TANCHJlM 4U DMT-4Ultra Double-chamber Dynamic Driver In-Ear Monitors

TANCHJIM 4U :: 1DD :: $69.99

The 'DMT4' driver, which has been applied to previous products such as OLA, and PRISM - has been upgraded to 'DMT4 Ultra' driver.

Tanchjim began designing the 4U as the first product to feature the new 'DMT4 Ultra' driver. and in the process, they added a 'circuit filter system' with 4 different sound tuning options to set it apart. Interesting!

Let's see how it goes.

-

Huge thanks to HiFiGo for providing a sample unit for this review.
However, this review fully reflects the my honest opinion without anyone else's interference.

Btw, are you more familiar with Korean?
So am I, and If that's the case, I think you'd be better off reading my review written in Korean here.

-






Here's everything that comes in a box.

• Tanchjim 4U unit
• 0.78 2pin to 3.5mm able
• 3 pairs of silicone eartips
• 3 pairs of wide bore silicone eartips
• carrying pouch
• user manual

There are two types of eartips available, and they differ significantly in shape and geometry, not just in hole width.

The wide-bore eartips have a shorter stem, which naturally encourages deeper insertion of the earphones.
By varying the depth of insertion, you can make some changes to the sound.

The cable, which is said to be made of silver-plated copper wire, shielded with platinum, is pretty to look at, but the quality is also pretty good.

I like that it's thin, lightweight, and flexible, so it's comfortable to wear for long periods of time.




Tanchjim 4U unit is made of zinc alloy and has a mirror-like faceplate.
The design is pretty nice IMO.

The units are also quite small in size, so they should be easy to fit for those who have smaller ears.

The 0.78 2-pin socket is slightly recessed, so it's worth noting if you're using a custom cable.

Looking at the inner side of the unit, it has a minimalist design - stripping away everything but the driver and circuitry where it needs to be. In terms of fit, I think it's a shape that everyone will be happy with.



If you look a little closer, you'll see the 4U's signature 4-way filter knob.

It can be turned in four different directions - up, down, left, and right - each with indicator line of different thickness.

Rather than saying “up, down, left, right,” it might be more appropriate to say “up, down, forward, and backward,” as the left and right units each have a different direction of rotation for increasing the bass.

-

Measured with IEC 60318-4 (711) while maintaining 94dB@500hz.
The sample used for the measurement does not represent the characteristics of the entire product.

Following Measurements are available at dchpgall.squig.link



Measured with the default setting (with the arrow pointing forward).

Tanchjim describes this setting as 'Atmosphere'. I feel this setting gives the best sense of presence.

Overall, this is a setting that follows the Harman target very well, resulting in a clean and tight bass. If you listen to electronic music that makes extensive use of the bass range, you'll notice that the driver's bass reproduction is quite good.

As expected from a Tanchjim product, the vocal and treble handling is also quite good. Vocals, both male and female, sound great. Together with a generous amount of treble, I can feel a transparent, natural sound, with a bit of airiness.



Nevertheless, the 4U is tuned a bit safely that sibilance is quite imperceptible, so when listening to female vocals, I sometimes find myself wishing I had a bit more of a sparkle in it. In these cases, using a wide tip with a larger bore helps a bit.

On graph, it may seem like the treble is slightly lowered with the wide bore tips.

However, since they have a shorter stem than the regular tips, the earphones are inserted deeper into the ear, which can make a difference in 'sharpening' the sound a bit more.

Of course, this is a personal preference, so I strongly encourage you to experiment with alternating eartips and see what you like best.



As mentioned earlier, the 4U is equipped with a '4-way switch' for bass control, where the amount of bass decreases as you turn the switch from “forward” - “up” - “back” - “down”.

This is quite impressive, as it has a much wider adjustment range than almost every other IEM with switches I've ever tried in the past.

It's a truly unique experience, as the 4Us produce a generous amount of bass upto the Harman target, but when you turn the dial all the way down, they sound more like open-back earphones.

Personally, I found the bass performance of the 4U to be better than I expected.

That said, I would have liked to see a bassier setting for bass-heads by increasing the overall amount of bass, rather than just pulling the bass all the way down to the such level.

-



So far, we've taken a look at Tanchjim's new single DD IEM, the 4U.

In a market that is flooded with high-performance single DD earphones, U4 is a product that reflects the company's struggle with how to differentiate itself.

From the cheap 'Tanya' model, To the 'Oxygen', which is still considered as a 1DD masterpiece to this day, Tanchjim has earned the title of '1DD master' (at least in Korea).

They must have had a lot to think about. And it seems that they found the answer in the tuning switch.

Of course, that's not to say that there haven't been other products that allow you to change the sound with the flick of a USIM pin - in fact, there are more and more of them now - but only handful of them can change the sound as dramatically as the 4U.

If you're going to add a tuning switch, you should at least be this bold.



I'm sure there are some people like me who think it's a “fun element” - while others may think it's a “pointless gimmick”.

As an entry-level product with only one, single dynamic driver, '4U' is limited in what it can do to change the sound in analog way. This is why you can only tweak the sound in the low-end range, which can be a bit disappointing.

Especially since competitors have acknowledged the limitations of analog tuning, and are working hard to bring DSP into the tuning scene (even if it means taking a lot of flack), there's a growing concern that the tuning switch will never really take off.
Honestly, once you're done with the switch, you never touch it again...

However, I, Personally, would like to see Tanchjim to take this feature a bit further.

Maybe they could increase the overall bass volume to satisfy both 'bassheads' and 'trebleheads' - like I mentioned earlier, or maybe they could apply this switch to hybrid IEMs to make a more dramatic change in sound.

I can see the possibilities.
Good luck with it!

-

[Non-Affiliated Links]

https://hifigo.com/products/tanchjim-4u (HiFiGo Store)
https://aliexpress.com/item/3256806810664645.html (AliExpress)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4QWBY4M (Amazon US)
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0D4QM3CZG (Amazon JP)