tangzu Audio Zetian Wu

—“Wu”? Who?


—About myself
===START OF INTRODUCTION ===
—Background
Audio equipment reviewer with over 20year+ of experience in headphones/earphones/IEM/DAP, initially motivated by:
Sennheiser | AKG | Westone| Sony | Bose | JVC | JBL


—Imprinted instruments timbre
Drums (TAMA & Zildjian cymbals) | Guitar (Gibson Les Paul & Marshall Amp) | Piano (Yamaha)

—Bio
After spending a decade with full-size headphones, and home audio speakers, I shifted my main listening environment to IEM. Of which, I have over 100 personal inventories —not loaner or review units—purchased with my hobby budget

—On mobile
I enjoyed Lexus’s Mark Levinson system and moved to Mercedes AMG’s Burmester 4D System

—Affiliation
Under the penalty of perjury of the United States of America, 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I’m neither affiliated with any sellers/stores/makers nor given review samples or paid for this review.

I purchased Wu Zetian from Tangzu Official Store at my own will with my own disposable income, for purely my personal entertainment purpose.

=====END OF INTRODUCTION=====

—About Tangzu
Formerly known as T-Force with their Yuan-Li, a CNT driver single dynamic IEM offer. Now renamed as Tangzu, offering entry-class single DD, Wan’er S.G, besides another budget friendly single DD Li-Shinmin, to their first yet most influential 14.5mm planar, Wu Zetian.

—About Wu Zetian
Named after the one and the only Empress of ancient Chinese Dynasties, Wu Zetian.

A legendary ancient beauty, resurrected once again—


—Royal & Beautiful




The color violet —back in ancient times—was a symbol of Nobility, only high-class royals and nobles were allowed. Now we have that nobility at our door steps. Here comes Wu Zetian.

—Sound
▶︎impressive yet inoffensive, natural and organic diffusion
▶︎a slice of hints in U-shape but only few decibels away from neutral
▶︎Almost warm-neutral with slight hints in upper mid as well as treble
▶︎Sub-bass is not overly emphasized (Not L-shape), with mid-bass having a welcoming warmth.
▶︎People with 200hz sensitivity may feel it a slight “bleed” and may prefer Timeless style scooped uppper-to-mid bass,
▶︎I’m perfectly fine with this mid-bass, a matter of preference

Let me put it this way. Wu’s voice does not contain any “husky” or “Dry” characteristics, her voice is “wet” and full of “emotion”. Not too wet, like unpleasantly humid level, it’s slightly wet, as if you are seeing Wu veiled with small splashes of raindrops on her hair, at the bus stop next to you, on a rainy day, waiting for the last bus of the day to arrive.


—Personal Impression

Wu has a very musically talented tuning. I can see the big boss of Tangzu spending nights and nights adjusting it.

This tuning is not a random attempt, the tuning has his/her philosophy in it.

Wu has a higher level top-down comprehensive bird’s eye type “sound as a whole” presentation, just like someone creates instruments.

Tangzu big boss has a talent to that extent.

2022 is a year of good tuner…Salnotes Zero and Wu.

—What is musicality? Wu gently asks.

You should have your own answer. Wu will ask you about this question, what musicality means to you.

To me, what matters the most is not technicality, after all things considered for “enjoying/live with your favorite songs”.

Surely technicality is like big engines in a car, a sports-car, a hyper-car, it goes as fast as you put your feet on pedal.

But once you’ve done everything you could imagine with sports-car & hyper-car, you feel the suspension is way too firm for going over the speed bumps, and if you hit any potholes on road with high performance sports tire&suspension, it will be very unpleasant for sure.

To me I’m inclined for cars made for “comfort & luxury “. I know I’m not too young anymore.

You don’t need huge engines for the comfort. That exactly same thinking applies to the IEM/headphones.

It’s just a man’s change in “sound” preference .

Things are not static.

Yet still, Wu reminds me of what an emotionally appealing sound is, regardless to the degree of the technical aspects.

Don’t “Think”, “Feel” it.

Wu is tailored for your comfort and pure enjoyment over technical things.

