LETSHUOER CONDUCTOR

LETSHUOER Conductor has a hybrid multi- drivers inside consisting of a single dynamic driver, 3 premium balanced armature drivers from Knowles and Sonion and 2 dual Sonion "Electrostatic"/Electret. It has a clear, medical grade resin where you can see its drivers along with its acoustic tubes, wirings and small PCB with electronic frequency divider. The shell chassis has a rather large dimension for a typical UIEM form factor but it still gives me some good fitting without issues at all for my 30 minutes of listening session and it really seals well into my lug holes to block some external noises from the outside.



Conductor has a U-shaped, warmish-balanced sound signature that gives us that analogue-ish feel.



LOWS/BASS:

Bass is definitely punchy and it has more midbass but to my surprise it has this transparent texture that gives more detail and distinction of bass guitars, cellos, bass drum kicks and bass baritone vocals.


MIDRANGE:

Midrange is somehow a bit recessed in my liking. There are some instances that vocals might sound leaner and a bit subdued, especially on sopranos which are less airy and less energetic. There are some brass sections, strings and percussive sections that sound quite natural and accurate to give less colouration and a more neutral tonality.


HIGHS/TREBLE:

Treble is quite balanced on this one, they are neither too dark and dull nor too bright and very intensive on detail retrieval. But it has a rather modest air for a set with "Electrostatic"/Electret drivers.


TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES:

Technicalities are above average for a high midrange/TOTL set. It has an above average soundstage dimensions on height, width and depth with a rather two-dimensional stereo panning on its imaging capability but it has excellent separation and well-organised layering.



Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *
Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **
Mountain - Mississippi Queen *
Queen - Killer Queen **
Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'
Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'
Pearl Jam - Daughter **
Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *
Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*
Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *
New Order - Blue Monday *
The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *
The Madness- Buggy Trousers *
Metallica - Motorbreath **
Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *
Destiny's Child - Say My Name *
Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *
Mozart - Lacrimosa *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *
Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*
Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *
Exciter - Violence and Force *
Diana Krall - Stop This World **
Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*
The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**
Suzanne Vega – Luka **
Lauren Christy – Steep *
Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *
Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

TONALITY: 7.8/10
TECHNICALITIES: 9/10
TIMBRE: 7.5/10
SOUNDSTAGE: 8.8/10
IMAGING: 9/10
MUSICALITY (subjective): 7.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
ACCESSORIES: 8.5/10
SOUND VALUE: 7.8/10

Letshuoer is a well established IEM company from China that was founded by Danny To in 2016. They have launch an array of IEM but specialize in hybrid and tribrid IEM. Yet, they have launch best seller planar IEM like the S12 which was acclaim for years as one of best planar IEM.
I’m a big fan of their tribrid IEM, especially the EJ07M which i’ve reviewed very positively in the past as one of best tribrid with EST sound value, something on par with Mangird Xennup but selling for 100$ less and using smaller and more comfortable housing.

Today, i will continue to tribrid line up discovery with the Conductor.

Priced 823$, the Conductor is a tribrid universal custom in-ear earphones using 1DD for bass, 1x sonion woofer for lower mids, 1x knowles BA for mids, 1x knowles for highs and 4 sonion EST for ultra highs.




The tuning goal is to excel in classical music reproduction with a cohesive and highly detailed musicality that will permit symphonic composition to be fully readable.

As a big fan of classical music, let see in this review if the Conductor deliver it’s promise.

CONSTRUCTION&ACCESSORIES



The Conductor is certainly a looker due to its colorful back plate, it use medical grade resin plastic that feel sturdy and is soft under they hands. Whole housing is translucent apart back plate, this permit you to contemplate all those marvelous drivers and I admit i pass way too much time admiring the sonion electrostat drivers, which i find fascinating both for they eyes and ears.
While chunky, the shell isn’t that big for such tribrid. Nozzle wise, it’s perhaps where fit issue can happen due to large and oval (!?) shape, this thick nozzle has 3 hole connected to inner tube, it most not be block with ear tips, and finding the right one isn’t that easy. I struggle quite alot to get an ear tips that will embrace the shape of nozzle and don’t have gap around it, which will affect bass fullness and behavior. I suggest you to give great care about ear tips choice.



