TANCHJIM MINO: BUDGET-FRIENDLY AND AFFORDABLE TWS SET
Mino has many meanings in Japanese language, it means either large bodies of water like sea or ocean, fruity or beautiful. It also pertains to a traditional straw raincoat in pre-modern Japan that we usually see in taiga drama series on TV shows and samurai movies.
It's quite a rarity that I will do a review on a TWS (True Wireless Stereo) product. The last time I did a review on TWS was 2 years ago and to be honest, I find it pleasant to use as I can carry it anywhere.
TWS sets gives us more of a convenience to use as we will enjoy our listening experience via wireless transmission either in physical activity or just in a relaxing mode to enjoy your music tracks casually. But in terms of sound quality, it depends on how an audio company will implement its tuning as most of the TWS that I've tested so far are either just decent or simply mediocre sounding.
As the new technologies emerging that have been implemented to improve the connectivity capability and better transmission of digital data from sources, a lossless audio format is now possible to experience in a bluetooth. As the bluetooth technology keeps evolving as it improves its range and better frequency response that it minimises latency issues, so as the TWS set as it also benefited the evolving technology of Bluetooth and better battery technology for longer playtime.
The product that I have here and will be featured in this review is from a reputable audio company, TANCHJIM. This is TANCHJIM MINO and this is their second TWS product as they previously released their first model before, the TANCHJIM ECHO.
The TANCHJIM MINO consists of two parts, the TWS IEMs and the charging dock case. Its TWS design form appears to be inspired from Apple's Airpods Pro as it has a compact size ovular-shaped cavity base shell with a short stem protruding downward and its overall construction is made of high quality PVC material which is sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear usage. Inside of the cavity base is where the driver is situated and it is a 10mm dynamic driver with a composite material on its diaphragm like PU (Polyurethane) and beryllium-plated one for better tensile strength that will deliver a responsive and distortion-free sound.
In other components inside, it has a modern 5.3 Bluetooth chip with some smart frequency hopping signal anti-interference to improve seamless connectivity and less latency for casual music listening, streaming podcasts and gaming. It also has a dual microphone on each side that can be used as an active noise cancelling and clear vocal recording for receiving calls.
On the upper part of the protruding stem, there's a touch sensitive control where we can do some basic commands like play, pause, stop, previous, next, voice assistance, transparent mode and ANC mode.
Here are the basic guide for tapping commands:
Previous track - Double tap on the left part of the TWS IEM.
Play/Pause - Single tap on any part of the TWS IEM.
Next track - Double tap on the right part of the TWS IEM.
Voice assistant - Triple tap on any part of the TWS IEM.
Transparent mode - Double tap then hold on the left part of the TWS IEM. (We will hear some marimba-like sound for its notification)
ANC mode - Double tap then hold on the right part of the TWS IEM. (We will hear some marimba-like sound for its notification)
Unpairing - Tap 4 times then press long on both parts of the TWS IEM.
There is also an alternative option for more convenient usage via software command is by installing the TANCHJIM app from TANCHJIM's official site and there, we can simply choose some options and settings to customise it according to our preferences.
On its docking port, there is a LED indicator to determine the status of battery power of the MINO, a transparent opening lid for covering and a type-c charging port for replenishing its battery power.
The LED indicator corresponds with particular colour on what remaining battery level that MINO has. 76% - 100% on white LED, 75% - 51% on light yellow LED, 50% - 26% on dark yellow LED and 25%-0% on yellow-orange LED. The TWS IEMs have a playback rating up to 6 hours on standard mode while on ANC mode, it will be less than 5 hours. The charging docking port will support by replenishing the battery power on the pair of TWS IEMs and will add over 30 hours of playback time.
In terms of product packaging, like all TANCHJIM products, TANCHJIM MINO still follows a simple and compact packaging box but its inclusions are reasonable enough.
Here are the following contents inside of TANCHJIM MINO:
- Pair of TWS IEMs
- Charging dock
- Nozzle filters
- Three (3) pairs of balanced bore ear tips in different standard sizes.
- Short type-c to type-c cable
- Paperwork like instruction manual, quick guide and contact card.
Like most TWS sets, with a decent power output via short radio signal, TANCHJIM MINO is an easy to amplify set to deliver a sufficient amount of loudness in our listening session. This set is quite capable of giving a full-range and dynamic sound into our lugholes.
As for tonality, it seems that this set has a U-shaped that we are accustomed to in some TANCHJIM sets that follows a modified Harman-esque tuning curve. But you can access other preset EQs that the TANCHJIM app offers that will tailor based on your tuning preferences. The review of its tonality will be based on its stock tuning.
LOWS/BASS:
Punchy, rumbly and somehow clean to give a fairly textured bass response. It has a perceivable rumble and reverberation coming from sub bass - focused instruments like drum machines, synthesisers and low tone bass guitars.
Mid-bass texture of this one appears to be sufficient but it will not give that authoritative and striking sound. This kind of bass shelf gives enough note weight on instruments like bass guitars, bass kick drums and bass-baritone vocals. Bass guitars sounds sombre and resonant while bass kick drums have a thudding and rumbling sound though in some tracks, there's a hint of hollowness on it, and then on bass-baritone vocals, they sound a bit mellow and less darker tone on their voices although their vibrato are still present and has a good depth on them.
MIDRANGE:
The midrange presentation of this set is quite recessed and a tad lean note weight as I noticed it on the timbre quality and vocal depth particularly on male vocals and some types on instruments like brasses and percussions. But at least, it has translucent, crisp and neutral midrange response to enjoy most female vocals and string instruments.
