Tforce Audio Yuan Li Review (1) – Harmonious Doppelgänger
INTRO
So this the part where all blogs tell you Tforce Audio is another one of those OEM/ODM companies in China that decided they should stamp their name on their own product. Sure why not, everyone else is doing that. Smart move to actually pick a name that makes sense to western customers and not just a keyboard mashup. There seemed to be some interest brewing for the Tforce Audio Yuan Li throughout the community of earphone users.
I thank Hifigo for providing this set to a fellow who had no idea what these entailed. This wholly balanced easy going set is a cheese and wine earphone, something that is very relaxing and pleasant to listen to after a busy day.
GOOD TRAITS
- Tuning, Tonality, Timbre
- Nice assortment of eartips
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
- Bass is over-damped and needs amplification. I would like to see it tuned a little lower and with more freedom to articulate and provide slightly more definition.
- Plastic feeling cable, it does resist kinks pretty well though
COMFORT / ISOLATION
Isolation on the Tforce Audio Yuan Li is pretty decent slightly above average. Comfort is excellent for me even with the considerable heft of the shell weight. Not a lot of fiddling is required to make them sit correctly.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
Tforce Audio Yuan Li comes in a highly decorative box having that old world feel. Collectors will love it while people like me will repurpose or recycle it. The earphone case is reptilian skin-like leather inspiring a high class feel which is what they must have been going for. It follows the trend that bigger boxes inspire a more premium product lays waiting inside. Have to love marketing mind games, I am on to you.
The Tforce Audio Yuan Li itself is a trip down memory lane with throwbacks to the Moondrop Kanas Pro period. It’s chrome and uses a DLC coated dynamic driver. The shell is rounded and smooth, no sharp edges and is well assembled.
Cabling is of the twisted variety and has a stiff plastic feel, but it doesn’t tangle as easily as some others. The slider tends to stick to the cable, but that’s ok because then it stays in place where you put it.
Tforce Audio comes supplied with two sets of eartips. They got you covered with a balanced set which means a wider bore, and the bass tips which equates to narrow bore. Then there is the one set of foamies. I personally preferred the widebore, which is pretty much always.
SOUND
Sources: LG V30+ and Sony NW-A55 (mobile)/ Liquid Spark Dac + JDS Labs Atom (stationary)
The Tforce Audio Yuan Li tuning is a diffuse field near neutral with a warming bass lift. I will classify as completely neutral, but for others neutral equals rolled off bass. This just has flat bass in quantity and quality. Bass is heavily damped, smart phone users and even stand alone daps may struggle to really extract the bass from this set. They are more appreciated with amplification.
Tforce Audio manages to keep the bass controlled maybe a little constricted, but definitely not as slow like the Moondrop Kanas Pro. Carries notes well when amped, but a little too curt when using something like a smartphone. You will have to use the volume at a higher level to bring the bass to life. Lowest of the lows will not tickle your pickle, but it’s not chopped at the end either. Overall it is lays out some warmth without stepping out of bounds. Articulation could see some improvement.
Lower mids present vocals naturally and with a dark background. Pianos as well as guitars sound realistic too without sounding one dimensional. The Tforce Audio Yuan Li come off a little forward on the vocals. There is not a single hint of “added” sibilance just smooth as can be and nicely done. This is a western tuning, with a mild rise that avoids coming off shouty.
Treble on the Tforce Audio Yuan Li also follows suit remaining controlled with no sharpness except when needed for trumpets and sax. It doesn’t contain any fake airiness but also manages to sound fluid when presenting cymbals and flutes. It’s easy to hear the notes float avoiding any kind of dullness. No detection of any weird anomalies that mess with the timbre.
My only complaint again is that maybe it is too controlled, I would like to feel the cymbal crashes a little more but this is nitpicking. Overall Tforce Audio Yuan Li manages a well balanced treble that mates up with the slight warmth in the bass.
TECHNICALITIES
Timbre is nailed by the Tforce Audio Yuan Li, and coherency is not a problem either because it is a single dynamic. Spacing is handled well and congestion is not an issue. Enhanced width with only a minor drawback in depth. Resolution is what I expect in this price range, it does out-resolve the $50ish offerings and fits nicely in the $100-150 range, with some other multiple driver units sometimes besting it.
This might just be a function of the diffuse field tuning however when comparing other sets that place extra emphasis towards 5khz. If I had to give it a letter grade on technical merits perhaps a B-.
COMPARISON: Tforce Audio Yuan Li ($119) vs. Moondrop Kanas Pro ($179 discontinued)
I would have liked to compare to the Moondrop Starfield, but I stupidly misplaced them for eternity. So, the Moondrop Kanas Pro seems like a good stand in being a DLC driver earphone like the TForce Audio Yuan Li however being discontinued and nearly double in cost. I already mentioned the slightly more controlled/damped bass, the treble is a tad brighter on the Moondrop Kanas Pro while the Tforce Audio Yuan Li takes a relaxed path on treble so that it is not overbearing. This is the difference between a diffuse field peak and a Harman plateau. It really is not a huge difference between these two, I actually forgot which one I was listening to when trying to compare. The weight, the feel and the sound are very similar.
FINAL REMARKS
For a virgin product, the Tforce Audio Yuan Li is a force to be reckoned with. Honestly this comes real close to a cheaper Moondrop Kanas Pro with tightly damped bass. If you were sad to miss out on the Moondrop Kanas Pro or the Sony MH1C seriously consider picking these up. Let’s hope these are not a one hit wonder, and Tforce Audio can crank out some other options to satisfy other tunings. Pleasant vocals with a hint of warmth and sprinkle of sparkle treble, these hit the mark. The Tforce Audio Yuan Li is on my approved list.
SPECIFICATIONS
10mm Dynamic Driver with DLC Diaphragm.
Premium Aluminum Ear Cavities.
Rich Set of Accessories.
Comfortable Ergonomic Design.
Balanced & Neutral Sound Tuning With Bass Boost.
Standard 2-pin 0.78mm connectors.
Impedance: 32Ω.
Sensitivity: 103.5dB.
Frequency Response Range: 20Hz-20kHz.
THD+N: 0.2%
GRAPHS
- Left vs Right
- Tforce Yuan Li vs Moondrop Kanas Pro vs Sony MH1C
DISCLAIMER
These were provided free of charge by HifiGo which sells them on their website here and also on Amazon. There must have been a good sale on chrome plating, because my desk is starting to look like a scene from T2 with all this chrome laying around.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
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Whoa..that’s weird, no? The “new Head-Fier” with handle of “adriansticoid” ALSO compares these to the Kanas Pro, and what’s more, like yours, it’s his only comparison! Mad coincidence, conspiracy, or what?
Maybe he is MY doppleganger? The chrome, the DLC driver, it seemed only fitting to dig out my KPE and compare. While swapping back and forth the fit, the weight, and the sound and I almost lost track of which one was which. I wanted to compare them to my Senfer DT9 I purchased since it also has a chrome metal shell and a DLC driver, but unfortunately the DT9 had a severe channel imbalanced BA driver. But to answer your question, I have no idea who adriansticoid is, but you can find me as the one and only Durwood @ headfi amongst other audio forums haunting around bewitched.