The included cable isn't bad, it's a 6N pure oxygen free 2 cores cable that come in balanced 2.5mm plug with very welcome L shape 2.5mm to 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced ended adapter. Sure, i would have prefer a proper modular cable but those adapter can be use with my other cable, which is very usefull. My only complaint about this cable is that i find it stiff, it's not very soft and flexible so i expect it to age badly.



In term of packaging, it come in a big box that feel luxurious with great care to presentation which include a Letshuoer booklet showing all their IEMs models.
In term of accessories, it's average and come with 6 pairs of silicone eartips, 2 pair of memory foams tips, the cable and adapter and a very basic carrying case, which is my main qualm here since we expect a more glorious and spacious carrying case with such flagship IEM. But that's nit picking since overal packaging and accessories are good.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS



The tonal balance of the Conductor can be summarize as crisp W shape with softly boosted sub bass, smooth open transparent mids and very expressive treble response which captivate the listener with it’s agile, sharp and speedy attack that add sens of air and clean clarity on top.

It’s an IEM that magnify sens of clarity and transparency as well as pin point imaging. This is near treble head IEM but in a gourmet way, since it’s for sparkle and brilliance lover as well as those that get sens of extra excitement when percussions in their music is edgy but not noise, fast with flexible sustain release that can deliver details of air release and micro details that only great electrostat driver can dig out.

Since the Conductor are 10th tribrid with EST I’ve tested, I can confirm that the benefit of those 4 drivers aren’t subtle here, attack edge has this bite and expression immediacy that add dynamic intensity and a controlled sens of articulation, it doesn’t blur silence around high pitch sound wich boost readability of rhythmic and melodic phrases. Presence of each instrument has fine liner contour to it, perfectionism detailing only fully awaken EST’s can achieve.

Yes, the Conductor is a technical beast, it’s not plain clinical though due to this bass boost that add hint of overtone warmth to mid range, but nonetheless those aren’t very colored sounding IEM, nor the lushest or thicknest when it come to mids and bass. The COnductor are sitting between monitor and reference musicality, with most of it’s dynamic energy coming from upper treble.

This time I will begin with TREBLE because it’s center of the show, it’s what pop out with most vivacity in macro dynamic and add extra edge to mids instruments and vocal presence as well as hint of bite to bass line. With the Conductor, it’s all about crispness atmosphere that magnify sens of clarity sharpness, amount of air around instrument as well as within their attack release is spectacular.
Those 4 electrostat driver can deliver clapping, clicking, slapping and snapping sounds with impactful attack accent that make speediest percussions or guitar harmonic effortless to read.
The violin has vivid authority to it’s attack, it’s presence is fullfill with fine texture details without sounding opaque or noisy in timbre which is very transparent. Sure, corpulency isn’t the denser or lusher and some might find violin a bit too thin or favor in harmonic over fundamentals but the resolution is pristine and Conductor don’t struggle with polyphonic ensemble and keep its clean readability of each sound layers gloriously.
In term of timbre, lower treble don’t feel colored nor very creamy, saxophone will not be densify with euphonic air vibrancy which can be mandatory for proper tone restitution, it’s forward in presence intensity but not in sustain of air blow.
The Conductor vividity benefit metallic instrument like acoustic guitar, harp, mandolin, banjo, Kora, timbalum, xylophone and whole range of percussion.
The cymbals have plenty of brilliancy with high attack stanigma and a fascinating splash release that is fullfill with sound info texture, scintillating longer than expected without getting unwanted amplitude intensity in release that could make it sound splashy. For once, those crash cymbals don’t mess with transient of other instrument and keep their pace in a well layered way.
The snare is supper snappy with an urgent impact, drum rolling don’t loose their bite whatever the speed. The Conductor are true percussionist maestro.
And so they are for prodigious classical guitarist too since I feel the highs sharpness benefit more single harmonic note than guitar chord stroke which need a bit more fundamentals density. We are spoil with sparkle pleasure when it come to guitar, even in crowded music, you’ll never struggle to appreciate fine presence of each note, which are delivered with confident knife-like attack. The shimmer blossom fully in they air, clean and stable in extension which go up 20khz in effortless fluidity.
Sparkle lovers rejoice because the Conductor is an airy highs brilliance beast that fully boost it’s 4 EST potential. Don’t be scare that it goes trebly since EST deliver ultra highs with delicate confidence. It’s speedy, sharp and airy without poking your ears, it deliver micro details effortlessly but the tuning of Conductor favor the edge of them, adding vividity excitement without boosting sound info in thick layers.
This is for refined treble head, not those seeking screamy highs fest, this treble add air around instrument, add clean razor sharp edge to upper range instrument and percussions attack, magnify sens of natural resonance release without adding euphony to sound envelope.
It’s light and crispy, not thick and crunchy, it doesn’t bite in attack sustain but cut it’s lead attack definition cleanly, it doesn’t do big brush stroke of whole presence of each sound but use fine liner to draw micro details in a perfectionist way that let nothing behind.

