Letshuoer (Shuoer) - S12

My journey was something like this: Got Hifiman Re400 Waterline back in 2016. It was neutral. Loved it. One year after the cable insulation fell apart. Audio Technica IM70. Harder hitting bass. Highs were a little subdued. Used it for 2 years. Then the cable connector stopped working and I couldn't find a cable replacement as connector was proprietary. Asked a friend to get me Ibasso IT01 from US in 2019. I do not remember much about its sound. But the connector was mmcx and it sucks. One of the earpiece ended up with a loose connection. Between 2019 and 2021, I got Dunu Dk2001, Obravo Cupids and Bravado. Liked them, specifically Bravado and Dunu. But Bravado had driver flex and it was very bad in that aspect. Sold all of them off. End of 2021 after Covid restrictions were lifted in my country, I had switched jobs and I was looking for some better iems (I could invest some more money into them). Fortunate meeting with a dude (who turned out to be a very good friend later on) made me experience some iems and those blew my mind. And luckily for me, he was looking to sell all of his iems as he was in need of money. Inear PP8. Blew me away. I bought it off him. Then Oriolus MK2 (bought it for my then gf and now wife), Oriolus Mellianus (detail monster without being harsh). Pears SH3. I understood with SH3, it is the tuning that matters and not the number of drivers. Bought both Mellianus and SH3 from him. And all at very good prices. All of this was between 2021 and 2022. Starting 2022, I got a few more iems. Oriolus Isabella. Such beautiful mids. I eqed the lowend. Gave me a lot of joy. Next was Oriolus Szalayi. I was looking for an iem pair with heavy lowend. Sza delivered. It is still my favorite pair. With Isa, I started on the single dd path. I got FAudio Dark Sky next. Wonderful sound. Then I had a chance to buy Inear SD5 wooden shell. Loved it too. Thicker lowend than PP8, but PP8 was still better as an alrounder. I got Letshouer S12 and liked it but the upper mids sounded harsh to me. I changed the cable to one with a mic and it is relegated as my calling iem. I was looking for a cheap but good iem pair that I can use while travelling. Bought Juzzear 61T. Liked it a lot as it has very good lows and mids and highs were good too. My wife liked how it looked and sounded and thus it became her iem. She has two now. Last year I bought both Blon BL03 i and ii for regular use, and they still are my daily driver. And with this I was all done with my iems. I got out. Start of this ear, I started looking into flathead earbuds. Started with VE Monks lite. Then got for myself the Fiio cheap flathead pair. Then two of the Faaeal earbuds and Ry4s. I will get one last earbuds pair sometime later and then drop out. During Corona, I was stuck at my hometown and since I packed lightly hoping that I will be back for work, I packed lightly. But alas, I was stuck at my home for about 2 years without my dap and iem. So, what I have done now is, I have kept most of my favourite iems back at hometown in my room. Rest are with me. This way no matter what and where, I just need to carry my dap and I will always have iems to listen to music.

I got my S12 from letshouer and i really like em. An aluminum build, good planer driver, natural sound. Or other wise maybe the nick ick ft1pro?

From a business standpoint of view, Letshuoer is pandering to the larger market. The original S12 was a unique release that pleased many trebleheads. But knowing that the market is filled with bass-heavy sets (as demanded by the market), Letshuoer must stay competitive by releasing their own sets to compete with the bass-hungry options, or die out. Which each iteration of the S12, the treble that made the S12 famous is continuously scaled back, with it's bass cranked up. I personally own the S12 Pro. At the time, I demo'd the S12 OG and 2024 edition. OG was too shrilling for my liking, and the 2024 edition was too expensive for a slightly warmer version of the S12 Pro. It seems that the Ultra is an even warmer version of the 2024. Will Letshuoer release a S12 Max next year that are planar bass cannons? I agree with u/The_Only_Egg, Letshuoer has definitely milked the shit out of the S12. I doubt the S12 Ultra will be able to relive the (short-lived) glory days of the S12 OG and S12 Pro. 2024 and Ultra are such far deviations of the S12 OG and Pro that Letshuoer should just come up with a completely different SKU for the Ultra.

