[baskingshark]

They are going to fade into obscurity if they keep this up. The last 2 years they haven’t released something worthwile.

Agreed. It also doesn't help that their pricing isn't too competitive. Some of their single DDs go north of $100 USD.

There are many well regarded single DD sets from other CHIFI going cheaper eg Moondrop Aria, Heart Mirror etc.

 

[r31ya]

New TFZ release:

TFZ Tequila Pro



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003802284995.html

$169 USD

The kicker is that the FR bandwidth is indeed beyond imagination and hearing. Only our bat and dolphin friends can appreciate this set!


I still own the original Tequila, it is a V shaped basshead set, huge soundstage (open backed), but technicalities wise subpar for a $100 set.

TFZ is generally known to push out basshead sets, so this will probably follow the same vein, they can end up sounding like one-trick ponies after a while, but they would do well for bass forward music eg hip hop, EDM.

Is that closed back tequila?

The open back is pretty damn important part of why tequila is favorite for many people.

Is it New gen dd? A diamond dynamic driver.
Tfz kinda fell off radar after no. 3, i heard s2 pro and live 3 is pretty good but thats it.

 

[cqtek]

I have looked at some TFZs and read your considerations about the brand and you are right in your comments.
I am not saying anything new if I say that TFZ bass are their reference and have a special sonority. In my opinion they don't sound like the bass of NF Audio NA2 NM2, even Ikko, with their OH10. The Live X model has a more emphatic bass and has a speed similar to the cheaper models I am talking about. But the sonority is different, as is the tuning.
I also have the Tequila 1's, which were not so focused on the sub-bass and were open. It seems that the new Tequilas are closed, so that advantage over the soundstage could be lost.

In my opinion, TFZ should improve in technical aspects, even from the bass. I think they are getting better and better in this aspect, but they should improve the integration with the rest of the bands, not polarising their tunings so much in those sets with a clear emphasis on bass. I would like a tuning not so much in V in those next Tequila Pro, with closer mids and some more treble extension, without the classic treble cut for control. Plus an improvement in their analytical capabilities.
There is some of that in their cheaper ranges and I reviewed the My Love IV with surprise, for its frequency response (I'd forget its capsule design). It is clear that it is not a bass-head set, but more focused on midrange and treble, but preserving quality in the bass. They still need to improve technically.



But recently they have tried again, with a more economical set, which can be bought with only its capsules for 35$, called TFZ T2 Pro. This one follows a very similar line to the My Love IV (with a slightly more normal capsule) and a slightly different tuning in the mid to treble transition.
I will write a review soon, just as I hope to review the TFZ Tequila Pro.



I'm not trying to justify TFZ, I'm just explaining their status based on my own experience.

 

[jant71]

TFZ is the king the the rehash. Tweak here and there but never really moving the bar much higher. People have gotten tired of sidegrades or small jumps with slight tuning changes etc. So they think a Tequila rehash is gonna get people that excited?? Of course they closed it so not sure how that excites more people. Wouldn't keeping that and improving technically be the better route. Still another rehash in many minds. So much it is confusing to even people in the hobby. With 42 King models and 32 My Love models it all blends together. They need to go in a different direction, an overhaul to get taken more seriously again.

 

[Dsnuts]

I have a feeling what these guys are doing is reusing older drivers in their older earphones/ left over stock with minor tweaks and calling them something new. If you have a large stock of old earphones that don't sell. Might as well reuse the drivers with a new coat of paint and see if you can sell remaining stock. You can do that so many times till people catch on.

OK so my weekend reader is about something you guys never knew you needed. I have been using Fiios new UTWS5 for the past month with a huge variety of my earphones and I have to say this product deserves a solid 5 stars. Supporting an AK4332 DAC chip with 8 hours of use with a single charge makes a big difference not to mention the latest bluetooth 5.2. It isn't perfect but then what bluetooth device is perfect? It is the sound, power and ease of use that make these a solid product. For what Fiio is asking for a set is very reasonable considering these have sound quality equivalent to their recent KA3 portable dac/amp. I tested them in harder to drive IEMs like Mee Pinnacle PX and it has plenty of volume to spare. These most definitely does your best sounding earphones justice. https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/fiio-utws5.25657/review/27719/ The secret sauce to its sound quality. Nice low noise floor.

 

[Dcell7]

TFZ is the king the the rehash. Tweak here and there but never really moving the bar much higher. People have gotten tired of sidegrades or small jumps with slight tuning changes etc. So they think a Tequila rehash is gonna get people that excited?? Of course they closed it so not sure how that excites more people. Wouldn't keeping that and improving technically be the better route. Still another rehash in many minds. So much it is confusing to even people in the hobby. With 42 King models and 32 My Love models it all blends together. They need to go in a different direction, an overhaul to get taken more seriously again.

Totally agree but i think it is too late for them now. The competition is moving at lightning speed.

 

[jant71]

Totally agree but i think it is too late for them now. The competition is moving at lightning speed.

