bassdad8
Head-Fier
So since I’ve paired these up, I thought I’d pontificate a little bit on the sound and performance. Just in case anyone out there is considering this pairing or something similar. I’ll discuss my impressions of each and then describe how they seem to interact.
Disclaimer #1- I don’t do technical reviews or measurements
Disclaimer #2- neither device has undergone burn-in for any significant amount of time.
Disclaimer #3- I’m wordy, don’t know a lot of technical jargon and may very well be overly enthusiastic without any scientific reason.
Intro:
So yeah. I think I’m in love. My last pair of IEMs were a set of AirPods that I got free with my iPhone XS Max. I still have them. They still work. They sound like crap. There’s my official review. But, because of that experience, I just didn’t bother putting anything in my ears for years. I loved (and still do) my Sony XB 950N1s. They were my first set of “real” headphones. And until 2 months ago, that’s all I had. But then, it happened. I was mowing happily along with my Sonys on, X bass and noise canceling engaged (over Bluetooth of course as I hadn’t wired them up. Ever.), when a low hanging branch caught them and ripped them right off my head. For a second, I thought I had mowed right over them, but they had been spared, by inches. I might need to get a back up pair, I thought. That quickly turned into a quest to find the absolute best set of cans my budget could handle. I mean the 950s were almost 7 years old, right? They almost ended up being the XM5s, but at the last second, I swerved. So my blue and gold B&W px7 s2s showed up about a week after the “incident.” (Separate review coming)
That was the straw that broke my Un Fi life’s back. the Ifi Hip-Dac2 soon followed, and then a QoBuz and VOX subscription. (MQA be dammed!) I tripped into the HiFi rabbit hole and I am still enjoying the fall.
Review:
I hate putting things in my ears. Anything. I use Qtips when my wife nags me about it. That’s it. I wasn’t really about to buy IEMs was I? Yup. So I researched, did more research and then a little more. They had to be comfortable. They had to be fairly easily driven, have good bass (obviously) and good balance. The reviewers on Head-Fi led me to the Letshuoer S12 pro (runner up were the Zetian Wu). I knew they would be more technical and have more treble (sheen, shiny, sparkle lol), than I was used to, but I had the hip dac2 and VOX EQ at my disposal. Lemme tell ya. The combination is damn near perfect for me. Everything is great from sub bass to the tippy top of audible kHz. It’s clean, smooth, detailed and rich. And I love the fact that I can tweak it. I’ve even started setting custom EQs based on the band I’m listening to. It’s effin super fun. I use the “comply” foam tips. Super comfy. My music is mostly heavy, but I throw in some jazz greats, a little Stapleton and Rihanna to complement the steady stream of Meshuggah, Royal Blood, Tool, Mastodon, Lamb of God and Slayer. Favorite new band? Spiritbox. So polished. So heavy. So melodic. And so perfect coming through the Hip Dac2 and the S12 pros at high resolution.
Where the S12 pros are technical, the hip-dac2 is warm and powerful. Being able to boost the gain (power match) and/or the Bass, on the Dac is fantastic. Having 9(!) different tips to choose from on the S12 pros is a luxury. And apparently their “stock” cable is way above average. I hesitated on the planar magnetic, vs a traditionally driven IEMs (the D13s were also in the running), but in the end, I feel I made the best decision. For me at least…
Not much of a review, I know, but I thought I’d share my experience. Hope if you don’t find it helpful, you at least find it entertaining.
The quest continues…
Be well,
Chris aka BassDad8
Ps. I use the 4.4 balanced on the modular cable of the Letshuoers and I do recommend it over the unbalanced 3.5 if you can do it.
Disclaimer #1- I don’t do technical reviews or measurements
Disclaimer #2- neither device has undergone burn-in for any significant amount of time.
Disclaimer #3- I’m wordy, don’t know a lot of technical jargon and may very well be overly enthusiastic without any scientific reason.
Intro:
So yeah. I think I’m in love. My last pair of IEMs were a set of AirPods that I got free with my iPhone XS Max. I still have them. They still work. They sound like crap. There’s my official review. But, because of that experience, I just didn’t bother putting anything in my ears for years. I loved (and still do) my Sony XB 950N1s. They were my first set of “real” headphones. And until 2 months ago, that’s all I had. But then, it happened. I was mowing happily along with my Sonys on, X bass and noise canceling engaged (over Bluetooth of course as I hadn’t wired them up. Ever.), when a low hanging branch caught them and ripped them right off my head. For a second, I thought I had mowed right over them, but they had been spared, by inches. I might need to get a back up pair, I thought. That quickly turned into a quest to find the absolute best set of cans my budget could handle. I mean the 950s were almost 7 years old, right? They almost ended up being the XM5s, but at the last second, I swerved. So my blue and gold B&W px7 s2s showed up about a week after the “incident.” (Separate review coming)
That was the straw that broke my Un Fi life’s back. the Ifi Hip-Dac2 soon followed, and then a QoBuz and VOX subscription. (MQA be dammed!) I tripped into the HiFi rabbit hole and I am still enjoying the fall.
Review:
I hate putting things in my ears. Anything. I use Qtips when my wife nags me about it. That’s it. I wasn’t really about to buy IEMs was I? Yup. So I researched, did more research and then a little more. They had to be comfortable. They had to be fairly easily driven, have good bass (obviously) and good balance. The reviewers on Head-Fi led me to the Letshuoer S12 pro (runner up were the Zetian Wu). I knew they would be more technical and have more treble (sheen, shiny, sparkle lol), than I was used to, but I had the hip dac2 and VOX EQ at my disposal. Lemme tell ya. The combination is damn near perfect for me. Everything is great from sub bass to the tippy top of audible kHz. It’s clean, smooth, detailed and rich. And I love the fact that I can tweak it. I’ve even started setting custom EQs based on the band I’m listening to. It’s effin super fun. I use the “comply” foam tips. Super comfy. My music is mostly heavy, but I throw in some jazz greats, a little Stapleton and Rihanna to complement the steady stream of Meshuggah, Royal Blood, Tool, Mastodon, Lamb of God and Slayer. Favorite new band? Spiritbox. So polished. So heavy. So melodic. And so perfect coming through the Hip Dac2 and the S12 pros at high resolution.
Where the S12 pros are technical, the hip-dac2 is warm and powerful. Being able to boost the gain (power match) and/or the Bass, on the Dac is fantastic. Having 9(!) different tips to choose from on the S12 pros is a luxury. And apparently their “stock” cable is way above average. I hesitated on the planar magnetic, vs a traditionally driven IEMs (the D13s were also in the running), but in the end, I feel I made the best decision. For me at least…
Not much of a review, I know, but I thought I’d share my experience. Hope if you don’t find it helpful, you at least find it entertaining.
The quest continues…
Be well,
Chris aka BassDad8
Ps. I use the 4.4 balanced on the modular cable of the Letshuoers and I do recommend it over the unbalanced 3.5 if you can do it.