Keywords: razor sharp resolution, brilliance vivacity, mettalic snap, effotless micro details, thin, clean, airy

The mid range is bright and edgy but softer in dynamic intensity than highs, it’s maturely refined and focus on clarity and spatial cue which mean Conductor can be good for monitoring purpose. Center stage is clean, open and airy with excellent sens of transparency which benefit resolution and polyphonic imaging.
Their no guilty pleasure with the Conductor, mids are serious sounding, speedy but light in attack note weight, hyper realist in texturing but not the most dense and natural in timbre fullness.
The female vocal are brighter and more forwards than male, intelligibility is top notch, the presence is clean and well carved, definition edge isn’t blurry and even if lively and forwards they don’t induce invasive sibilance (but their some instance of it) nor feel shouty, it’s most energic part of mid range for me in fact, less thin too.
The piano lack a bit of well rounded corpulency, but has top notch resolution and fast attack with fascinating resonance release that doesn’t blur articulation of each note nor add overtone warmth, it’s delicate and cerebral in expressivity, it doesn’t slow the pianist playing with unwanted euphony so we have excellent readability even at high pace playing.
The mix of BA and EST for mids add extra definition edge to the already boosted presence, this make each instrument crisply define with very informative texture resolution, timbre isn't affected with warmth coloring or fundamentals euphony, it's dry and abrasive.
The saxophone sound energic and fowards with concentrated energy that add sens of intensity and expressivity to the playing, which keep it's articulation accent even in very speedy track.
Same goes for the violin, it's super agile and Hilary Hann prodigious playin of Bach partita can fully reveal it's speedy prowess.
Yes, this is a very technical mid range that certainly shine more with anything instrument than pop, rap or electronic music.

Keywords: Crisp, transparent, edgy, analytical, vivid, open and airy, cold, energic presence boost

As for the bass, it seem Letshuoer is quite addicted to U shaped tonality, which goes W shape here due to extra ultra high boost and extension. With U shape I mean the sub bass slam, rumble and bass line extracting is more boosted tha mid bass hard thumping and acoustic kick drum livelyness. We have a bit of lower mids-upper bass taming here, to keep mids open and crisp, but this affect drumming engagement to the benefit of bassist.
The bass line are well bodied, vibrant in air density, electric bass will have grunt when needed, double bass will have a deep colorful release, cello will not sound like violin yet be as clean.
So we have more sub bass than mid bass energy here and this permit easy tracking of bass player of all type since the presence is well textured and have proper attack bite. Their no artificial resonance added, which avoid background or fowards veil of soundscape.
The slight warmth we have slip into lower mids naturaly, this is where it can shadow the kick drum which have lighter dynamic impact and lack a bit of well define punch, this is a bit sad because othewise the macro dynamic will fully feel speedy and awaken. Acoustic drum has more presence resolution than tone fullness. Toms will sound more punchy than hard kick.
So, this is bass player specialist, which mean organ and cello in symphony will be easily perceivable and well position in spatiality too.