From a business standpoint of view, Letshuoer is pandering to the larger market. The original S12 was a unique release that pleased many trebleheads. But knowing that the market is filled with bass-heavy sets (as demanded by the market), Letshuoer must stay competitive by releasing their own sets to compete with the bass-hungry options, or die out. Which each iteration of the S12, the treble that made the S12 famous is continuously scaled back, with it's bass cranked up. I personally own the S12 Pro. At the time, I demo'd the S12 OG and 2024 edition. OG was too shrilling for my liking, and the 2024 edition was too expensive for a slightly warmer version of the S12 Pro. It seems that the Ultra is an even warmer version of the 2024. Will Letshuoer release a S12 Max next year that are planar bass cannons? I agree with u/The_Only_Egg, Letshuoer has definitely milked the shit out of the S12. I doubt the S12 Ultra will be able to relive the (short-lived) glory days of the S12 OG and S12 Pro. 2024 and Ultra are such far deviations of the S12 OG and Pro that Letshuoer should just come up with a completely different SKU for the Ultra.

If you want something very neutral then the Truthear Hexa needs consideration. The main downside with it are that the nozzles are quite largev. It's not as massive as the Zero Red/Blue but if you have smaller ears I'd avoid it. Also t has a very narrow soundstage. Another IEM with a similarly neutral tuning but a bit more sub-bass is the Thieaudio Legacy 2. I prefer that one to the Hexa and it's a lot more comfortable. It's slightly more expensive, but not much. Also the L2 has a bit more high treble roll-off although I don't find that sacrifices any detail, it just makes them a bit smoother sounding than the Hexa. These also have much better soundstage than the Hexa. Also sprach Zarathustra sounds very good on these btw; I don't listen to a lot of classical but that's one of my test tracks. I haven't heard the Aria 2 but I do have the Kato which it supposedly sounds nearly identical to, and it's another warm-leaning, mild-v. I think this will tend to sound a bit muddy with classical, compared to some of the brighter or more neutral sets. I wouldn't recommend the S08 either, because it's very tip-sensitive and even if you get good tip match, it's quite a dark tuning. It's great for certain music, but I don't think it will do classical very well at all. The S12 is a better option. Just make sure you have a reasonably good DAC/amp as planars don't always sound at their best when under-powered. Another potential alternative to the S12 is the Moondrop Stellaris. I would advise some caution here, because as it comes out of the box it's really bright and fatiguing. I personally find it becomes less fatiguing than the S12 Pro with Dunu Candy tips, but I can't guarantee those will work the same in anyone else's ears. Still [at least one reviewer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdLqjwXG7CA) recommends them for classical specifically. They do have a much flatter tuning than the S12. At least with the right tips they are a bright-neutral rather than an intense v-shape like the S12. Another non-planar option worth considering is the Simgot EA500. The original, not the LM. The LM is quite v-shaped and also sounds quite closed-in compared to the original. The downside of the EA500 again is, like several of these options can be so bright that it gets fatiguing. In fact it's probably the most fatiguing of these. It has a certain realism though and is nearly as resolving as the planars despite being a 1DD. It has a good sense of dynamics as well the largest soundstage I've heard on an IEM, with pin-sharp imaging. A much safer option is the Moondrop LAN. It's a bright-neutral tuning but regardless of eartips used it doesn't have so much treble energy for anyone to really find it fatiguing. It's also got quite a smooth treble response, and pretty decent soundstage. Short version: Moondrop LAN probably the safest option, but slightly less resolving than some of the others; Stellaris + Dunu Candy tips is a big upgrade iff your ears react to the tips the way mine do. Thieaudio Legacy 2 is another good & safe option.

