USPS has shown my S12 āin transitā for 5 days now. This might makes sense, but that transit is from Compton to Santa Clarita, which are about 55 miles apart. FFS, old people walk faster than that. It took less time to get from Shenzhen to LA, than from LA, to just north or LA.
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good luck mate, hope you get them soon
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Had these for a week now and I think they are a very good set and offer fantastic vfm.
So do I prefer them over my Timeless?.. er, no I donāt but thatās more down to my preferred tuning of the Timeless than anything else and I can see plenty that would choose the S12.
What we have are 2 excellent planar iems with slightly different tuning and both offering fabulous vfmā¦
The S12 is the brighter of the 2 with a more upper mid/treble focus and slightly less sub-bassā¦a soft āVā tuning if you will.
The Timeless is a tad warmer with a bit less treble but a tad more sub-bass.
These differences arenāt huge but they are noticeable.
Clearly this is just my subjective thoughts and ymmv.
Iāll be keeping mine which will replace my S8Fs in my regular rotation.
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Did anyone pick up the DAC (DT02) with theirs? Iām enjoying the S12 and reviews are popping up all over but I have yet to see anything on the DT02; curious how it performs and pairs.
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They showed up very late yesterday, and I got some time with them both last night and this morning.
Here are my initial impressions on the Timeless vs S12 comparisons - While they are similar, the S12 seems a bit brighter, and the sub-bass isnāt as present. The staging and imaging on the S12 seems slightly better, but the timber of the Timeless is a little better. People will love the fit better than the Timeless, I never had a problem but the S12 just slides into place.
The white ear tips seem pretty good, and I am currently using a pair of CP100+, but they are consistently my favorites for both comfort and seal.
I made a point of putting in some extra time on the 7Hz Timeless for comparison before this arrived ( I have been splitting time with the CRN, T3+, Mele, and Timeless ). If someone asked me today, save the $70 and get the S12.
I think if the S12 had been my first upscale IEM, these have enough of that magic that sucks people into this hobby and Shuoer should be pretty proud of that. I was thinking of the thing that Teas had that got @nymz ( speaking of I need to read up on his EJ07M experience, even if they are a bit out of my price range ).
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Glad you got em! Yeah I find bass extension to be sub-par in stock configuration. Once I have some tuning filters, Iāll tape one of the two vents to bring up the sub-bass (@thoohil has tried this mod and found a noticeable increase in the bass FR, see š¶ letshuoer s12 - #102 by thoohil). Might be something to consider!
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Thanks, screwy that the last 55 miles took longer than the first 7200.
I might have to try that mod, but I am enjoying the extra energy and sound stage, and that it isnāt exactly like the Timeless. I am guessing some people will be that way on the Olina vs Oxygen comparisons too.
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Iām listening to the S12 with true bass on via ifi zen DAC. Lootttss of bass. So the potential is there!
Edit: Listening to Why so serious? (The Dark Knight Rises OST), and at 3:26, jesus that sub-bass is so much I felt slightly nauseated. Again, with ābass boostā on. I hope I donāt get this amount with taped vents because itās too much haha
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After some weeks I managed to get some hours of usage of S12.
Fit is still very tricky for me - I need to wiggle around with L CP100 to achieve some seal that I tend not to feel completely at times. I am waiting for Azlas sedna though to see if that would be better. It is minor thing objectively in general often overlooked in reviews, but usability is very limited for me as compared to Teas which are literally plug and play. For my usage it is critical as I tend to need to take out the earpiece very often (my wife likes to talk to me with particularly increased frequency when she sees me listening to musicā¦). She is also the reason why comply tips are no go for me.
Power requirements - initially I thought it needs more juice than usual as in Q1 DAP I tricked myself to believe bass is better and not cutting off on high gain, but it was probably brain fart with not matched volume. Today I took CX-Pro and iPad and it sounds great as it is with volume at 50% (it has max 65mW at 32 ohm, so nothing special).
Sound impressions - it is great set for critical, but also casual listening. Bass is planar like fast and tight. It is present, but kind of empty, lacking DD-like body. Not as bad as BA, because it has some sub bass and is very detailed and textured, but not for bassheads. I love female vocals out of it (especially warm like Norah Jones), but I love them in general. Treble is quite splashy though for a lack of better word. Details are great, but soundstage is nothing special (as compared to Tea at least - see the Idler Wheel album by Fiona Apple, where soundstage recorded is enormous).
Generally 9,5/10 - definitely a keeper set for alternative listening session to Tea/headphone. Cable is built great as well, but my be a little bit less stiff for my taste
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Glad you guys raving on it 
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Well, it needs the true bass on to have that sub-bass rumble. But Iām legit feeling nauseated right now, so too much sub-bass haha. Michael Bruce said he thinks this is a good quality driver that handles EQ like a champ, so I guess that option is always available for those interested. I prefer hardware vs software solutions, so letās see what vent mod does!
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Yap, we played together with EQ and he got what he wanted spot on! Planars love EQ
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That is very true, I was even able to put back the recessed spot on the he400se and they are really amazing headphones with the mids restored.
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I found this to be my biggest issue with the S12. Ended up with L CP145.
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I did. Itās good for 50$, pairs and drives S12 well. Just need 2.5mm terminated cable.
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If you want balanced the S12 can be ordered with 4.4mm, but not the 2.5mm the DT02 DAC uses.
That seems goofy to me, Shuoer should get that figured out, but was resistant to a 2.5mm cable. I bought an adapter, and am not sure how I feel about that.
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