“Gentlemen perishes, His fame does not”

[Tang-Dynasty] Wu Zetian, "Under the Track of the Minister - Integrity


—Tentative impression (based on my HRTF)
Overall | A+
Tonality | S+
Resolution | B+
Overall Coherence | B-

1. Diffusion Field coherence | B
2. Image coordinate positioning coherence | C+
3. Image Focusing Coherence | B-
4. Sound wave momentum & Sound Image vectoring coherence | B-

My A-rated IEMs:
Blessing 2 (84/100: A) | Blessing 2 Dusk (85/100: A) | Mangird Tea (84/100: A) | Truthear HEXA (85/100 : A) | AKG N5005 (A) | See Audio Bravery (A)

My higher than A-rated:
Timeless (A+) | Westone W80 (A+) l DUNU SA6 (S-) | Variations (S-) | Softears RSV (S-) | Monarch (S-) | MEST MKII (S) | Anole VX (S+)

—Looking more technical set for Warm-Neutral?
Here is Westone W80

—Looking for a crisp neutral IEM instead?
With all my 20year+ of passion &love for IEM, my full mark recommendation is Truthear HEXA. My review is here. If you have both HEXA and Wu Zetain, you have pretty much reached all you’ll need. “Musicality” Wu, and “Technicality” HEXA.

—Want to enjoy some exotic music with your Wu?
You may hear a faint soprano “harmony” —inside your head—from these deep Monks’ choir. One of a kind harmony technique that yet to be known to western music theory.


—Are you still here? This is the bottom.

TangZu Zetian Wu Review : Under the Empress' Gaze

Huge thanks for TangZu Audio for giving me an opportunity to try these out.

Disclaimer: This unit is provided to me for a set amount of time as part of a tour. Your mileage may vary.

Specifications-
Connector Type: 0.78mm 2-pin
Driver Configuration: 14.5mm Planar Driver
Frequency Range: 20Hz ~ 20kHz
Impedance: 16 ohms
Sensitivity: 100dB @ 1kHz
Price: 150$ (Linsoul)

Sources Used-
Zishan U1 ES9038Q2M
Sony NW-A55 (MrWalkman CFW)
Colorfly CDA M1

Introduction:
Planar Magnetic Drivers. A speaker tech that is commonly used in headphones and speakers, and rarely used in IEMs. In the past few years the application of planar drivers in IEMs is not popular because of factors like R&D costs, production costs, etc. One of the brands known to use this tech in their IEMs is AUDEZE. However recently we all have witnessed a boom of planar IEMs. From brands like KZ/CCA (PLA13, PR1 Standard, PR1 HIFI), MOONDROP (Stellaris), DUNU (Talos), Kinera (Gumiho), Shuoer (S12, S12 Pro), and more and upcoming planar IEMs. This time I have my hands on TangZu's first planar offering, the one and only Empress, TangZu Zetian Wu. This is my first time trying out a planar IEM, so join me as I enter a whole new world of planar IEMs.

Build Quality:
The unit provided in the tour only comes with the case, cable, and the IEM itself. Sadly I can't give any unboxing experience with this IEM.



The case included with the Zetian Wu is by far the largest case I've ever seen. It's made of synthetic leather outside with two gold plated zippers. The leather feels generic to feel with the brand's name imprinted to it. Aside from it's large size, nothing exceptional on the outside.



Inside the case is large as expected of the size of it. The top part is your usual inside pouch where you can store small stuff like eartips or cables. The bottom part of the case has a divider where you should slot the earpiece in and coil the cable around it. Both top and bottom part is layered with some kind of thin synthetic felt. This is to make sure that the contents of the case is protected with the divider and the felt layer.



The earpiece is a bit bigger than your usual IEMs, given that it houses a 14.5mm Planar Driver. To my surprise, even with its size the earpieces are very light, as if it was weightless. Just the look of its faceplate alone makes it look very elegant, befitting its name. The faceplate is made out of CNC Aluminum and the housing is made of 3D Printed Resin.



The cable is made of 5N Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) in 4.4mm Balanced plug/0.78mm pin termination. The thickness of the cable is way thicker than standard 4 Core cable. Despite its thickness, the cable itself is soft and easily manageable.

Sound Quality:
Since the unit sent to me is lacking in accessories (ear tips), I chose to use my preferred ear tips for the Zetian Wu which is JVC Spiral Dots.

In the headphone scene where planar headphones are known to require an amplifier to reach their full potential, the same can be said with planar IEMs. The Zetian Wu requires a powerful source to reach its full potential, at least 2VRMS which is common nowadays. The noticeable difference between SE and BAL on my CDA M1 is only the volume, but with the A55 it’s a different story. With the A55 alone it sounds ok but definitely lacking overall, using a weak source for the Zetian Wu inhibits its ability to perform at full potential.

