Buddies, please advise me to optimize the cart for value and variety. Also let me know the best time to buy this for the best offer. Any better discount codes?

Tanchjim has been on a DMT-5 bender as usual, where they have sent me a new DMT-5 creation but I am not elaborating on that for this piece, instead I am covering something that was requested from my Discord server, as well as on Reddit and after playing fetch with Tanchjim for a little while; they sent it out and I am glad they did- it is a hybrid setup which in my opinion has flown under the radar for quite a bit and this IEM needs more to be talked about. Thank you Tanchjim for sending out the Soda, and making this review possible.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

Tanchjim doesn’t miss a beat with the waifu branding on some of their boxes and the Soda is no exception- I quickly take the lid off as I don’t want to see the waifu at all; and the unboxing is just too familiar- SODA branded envelope with standard paperwork, and under that, the shells in hard cardboard padding. Underneath the shells lie Tanchjim's T300 APB standard and wide bores (which, by the way, are excellent eartips) and the case with the cable inside there. 

The cable is the best I have found across on all Tanchjims and despite the lack of DSP/type-c plug, it still beats the Defect Audio cable that comes with the Force, and all the other cables that they have; and all Tanchjim needs to do is just do recessed 2 pin instead of their proprietary long 2 pin. It just holds a bit of memory and is sturdy enough to hold the weight of the Sodas.

Fit and comfort have been very good for me, as the Soda shells are small, but playing with eartip sizes is mandatory as the nozzle sizes are big, and I stuck with Ms for my entire experience as the Ls were a bit too much for me. The shells are durable and Tanchjim went for a frost type finish with this IEM which gave it a pleasant look in that shade of blue, but made it a little hard to photograph.

That is all, here’s the sound of the Soda (no fizz).

LOWS

Tipper: Gulch 

Fast and tactile- these are the words/adjectives I would use to describe how the Soda feels through this track. Every bass hit on this IEM shows how well executed the transients are: the attack is shockingly snappy and the decay is executed perfectly, which leads to the sustain coming off quite polished. 

Along with that, the Soda also exudes a level of separation that I have not heard in other Tanchjim IEMs: the bass hits are so well separated from the other elements; one might mistake this as a fault with their assumption of the Soda being anemic in its bass impact.

Rush: Limelight 

As outstanding as my impressions were on the previous track, the Soda doesn't seem to have missed a beat here, pun intended. The way the Soda balances the blitzing, crisp bassline of Geddy with the prodigal drum work of Neil is something not easily believable for its price. 

Note weight on both the bass and the drums is perfect; the perceived stage is wide and deep enough to let the rapid firing notes breathe, and the separation between the toms, the snare and the kick is commendable. Through the guitar solo, where the bass can get rich in texture, the Soda doesn't overemphasise on it, rather has the drums supplement it. Tonally, the Soda doesn't come off that warm, which hugely benefits the guitars and the vocals.

MIDS

Muddy Waters: My Home is in the Delta 

The Soda doesn't fail to impress me further: first, the balance in tonality that the Soda exhibits to me extends to all the elements in this track, especially to complement the timbre that the slide and the guitar has, with enough detail to render the rub off Muddy's haunting, poignant vocals or the grazing of the pick on the guitar strings. 

The Soda also exhibits restraint on the boomy resonance of the low strings of the guitar and the double bass. The stage perceived on the Soda is wide enough to let everything in the track breathe well, where the isolation amidst the elements is unmistakable.

Tool: Lateralus 

The crescendo-ing bubbling toms along with the intensifying guitars, which laid the carpet for the vocal and the guitar to kick-start the engagement, were executed down to a fault by the Soda. 

I needn't comment on the separation and imaging of the Soda as it just plowed through the busiest rudiments from Danny so effortlessly, while not losing focus on Maynard's vocals, which had adequate note weight. Cymbals also share the same benefit where it didn't come close to sounding harsh, fatiguing, or shouty.

HIGHS

Arne Domnérus: Almighty God (with Gustaf Sjökvist) 

The Tanchjim Soda, through this track, fairly overemphasised the sax over the keys, the degree of which could be a non-issue for some, but it is still a nitpick worth considering. 

Timbre on the sax is accurately brassy and the tonality just rightfully bright. The resonance that both the sax and the keys have on this track was balanced equally by the Soda, with once again the stage being wide enough for the notes and the elements themselves to not be claustrophobic.

Carmen Gomes: Unchain My Heart 

From the textures on the snare and the cymbals with the brush hits to the way the double bass glides over on this track, the way the guitar twangs: every single element in this track on its own is an experience with the Soda. 

Timbre on the snare is just rightfully woody and resonant; cymbals are soft in their impact, shimmery in texture, and along with that Carmen's vocals do not exhibit any fatigue, pierce or sibilance. To summarize, the Soda had a flawless performance throughout this track.

COMPARISONS

Tanchjim Force

The Soda comfortably outclasses the Force across speed, separation, imaging, and treble refinement. Where the Soda delivers fast, tactile transients with a snappy attack and complete isolation of bass hits, the Force suffers from a wonky decay that leaves the lows feeling flat and the punch or slam coming off "blob-like", like, devoid of textures/finesse.

