This new LETSHOUER S08 Planar boasts some cool new talking points with its double sided magnet array, PTR? ELASTIC FILM SURROUND(S) makes for a exciting new release from a company who has some success with Planar IEM’S.
Celebrating 8 years of success 
How does it translate down to sound that’s always the $1,000,000 Question.
Actually it’s a - under $100 Question because with this IEM that’s it’s price point.
I would describe the S08 in a nutshell - "A warm bassy planar with the least planar like planar-ness yet!
With big booty bass quantity over quality and a overall warmer tonality with a relaxed top end and forward mids.
Some Observations before we get into sound and other stuff.
This is how I wrote my notes for my video to be done soon for those who like to see my facial expressions and found here:
The S08 is one of these IEM’s that mimic the sources INPUT = OUTPUT.
I tried almost all of my DAP’s to test this development In so observed and here is my synapsis.
Shanling M5 Ultra- Warm sounding , resolving slightly forward mids and big lush bass. S08 sounded warmer , nice resolving mids slightly forward and big lush bass.
Shanling M8 - As above but warmer
Same as above with a even warmer tonality than when played on M5U.
Astell&Kern Kann Max - Slightly V shaped sound tighter bass and atriculent but unforgiving honesty in the treble, mids slightly more laid back.
S08 - Not as mid forward as the other sources nicer textured bass sibilance was heard on more than a few tracks and the mids took on a drier tone.
iBasso - DX180 Tight bass , neutral mids , special sauce on the top end enhancing details but not adding in extra energy.
S08 - better detailed treble , Great clarity in the mids still mid forward in strange spots and only on certain songs. Tighter bass not as saturated as on a warmer source.
Cayin N3Ultra- Modern Tube Mode Analytical, resolving huge stage, deep bass smooth top end with a slight overall hint of warmth just a hint.
S08 lasted 1 min was such a horrible pairing NOPE
On Solid State mode much better but closer to Kann.
iBasso DX90 - Clean , punchy resolving , has a touch of ESS glare that works on some IEM’s
S08 - Made the treble a bit more resolving but bass was too revealing in its flaws and sounded wrong.
ONIX Alpha- Organic , Smooth, resolving overall balanced and uncolored.
S08 - Mids less forward smooth, bass was better textured, , highs too smoothed over for my tastes.
So for sources I found the S08 picked up alot of the audio chains tonal character and incorporated that into its playback.
Warmer gear made the S08 really sound warmer and thicker and more resolving gear picked out the flaws in the S08 easier and were less forgiving.
Did I find perfect synergy with one source. Short answer is No but the iBasso was the best for my ears tightened up the bass and helped the top end treble I found lacking for alot of genre’s.
As you read and watch reviews pay close attention to the sources used as this will greatly effect how the S08 sounded and of course as this hobby and listening impressions are nothing but subjective each person will hear gear differently.
Overall the way I heard the S08 was that it presents a bit mid forward but unlike a Dynamic Driver didn’t get shouty with the same king of tuning. The S08 still suffered some sibilance on the more revealing gear and less so on the warmer sources. On the warmer sources is where I found the lower mids to get too thick and the bass too saturated and boomy.
Vocals do come through clear but have a funny sheen to the trailing edges of the voice especially on female vocals.
I felt the treble was pulled back too much to UN-PLANAR the S08 and in turn missing some air and extension.
While the S08 gives us a different tuning than I have yet to experience in all the planars I have tried, somewhere between trying to be a clean mid forward vocal set with a relaxed treble and bassy bottom end that left me wanting more upper mids and top end to balance out the bass.
While this Letshuoer planar can reproduce some impressive bass borderline basshead level that does not sound like the early generations of planar that had no decay and way too fast transients this one is a bit different- the diaphragm surrounds coming into play here? Probably
On "Poem Of Chinese Drum " by Hok Man Yim it was clear the S08 can indeed pull down low but the Drum skin second and third order harmonics are missing the S08 suffers from planar curse and is too fast to allow a proper decay and subsequently don’t reproduce the resonances required for a organic playback. It moves the air but doesn’t produce the tonality required to make bass sound correct. This applies to Piano, Cello, Guitar, Kicks ect…
Where you do get a sense this is a planar driver is how cleanly the S08 plays back the music with a extra sense of control, poise and finesse the Dynamic Drivers and Balanced Armature’s dont quite do as well or should I say differently and also depending on your personal preferences.
This mid forwardness the S08 does kinda work, I think because of the resolving power of the S08 and how effortlessly this IEM produces vocals. Not entirely natural but correct enough to be engaging.
Staging, I have always felt that is one of the greatest weakness of Planar and Electrostatic drivers.