Very much like Vsonic. If you do 17 GR07's and King models brands like that do get in a rut and get passed by. They have to see that the KZ model gets people excited. KZ also don't have much improvement but the driver combos always have a good crowd waiting to buy.

 

[cqtek]

Well, I'm also going to take this opportunity to present my new review of the Ikko OPAL OH2.

It's just my humble opinion.

I hope you like it.

Best regards.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ikko-oh2-opal.25553/reviews#review-27724

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Haha @nayt94 has a great point.

I have had around 15 or so KZ/CCA pokemons in the past and I gave up on them a year or so back after they kept churning out weekly V shaped sidegrades and used everyone as beta tester guinea pigs. A "pro" version of whatever KZ model you bought would be released a few weeks later, with not much value add. Similar concept to what BLON is doing now in throwing as much crap on the wall and hoping something finally sticks. KZ were also locked in a multi driver nuclear race with TRN for a long time, and focusing on driver count rather than tuning.

But having said that, lately KZ has been collaborating with bignames like Crinacle and BGGAR to tune IEMs, and those releases have had good reviews and nice graphs, something different from the spam V shaped multi driver behemoths.

I think you can check out those bigname tuned KZs, they probably are more "audiophile" tuned than an old school KZ.

KZ DQ6 is a very high quality budget IEM, as is the CCA NRA. Both go toe to toe with IEM's much higher in price and performance. Most of their stuff pre DQ6 was garbage, but lately they've gotten some hits.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I have looked at some TFZs and read your considerations about the brand and you are right in your comments.
I am not saying anything new if I say that TFZ bass are their reference and have a special sonority. In my opinion they don't sound like the bass of NF Audio NA2 NM2, even Ikko, with their OH10. The Live X model has a more emphatic bass and has a speed similar to the cheaper models I am talking about. But the sonority is different, as is the tuning.
I also have the Tequila 1's, which were not so focused on the sub-bass and were open. It seems that the new Tequilas are closed, so that advantage over the soundstage could be lost.

In my opinion, TFZ should improve in technical aspects, even from the bass. I think they are getting better and better in this aspect, but they should improve the integration with the rest of the bands, not polarising their tunings so much in those sets with a clear emphasis on bass. I would like a tuning not so much in V in those next Tequila Pro, with closer mids and some more treble extension, without the classic treble cut for control. Plus an improvement in their analytical capabilities.
There is some of that in their cheaper ranges and I reviewed the My Love IV with surprise, for its frequency response (I'd forget its capsule design). It is clear that it is not a bass-head set, but more focused on midrange and treble, but preserving quality in the bass. They still need to improve technically.



But recently they have tried again, with a more economical set, which can be bought with only its capsules for 35$, called TFZ T2 Pro. This one follows a very similar line to the My Love IV (with a slightly more normal capsule) and a slightly different tuning in the mid to treble transition.
I will write a review soon, just as I hope to review the TFZ Tequila Pro.



I'm not trying to justify TFZ, I'm just explaining their status based on my own experience.

I have the TFZ King Exclusive and it's NOT a bassy IEM. Just the opposite. It's a peaky treble head IEM with bass taking the backseat, so not all of them are basshead IEMs.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Very much like Vsonic. If you do 17 GR07's and King models brands like that do get in a rut and get passed by. They have to see that the KZ model gets people excited. KZ also don't have much improvement but the driver combos always have a good crowd waiting to buy.

Vsonic did sidegrade after sidegrade while touting their product as being 80% of whatever summit-fi was popular at the time, but they turned out to be about 100% of the latest $100 IEM that was on the shelf that particular month. That was VSonic's downfall.

 

[baskingshark]

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/qjhxr5/mojo_2_to_be_release_31st_january_2022/

https://imgur.com/a/yb5LXc9

Chord Mojo 2

To be released 31.01.22.


Amazingly they are still using micro USB ports?! I also hope they fixed the battery issues of the first Mojo, and at least offer it at an non kidney-selling price.








Thanks @bryaudioreviews for the headsup.

 

[nayt94]

KZ DQ6 is a very high quality budget IEM, as is the CCA NRA. Both go toe to toe with IEM's much higher in price and performance. Most of their stuff pre DQ6 was garbage, but lately they've gotten some hits.

No doubt that KZ has a great ratio, but the most major problem IMO is that none of their iems are really exceptional (some are more of a hit, some more of a miss). I mean yes, dq6 is good for its price, as well as many others, but comared to the TOTL stuff all of them has its own weird flaws.
But seems like KZ already acknowledged enough to colab with some famous opinion holders.

 

[unifutomaki]

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/qjhxr5/mojo_2_to_be_release_31st_january_2022/

https://imgur.com/a/yb5LXc9

Chord Mojo 2

To be released 31.01.22.


Amazingly they are still using micro USB ports?! I also hope they fixed the battery issues of the first Mojo, and at least offer it at an non kidney-selling price.








Thanks @bryaudioreviews for the headsup.

microUSB for charging, a Type-C input that looks straight up bolted onto the board, and what will probably be an eye-watering price, in 2022

 

[Barndoor]

I assume the micro usb ports are to enable compatibility with the poly?