LETSHUOER EJ07M Impressions
From the company that brought you the infamous Tape Pro that I lauded for its mind-boggling(ly horrible) sonic prowess, here we have the EJ07M, the mass-production version of the polarizing EJ07. Admittedly, I was on the fence about whether I wanted to hear the EJ07M when LETSHUOER asked, but preconceived notions aside, I’m pleased that I gave it a shot because - believe it or not - the EJ07M is actually pretty good.
That said, the bass on the EJ07M is something of an enigma. Despite the healthy sub-bass shelf, it comes across as tamer in terms of presence on the stage. Perhaps this is attributable to the excellent dynamic range of the bass; the dynamic driver being used here is very bouncy and sports no shortage of texture at that. Decay is also right around where it should be; in fact, I feel that the only parts lacking about this bass response are 1) the sheer slam and 2) extension. It’s a tad below average in those departments for this price point, yet it doesn't seem particularly pillowy ether, which is why I deemed it an enigma despite it being pretty great otherwise.
My thoughts on the EJ07M’s midrange tonality could honestly mostly be a copy-and-paste of my reviews on the Moondrop B2 Dusk and Thieaudio Clairvoyance (slightly leaner to some listeners, upper-midrange oriented, yada-yada). Needless to say that I like it and it is very close to my perceived neutrality. Now, it’s a minor thing that I don’t talk about often, but I have a soft spot for the transient behavior of the EJ07M’s midrange. It reminds me a lot of Tanchjim’s hybrid IEMs wherein decay has a slightly elongated taper that is devoid of egregious grain; you can tell that the drivers being used - ostensibly Sonions - are of high quality. In this vein, I do think that the EJ07M surpasses the aforementioned IEMs for midrange quality. The texture of vocalists like Punch on "Say Yes" and IU on "Blueming" come across really nicely on this IEM for my preferences. They almost sound sort of sweet and peachy, if that makes sense even.
But for an IEM sporting four EST drivers, the treble on the EJ07M is somewhat middling. It’s not nearly as bad as some early EST implementations I’ve heard, but it does harken to, say, the Moondrop Solis to some degree wherein there’s a lack of attack incisiveness,
zest that I’m looking for. I’d say this is partly due to what sounds like some minor recessions at around 5kHz and a more subtle one in the mid-treble. It’s a mostly smooth presentation that certainly won’t offend, but again, it’s a little too tame for my liking. Extension itself is about par with the other middling implementations of the EST drivers that I’ve heard like the Thieaudio and the MEST twins. Not bad, but not great.
Technicalities on the EJ07M are decent enough, probably around A- level. I should purchase a Moondrop Variations so I have a $550 benchmark for A/B purposes, but from memory, I do believe the Variations edges out the EJ07M for sheer clarity; the EJ07M probably falls closer to being par with the Thieaudio Clairvoyance (without sounding as dampened and cheap in the transients). I want to say staging on the EJ07M generally leans toward the more intimate side; however, I do hear instances of above average width. Coherency on the EJ07M is questionable. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong on its own, but the dynamic range of the bass is clearly better than the midrange which, in turn, is seemingly better than the treble.
I think my thoughts earlier about the EJ07M's bass largely sums up my thoughts as a whole: the EJ07M is definitely a good IEM - it does everything right on the surface - but there are little things here and there that could be touched up to take it to the next level. That's me being a nasty critic, though, and it's to be expected at this price point. That in mind, not only is the EJ07M is a competitive IEM against the other tri-brid hotshots, but this is also a major improvement from the Tape Pro that has uplifted my opinion of the brand significantly.
Score: 6/10
