TANGZU PRINCESS CHANGLE: Affordable Ornate Set

Changle or Li Lizhi was an ancient Chinese imperial princess during the Tang dynasty era. She was a daughter of Li Shimin also known as Emperor Taizong, the second emperor of the said dynasty and according to some accounts, She was known to be a beautiful woman with high intelligence. She was also an accomplished painter but to some illness due to some genetic disorder, her life was cut short. Her tomb still exists to this day somewhere in modern Xianyang city in Shaanxi Province.

Bullet-type earphones are one of the form factors that was designed for ease of use to its users. With its smaller and slimmer profile on its shell chassis and a built-in microphone to receive calls and also use for a voice command to do simple tasks.

This is Princess Changle, the latest earphone from TANGZU Audio for the ultra-budget segment. With a small and slimmer profile, its shell chassis are made of aluminium alloy with an aesthetics inspired from some traditional Chinese geometrical patterns that were engraved on it. These shells encase a 6mm micro dynamic driver that were usually found on other products of the same form factor. While it has a non-detachable design like most IEMs that I usually reviewed here, it uses an OFC silver plated cable with built-in mic and a 3.5mm termination plug for listening to music and also for receiving calls.

Like all bullet-type earphones, it rests well with my lugholes and for an all metal alloy build, it is quite light that I was able to wear them in some activities like brisk walking and doing some chores. Its passive noise isolation is somehow decent as it was able block some noises from the outside surroundings.

Along with Princess Changle earphones, I also received the latest ear tips from TANGZU,The Tang Sancai Eartips. It has a balanced bore that will slightly add some boost on the bass particularly on the mid bass part and a noticeable improvement on treble quality as it sounds more open and a tad more energetic. (It still depends on the IEMs if they will respond accordingly on ear tip rolling). They are made of medical grade silicone with skin-friendly properties, non-toxic and a hypoallergenic one. It also has matte-like finish texture on its outer layer to give that good grip and more secured fitting inside in our lugholes. Inside of its bores, there are a series of grooves that reduces some unwanted frequencies and better flow of sound waves to give that natural sound reproduction and a more open sounding one. There are three pairs on this set of ear tips with colour-coded sizes, yellow for small, green for medium and blue for large. These ear tips are sold separately and you can order it to your favourite e-commerce stores.

Princess Changle's product packaging is rather simple and the presentation is quite acceptable despite a smaller quantity of inclusions. It was packed in a flat square-shaped box with a beautiful artistic rendition of the princess at the front and basic specifications of the product at the back.

Here are the included accessories inside the box:

■ Princess Changle earphones with a microphone and a 3.5mm termination plug.

■ 3 pairs of white-coloured balanced bore ear tips in coloured-coded sizes similar to San Cai ear tips.

■ 3 pairs of white-coloured narrow bore ear tips in different standard sizes.

As for amplification, like almost sets with micro dynamic drivers sets that I've tested, Changle is no different as they are quite demanding on power output as I need to add more volume steps just to deliver a sufficient sonic intensity. But putting them on sources with better sources like DAPs and USB dongles which has more power will surely improve its amplitude rating with better dynamics.

When it comes to tonality, Princess Changle is more of a warm U-shaped sound signature as it has more emphasis on bass and treble and a linear midrange.

LOWS/BASS:

It has a noticeable elevation on low frequencies but it presents a well-balanced bass response that both sub-bass and mid-bass are able to deliver.

It has a good rumble as I was able to perceive it when I play some sub bass-focus tracks with synthesisers, low tuned bass guitar lines and drum machines. Mid bass has an ample texture to deliver a voluble and sufficient punchy response as I was able to hear earthy yet hollow bass guitars, a gloomy bass kicks drums and a less dense bass-baritone vocals. It is also noted that there are some noticeable slight bass smears that come across towards midrange.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange presentation is unquestionably a bit recessed on this one but due to bass bleeding from the lows, it gives that warmth to add liveliness on vocals and some instruments.

On vocals, it gives  a more weight and depth on tones on baritones, contraltos and some lower mezzo-sopranos, particularly dramatic ones to have that warm, velvety and smoky vocal qualities. It seems that it also give a decent vocal qualities in tenors and sopranos as former has that brassy quality and a more silky tone on the latter one especially in dramatic ones like Alison Krauss but when it comes to lyric and coloratura, it won't give you that opened and more vivid tone as it is rather a tad intimate in my liking

In regards to the instruments, it gives a more buttery and midrangey tone on acoustic guitars, a solemn and calm sound on violins and a balance-warm tone on pianos. On brasses, trumpets  sound usually rounded while trombones sound dark but have that softness on it. Woodwinds like flutes have a mellow and soft tone while saxophones have that velvety and hollow sounds. Meanwhile on percussive likes snares, field drum and toms, snares have this clattering sound while field drums have a sombre and tad boomy sound, then on toms, they have this warm and mellow sound from them.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

Despite the accentuated upper mids, it's on a safer and balanced side of treble tuning. It is also noticeable that there's enough clarity and detail on it and neither sibilance nor harshness are ever present.