I was surprised at the quantity of bass that the Zetian Wu has given me on my first listen with it, as it has sub-bass rumble and mid-bass impact that I did not expect for my first planar IEM experience. It is not muddy, controlled, tight, and well textured bass. I usually listen to J-Pop and Doujin music, and having bass like this is really good.

Vocals are excellent for both male and female vocals. Warm, slightly intimate, and extends really well. There are times where I can hear sibilance, but most of the time it is just song specific and I just had to turn down the volume a little bit to make it disappear. Other than that minor inconvenience, there is really nothing much for me to complain about the vocals.

The treble of the Zetian Wu is no slouch either. Listening to instrumentals is a bliss with the Zetian Wu. Detailed and well-extended, with a decent amount of sparkle.

Soundstage is above average, with very good imaging and layering. It does give that planar-like performance that I had with the only planar headphones that I owned, Hifiman HE400se OG. But obviously it does not completely replicate the performance of a planar headphone.

Conclusion:
Overall I find the Zetian Wu to be a very good all-rounder IEM that will fit everything that you’ll throw at it. Rich and natural sounding balanced signature that most people would love. If you have a proper source to use with the Zetian Wu and are looking to try planar IEMs for a change, I’d definitely recommend it. I am looking forward to TangZu new and upcoming releases. Thank you everyone for reading.

Tangzu Zetian Wu is a planar magnetic IEM, that comes at a price of 149$ MSRP (154$ if you prefer a 4.4 mm balanced cable.) Maybe this review is a little bit later than the first wave but, I wanted to explore them too, as their tuning seemed to my liking but also there were some negative reviews too. I hope it would help your purchasing decisions just before 11.11 sale. You can check out the full review also at mobileaudiophile.

Disclaimers​

Without boring you too much, I don’t necessarily have a sound preference. I tend to enjoy different sound profiles as long as they do well at what they intend to do. I try to be critic in my reviews but I might be somewhat biased one way or another (Recency bias, buyer’s bias etc.). Please keep these in mind. Also, I bought Tangzu Zetian Wu as well as other headphones mentioned here with my own money from Keephifi.com for a price that would be more or less what I would pay in 11.11 sales in exchange for this review. If a unit I reviewed is given or loaned to me in the future, I will say so here.

Build, Comfort and Trivia​

Zetian Wu or Wu Zetian as Chinese use family names before their given names, was the only female ruler of China History. The Empress belonged to Tang Dynasty, which also gave the name of the brand Tangzu. However, Tangzu was named T-Force before they changed their name. Yuan Li was their first entry to IEM market, although they were relatively experienced driver producers and sourced driver to many other brands.
Yuan Li started, what they call Dynasty Trilogy, as they name their IEMs after Tang Dynasty Emperors. A few months ago they released Shimin Li, which was budget oriented and the second episode of the Trilogy. Shimin Li got mixed reviews. But Tangzu didn’t give up, addressed those criticism without straying from their house sound when they released Zetian Wu. Zetian Wu is not necessarily a part of the Trilogy, but more of a spinoff. Trilogy is to be continued in 2023.
Zetian Wu, like every Tangzu (T-Force) product, has expectional packaging and accessories in its price range. Carrying case is similar to the one 7hz Salnotes Dioko. It is quite large, not very suitable for carrying IEMs. However, in my experience, none of the IEM case really is. Cable is a decent 2 pin 0.78 mm connection one, but I would expect something a little better from Tangzu. There are 7 pair of tips in the package, which are the same as 7hz H07 and H08 tips. Also, a black pair is on the IEMs which makes it a total of 8 pair.
IEMs have plastic shells with slight wings and purple metal faceplates. Shells of Zetian Wu are larger than S12 or Timeless, although Timeless have unnecessarily big faceplates. They are light and fairly comfortable. Plastic construction is somewhat of a concern but I haven’t heard of any reports of failure yet.
Spotlight

Technical Specifications​

Driver Size: 14.5 mm
Frequency Response: 20 – 20.000 Hz
Sensitivity: 100dB (1kHz)
Impedance: 16 ohm
Channel Difference: 1dB (1kHz)

Sound​

Tangzu Zetian Wu, distinguishes itself from the other planars those flooding the market recently. They have a subbass focused Mid-centric balanced sound which is not fatiguing at all. I even heard some reviewers say these don’t sound like usual planars at all.