On complex tracks, the Soda plows through dense arrangements while maintaining sharp imaging and clean vocal presence whereas the Force struggles with disjointed imaging, washed-out cymbals, and sibilant vocal climaxes, where the Soda remains soft, shimmery, and completely fatigue-free. Soda seems to have avoided the QC issues of the Force, where the unit I had received from the brand seemed to have a bit of channel imbalance while two of my reviewer friends got mint units and the rest had issues of various kinds.

Binary EP321

Both IEMs share a clean, nimble low end with swift attack and controlled decay. The EP321 drops the quantity in its bass presentation, whereas the Soda maintains a leaner, uncolored signature that lets acoustic elements take center stage without lower-mid boominess.

The main divergence occurs in the midrange: the EP321 suffers from a thin, uneven weight distribution that saps life and body from vocals, whereas the Soda retains adequate vocal note weight and clarity even through chaotic passages. Both sets excel in top-end refinement and sibilance control, but on certain tracks the Soda holds back on the sibilance better than the EP321.

Softears Volume S

The Soda prioritizes transient speed and distinct instrument separation over sheer impact, where the Volume S delivers a higher tier of sub-bass depth, note weight, and rumble, alongside a richer, more colored midrange presentation.

In the highs, the Soda maintains a smooth, shimmery treble that avoids fatigue even during peak crescendos. The Volume S offers a much more energetic, non-relaxing treble response that can border on nippy during extended listening sessions on cymbal-heavy tracks.

Hercules Audio Noah

The Soda provides a leaner, faster, and punchier delivery with quick transient turnaround and extreme separation. The Noah offers a weightier low end with slightly more detail retrieval through sustained bass rolls, keeping attack and decay carefully balanced.

In the midrange and treble, both IEMs excel at delivering brightness and detail without crossing into fatigue or sibilance. The Noah retains a touch more midrange body and realism on dense rock/metal tracks, while the Soda offers an airier stage where notes breathe freely.

Letshuoer Cadenza 4

Both the Soda and Cadenza 4 serve as benchmarks for smooth, non-fatiguing top-end extension, demonstrating complete safety against sibilance while preserving shimmery cymbals and natural instrument textures.

The primary difference lies in their tonal weight: the Soda offers a leaner, neutral-to-clean midrange with snappy bass transients, while the Cadenza 4 features tighter mid-bass control paired with a fuller, more emotionally expressive vocal presentation.

Xenns Tea Pro

The Soda soundly beats the Tea Pro in timbre and tonality, the way it consistently rations out detail across any track that you might throw at. The Tea Pro, by comparison, can sound very wonky in treble, it has that dampening metallic timbre to tag along which ruined jazz tracks for me.

Technically, the Soda is much faster through the transients and the Tea Pro could feel relaxed but given how dark the Tea Pro sounded against the Soda, this one isn’t for me anymore.

CONCLUDING NOTES

When I had published my review on the Fola, a few of the commenters had suggested that I was a bit too quick to say that the Fola is Tanchjim’s all time best in my book and I cannot say that until I have heard the Soda, and guess what, they were right. 

I don’t know who hurt Tanchjim this bad but if they had introspected hard on the criticism of the DMT-5 overuse throughout their line-up, and then the Force coming in which I had strongly critiqued; then they were right to feel so. Tanchjim should have marketed this IEM super hard, and I wished I saw the Soda more frequently, because it had everything going right for itself, and the amount of similarities I picked up with the Softears Volume S, if the latter didn’t have my heart, the Soda would have been a permanent member of my stable. 

So far, this is Tanchjim’s all time best and I can only look forward to what they have to offer with the fresh developments (Omphe, Kaiser and the likes).

Will I buy this new? Absolutely.

Will I buy this used? Absolutely.

SOURCES USED

Primarily used with the xDuoo Link3 on low gain, the FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl dongle DAC Amps, the Shanling M9 Plus DAP,  and the SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp.

EARTIPS USED (RANKED IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE)

Tanchjim T-500 APB: Perfect balance established in the Soda, certain tracks and sources can still make it a bit too warm, but in the above mentioned source rotation; none of that has happened. Tightest transients possible, most balance in the perceived stage, sibilance is most restrained.

KBear Coffee: everything that the does, but to a lesser degree, sibilance is faintly observed, perceived stage widened, transients have a faint slack- especially in the decay, midrange has a slight roll-off.

Tanchjim T-300 APB: Transients tighten up but not to the level of the T-500 APB, perceived stage loses faintly on the height but depth and width felt alright, tonally skews a bit towards brightness, upper mids border on being slightly shouty, but restraint on sibilance is held intact.

Spinfit CP100+: textures on the lows felt wonky along with some irregularity in the perceived decay, stage was unaltered, vocal textures felt a bit too unforgiving, sibilant.

Divinus/Eloit Velvet standard: just washed off textures on the bass, midrange was rolled off uncomfortably, stage felt shrunken, sibilance was restrained and upper mids were kept in check, vocals felt a bit too safe.

DDHifi ST35: just ruined the IEM.

TRACKS

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Steely Dan: Gaucho
• Carmen Gomes: Unchain My Heart
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush, Veridis Quo
• The Police: Message in a Bottle
• Alf Linder: Cantique de Noël, Cantate Domino
• Tipper: Mariscos, Cloaked, Gulch
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Arne Domnérus: Antiphone Blues (with Gustaf Sjökvist)
• Muddy Waters: My Home is in the Delta
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Rage Against the Machine: Bombtrack, Bullet in the Head
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• TesseracT: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil in a New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It to Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A. R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down in a Hole and Nutshell (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + the Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna