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The Fragrant Zither (TFZ) Reviews and Impressions Thread
Nov 30, 2018 at 3:23 PM Post #826 of 2,251
DRuM said:
Interesting. From what you're saying, I'm guessing others have been stung in the same way. I bought the TFZ from Penon through Paypal, but of course it never occurred to me that I would lose a few dollars by getting refunded through them.
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There was discussion in the Chinese/Asian IEM thread about this in October. They were talking about orders made on Aliexpress and why, if you needed a refund, you should go through the Aliexpress refund process rather than accept a PayPal refund from the seller. It did have to do with Paypal fees and in some cases currency conversion fees.

With Penon it seems like your only other alternative would be to have them refund your card directly. I think when they refund you through paypay they put it through as though they were paying you for goods or services and thus you pay the fees. Maybe that is the only way they could do it? Maybe, if you paid through PayPal, you would have to initiate a dispute? I have not had to deal with anything like that myself so I am not sure.

Here is one post from that discussion.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chi...hones-and-iems.820747/page-1266#post-14550039
 
Nov 30, 2018 at 4:17 PM Post #827 of 2,251
mbwilson111 said:
There was discussion in the Chinese/Asian IEM thread about this in October. They were talking about orders made on Aliexpress and why, if you needed a refund, you should go through the Aliexpress refund process rather than accept a PayPal refund from the seller. It did have to do with Paypal fees and in some cases currency conversion fees.

With Penon it seems like your only other alternative would be to have them refund your card directly. I think when they refund you through paypay they put it through as though they were paying you for goods or services and thus you pay the fees. Maybe that is the only way they could do it? Maybe, if you paid through PayPal, you would have to initiate a dispute? I have not had to deal with anything like that myself so I am not sure.

Here is one post from that discussion.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chi...hones-and-iems.820747/page-1266#post-14550039
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Thanks for that link, mbw. Oh well, lesson learnt, next time I need a refund, I'll make sure to avoid doing it through paypal, or, I'll contact paypal first and ask them how I can avoid the fees. It's only $3.5 loss this time so not worth causing a fuss over, but had it been more I would have. The good news is that you saved me money on rebuying them through LMUE on ebay instead of through their website, so I'm still better off than my original plan!
 
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Dec 2, 2018 at 11:52 AM Post #828 of 2,251
My thoughts on the Secret Garden HD. Looking forward to seeing where TFZ goes from here.

The Contraptionist / Head-fi

IMG_5269_Signature.jpg​
 
Dec 2, 2018 at 9:53 PM Post #831 of 2,251
B9Scrambler said:
My thoughts on the Secret Garden HD. Looking forward to seeing where TFZ goes from here.

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Nice review.

Seeing your comments about the cable - I'm pretty sure that is the same cable that came with my T2 Galaxy. The first few days I had them, I was confused why their sound was so inconsistent, big gaps in the upper mids and treble that would come and go, etc.

Then I was listening to them plugged into the headphone port on my DAC, my wife came in while talking on her cell phone, and I got that type of electrostatic interference noise that you used to get when using cell phones near computer speakers like 10 years ago. The first troubleshooting step I took was to swap out that stock cable with the one left over from my broken TRN v80s, and everything was glorious after that.

So yeah, if anybody has the TFZ cable that looks like the one pictured in this review, be aware that there could be QC issues.
 
Dec 2, 2018 at 9:58 PM Post #832 of 2,251
jibberish said:
Nice review.

Seeing your comments about the cable - I'm pretty sure that is the same cable that came with my T2 Galaxy. The first few days I had them, I was confused why their sound was so inconsistent, big gaps in the upper mids and treble that would come and go, etc.

Then I was listening to them plugged into the headphone port on my DAC, my wife came in while talking on her cell phone, and I got that type of electrostatic interference noise that you used to get when using cell phones near computer speakers like 10 years ago. The first troubleshooting step I took was to swap out that stock cable with the one left over from my broken TRN v80s, and everything was glorious after that.

So yeah, if anybody has the TFZ cable that looks like the one pictured in this review, be aware that there could be QC issues.
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That's too bad. I don't find any issues with mine. It works fine, it's just rubbery and annoying. Not a pleasant cable to use, imo.
 
Dec 7, 2018 at 10:46 PM Post #835 of 2,251
audio123 said:
My take on the TFZ T2 Galaxy with comparison against the Series 2 too. Enjoy reading! :)

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I agree with basically your entire review. It's got a great balance of bass that goes deep plus a nice mid-bass wallop that still doesn't interfere with the mids, good representation of vocals, and non fatiguing treble that doesn't sound dull or veiled. I think the area where it really punches above it's price range is in terms of soundstage; it does a nice job of conveying width, depth, and even a little bit of height.

Funny enough, one of the things I listened to with the T2 Galaxy in the first week I had them which knocked my socks off was a soccer match on ESPN. The mix had back and forth crowd chants coming from all corners of the stadium, I just had never noticed that the source broadcasts packed in that type of audio detail. I think they'd be a pretty good choice for someone looking for a reasonably priced IEM for games or movies.

I think they're really good, especially when available for around $40 on Aliexpress sales or Massdrop. It's the only TFZ IEM that I own, but I love them so much, I'm thinking I'll pick up one of their more expensive offerings the next time I feel like going for something in the $150 to $200 range. Probably one of the single DD King or Secret Garden models.

And this praise is even considering the fact that mine shipped with a defective cable...
 
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