Keywords: sub bass dominant, well felt slam, no hard thight punch, slightly slower than other drivers, excell with electric bass, cello and double bass

The Soundstage is average wide and tall but very deep and clean, it's like an intimate concert hall in the sens it feel airy and open but not overly stretched in stereo wideness.

The Imaging is one of main highlight of the Conductor, and I can see these being use for monitoring purpose from bassist to vocalist to percussionist. The excellent clarity is clean and permit an easy positioning of each instrument due to great transparency of each sound layers you can pull apart effortlessly. High pitch instrument will be sharper in spatial cue than lower mids instrument like piano, its easier to pin point fast violonist or percussionist than fast tenor sax or pianist.



Side Notes

At very low impedance of 8ohm and rather low sensitivity of 102db, the Conductor are capricious in term of audio source and need one with low impedance output otherwise the ESTs will sound more euphonic and overall musicality will go warmer, more distorted in harmonic. 0.5ohm or lower is suggested, the Xduoo X20 was excellent pairing (0.1ohm) and permit ultra clean and crisp musicality. So, the magic pairing will happen with enough powerfull and clean source (min of 150mw@32ohm)

As noted, eartips fit is a bit complicate with the Conductor, stock one doesn't do it for me so I use Tangzu Sancai soft silicone eartips that can adjust to exact oval shape of the nozzle as well as stayin in place safely unlike short wide bore eartips that can move randomly on the lip-free nozzle. Too stiff silicone tips can create discomfort too, since the nozzle is already very big.

Then, yes, the Conductor are picky about cable too, from experience more an IEM has different type of drivers, more it's sensitive to cable. This explain why single DD or planar IEM don't worth intense cable obsession. The stock cable is good but don't wake up dynamic enough and tend to stole some air, I suggest the Simgot LC7 for vivid W shape goodness or Letshuoer Nebula if you want go go smoother lusher musicality and improve vocal timbre as well as bass roundness-fullness.


COMPARISONS





VS Oriveti OV800 (8BA-999$)

The Conductor is crisper and more U shaped in balance with notably sparklier and snappier treble.
The bass is less thick and punchy but more boosted in sub bass and digging deeper, it delivers longer rumble sustain and has a cleaner separation.
Mids are more open and airy, more transparent, a notch thinner especially male vocal and female vocal are a bit sharper as well as upper mids, timbre wise OV800 is darker and lusher, smoother, but struggle more to keep macro dynamic readability with fast busy track, their a notch more warmth.
Treble deliver higher amount of micro details, feel more analytical with faster attack that has sharper definition, snappier attack lead as well as notably more brilliance, it’s easier to follow complex speedy percussions, this make the COnductor feel W shape in balance too even if main focus is bass and treble.
Soundstage is wider and deeper, cleaner too.
Imaging is superior in both layering transparency and instrument separation space.
All in all, tonality wise the OV800 is more cohesive as a whole due to more uniforme timbre sharing between BA drivers, but musicality is leaner, warmer and a notch more mid centric too. In terms of plain technical performance it can’t compete against the Conductor which offers better extension in both low and high end as well as higher resolution and superior imaging and attack control.

VS LETSHUOER EJ09 (1DD-4BA-4EST)

The EJ09 sound cleaner, fuller in treble, more neutral but slightly more mid centric too and ultimately balanced.

Conductor is brighter and more V shape with more forward upper mids and instrument and vocal presence, offer warmer, more sub bass resonancewith wider more euphonic and energic slam.

EJ09 bass is faster and thighter, more rounded in mid bass punch and clearer in bass line but not as rumbly and resonant in sub bass release which is more vibrant, dense and warm with Conductor. Overall bass is thinner and more boomy with Conductor.

The mids of EJ09 are cleaner,clearer, leaner and fuller sounding. Vocal aren’t as forwards and loud, they are sharper in resolution but smoother and more controlled in intensity and attack release. Both violin, guitar, electric guitar sound richer and more textured in presence with more define sound envelope but slightly more edgy harmonic, attack has more bite and so did vocal, this mean while less shouty EJ09 are more prompt to slight sibilance (shhh-ssss)

The treble is fuller in global sound info with the EJ09, we have more micro details but not as delicate and airy ultra high. Percussions are fuller and crunchier with the EJ09 and more thin and snappy and brilliant with the Conductor. Everything sound lighter and airier with the Conductor, more hall like and contemplative apart this extra clarity boost in lower treble that magnify sens of transparency and presence energy.

