Let Shuoer DX1
About Me:
I am a drummer. But, wait, it’s worse than you think; when I listen to music, I listen to primarily, and care most about, …the drums. This is my main focus when I audition hifi gear. I listen to the drums, then the bass guitar, then guitar guitars, then synths/pianos, etc., and vocals last. I’m telling you this as it really colours my view of gear. I care about staging and imaging a lot, because, done well, it sounds like I’m sitting in front of the drum kit. How punchy/tactile gear is is another aspect of sound I find very engaging as if you are sitting in front of a drum kit, you can feel it. If I refer to how accurate or not timbre is, I am really focussing on the timbre of snare drums, cymbals, toms, etc… So, if I rate a piece of gear, it is likely because it reproduces drums well. Although I have an ear for if vocals sound off, this aspect of music gets the least of my focus. Please bare this in mind when reading my impressions of the below gear.
Secondly, I studied sound engineering at university. Why does this matter? Well, it doesn’t does it? However, it does mean that I have a preference for “studio neutral” tunings and am very familiar with how instruments should sound. For me, the most “correct” sounding IEM I have heard is Let Shuoer’s Cadenza 12. I like other tunings, but my preference is for studio neutral. Do I have any hearing quirks? I don’t know, but I don’t think I do. My preference for neutral tunings is because they sound “correct”, i.e., more natural/true to life. So I likely have a-typical hearing. I listen fairly loud (in the high 80 bB range) and, although love all music, listen mostly to prog rock/good metal. I have included screenshots of the tracks from my test playlist for reference.
Thirdly, I have lots of tips, but don’t really tip roll. I do all of my listening with bog-standard Amazon foam tips as I find them to fit me well, be comfortable and sound good with most IEMs. I have lots of different tips, but I tend to only roll tips if I have a lot of time on my hands or my standard foams don’t fit; and even then, I usually just pick a different shape/size Comply set. So, almost all of my listening is done with narrow bore foam tips.
Lastly, I am a headphone/speaker guy. I’m not even sure this is relevant, but I feel that I am always drawn to presentations that are out in front of me and spacious-sounding. So while I may critique gear for staging in a certain way, it may just be my bias for headphone/speaker presentations.
My Gear:
FLAC / WAV / Qobuz > Node Nano > SU-1 / U2 Pro > Exogal Comet+ / Mojo / Onix XM10 / Hiby R4 > Taurus mk. II / WA6 / LD mk. II / LB B4-X / Earman Eagle
I do most of my listening on my desktop rig. This overkill for many of the IEMs I have auditioned, but outside of a synergy issue, I find that using my desktop chain really allows me to hear what an IEM/headphone is truly capable of as there’s no shortage of power or resolution.
This is my primary chain - FLAC / WAV / Qobuz > Node Nano > SU-1 > Exogal Comet+ > Taurus mk. II
For IEMs, I justify whether they’re going to stay or not based on their performance on my DAP. This has been the Hiby R4 since it’s release, but I am in the process of auditioning Onix’s XM10.
My impressions of Let Shuoer’s DX1:
I am lucky enough to have been sent this by Let Shuoer - so thank you allowing me to listen to this!
So, I don’t think this one is for me, but I think it has many strengths, and so it could be for you. This is the most capable single DD I have heard and, in my opinion, it punches way above it’s weight in terms of technical performance.
When I first plugged DX1 in, it was immediately apparent that I hadn’t previously heard an IEM like it. It was a familiar track I was listening to, Haken’s ‘Eyes of Ebony’, and the vocal was so clearly out in front of the rest of the mix. This shocked me as Haken are a prog metal outfit that allow space for all of the instruments to shine, and, I’d argue, as good as Ross Jennings is, are not a vocal-centric band - it’s just one of the many instruments contributing to the overall performance. But listening to this track on DX1, the vocals were so clear and almost separate from the rest of the instruments, it caught me off guard! The rest of the mix sounded like it was one step back from the vocals.
When looking at a squig of the DX1, you can see that the pinna gain region is ever so slightly elevated. This is in large part responsible for the forward vocals. There were other benefits to the slight elevation in this region and that was that bass guitars were more carved out of the mix; they’re tonality/character came through a lot more clearly. There was also a real weight to bass guitars that came through the mix. Snare drum hits had a real snap to them too. Drums all sounded quite tactile and full.
As you may have already guessed, if you have read the ‘About Me’ section above, I listen to drums first, then bass, then guitar, etc., and vocals last. So this vocal-centric tuning is pretty much the only reason why I would say that DX1 isn’t for me.
However, the drivers in DX1 are Let Shuoer’s newest creation and they are very capable. Imaging, separation, and frequency extension are all excellent. These drivers didn’t break a sweat even during busy passages. Because of this, I was somewhat in awe of this IEM and wished to see what they could do so I attenuated the 1-3k region by 1 dB and BAM, it set the vocals back into the mix where I prefer them to be. This tweak to the tuning didn’t harm any of it’s technical ability, but it did lose some of the “special sauce” of this IEM. It wasn’t quite as engaging with the EQ; snares weren’t as snappy, the drums weren’t as tactile…
In summary, this is an impressive IEM. It has slightly elevated, satisfying bass. It is somewhat mid-forward, but in a very inoffensive/beneficial manner. The treble is smooth and detailed. It stages well, images great and can resolve busy passages with ease. Apart from the vocal-forward presentation, it otherwise comes across as a well-balanced tuning.
I know my tastes are an outlier, given my penchant for drum-focussed listening. I also know that most people tend to listen to vocals as the primary focus of their music. I’d wager that most people listening to DX1 would see strengths where I see weaknesses and love this IEM.
I hopes someone finds what I’ve written useful.
It’s one of the boards I use for work.
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