On male vocals, baritones have smooth and clear voices though it lacks the plush, warm and lushness that this particular vocal should have. Tenors have bright and ringing vocal qualities which is acceptable given its brilliant timbre although on spinto, dramatic and heldentenors, they somewhat sound lacking of strength, fullness and depth on them. Countertenors appear to have tender with an added shine on their vocals. As for female vocals, contraltos doesn't have that depth, richness and texture to give that husky smoky and rounded vocals. Mezzo-sopranos appear to have sensitive, smooth and tender sound while sopranos have shining and silvery vocals on them.
In regards on instruments, strings and woodwinds appears to be more appealing on this set strings like guitars (acoustic and electric) and violins have a crisp, lustrous and lively sound on them, while on woodwinds, piccolos have brilliant sound, concert flutes have mellow and soft sound, clarinets have also a mellow and expressive sound and saxophones have mild and melancholic sound on them. On brasses, sounds of trumpets have some vividness and metallic sound on them, a brassiness and tense sound on trombones and a mellow and sombre sound on horns. Meanwhile on percussives, snares have sharp and precise sound, tom-toms have resonant yet less warm sound, field drums have sonorous and kettledrums have hollow and resonant sound on them. Pianos appear to be on a balanced and even tone as they don't sound too warm nor too bright.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
The treble response of the MINO seems to be balanced and a tad smoother side of tuning. Upper-mids appear to be a bit elevated just to give some definition and presence in female vocals and attack on instruments. There's not a hint of sibilance and harshness that will be detrimental to our long listening sessions especially on treble-sensitive folk out there.
On the brilliance part of the treble region, there is enough sparkle on this one but the airy extension is rather diffident in my opinion. Cymbals sound undulating while glockenspiels have these lustrous and soft sounding on either mallet-type or keyboard type, and then celestas have these sweet and glassy sounds on them.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
It seems that overall, the technical capabilities of this one is average. a narrow to average width on its lateral span, acceptable height and depth on its perceived sound/speaker stage within my headroom. A typical two-dimensional stereo imaging with just tolerable separation and indistinguishable layering in which playing a more complex track will be an issue on this one.
Coherent performance of the drivers appears to be remarkable as it is capable of delivering a fast transient response. Resolution capabilities on this set is on median as while it has good macro-dynamics but micro-detail retrieval isn't on par and barely passable as it only manages to extract a small amount of nuances and subtleties from an audio track.
PEER COMPARISONS:
Since I rarely review TWS sets, I can only do a comparison with a two-year old TWS from Divinus.
DIVINUS OSTIA
● On physical features, OSTIA is a bit more larger in size and like the MINO, it also has sensitive controls on its faceplate area. In overall build quality, OSTIA appears to be more solidly built but the MINO has better microphone quality as it sounds more clearer. It is also noted the OSTIA has more types of ear tips to offer on its user.
● Both sets don't support advanced bluetooth codec like LDAC,Apt-x and Apt-x HD. But with Tanchjim App, MINO has better software where you can update its firmware and better customisable on its sound quality, it is also noted that MINO has transparency and ANC mode too.
● On tonality, while both sets are leaning towards a U-shaped sound profile, OSTIA has a more textured mid-bass, a tad warmer midrange and a brighter treble response with a tad better airy extension. Technicality-wise, OSTIA appears to have a bit of a spacious sound/speaker stage and somehow a better separation but the rest of technical performances appear to be similar with the MINO.
It appears that diversification of products is still a priority on TANCHJIM given on how the audio market is getting more competitive day by day and creating a capable TWS at an affordable price appears to be a logical decision on their behalf. To me, the MINO is a good product if I give importance to convenience where I can listen to some tracks from my multimedia devices in a wireless mode casually without any complexity at all.
TANCHJIM MINO is currently available in your favourite online store vendors, and if it happens that you are in the Philippines, you can order them via JYS+ Audio on Facebook as they are the official distributor of TANCHJIM products here.
★★TANCHJIM MINO - JYS+ AUDIO (PHILIPPINES)★★
For more information on other TANCHJIM products, you can read some of my review articles on their previous product models:
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: TANCHJIM MINO
IMPEDANCE: 32Ω
SENSITIVITY: 94dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz
BLUETOOTH VERSION: 5.3
CODEC SUPPORT: AAC, SBC
RANGE DISTANCE: Up to 20m
WIRELESS CHARGING INTERFACE: Type-C
BATTERY CAPACITY: 380 mAh
BATTERY ENDURANCE: 5 hours + 26 hours
DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER
PROS:
● A budget-friendly pricing for budget-conscious casual listeners.
● Its overall design and form factor appears to follow modern aesthetics.
● Decent build quality
● Touch sensitive gestures for basic commands.
● Better software support from TANCHJIM App.
● Excellent playback endurance.
● ANC and Transparency modes.
● Follows a popular trend of tuning, a modified Harman-style.
● Clean and precise bass response.
● Crisp, transparent and clear midrange quality.
● Smooth and somehow balanced treble response.
CONS:
● Lack of support for advanced bluetooth audio codec.
● Transparency mode and ANC seems unexceptional in its intended performance.
● Most of its technical performance is rather mediocre.
● Recessed midrange.
● Its treble quality will be less appealing to most trebleheads.
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*
P.S.
I am not affiliated to TANCHJIM 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 TANCHJIM & JYS+ AUDIO for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
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