The Soundstage is wider and more holographic with the EJ09 but notably deeper with the Conductor, which feel airier and taller too.

As for imaging, EJ09 is superior and more appropriate for monitor purpose.

All in all, EJ09 is more balanced and neutral in tonality as well as a notch superior in technical performance, unless your a U shape or sparkles addict in which case the COnductor deliver plenty.

VS BGVP PHANTOM (1DD2BA2BCD4EST-800$)

The Phantom sound more analytical, W shape and bright, while Conductor is crisper, airier and more U shape in balance.

The bass of Conductor has more slam energy and rumble release, its more boosted in sub bass while not as thick and round in mid bass punch which is more textured and punchy with the Phantom but not as airy and clean in definition, bass line feel more opaque and grainy with Phantom..

Mids are more forwards and focus with the Phantom, the bone conduction add presence fullness which make vocal notably richerin texture and wider thicker in presence as well as louder and more intelligible, it’s not as transparent and airy as well upper mids aren’t loud in same way, so this make Conductorr feel a bit shouty and unbalanced in harmonic density. We have more sound info with Phantom, it feel more mid centric and focused, it’s superior in all department but amount of natural air around instrument which has extra presence boost too with Phantom.

The treble is darker in micro details amount with Conductor, yet sparklier, more brilliant and airy too. The Phantom highs will have more crunch that show greater amount of texture richness while Conductor will focus on ultra highs snap and air, offering thinner percussions but with sharper and faster energy, this make acoustic guitar sound more metallic but more scintillant too as well as cleaner, less thicken with whole sound envelope richness. I wish i can have both air and resolution with bone conduction but it add an extra resolution layer, a bit like oversampling but for the psychoacoustic part of hearing.

The the soundstage sure sound more in your head with the Phantom, this is something to note with IEM using bone conduction, it do stole natural air flow. So, in term of spatial perception i can just feem its slightly taller, while COnductor is notably wider and way way deeper, but it’s the center stage their, it’s not that good to be that far.

Imaging is superior with the Phantom due to greater mid range resolution and fuller sound layers presentation that can cohabit a compressed yet very holographic and articulated soundscape.

Ultimately, their no doubt the Phantom is slightly superior technically, but that doesn’t mean it’s musicality will appeal everybody, the EST benefit is more evident with the Conductor wich is airier, snappier and sparklier, so if you favor transparency and bassy vivid crispness I’ll go Conductor, and if bright analytical neutral with slight mid bass boost is your thing, Phantom is the way to go.

CONCLUSION



The Letshuoer Conductor is a statement of technical prowess with prime focus on treble crispness and delicately boosted clarity that take full advantage of it's 4 electrostat driver to permit x-ray like micro details delivery.

It's musicality is both grandiose and contemplative but not in a passive way since everything sound lively, sharp and intensely well define in it's soundscape, as well, the bass has slam and vibrancy, vocal and high pitch instrument are fowards and most of all the highs extremely open, holographic and multi leveled in quantity.

This mean the Conductor shine with complex instrumental music from classical symphony to jazz ensemble as well as making folk music and acoustic guitar achieving next level of HD like reproduction where sparkle can fly in the air as long as the recorded sound info tell so.

The Conductor sure is a maestro in it's own right, and worth being consider by a wide range of musician from classical guitarist to even bassist. For this reason as well as it's technical performance superiority, the Letshuoer Conductor is:

Very Recommended!





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PS: I want to thanks Letshuoer for sending me this review sample. I'm not participating to any form of affiliated program or $ making strategy that can bias my subjective sound impressions and opinions. I collect and keep 99% of IEMs i review. I loan them to any canadian that are curious about them too and reach me.

You can order the Letshuoer Conductor for 823$usd on their official website here:
https://letshuoer.net/products/conductor-pro-concert-earphones-classical-music-headphones