An open-back 85 mm planar (25 Ω, 92 dB/mW) that wants a little more power than average and is heavy, at 471 g on Headfonics' scale. Sources agree that it is solidly built in machined aluminium, that the bass has more weight than most open planars at the price, and that the soundstage is wider than average. They mostly find it comfortable and energetic, though two reviewers found it too small for a large head. The Chinese-language reviews hear the low end as soft and only moderately deep rather than slamming. Opinion splits three ways on the voicing (warm, lively V-shape or balanced) and on the treble (bright and peaky, lively but clean, or smooth). The midrange is full and rich to some, relaxed to others and hollow to one show listener. On value, most reviewers think it earns its $349, while a minority would buy a HiFiMan instead. All four measurement rigs show a modest low-end lift, a normal-height ear-gain peak at about 3 kHz, a notch at 4 kHz and a lifted band around 8–10 kHz compared with the Edition XV on the same rig. Separately, one reviewer was told by TANGZU and two retailers that replacement pads aren't sold.
About this product
TANGZU's first full-size headphone (牛魔王, "Bull Demon King"), an open-back 85 mm planar released in December 2025. It ships with a single-ended 3.5 mm cable; the silver 4.4 mm "Iron Cudgel" cable was bundled with the first units sold direct and by some dealers at launch. Not TANGZU's later Li Jing headphone.
TANGZU made its name with Tang-dynasty-themed in-ear monitors like the budget Wan'er. The OX Demon King, named for the bull-demon of Journey to the West, is its first over-ear headphone: an open-back planar with an 85 mm driver in machined aluminium cups behind a lattice grille, with leather pads that twist-lock onto the cup. It launched at $349, directly against HiFiMan's Edition XV and Sundara, Meze's 105 AER and Audio-Technica's R70x.
Ten months on, reviewers in English and Chinese broadly like how it is built and how it fills out the low end. They disagree on what it sounds like overall: the largest group hears a warm, full-bodied planar, another a lively V-shape with an energetic top end, and a few call it balanced. Four measurement rigs help explain why.
