Tigerism Cup of Tea Impression

The IEM has a rather peculiar name from a brand that is equally unusual. It features 12 BAs and 8 ESTs. Tell me you’re not curious! I had almost forgotten about them until I stumbled upon them again. A local deal caught my attention; Eason is selling them. So, I shot him a message, and our conversation went like this:

Me: "Cup of Tea. What’s the sound description?"

Him: "I’m not great at describing sound. Haha! But a customer says it competes with 5k IEMs."

Me: "Wow!” Where have I heard that before? Oh right, newbies who have no idea what 5k IEMs actually sound like.

Him: "I can send it to you to demo. If you like it, you can buy it. If not, just send it back."

Me: "Awesome!"

A few hours later, here it is.

Equipment: iBasso DX340, stock cable, stock tips

First Impression

Cables while not cheap looking, does not shout premium
Imaging and separation are amazing
A bit V shaped
Male vocals slight veil
Timbre not the most natural
Need some volume to bring the drivers to life
Mid-bass centric, lacking in sub bass

Overall sounds veiled. I am changing tips to the Symphonium House tips

Still veiled.

Changed the cable to AüR Midas

Much better
Treble sparkle
Midas does not boost vocals. Bass and treble now have extensions.

Changed the cable to Silver Widow V3

Treble is now very good
Upper mids is not too forward. Just ample.
Bass is better defined now.
Overall balance is now very good
Separation is excellent without going dry
Bass is still “BA bass”, where it’s more mid-bass than sub bass
Mids texture is very good
The male vocals on silver widow is not recessed, placement is very close. While other notes are further out.

Changed to Divinus Velvets Regular tips

Vocals placement is now better

Changed to Acoustune AEX70 tips

Wide bores for a deeper insertion.
Vocals are now inline.
Females vocals are highly detailed and textured.
Upper registers are airy and sparkly
Entire mid range is now forward, but not shouty
Bass is much larger and visceral
Timbre is now natural
All this at the cost of some imaging

Changed to Divinus Velvet Widebore tips

Bass bump remains
Upper mids are less forward and in a better position
This combo produces the best sound thus far. Flagship level sonics now.

Switched to Hiby RS8 DAP

Not subjectively better than the DX340
Note weight is a little thicker

Switched to Dethonray Clarinet to test musicality

Oh. It’s very good.
Upper mids a bit too forward. Swap to regular velvets fixed it.
Overall smoother sound, but still very detailed and 10/10 musicality.

General

High resolving
Solid world class imaging
Ample bass, but not a bass centric IEM
Balanced and technical leaning with good air
Due to the number of ESTs, you need to push the volume knob a bit more. But some songs might end up too loud in certain passages.
Use Divinus Velvet regulars if you don’t want the vocals to be too forward, wide bores if you want it more emotional.
Box package appears to be have been badly chosen. Wrong cable and tips.

Conclusion

Is it better than 5k IEMs? For the most part, yes—it holds its own. The sound is airy, balanced, and highly resolving. The upper registers are world-class: sparkly without being harsh. The mids are textured, and the bass is a mid-bass BA style. Imaging and separation are excellent, and while the soundstage isn't the widest, it's more than adequate for an IEM. As a BA set, it is sensitive to cables and source equipment. Many IEMs, despite their high price tags, do not perform at this level. I can understand why Eason’s customer made that comment after testing a lot of expensive gear. I'm buying this.

#IEM