Seems like some brands are joining the trend in naming IEMs after historic figures and Gods. The Yuan Li is a Dynamic Driver IEM by TForce Audio and is their debut model. The Yuan Li was named after an Emperor called Yuan Li. (Ok that sounds a bit obvious and lame...) Anyway we are going to be taking a look at it today. Will the Yuan Li live up to its name and rise as an emperor of its price category? Or will it be just another debut flop?
DISCLAIMER*
This unit was provided by Oardio for the Singapore tour. I am not affiliated with TForce in anyway and did not receive any incentives to write a review that will move the hearts of many so I will be transparent and give my honest opinion.
WHO IS TFORCE?
Basically they are a company that has been doing OEM and selling their drivers to other brands and they finally decided to start their own brand and make their own IEMs.(Not sure how true this is but this is what some people have told me so if I made any mistakes, I'm sorry. Drop me an email and I'll correct it.)
ABOUT THE YUAN LI
The Yuan Li is their debut model and it utilizes a 10mm DLC Dynamic Driver. The build is made of Aviation Grade Aluminum and uses 0.78mm 2 Pin IEM. It currently retails at $119USD.
DESIGN:
The Yuan Li is super comfortable. It just disappears in your ear. They made the shell based on their large database on human ears. Aesthetically, it is very beautiful and premium looking. However, I really can't appreciate the mirror polished design. It is really hard to keep the Yuan Li free of fingerprints and the thought of the Yuan Li potentially getting scratched really disturbs me at times. I have been using microfiber cloths to clean the Yuan Li after every use to prevent any scratches and fingerprints. Anyways, the 2 Pin connector is also good and sturdy. It is actually just a QDC connector flushed into the shell of the Yuan Li based on the diagram of the internal components that I saw. Hopefully this type of implementation of the QDC connector will not have that chipping issue that most QDC connector IEMs have. Interesting implementation so well done to TForce Audio.
CABLE:
I'm quite a big fan of 2 Core Cables. I personally like my cables to be thick and have lesser wires and the T Force Yuan Li stock cable fits that description exactly. It is soft and nice to the touch. It does its job well in my opinion. It is made of 6N OCC. I have no issues with it getting tangled as well.
CASE:
The Case really looks good and looks like a lot of effort has been put into designing it. It seems to be a crocodile skin design and is black in color but I do find it a little excessively big. I don't think I will be putting anything else in as I don't want to scratch the Yuan Li so no need for so much space.
TIPS:
There are 8 pairs of Ear Tips. The pair that comes on the Yuan Li, 3 Bass Tips, 3 Balanced Tips, and 1 pair of foam tips. I stuck with the pair that was on the Yuan Li out of the box since it fit me very well.
SOUND:
As usual I tried out the Yuan Li with many different sources. The Yuan Li does benefit from amplification and will barely hang on from a regular smartphone. In my opinion, a good dongle like the HiBy FC3 will do the trick.
Tonality:
The tonality of the Yuan Li seemed to be a balanced set based on my listening sessions in my opinion but according to T Force, their product listing on hifigo describes it as "balanced & neutral with bass boost". I can understand why they call it a neutral with bass boost as I can see some qualities of it on the graph.
Bass:
The Bass on the Yuan Li is probably my second favorite thing about the Yuan Li. The Bass is so well controlled. It punched hard and digs deep when called for. Sub Bass is present on bass heavy tracks and is fast and decays nicely. It is well extended and has just the perfect amount. It is also very tight and punchy and keeps things fun. I usually try not to read too many reviews on the items I review but the Yuan Li was so popular so I had to see what people have to say. According to some reviewers, the bass quantity might be insufficient and on the leaner side. I agree to them to a certain extent so for those of you looking for something with a more bass quantity, you might want to look elsewhere.
Mids:
The mids is where the Yuan Li really shows its true potential. It is one of the few IEMs this year that has truly impressed me with the midrange. Male and Female vocals have wonderful texturing and has the right amount of thickness. Female vocals don't sound thin, neither are they too thick. The midrange on the Yuan Li seems to be more forward. Rather than going for something super detailed like the Moondrop Blessing 2, the midrange on the Yuan Li focuses on being musical and natural. It is very smooth and relaxing to listen to. For those who own the older version and find the mids too fatiguing, you will be safe with the final Yuan Li. The mids are not longer harsh and is easy to listen to. Resolution and detailing while not the best is still well above average and considerably quite good for a $119 IEM.
Treble:
Treble on the Yuan Li is on the safe side and not fatiguing. It is smooth sounding and never harsh. There are no sudden peaks so it is never harsh and is easy in the ears. While there is nothing mind blowing about the treble in my opinion, it has got good resolution for the price and is still fairly detailed. My only complain would be the slight lack of extension. Other than that I don't have much complains here.
Technical ability, Soundstage and Imaging:
The Yuan Li is a rather smooth sounding IEM so one might think all the details are smoothed over. However, the Yuan Li still manages to keep the resolution and is surprisingly detailed. Soundstage is also wide and has a very good amount of space. I recently came across a IEM that was so intimate I was gonna die of claustrophobia so the Yuan Li was a real life saver. It allowed me to breathe again haha. Imaging is surprisingly good as well. On complicated tracks and fast songs, the Yuan Li was able to keep up and I could point out where all the instruments were.
COMPARISONS:
I won't go into too much detail about the comparisons but I'll talk about the most common one. Some asked me if the Moondrop Dynamic Driver line up is better. In full honesty, I don't think one is better than the either in terms of tuning. They are just IEMs with some similarities. If you want lesser bass more treble and upper mids, go with the Moondrop Line Up. If not, stick with the Yuan Li which is more fun and musical. In terms of technical ability, the Yuan Li fits itself in between the Starfield and the KXXS. It's been a while since I listened to the Starfield and KXXS so take my words with a pinch of salt.
CONCLUSION:
First I want to thank Oardio, TFORCE and the rest who worked behind the scenes to make this review tour possible. I got the opportunity to try out the Yuan Li and it really impressed me. To sum it up, the Yuan Li is a fun and musical IEM. Very good choice if you had a tough day and just want to relax. If you like something with a solid bass quality and good amount of quantity, musical and captivating mids, I highly recommend the Yuan Li.
QUESTION OF THE DAY 'Does the Yuan Li live up to it's name?'
I would say yes. For a debut model, the Yuan Li is no flop and is already by far one of the top few in its price range. As for the rest of you who have yet to experience the Yuan Li, I'll leave the final decision to you when you get your unit.
FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING THE YUAN LI, YOU CAN VISIT HIFIGO TO PURCHASE IT ONLINE AND FOR THOSE LIVING IN SINGAPORE, HEAD DOWN TO OARDIO TO PURCHASE IT AND DEMO.
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