TANGZU WAN’ER S.G. STUDIO EDITION: An Affordable Neutral Head's Delight

TANGZU as an audio company has its own moment in the audio market as it releases some of the most interesting products from its three years of existence like the Yuan Li, Zetian Wu, Zetian Wu Heyday and their first midrange set, the XuanWu Gate. But the most popular product that really really gives them more recognition is the Wan'er Shang Guan or Wan'er S.G., an entry-level single DD set that gives a pleasing coloured tuning to budget-tightened audio enthusiasts.

What I have here that will be featured in this review article is its latest variant of the Wan'er S.G., The Wan'er S.G. Studio Edition. Like its forebear model, it still retains a single driver set-up but there are some noticeable tweaking that makes this IEM earphone that will set apart to have its own profile.

The Wan'er S.G. Studio Edition uses a revamp design of the previous 10mm PET dynamic driver in a dual chambered neodymium magnets with a lighter diaphragm to deliver a faster transient response and accurate sound that offers clarity, highly detailed sound of its overall frequency range and low distortion rating. The driver is then encapsulated in a polycarbonate plastic shell which has a smaller frame profile with a beautifully designed shell chassis that gives some sophistication and elegance to its overall aesthetics. It still uses a QDC-type connector as its interlocking mechanism for its detachable cable.

Its compact shell size offers a comfortable fitting as I can wear it for a long listening session without any discomfort. It even gives a good passive noise isolation into my lug holes that it is able to block some unwanted noises from the outside.

The stock cable of this one is an OFC braided 2-core cable with memory  ear hooks which I think is quite a bit unreliable to mould based on the contours of our ears.

For an entry-level set, this set is fairly accessorised in terms of product packaging and well-presented and organised as we encountered it during unboxing.

Here are the following contents inside of its packaging box:

• Pair of TANGZU WAN'ER S.G. Studio Edition IEM transducers.
• Stock cable
• Extra silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Cleaning cloth

This set is quite sensitive that it can be driven with sources with decent power output like smartphones, laptops and tablets. The sufficient power requirement is enough that this set can deliver a full range sound with good dynamics on it.

The Wan'er S.G. Studio Edition tonality is quite pretty neutral sounding as it presents a linear and flat frequency response which will be better on audio recording for accuracy for audio mixing and tweaking.

LOWS/BASS:

Given how this set was tuned, the bass quality and quantity of this one is rather precise and tight enough to give some incisive and tactual response. It gives a clean bass response as it was able to segregate this particular frequency section from other frequency parts.

It has a good sub bass presence that this one is capable of producing a clear reverberation and rumble generated from some instruments with the likes of synthesisers, drum machines and low tuned bass guitars and double bass. The mid bass texture of this set is rather sufficient enough to give some note weight on some bass-centric instruments like bass guitars, double basses and bass kick drums, and also on male vocals such as bass and bass-baritones. Both bass guitars and double basses have a sustaining and resonant sound while bass kick drums have enough thud with rumbling sound on them. On bass and bass-baritone vocals, while they don't have that exact weight that their voices should have, they have that faster vibrato with a good deep resonating and rumbling quality on them.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange is probably the star feature on this one on how it presents a neutral, transparent and clean with sufficient energetic sound on its confined frequency range spectrum. But to think that it doesn't sound too lean nor too linear as it has enough warmth for texturing on certain types of vocals and instruments.

On male vocals, baritones have plush and smooth voices while tenors have brassy and spiciness on their voices, and then countertenors have tender, mild and expressive vocal characteristics. As for female vocals, contraltos have rich and smoky sound but it seems that it has lacking of depth on it, mezzo-sopranos have smooth and fiery sound and lastly, sopranos have silvery and gleaming sound that all types of this vocal category from dramatic soprano up to the coloratura soprano.

When it comes to instruments, on string ones, guitars have an ample crisp and balanced sound, cellos have these cantabile and vibrant sounds, and then violins seem to sound sensuous and clear on every motion on its bowstring. Brass instruments like trumpets, trombones and horns have these rounded, full and mellow sounds respectively. On woodwinds, piccolos sound brilliant while concert flutes have silvery sound on them. Then clarinets have lustrous sound and saxophones have full and incisive sound that pairs well with other brass instruments for thematic and emotive solos in the orchestra. As for percussives, a warm and resonant sound of tom-toms, a hard and crackling sound of snare drums, a venerable sound of field drums and a resonant sounding kettledrums.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

While it's a bit on a brighter side of tuning, it maintains a well-balanced, smooth and airy treble response. There is a noticeable slightly accentuated upper-mids up to presence part just to give some sense of clarity and definition on vocals and attack of instruments. The sibilance was kept under control and there's not a hint of stridency on its overall sound quality.

