Headphones — Tanchjim Soda

The Soda is a wired hybrid IEM made by Tanchjim of China and priced at USD 309.99 or JPY 51,800. It appears in the brand's earphone catalogue alongside the Nora, the Ola and the Zero DSP, and packs seven units into each shell - one dynamic driver, four balanced armatures and two passive radiators. The shell is moulded from clear, see-through light blue resin with rounded edges, with a partly frosted blue faceplate.

Key specs that matter

The low range comes from a 10 mm dynamic driver built on Tanchjim's DMT5 platform, a dual-magnet, double-cavity design whose composite diaphragm pairs a PU surround with a DLC dome. Two PURE-series balanced armatures made in-house cover the midrange and two more PURE units handle the treble. Tanchjim quotes an impedance of 15.5 ohm with a 15 percent tolerance and a sensitivity of 120 dB per Vrms. Frequency response is given as 8 Hz to 48 kHz, and total harmonic distortion as 0.5 percent at 1 kHz and 94 dB. The detachable lead attaches with 0.78 mm 2-pin plugs.

Engineering and use context

The two passive units belong to what Tanchjim calls the Silk System and are tuned to work in the 16 kHz to 23 kHz region. Signal is divided by the HPFD-Seg three-way crossover. A patented pressure-relief acoustic structure vents the shell through a single opening with a metal mesh grille near the connector, and the acoustic filter parts are produced by high-precision DLP 3D printing. The faceplate itself is shaped as a low-distortion waveguide, so the outer cover of the earpiece forms part of the acoustic path rather than acting only as a decorative panel. The nozzle is on the long side. The supplied cable is a densely braided Litz coaxial build in high-purity silver-plated copper, with light blue connector housings, splitter and chin slider.

Pairing

Both a 3.5 mm single-ended plug and a 4.4 mm balanced plug come in the box, each angled in an L shape and held on the modular cable end by friction, so the same lead serves sources with either output type without an adapter. Six pairs of T-APB pressure-balancing silicone tips are included in two bore types - a wide-bore set and a set with a narrower balanced bore - together with a white PVC case with a click lock and the printed manual. Tanchjim covers the earphones for one year and the cable for three months.

Alternatives

The Tanchjim Nora is another wired in-ear monitor in the brand's current range.