But that's not to say you won't notice a difference!! It just isn't overly dramatic imo and it seems like you have high expectations. I recently purchased the letshouer s12 and grabbed the chu2 shortly thereafter to sort of compare the two but also to have a decent set of buds for on the go. The planar s12's definitely have some very nice clarity and sharpness, the crisp bass response is definitely interesting - but it's not some revelation of newfound sounds I've never experienced before 🤷‍♂️ maybe I had my initial expectations a little bit high as well

I also have a pair of S12 (non pro) If you're wanting to pay a bit more and try out a planar, I'd say they're a good pickup if you really wanting something different and they'd be a great "one and done" purchase for a budget but very high quality planar. AFAIK there really isn't a better planar IEM ***for the price*** I have no plans to buy anything fancier than these S12. You can throw all kind of EQ at planars and make it sound exactly how you prefer. It's interesting to see/hear the ranges that these iem's can reproduce. I've ordered a pair of Chu 2's for a more on-the-go set (grabbed a 2m cable for my S12 for PC use), and I don't see myself buying anything similar for a while. It's quite unnecessary to buy multiple IEM's within the same categories/price tier 

😆 a little bit I've been trying to be more pragmatic lately, and he's maybe a bit younger/immature so I don't really mind. My ~130 CAD S12 planar iem's (planars start and stop vibrating much quicker than DD drivers, so the bass is extremely clean and there's room for incredible clarity in fast crisp notes like guitar and edm) are something that most people might not enjoy jumping into the hobby because the bass isn't thundering and there's a very wide soundstage. I only use them for specific genres because of their characteristics. Happy to chat in DM if you want to keep in touch/bounce IEM options off of me

well I really enjoy my Cadenza's and Wyverns, and my S12 of course. I like the Chu2's as well. Ordered a cheap little android player from Ali last month, still not here lol. A dedicated dap would be nice, but I just don't want to put in the work to build an offline library. Tidal works fine for me. Maybe I'll transition with this device.

Great pick-ups If you wanted a perfect compliment to these 2 (zero2 is pretty hard V curve, wan'er is tuned for brighter mids/vocals), the kiwi ear Cadenza's are a more neutral/warm sound, mostly similar to the wan'er but I find those too bright/fatiguing. They are also silly comfortable, and the shells are gorgeous, Cadenza's are my favorite budget set next to the Celest Wyvern remaster I have a pair of S12's as my "nice set", and trying really hard not to check out something like the ew300 or explorers and simply just enjoy my music instead 😆

Hi Jay! Great review(s) Looks like I won the Letshuoer game by sticking to the OG S12, I wouldn’t really want smoother or bassier.

Consistently enjoying the og S12 makes me feel like an old ear-worn elder at the age of 28 I never even listen to music past 70dB but this subreddit makes me feel like my hearing is aged by 30 years

I didn’t really have IEMs that could play auditory subbass until these crappy Sony buds over 5 years ago. I do listen to a *tiny* bit of EDM and rap and pop, so it was nice to be able to hear those songs how they were meant to be. Now I didn’t get high quality subbass-capable IEMs until my Airpods Pro 2, then the S12. And yeah it’s still quite nice to have. But when I go back to my HiFiMan RE-600, rock and metal and real instruments sound so crisp and clean. Basically I just like having multiple IEMs for different purposes.

Of this list, my pick would be the S12 Pros. They can do the ethereal and detailed sound for things like small ensemble jazz or classical and then crank it up to 10 for harder metal and rock styles with equal aplomb. The S12 series have been my favorite ever since the introduction of the OG S12s which quickly replaced my OG Timeless. In the years since I've owned or tried most of the major players in the planar market and they have remained my favorite single planar until you get to the CFA Supermoons.

thanks! though, might i ask if theres a sub 100usd set that has good details and bass? im looking for a different flavor from my usual s12. or should i probably wait for future releases(?)

If you mean the letshouer S12, they're not bassy.

A cheaper IEM being my most favorite? No. No cheap IEM cam come close to the expensive sets I have, but I do rotate through most of my collection over time. There is no comparison between listening to music on my Diva or my Glacier to any of my cheaper sets though, the gap is pretty significant. But, if you would ask me to choose a single cheap set and get rid of everything else, it would be the Letshuoer S12.

The whole S12 line is excellent. I've been in the hobby for more than 15 years and own quite a few very expensive IEMs and after I bought the OG S12 I was obsessed with it for a couple of months. It's that good. Now, personally I like the S12 more than the pro because I tend to favor brighter sets but that's not how most people feel, especially younger people because the treble can be harsh. The S12 Pro on the other hand is has a milder treble profile so it's more friendly to a lot more ears. So, my advice is to not buy the hype cause its always overpriced, the Aether is just not worth the asking price, should be around $100 max.