Technics TZ700 Discussion and Personal Notes

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by phillip, May 22, 2023.

  1. phillip

    phillip Friend

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    Here is a subjective personal note on my experience with the Technics TZ700 IEM. It is retailed at $1,048.25 on Amazon. I got mine from E-Earphone Akihabara used.

    The TZ700 was an unexpected encounter while I was browsing for earphones in the E-Earphone Akiba store. Before this, I had noted its existence when browsing HF, but I didn't pay much attention to it because it wasn't widely discussed. It caught me by surprise while I was trying out IEMs from other brands that were either within or exceeding the price bracket. I must say I quite often judge IEMs based on their price to get an idea of how they would compete against IEMs in the same price bracket, and I came to appreciate a lot of gems that were priced much less but sounded amazing (e.g., Radius DDM, Yamaha EPH-100, Tangzu WuZeTian, etc.). Granted, at that moment I have only a "measly" Fiio BTR5 as my portable source, so IEMs thirsting for a better source may sound mediocre during the tryout.

    Caveat
    As a caveat, I may be an oddball here in SBAF for spending 10 years with the combo of Beyerdynamic T1 (Gen 1) and iFi Micro iDSD for almost the entire decade of listening. I'm so accustomed (read: Stockholm syndrome) to its sound that I was almost ready to repurchase the T1 (Gen3) if not for its shrunk earpads, which were not able to contain my ears, and my somewhat dislike for on-ear listening. Therefore, I am quite fine with wonky trebles as long as they don't touch my nerve on the tracks I frequent.

    I also had the IER-Z1R, which at one point I thought was coherent, but I just couldn't find myself loving the overall listening experience. Later, I realised that I couldn't be more wrong about coherence, and perhaps that's the main reason I couldn't get it to work with my songs. I loved the Fi-BA-SS and Piano Forte series but sold them for other reasons (which I regretted today because I really loved how they portray some songs uniquely and emotionally).

    Note on the TZ700 sound
    So back to the TZ700. What captured my attention during the audition was mainly the lack of an indescribable "veil" that was present in a lot of IEMs. I do not have the technical knowledge to explain what this "veil" is, but I can hear something like a shroud covering the music that makes the music less "clear", if that is an explanation, on many IEMs. One of my recent experiences was with the THIEAUDIO Prestige. It could be due to the source I was using or some inexplicable factor, but that's what my ears told me when I tried them. Something akin to the HD650 veil decades ago?

    I'm not a proficient reviewer; hence, I'd roughly describe what I hear in terms of the lows, mids, and highs. The bass sounds louder than the mids, but not taking up the limelight when vocals call for it. On the tracks with drums, I can hear the drums slamming clearly with the air resonating. I especially enjoy the cymbals because they sound "right" with the right amount of resolution, unlike many dynamic drivers, which may sound like a splash of stuff being crashed together. The positioning is excellent; for example, in MJ's Thriller, I can tell the door is opened on the left, and the footstep is shuffling from left to right and in two parallel planes. In George Lam's 男儿当自强, the opening drum is full of air, and the drummer is slamming both mallets left and right, which you can tell from the slight distance and impact between both sounds. Later, on the 7th beat, I can tell there are smaller drums being played. Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" is a treat, and I think Tico Torres (I guess it's him) played excellently during the bridge.

    Moving on to the mids, it's recessed, plain and simple. Not to the extent of feeling disjointed across the entire frequency range, but I'd definitely notice the mids take a back seat to the bass. To my ears, the mids are clear. The vocal is clear, and the nuances of the singer can be heard clearly. Therefore, singers who have to gasp before continuing singing may sound somewhat annoying here if you come from the line of singers who have good breathing techniques (e.g. Fei Yu-ching.). However, I especially love the opening "gasping" in Suzume as it carries a lot of microdetail in the recording.

    On the treble, I'm sorry I can't comment much because of my experience with T1, but I don't find anything at fault here.

    As mentioned, the positioning of the instruments is amazing. I'm more of a visual person, and I love to describe "seeing" the instruments over the stage. With the TZ700, I can describe my listening experience as seeing the instruments being played. In the Hotel California: Hell Freezes Over cover, the opening was fantastic, as I could "see" each musician handling their part on the stage. The guitar first, then the Maraca (?), and finally the drums.

    The vocals are normally placed in front of my mouth. More forward, but not "inside" the head kind. With the right amp, the L-R can extend further.

    In general, the stage is moderately wide, with sufficient separation between instruments and singers. 天来 (Divinity I) by Nobuo Uematsu, the orchestra stage is convincingly tall and wide, whereas in Chloe's Vincent: Starry, Starry Night, it feels like it took place in a bar with the audience clapping under her (on the stage) after the song.

    Some footnotes on top of my initial experience with the TZ700
    1. The main "weakness" of the TZ700 to my ears is its lack of alluring "sweetness" in the vocals. Listening to vocal-centric tracks feels like listening to a very "correct" studio recording. My favourite IEM for vocals is the FAD Fi-BA-SS, for its raw emotion portrayal is not found in any other gear as far as I looked. TZ700 was fine, but if I'm looking for emotions, it's not about that. This could be due to it having recessed mids, which is why I sometimes have to turn up the volume to "enjoy" the vocals. This is not ideal in some anime or pop songs, where you have to spoil your eardrums with the louder instruments (especially the bass) if you want to zoom in on the vocals.

    2. The TZ700 is amazing with scaling. With the iFi Gryphon and all the enhancements turned on, the listening experience sounds fun and clear. But when the TZ700 is plugged into Piety and fed by the iFi Zen Signature V2, the stage expands, the vocals become more "mature", and everything sounds clearer. With Liquid Platinum, the stage is wider and the mids are more coloured. The desktop setup changed the flavour of the TZ700.

    3. This IEM is very comfortable as it's worn straight down and the shell is relatively light.

    4. Tip rolling: I've tried the SpiralDots++, the Final (wide and narrow ones), AZLA SednaEarfit XELASTEC, and SpinFit (not sure which one it is), but overall I find that the listening experience with the SpiralDots++ is the best. It sounds the clearest of the rest.

    To the TZ700 owners
    Anyone who has or had a Technics TZ700, what other IEMs or gear have you bought to replace or complement the TZ700?

    A few Hong Kong hobbyists suggested changing the cable to either ONSO 06 or something else. While I am fond of cable rolling, I do it mainly for aesthetics. To be honest, I am not sure if I can discern any difference (if there is) from one cable to the other, but I am aware that cables that look nice would make my listening experience feel better, unless something is screwed up in the sound. Currently, I am using a Brise Audio unidentified model cable, and I do not know if I really want to jump into the rabbit hole by picking up a new cable for the TZ700.

    Another direction is to get another dynamic-driver IEM to complement the TZ700. I have tried the SoftEars Twilight and IE900. I'm generally not fond of BA IEMs, for I hear the disjointed drums in my test track, like I'm hearing three individual sounds instead of one drum slam from a dynamic driver. Both SoftEars and IE900 have their own different tuning, and I'm not entirely convinced I may want to get either one, for they are within the same ballpark in terms of overall signature and capability.
     

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