Letshuoer Ember's Review - Bringing the Heat and Rumble

 

General/Packaging/Build/Comfort

Letshuoer is a company that was founded in August 2016.They are specialised in making in ear monitors for stage use but they do have in ear monitors for audiophiles as well. They were called Shuoer previously and most of those who were in the community for a little while should be aware of it.

Today I have with me the Ember, which is the upgrade and revision to the S15 i believe. The S15 was very well received and i have also reviewed it previously and found them to be good.

The packaging is very good and fit the asking price if you ask me, but the overall design sure does look premium

You will find two types of ear tips in the box. The cable is a collaboration with Effect Audio, the material looks similar to Eros S II but with a lesser core i believe, i personally call it Eros S lite?, the Jack and also the slider is customised by Letshuoer from Effect Audio. A very good unboxing experience overall.

The whole iem is smooth and there aren't any sharp edges. In terms of comfort,Ember fits very well in my ears and I have no discomfort even wearing them for long listening sessions,do take into consideration that everyone’s ear is different and if it fits well for me doesn’t mean it will fit well for you,but fortunately, Letshuoer does throw in plenty of ear tips choices,so i’m sure there will be one that fits eventually.

Build quality is very solid as well, the front panel is made out of Titanium Alloy, just a minor nitpick from me, it is slightly prone to fingerprint.

Gears used for this review

• xDuoo XD05T

• Tanchjim Luna AT

• Nipo A100

• Letshuoer Ember Stock Cable and Eartips

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound

Ember is slightly warm sounding to my ears, out of the box, the technicalities aren’t that good, but after putting it through approximately 100+ hrs of burn in, the technicalities improved, tighter bass as well as slightly better treble extension. The tonality of the Ember is quite good for a planar, in fact, it is quite close to how a dynamic driver sounds, the planar timbre is very minimal, in fact you have to try very hard in order to spot it. Well done Letshuoer! Note weight is good and it does’t sound thin at all

Bass

• The bass rendition is nowhere near basshead level but it certainly provides enough "fun"

• Bass extension is good and the sub bass rumble can be felt, definitely no slouch when it comes to EDM

• Bass has good texture and note weight to it,it is also tight and clean which is a characteristic for planar

• Mid bass has got thump to it and the transition between the sub and mid bass is quite balanced without sounding incoherent

• I personally find the tuning of bass is done right to my preference,somewhere between fun and audiophile but not venturing into the basshead category

Mids

• Timbre sounds correct to me and the midrange is actually quite lush

• The vocal doesn’t sound recessed, both male and female vocal has good texture to them and it doesn’t sound thin at all, but i do wish the female vocal to have a little bit more bite and energy

• Bass doesn’t bleed into the mids

• In general,i find that the mids are smooth from the lower mids to upper mids,on certain track where i listened with some IEM,the upper mids can be a little hot,but this is not the case with Ember, it remains in the relatively safe range, but this is again subjective and depending on your personal’s tolerance

Treble

• The treble is smooth, it has enough energy but not to the point where it is harsh and sibilant, the tuning of Ember is not meant for analytical listening so the expectation should be set correctly upfront

• Detail retrieval is good but not excellent,for the asking price, it can be better in my opinion, but due to the nature of the tuning, i can see why it is in such way

• But to put it as a whole, the bass, mids and treble all together, perhaps this is how and why it sounded quite natural overall

Soundstage/Imaging

• Ember’s soundstage sounds slightly out of head and quite open,but a little lacking in depth to give the perception of big soundstage,but overall it is quite good

• Imaging is good,the instruments can be pinpointed easily in busy track like Slipknot’s Duality, after the burn in session, i find it actually perform much better

Driveability

• Ember is easy to drive and it does sound decently loud even from weaker source or entry level dongle, but of course, it does scale with better source and certainly benefits from amplification

• Switching over to my xDuoo XD05T, with the gain level set to high, the bass is tighter have better control, and the dynamics are also much better

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Comparison (7Hz Timeless x AE)

• Switching over to Timeless x AE for the purpose of comparison as i do not have a planar IEM at this price point 

• The tonality between Timeless AE and Ember is quite different, Timeless AE being a more neutral sounding IEM and lighter in terms of note weight

• Bass on the Timeless AE is faster and lesser in terms of quantity, mid bass is less punchy compared to Ember

• Soundstage is slightly smaller and more in your head for Timeless AE

• Imaging is slightly better on the Timeless AE

• Overall technicalities is slightly better on the Timeless AE vs Ember

• Mids are a little thinner on the Timeless AE compared to Ember

• Treble is slightly more energetic compared to Ember

• The shell of Timeless AE might be a little big for some and also the short nozzle might not be for everyone in terms of fit

Final Thoughts

Having tested several planars from different brands, it’s safe to say Ember is my favourite at the moment, yes, it does not have top tier technicalities and some might even criticise the asking price for the level of technicalities it offered, but one have to understand the tuning direction that the Ember is taking, and also the target audience. It is warm, musical, coupled with the characteristics of planar that offers good transient speed, hence i personally find it very good, it works well across most of the genres that i listened to (Jazz, Metal, Pop, Rock, Classical). Do I recommend this? Yes,certainly if you enjoy a warm and rich sound signature and you’re not looking for super analytical sound signature.

*The Ember is sent over by Letshuoer for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the support and opportunity as always

Head over to the official store if you are interested in getting one, it is currently being priced at 499$ and limited to 999 units worldwide:

Letshuoer Ember - Non affiliated