Tanchjim Hana - Reviews (2024)

Disclaimer: Bought on HifiGO with a discount for this review, thank you very much

Price: 160 usd

Specifications:

Driver unit: dynamic

Impedance: 32ohm

Sensitivity: 110dB/mW

Frequency response: 5-50 kHz

Plug: 3.5mm straight plug

Accessories:

S/M/L “treble enhancing” Silicone tips

S/M/L “bass enhancing” Silicone tips

10 pairs of dust filters

Cable: It is a “4” core cable, but it is enveloped by some other material making it look and feel like a 2-core cable. It has a working chin-slider, ear-hooks and both the divider and the splitter are made out of metal.

Build: It has weight to it that makes it feel very premium. Fully made out of stainless steel so the durability should be very good but only time can tell. It is vented and it is visible that the shell has 2 pieces stuck together.

It is a very clean looking iem and I have no complaints about that, just do keep in mind that they (Tanchjim) have a warning about the possibility of the paint chipping. So that makes me wonder how easy it is to chip it when they actually state it upfront.

Fit: It definitely is a shallower fit than average, but I have no problems with it at all. Only caveat is that the stock tips (as usual) doesn’t fit me very well so the use of 3rd party tips is recommended. Once I have it in my ears and fully sealed, I don’t need to adjust it so the fit is very good for me.

But as I am Asian the fit might be intended for Asian people so do keep in mind that it might very well be bad for you if a shallow fit is a red flag for you.

Comfort: Quite comfortable for me, but the weight and size (it covers my entire ear) makes it feel more fatiguing during longer sessions. (you get fatigued by the sound way before you get it from the physical shape.)

Isolation: Above average. Since it covers my entire ear and because the vent is faced downward and not towards the wind (my ears covers the vent) it is pretty good.

Setup: JDS Labs Atom + Topping E10, stock cable, Final Type E Tips L

Lows: The bass in the Hana is very good when it comes to the quality, the speed, tightness and texture are on a high level. Quantity isn’t exactly neutral but a bit boosted, but it isn’t a lot of it. It simply brings out the bass when the song calls for it.

Mid-bass: The texture of the mid-bass is heard very good on a track like Hiroyuki Sawano – Pretenders (01:18-01:47) and is punchy and has enough quantity for it to be fun while at the same time not muddying the rest of the sound.

On Metallica – fight fire with fire (01:11-01:52) the bass is fast enough to keep up with the machine-gun-drumming while having enough quantity to feel each individual strike.

Sub-bass: Well textured and powerful when the song calls for it. Like in Will Sparks – Sick like that (03:08-03:22).

And you can hear the rumble the in Contiez ft. trey G – Trumpsta (Djuro remix) (01:30 – 01:43) but not a lot. But not enough to make a song like Aurosonic – All I need (progressive mix) (0:00-0:26) exciting and fun.

Mids: very clear and detailed vocals but female vocals are more forward than male vocals while also being a bit more natural. Acoustic guitars and pianos sound good though.

Female-vocals: On a track like Hiroyuki Sawano – The Way (01:55-02:47) the female vocals are reproduced in a very beautiful way with the bright and very clean sound.

This is however not entirely good as it is a bit too bright on some songs like in Hiroyuki Sawano – Aliez (02:05-02:25) where it is starting to show signs of sharpness.

And on something like Evanescence – bring me to life (01:18-01:35) it is “death by treble” really not good on something like that.

Male-vocals: The male vocals need more warmth and thickness for it to sound natural in general. But there are some where it is quite good with.

Hiroyuki Sawano – Pretenders (00:57-01:17) has the male vocals that suits the Hana, it is higher pitched than normal and therefore doesn’t need as much warmth and thickness as I would want it to have.

While on Hiroyuki Sawano – Scapegoat (00:13-00:57) it lacks some warmth and thickness.

Highs: Here is the big bottleneck of the Hana. The peaks in the lower treble makes it so that nearly all electric guitars are too sharp.

Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day (03:24-03:42) has quite sharp electric guitars. Same with Deuce – America (01:25-01:52).