But there are some caveats on this one as there is a lack of a sparkle and a rather modest amount as you will notice it on the cymbals and other percussion instruments. Cymbals sound a bit soughing and dry, while hi-hats have these shortened dull sounds in my liking while gongs sound full and rounded on this one.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

On sound/speaker stage, it presents an average width, a decent height reach and enough depth that gives me a decent head room within my aural sphere. Imaging-wise, it shows a two-dimensional stereo presentation with decent instruments and vocals on each side of the channel. Layering is rather rudimentary to show the tonal layers of instruments as it won't fare well on more complex, multi-instrumental tracks.

As for coherency, it delivers a decent performance as we are all aware of the limitation of micro dynamic drivers. In resolution capability, it has more emphasis on macro-dynamics as it has more fuller and weight on it albeit a bit soft while micro-detail is rather sufficient to show some nuances from the sonic background though it has blunted definition and also a bit compress.

PEER COMPARISONS:

KZ LINGLONG

● Both have similar form profiles but it has more plain looking shells compared to a more ornate-looking Princess Changle. Unfortunately, it has driver flex that is quite bothersome whenever I use it in a more physical activity like brisk walking. But the good thing that LINGLONG has over Changle was the inclusion of an IEM storage case.

● Tonality-wise, LINGLONG has a U-shape balanced-warmish tuning that truly stand out on the time of its release, it has more  punchy bass response, a more texture and warmer midrange and an less attenuated upper mids but still retains a balanced and safe treble. Both have similar technical capabilities from sound/speaker stage size to coherency performance though Changle has a bit better detail retrieval.

TANCHJIM TANYA DSP

● While both have a bullet-type earphone design, TANYA has a bit larger form factor to accommodate its 7mm driver and also has a built-in DSP on its type-C connector, Different sets for different types of plug output. TANYA is a bit pricier as it has more inclusions inside of its packaging box. Both are prone to microphonics.

● As for tonality, it takes a familiar U-shape type of tuning curve, a modified Harman curve. It has more solid and impacting bass response, a more rounded and detailed midrange and a more refined treble register as it has good amount of sparkle albeit it was still less airy in my opinion. Technicality-wise, TANYA is more superior than Changle, better sound/speaker stage dimensions, better separation and a more solid note on macro-dynamics and perhaps even better detail retrieval. Although, the DSP on TANYA has limitation on decoding some lossless format like DSD and higher bitrate/ sampling rate.

As I assess this set for a few days, I still wonder why TANGZU released this product despite a tighter competition from other audio companies with similar build and even pricing. The existence of its erstwhile sister, Wa'ner has a better price to performance proposition that makes it a bit redundant. Well, here's some of my insights, I think that TANGZU is still aware of some audio enthusiasts who are on a tight budget but want a versatile set with good tonality, an even compact design and can be used in daily activity like receiving calls that Changle is able to offer. For sure that it won't garner  awards when it comes of technical performance but its elegant and ornament shells make it more to purchase.

TANGZU Princess Changle is currently available to purchase in all known e-commerce sites. Here are the unaffiliated links you find down below:

★★TANGZU PRINCESS CHANGLE - OFFICIAL★★

★★TANGZU PRINCESS CHANGLE - ALIEXPRESS★★

And also, you can check out my reviews on other TANGZU sets.

◆ TFORCE/TANGZU YUAN LI

◆ TANGZU WAN'ER S.G.

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: TANGZU PRINCESS CHANGLE

IMPEDANCE: 16Ω

SENSITIVITY: 95dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: NON-APPLICABLE

PLUG TYPE: 3.5MM

DRIVER UNIT(S):  1 DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

△ Cheap and affordable.

△ Solid built metal alloy shell chassis with ornamental designs inspired from Chinese geometrical pattern.

△ Good quality built-in mic as it has good clarity.

△ A warm U-shape tonality for versatility to all types of music genres

△ Not a hint of driver flex.

△ Adequate balanced and punchy bass

△ Quite flexible to almost vocals types.

△ Striking balanced bass response.

△ Non-fatiguing treble response.

CONS:

▽ Hard to drive, needs a better power output.

▽ Instances of microphonics on its cable.

▽ Non-detachable cable.

▽ Inadequate amount of sparkle and air.

▽ Too average technical performance, probably due to limitation on its micro dynamic drivers and the limited acoustic properties on its bullet-type form factor.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

P.S.

I am not affiliated to TANGZU AUDIO nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to KENT ALFONSO for sending this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.