So I promised a comparison of the Letshoer S12 with the 7hz Timeless. I spent a lot of time listening side by side. With the S12 I've got a lot of hours in and it is burned in. The Timeless will take more time to fully burn in, so bear that in mind. Both are 4.4mm cables, stock cables, which are both good. Both are 2 core. I used large Azla Sedna Earfits on both and the HiBy R5 DAP. I decided to use a keyword comparison. What I have mostly written is purely a comparison and towards the end I will give my thoughts on how they sound up against the world of IEMs. Although both can be driven fairly easily I find that on some sources they don't sound so good and the bass on both responds to a good amount of juice from a balanced output especially the S12 which I have tested on a good few sources..
I've been giving a lot of Time to the Timeless (oh my what a terrible oxymoron) and S12. I decided to do a comparison from their relative sounds rather than a review style. To start with I just wrote keywords...so these are purely relative to each other
So their commonality is Planar, which is very noticeable and makes the comparison special. Planars have their own soundfield and many prefer them to other types of drivers when done well.
Letshuoer S12:
Airy
Energetic but life-like
Lots happening
Generous
Liberated and free sound
Lots of separation on violins
and strummed instruments
Makes it sound like there are more instruments than there are, and a sense of being surrounded.
Timeless:
Dark black background
Smooth
Analogue
Reserved
Focused
Condensed
Makes it sound like there are less instruments but quite holographic and voices and instruments suddenly pop out of the dark background.
Listening to Morton Gould Orchestra...1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky
S12:
Expansive
Orchestra all around
String section great separation
Awareness of individual strings
Big forwards experience as if being surrounded by the orchestra. Fairly round and wide soundstage, everything everywhere
Timeless:
Orchestral instruments much more focused with good richness
Orchestra more in front of me.
Good spacial location in a holographic stage but instruments much less airy yet condensed. Voices rich and thick.
The Timeless can get mildly congested in some pieces but vocals and pieces with less instruments are great because of the effortless background. Like a dark moonlight sky with the instruments as stars and planets. Nice holographic feel. Improving with listening time. Voices on the Timeless are substantial, rich, condensed, and smooth, and occasionally minor glare at higher volumes.
S12
Big sense of space. Much more daylight, clear, Strings all doing their thing as part of a collective...but breathing instrumental air. Amazing resonance and vibration on drums and bass strings that I have never heard before. Noticeable textures on wound strings and drums...amazing sub-bass reverb most of the time on most recordings. Voices on the S12 are broad airy and bigger than the Timeless. On some tracks, just a couple, the S12 may be bright for those with younger acute hearing.
This list is true of most recordings. The Timeless darker, more condensed, but rich, holographic instruments suddenly appear out of the soundstage ether. The S12 spacious, full of width and air. The S12 is just a bigger sound, but the Timeless with voices like Michael Bublé or Chet Baker is rich and luscious. The S12 does drums and wound strings and airy pieces wonderfully.
S12 sounds like being in the band space, surrounded by music. The Timeless is a few rows back with a holographic, spontaneous field in front.
All this is in comparison as a pair. Both are great. Score draw 9/10 each, because I like Planars. Very different though. Planars make a family sound, but these two can comfortably live with each other in the same collection. They are actually complementary and not that alike...to me. They sound different.
The Timeless is more mid bass orientated and all vocals can sound rich and lush.....quite unique. The S12 has a sub-bass that gives a slight background rumble to lots of tracks and is uncanny in it's presentation of reverb and textures of drum skins and wound strings and the spacials of orchestras....quite unique.
Two of the best IEM's that suit my listening and the Timeless has not even broken in properly yet.