Violins sounds very natural and textured, like on Hiroyuki Sawano – Lose (Strings version).

Soundstage: very big soundstage both in depth and width and quite impressive for a single DD. On something like Two steps from hell – archangel, it sounds very epic due to the soundstage.

Tonality: Reverse L-shaped, with decent timbre but is bottlenecked by the lower treble and upper mids making some female vocals and a lot of electric guitars sound sharp/sibilant.

Details: Above average, impressive for a single DD (although it probably “cheats” a bit due to the upper-mid/lower- treble boost).

Instrument Separation: Above average, not a problem even on faster tracks and on orchestral music.

Songs that highlight the IEM:

Music: Hiroyuki Sawano – pretenders really sounds amazing with the Hana.

Orchestral and OST´s like the kind Two steps from hell makes are very good on the Hana, it utilizes the strength in the Hana (technicalities like the instrument separation and the soundstage) together with the clean sound to make it energizing and “epic”.

Good genres: Orchestral, OSTs, Acoustic songs

Bad genres: Rock, metal, pop, Trance, Hip-hop, EDM

Comparisons:

Moondrop KXXS:

Female vocals are less forward on the KXXS and more natural on the Hana. Male vocals are clearer and more natural on the Hana and makes the KXXS sound like it was “veiled”.

Mid-bass is quite similar in quantity, but the texture and tightness are better on the Hana. Sub-bass also has more texture and is tighter on the Hana while also having a little bit more quantity. The KXXS rumbles a bit more in exchange for tightness.

Soundstage, details and instrument separation are better on the Hana. Timbre is similar.

The KXXS is an easier recommendation because it isn’t nearly as sharp as the Hana is and therefore is more versatile in what it can play. But if you can either handle the treble or you are using it with OSTs, orchestral or acoustic songs then the Hana is the better choice in terms of SQ. Hana is a bit thicker sounding than the KXXS.

Blon BL-05: Treble on the 05 has less peaks but at the same time have some more quantity, they both have equally bad treble for me.

Mids are very similar in quantity but the Hana sounds a bit more natural and detailed on both female and male vocals. Very close here.

Mid-bass is also very similar in quantity, but the Hana is on another level when it comes to the quality. Texture, speed and tightness are better on the Hana. Sub-bass quantity is a bit higher on the 05 but quality is also better here on the Hana, which is a bit faster and tighter but the texture is the biggest difference with the Hana being much better. The 05 rumbles a bit more though and it sounds more natural.

Soundstage, details and instrument separation is better on the Hana. Timbre is a bit better on the 05 due to less sharpness.

I recommend the 05 over the Hana solely due to the price and because the SQ difference isn’t nearly enough for me to justify the Hana over the 05. The Hana is definitely better so if you don’t care about the price then Hana will be the upgrade for the 05. Although for me I take the 05 over the Hana solely because I can actually listen to more of my songs…

Blon BL-03(mesh mod): Treble is a bit lower on the 03 with much less peaks also sounds more natural on the 03.

Female vocals are more forward on the Hana and detail is better but it doesn’t sound as natural as the 03. Male vocals actually have warmth and thickness in the 03 making it sound natural, Hana can’t compare to the 03 here it sounds nowhere near as natural.

Mid-bass quantity in the 03 is higher and have more texture. Speed and tightness are however better with the Hana. Sub-bass have much more quantity, rumble and texture on the 03 but isn’t as tight or fast as the Hana.

Soundstage, details and instrument separation are better on the Hana. Timbre is much better on the 03.

Overall, the 03 sound more natural and more pleasant to listen to (mostly due to the treble). Hana is only better on the soundstage, details, instrument separation and a cleaner bass.

Conclusion: Sadly, Tanchjim really messed up with the Hana. While the packaging and build are really nice and all, they failed at the sound. The most important part about an iem, if they just reduced the lower-treble peaks and maybe a little bit less upper-mids then this might have had a really good sound.

But as it is and at its current price it is simply not worth it and especially when you can get something similar (blon bl-05) for about 3-4 times cheaper. Thanks for reading