There is a reason my listening chair is smack dab in the middle of my Acoustat speakers with them angled in at at 45*. Because planar drivers are notorious for needing perfect placement to have and chance of imaging and stage. So why when people criticize planar IEM’s for their Wide but very limited stage in depth and height does it come as a surprise?
We are placing them at the worst position on either side of our head and expect a different result, I don’t care how different our brains perceive time alignment planar IEM’s are at a disadvantage when it comes to 3D imaging, in my opinion.
The S08 is slighty different than most planar IEM’s I have heard. Fantastic width but limited if not - non existent depth and limited height. The S08 does give you a better sense of height than some of the other Planar IEM’S I compared it against but still fell short against the NiceHCK F1PRO and TRN Azure Dragon both gave me a more enveloping stage experience.
I will do some track comparision in my video a/b/c against the F1 Pro and Dragon.
I am bieng hugely critical on the S08
And yet…
The S08’s sound is strangely addictive just the way it presents music and sure let’s you play it LOUD!
The S08 is a conundrum in that it does and doesn’t sound like a planar.
To conclude I would like to say that I think Planar drivers are a wonderfull technology and have the ability to be incredibly articulate and excell over Dynamic Drivers and Balanced Armature’s in terms of lower distortion and the ability to reproduce music over a entire range of frequencies from the lowest notes to the highest 20 - 20,000 khz with a single driver! This is only bested by AMT drivers (Air Motion Transducers) IMHO.
As each new generation of planar driver IEM’S hit the market, it seems like manufacturers are trending to tune them against thier nature to UN-PLANAR them.
Why?
Because the first generation of planars were larger, well for IEM standards not not exactly a In Ear Monitor, but that wasn’t the real issue. The real issue was how poorly they were tuned. I think manufacturers thought - he’ll let’s just miniaturize these sucker’s and good to go! NOPE. The early stuff sounded wonky and unnatural to be kind.
Some of the “Planar” sound characteristics included a unnatural metalic timbe in its sound giving way to a strange table alot of folks were not taken with. Vocals and instrumental sounded off because the mechanical nature of planar diaphragm’s and how fast they move effected the attack and decay and subsequently the secondary harmonics.
This abity to move this diaphragm so quickly back and forth with such low distortion can also be observed as hugely positive and give the planar the ability to reproduce instrumental with a hyper realistic playback. The fast attack and quick decay for the most part also made bass notes sound thin and lack depth and extension in the overall replay.
In comparison why do alot of people prefer the slower decay of Dynamic Drivers and the best Balanced Armature’s? I think the reason is like me I prefer a slower decay to add some weight to the notes adding in the texture to the music … making the bass more musical to my ears.
These latest generations of planar are getting very close to what a Dynamic Driver sounds like 
in the bass department and yet still be able to offer up a super clean and detailed midrange and even coming across as a warmer tuning. Top that off with some amazing treble extension and air and incredible resolution & details, ALL FROM A SINGLE DRIVER!
The S08 is one of those drivers that would seem to be able to do it all.
The use of this new surround technology is doing something different, something special!
This new 13mm driver might be the best rendition of this technology delivering deep and powerful bass notes, clean mids and lots of treble detail without harshness even at volumes.
BUT…
Back full circle my feelings on the S08 is mixed. In LETSHOUER’s attempt to UN-PLANAR the S08 and make it sound more like conventional drivers, the tuning is altered to a point where truly it does not sound to me like a planar IEM of past generations.
And here is my biggest take away from this set. The tuning also doesn’t allow the S08 play to planar strengths enough! Where is my hyper realistic instrumental? It’s peeking out but not enough for my tastes I want more.
The big bass is there but not the texture yet. Getting closer and closer.
The thing for me on the S08 was it was easy to hear how amazing this driver is and how capable it could be.
This apifany came as I EQ’d the S08 to my target curve and treated it like a single coherent point source driver.
A few things happened.
The bottom end tightened up and became alot less saturated and got rid of the bloat. The Midrange changed in that the overall tonality and tambre became alot more natural and balanced. And lastly the highs were not so muted and allowed this planar to do it’s planar thing, to allow it to really shine!
For under $100 dollars the S08 might be one of the most satisfying planar listens on the market for short bursts of fun and loud volumes.
Don’t try to critically listen to the S08 just turn the volume up and enjoy the music!
Cable, case, tips alone worth the ask - and the S2 sounds great
Great tuning out of a quality single Dynamic driver.
Nice clean mids favors fe.ale vocals over male
Lots of energy up top without getting too mids forward and shouty.
Its $80 Price point value equation is fantastic!
Mids on some songs has a bit of glare and siblance not horrible but it’s occasionally noticable