For a single DD set, this set has a good airy presence with proper intensity on its sparkle that affects some tonal colours of some selected treble-clef instruments. Cymbals have a glistening sound while hi-hats have its typical short buzzing sound. Celestas have its shimmering sound and glockenspiels have its brilliant sound to give that bell-like sound.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

Again, for a single dynamic driver IEM, this one is quite competent in terms of overall technical capabilities as it has a perceived above-average width span, good depth and height on its sound/speaker stage within my head room as I find it moderately spacious.

On stereo imaging, it somehow projects a more concave two-dimensional stereo presentation in a decently layered tones and frequencies section of instruments and vocals with some good separation on them that I am able to locate them but not in that precise manner but for an entry-level set, this is very acceptable in my opinion.

The driver aspect of this one is quite coherent and homogenous in regards to performance; out of phase and distortion issues are quite unlikely to be encountered on how it has fluid transient speed response. This set is also quite a resolving one in both macro-dynamics and micro-dynamics in that facet as it shows some concrete compression on its note while having a good micro-detail retrieval.

PEER COMPARISONS:

TANGZU WAN'ER S.G. Regular

• Like its successor model, it has a single dynamic driver set-up with similar driver technology.
• Shells are made of good polycarbonate plastic and utilise a QDC-type 2-pin connector.
• Similar product packaging albeit it has a different stock cable which is a bit shorter.
• It has a warmish-balanced U-shaped sound profile that makes it more coloured sounding.
• It has more punchy and impactful bass response, a recessed and warmer midrange and a smooth and less airy treble response.
• On its technical capabilities, it has an average size on its sound/speaker stage size, a typical two-dimensional stereo presentation, a bog standard separation and layering and less resolving particularly on micro-dynamics.

7HZ ZERO II

• One of 7Hz's single DD wonder sets, it has a 10mm dynamic driver with composite diaphragm.
• The shell of this one has a rather angular shape and it is also a composite material made of metal alloy on its faceplate and an acrylic resin on its cavity base.
• While its product package is somewhat spartan but it offers more eartips to choose from.
• It has a mild U-shaped sound profile that has some similar characteristics with warmish-neutral tuning.
• It has almost similar bass response with Wan'er S.G. Studio Edition, a tad warmer midrange and less brighter and modest airy extension in its treble response.
• Overall, it has on par technical capabilities with Wan'er S.G. Studio Edition as it also has an above average sound/speaker stage size, very coherent driver performance and similar resolution capabilities but the difference is that Zero II projects a more linear two-dimensional stereo imaging.

In my conclusion in this product review, this one proves the continuous evolution and refinement of TANGZU's on their tuning capabilities on how they will cater to all types of audio enthusiasts whether some listeners who simply want a fun and engaging sound  or connoisseurs of analytical and technical sound profile. This set is rather unique in the budget entry-level as I rarely encounter a very neutral sound in this price point as it is quite a surprise for a neutral head like me. No doubt that I highly recommend this set as it aligns well with one of my preferred tuning profiles, that its overall tonal and technical performance for this one will give some experience to some budget-minded audio enthusiasts on what a neutral sound signature will sound like.

TANGZU WAN'ER SG STUDIO EDITION is  now available in TANGZU's official store. And I will also provide some unaffiliated links from other online audio distributors below.

TANGZU OFFICIAL STORE

LINK: https://tangzu.net/products/tangzu-shangguan-waner-studio-edition-single-dynamic-driver-in-ear-hifi-earphones

LINSOUL

LINK: https://www.linsoul.com/products/tangzu-waner-s-g-studio-edition

HIFIGO

LINK: https://hifigo.com/products/tangzu-waner-se

For more TANGZU product reviews, just click the provided links below.

■ TANGZU/TFORCE YUAN LI

■ TANGZU WAN'ER SG

■ TANGZU PRINCESS CHANGLE

■ TANGZU FU DU VR.1

■ TANGZU XUANWU GATE

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: TANGZU WAN'ER S.G. STUDIO EDITION

IMPEDANCE: 16Ω

SENSITIVITY: 105dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.35m

PIN TYPE:  QDC-TYPE 0.75mm 2-PIN CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S):  (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Compact and lightweight shell chassis.

● Eye-pleasing aesthetic design on its faceplate that represents sophistication and minimalism.

● Offers a decent amount of inclusions for an entry-level set.

● Easy to amplify as it has low impedance rating with high sensitivity mark.

● Its tuning is rather a rarity in its class.

● Quite a neutral sounding for an entry-level set for budget-minded audio enthusiasts who want to experience a neutral sounding set for a budget price.

● Tight and precise bass response.

● Clean, transparent, linear and balanced textured midrange.

● Lustre and airy treble response.

● Competent technical capabilities.

CONS:

● QDC-type 2-pin connector

● Didn't have any carrying case or storage pouch.

● Memory earhooks are a bit of a hassle feature in my opinion.

● Looking for a fun, coloured and bassy sound profile? Cross out this one in your list.

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 the TEAM TANGZU for sending this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.