Bass​

Bass is, as I said earlier subbass focused. Midbass is just right too in my honest opinion. They don’t sound lean but bass don’t bleed to midrange either. Subbass is rattling, full, aggressive. Although not really at the same level, it kind of remind me Audiosense AQ4’s bass.

Mids​

Mids are very clean and forward. At this point, I started to think this is the house sound that Tangzu is going for. I heard from their head that they love the Sennheiser HD600 sound. To be fair, I haven’t heard Yuan Li, hopefully I will. Even if I do, now that they are discontinued, I doubt I will review them. We will see. Anyway, Shimin Li was tuned similarly but they were excessive in this aspect and very aggressive and shouty for the most of the listeners. So, they pushed the gain further to the 3k range in the Zetian Wu, which helped a lot. They still have more energy than most of the other, but it doesn’t get annoying like it did with Shimin Li. Vocals are still pretty much in your face and “S”s, “Sh”s and “T”s can get sibilant when pushed a little. But those occasions were very rare.

Treble​

Treble in the Zetian Wu is also kind of a mixed bag. In my personal opinion, I love the treble of them. It is snappy but not splashy. It didn’t fatigue me at all, even after hours of listening. But I also understand they lack a bit of air for some. If you check the graph of Zetian Wu, the upper mids and treble of them follows Harman In-Ear Target, pretty much the same as Truthear x Crinacle Zero and rolls of earlier than some of the recent IEMs. It can be either a good or a bad thing depending your preference.

Technical Performance​

Due to their pushed mid-range, Zetian Wu doesn’t have particularly a wide perceived soundstage. As I said earlier, presentation is more of a in your face style. I don’t mind it but, I’m aware a lot of people are after wide sounding IEMs. Also, while I don’t particularly agree, I kind of understand why some people call these congested. In that sense Imaging and separation was pretty good but could have been better with a wider presentation.
Detail and Resolution performance of Zetian Wu was exceptional in my experience. Details are not pushed forward like some airier IEMs, sure, but I got more than why asked for from the tracks. In that sense they sounded more natural more often than not. Timbre was also very natural, which is the most important strength of Zetian Wu compared to other planars on the Market.

Comparison with 7hz Timeless​

Shells of Zetian Wu is bigger so Timeless, although weirdly shaped, is more comfortable for my ears. Zetian Wu is slightly harder to drive.
Timeless has more midbass and lower mids, therefore is slightly warmer. Zetian Wu has more upper mids and more forward vocals. Though if pushed, it can be in your face and shouty.
Timeless is brighter and airier in the upper treble. Zetian Wu is less fatiguing in the treble but some may call them congested. Instruments like cymbals and high-hats in Timeless gets is a little splashier.
Neither is particularly sibilant, but due to its emphasis in 3-6k region, Zetian We becomes sibilant earlier with the volume.
Zetian Wu has noticeably more subbass. Timeless may be punching slightly harder in the midbass but less subbass doesn’t back it up.
Perceived sound stage is slightly wider on Timeless. Imaging is decent on both. Timbre is better on Zetian Wu. It really doesn’t feel like you are listening with a planar IEMs at all. Timeless has that tinge of zing you can’t just shake off.
Resolution, in my opinion on par and what you perceive as detail is really comes down to the tuning. Because of the treble, Timeless might come as more detailed or the mids in Zetian Wu can mask other frequencies more. These ears of mine pulled a little more nuances with the Zetian Wu, but Timeless felt like it was faster more often than not.

To sum all these up:​

Bass: Zetian Wu > Timeless
Mids: Timeless > Zetian Wu (it depends to your preference, to be honest I’m more inclined to Zetian Wu)
Treble: Zetian Wu > Timeless
Soundstage, Imaging, Seperation of Instruments: Timeless ≥ Zetian Wu
Resolution and Detail: Timeless ≥ Zetian Wu

Conclusion​

Zetian Wu is, in my opinion, one of the best sounding planars on the market. Of course, that depends on your preference. I like how they don’t push the treble for details’ sake and go for their own unique sound. They don’t have the usual planar timbre that is preventing some people from trying them and don’t get fatiguing at all. Bass is addicting. Maybe they could use a bit more air, though if it would make them fatiguing like others, I could do without some. They sound very intimate and natural which I like. If all these sound appealing to you, do check them out. I hope this review helps your purchasing decisions.