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Product Description
When it comes to high-value IEMs, TFZ has established itself as a serious contender in a variety of price ranges. On the higher end sits the Secret Garden II, the second generation of TFZ's flagship IEM Read More
How would the SG3 compare with the King Pro or the ToneKing T88K?
I have the both King Pro and T88K and use them but would these have a better purpose... specially with that switch?
Finally got around to writing up my review of these. Despite some familiar specs, they sound very different from other products in TFZ's lineup. Here is a quick excerpt that might help some of you out:
"The SG isn’t your usual TFZ, despite using a very familiar single 12mm, dual-magnet graphene coated dynamic driver setup. With a more balanced signature and a colder, more detail heavy sound it targets an audience that embraces technical prowess over the big bass of it’s predecessors. That said, the HD certainly doesn’t shy away from low end.
Treble on the SG is elevated with a focus on the lower regions. This gives it tons of detail and great clarity, but at the expense of shimmer and sparkle. As a result, the SG comes across a touch cold and sterile in the upper ranges and mids. This also means the SG is quite revealing so I do not recommend using them with poor recordings or low res/compressed sound files like you’ll hear on YouTube and Soundcloud. The compression is very noticeable.
The mid-range is fairly neutral in presence with an upper mid bump that makes vocals pop nicely on number of tracks, like EL-P’s “Works Every Time”. The presentation is a little on the lean side with a dry tonality that plays into the SG’s detail-focused qualities. Sibilance is present but not to the extreme, mostly cropping up only on really hard ss and ts.
Bass is well done with a better sub-/mid-bass balance than you’ll find on most products in their lineup. King Experience is the only one I can think of with a similarly positive balance. Depth is excellent giving the SG a fairly visceral low end, though not one that comes across as bassy. This is evident on Kavinski’s “Solli”. Where other earphones deliberately direct your attention to their low end qualities, the SG says, “Huh, nice. I can do that too you know.” but doesn’t make it a focal point.
Sound stage is an area I always find TFZs quite impressive, usually beating out most of the competition. While the SG has a more forward and intimate mid-range than other models in their lineup, it doesn’t take away from the wonderful sense of space on offer. Take for example the closing moments of The Prodigy’s “Warrior Dance” where the artists are discussing an alarm effect the track eventually closes with. When one of the band members replies to a question with “Huh?” you can easily tell he’s sitting off to the left and pretty far from the mic. Moments like that are plentiful with the SG as a result of some pretty smooth channel to channel imaging and outstanding layering and separation. Even congested, busy moments like the last few minutes of King Crimson’s “Starless and Bible Black” fail to tax the SG’s abilities."
If you want to read the full review which goes over build, comfort, and everything else along with some comparisons to the King Pro and CA Comet, you can check it out here; https://thecontraptionist.blog/2018/12/02/tfz-secret-garden-hd-not-just-more-of-the-same/
Overall, a nice lower level mid-fi entry from TFZ and a cool (literally) new direction for their sound.
Wow.. Just how many TFZ IEM are there.. aren't they launching too many similar 1 in such short time. King itself has 4 variants.. exclusive king, king pro, king II, King Ltd, Air King? Then there is queen.. I bet Jack is joining soon..
Seriously? I didn't even know about the ace. This is really becoming like starbucks menu.. Latte with Soy milk or skim milk, sugar or no sugar.. Ice or hot.. Lol..
Secret Gardens arrived today. Waiting for burn-in before I form an opinion, but I did notice there's a channel imbalance. The left channel is noticeably weaker than the right at full tilt, and at lower levels, the channels cut out. Anyone else getting this?
Just got mine yesterday but a little disappointed. The sound of Secret Garden is at thin side and not deep enough compared to King pro, Series 4. But just a few hours on it...I will see what’s going on after burn in.
BTW, the soundstage is pretty wide....
Edited 9/11/18
After 30 hr burned in, I found SG is a source picking IEM. It still sounds too bright on my Lotoo Paw Gold but okay for Sony A17.