Shuoer EJ07 3 way Hybrid

Alright, I got mine about 2 weeks ago but only got to put some time in with them over the last week, so here’s some thoughts:
Unit / Accessories

  • Although I ordered them from Linsoul on 11.11, mine are also the “SOWE” version with the marking “EJ07009” on each piece. I was hoping for the Shuoer faceplates, but these still look nice enough.
  • Mine also came with the black fabric cable with the balanced to single-ended cable. I do not like the stock cable one bit (it holds shape too well, oddly stiff with almost no weight to them, the single-ended connector is WAY too long and awkward to use in most situations), although I have no balanced source to test it with which may change my mind a bit.
  • Speaking of cables, there’s something fucky these units and cables. Of the 2-pin cables I have on hand, an older Plussound X series and a HifiHear (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TSBHX5K), the bass response drops almost completely. With the OH-1 and OH-10 cables, the bass is present, but not as full as it should be. With the EJ07 stock cable and the Kanas Pro cable, they are perfect. The only other IEM I have ever experienced this kind of issue with is the Andromeda, whose frequency response, especially in the lowend, changes wildly based on source impedance. At first I thought I was crazy, but I tried the other cables with the Kanas Pro, Massdrop Plus, my OH-1 and OH-10…no problem. Testing all of the cables with other compatible units (Kanas Pro female connectors are recessed so they’re a no-go with the Ikko cables, Massdrop Plus is practically proprietary, etc) there is no such issue with any of them. I don’t have a multimeter on hand, so I can’t actually test for impedance differences, but it has to be either that or a power delivery issue given the drastic differences on the EJ07.
  • The weird cable/sound issue carries over across different sources and amps (tested on Cowon Plenue D and Topping DX3 Pro), so there’s that. These do love the juice, like @exowastaken said. I managed to power them to reasonable levels on my Samsung Note 8, but I would recommend an amp or beefy DAP if you want to take these on the road.
  • The units themselves are chunky bastards, but they are in no way uncomfortable. Not particularly heavy, either.
  • These do not have a perfectly round nozzle (and have no lip), and as such, not all tips will fit that great. Symbio N and W hybrids, for instance, actually popped off of the nozzles and were just stuck in my ear while sitting there listening to them a number of times. Spinfits were a pain to get on, but worked alright. Spiral Dots and TCM Tornados (the poor man’s Spiral Dot) seemed to grip the stem alright, but were almost impaled on it. I had the best success with stock silicones from the Echobox Finder, which I have unfortunately never found a generic version of. Think long silicones, about a 3.5mm bore, good and grippy.
  • While all units have 3 bores for the sound tubes with no grill, I’ve seen some variation in units across the units in hands across the internet. Mine only have a filter in the sound tube for the dual-BA driver.
  • Build quality is pretty great for what they are, but there is one weird quirk: The crossover boards aren’t completely seated/glued into place in the housing. You can hear them tapping inside the housing if you nudge or shake them a lil’ bit. Hasn’t presented an issue while listening and I don’t think it has any long-term effect on durability, but…odd.
    S O U N D
  • These are a 3-way setup, and they sound like a good 3-way setup. Everything is well represented here, and these are tuned in a way that I think almost anyone would find agreeable.
  • Highs are present and detail abounds, but I have yet to find them fatiguing or sibilant at all unless I crank the volume up to wholly-unreasonable volumes.
  • Mids are great and vocals are VERY natural and pleasant IMO.
  • Bass is different from what I expected. Sub-bass rumbles with authority, although the mid-bass is neutral but good. Even though you have the visceral quality of a dynamic driver, the bass is more like a BA in terms of control and decay than any other DD I have ever heard. It took some getting used to because I spent the prior week with just my OH-10, but I have to say that I like it a lot. The EJ07 is definitely NOT a basshead IEM, but it’s not lacking in lowend either, IMO. Would make a good pairing with the OH-10 or BL-03 for when you absolutely, positively must rattle your brain. For anyone who’s got the Tin T4 (which I also spent the week breaking in), IMO the EJ07 has a similar lowend to the T4, but with a substantial subbass increase from 20hz dropping down to about even at 100-125hz.
  • Soundstage, imaging and separation is among the best I have ever heard in an IEM. I turned my head thinking that I heard something to my side a number of times as I was listening to them for stretches.
    Closing thoughts
  • The total package (cable, 3 sets of silicone tips, green UFO case) is pretty meh for the asking price of $800 and change, but the EJ07 themselves were worth every penny to me. I could probably be happy with just these for the rest of my life. Now, I’m not going to sell off everything else I own because variety is the spice of life, but these are staying in my collection forever. Would I recommend that you go out and buy a pair? Probably…not. Unless you’ve got cash to burn and want a shiny new toy really badly, it’s a significant investment, and there are some quirks to them, but I will say this: This type of setup, with the DD/BA/Sonion Electret driver? This tech will trickle down and get cheaper, and you need to keep your eyes on it. We’re living in a age of wonders, and there’s always more just around the corner.
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I also have the SOWE faceplate, so does a friend of mine (we got 004 and 006).
I got a ‘filter’ in all 3 bores, and so does my friend’s pair.
I didn’t have any issues with different wires/sources tho. Used fiio’s m11 pro and btr 3, an es100, my note 9 without amp, chord mojo, massdrop thx 789, scarlett solo and even my zdt jr. for a bit and had no drastic unexpected changes jumping from amp to amp. They scaled decently well even.
Also used a few different cables (linsoul hc08 4.4, stock cable, some 20€ yinyoo 2.5mm, stock cables from peacock p1, fearless roland, shuoer ej07 and massdrop/noble universal x) and really didn’t see much changes in sound either
the rattling isn’t caused by the crossover board being not glued in tho, it is solid in there.
The rattling is caused by the shell being mostly hollow due to the dynamic driver and the sheer amount of more or less loose wires going from crossover to the drivers. It may cause issues if you ‘shake’ them around a lot by wearing them while running or another activity with a lot of movement. The wires moving around most likely will work them out of the solder and break the connections. this probably won’t become an issue for the next 2-3 years with more or less ‘normal’ use, because the wires being really thin and thus light weight.
The packaging and accessories you get is the usual with chifi stuff, with just a handful of exceptions. Most things i saw and got just came with a handful of tips, a hit or miss carrying case and a stock single ended cable. Shuoer throwing a balanced cable in there is a really nice touch, even tho the stock cable is more miss than hit.
If you want fancy accessories and packaging you’d have to go to (more) boutique brands ala campfire, 64, fiio, etc.
This is the thing i love about chifi the most, you pay mostly for sound quality and not fancy packaging or a big brand name.
I disagree with not recommending the ej07. They are already among the cheaper tribrid iems out there and sound as good if not ‘better’ than all other tribrids i heard (Roland, valyrie, canary) while being (significantly) cheaper than them. Yes, it’s the shiny new tech and so prices are high and there will be cheaper tribrids coming in the foreseeable future but these things sound exceptionally good in all regards and if people are looking for an IEM for around 1k the EJ07 would be one of the safest recommendations i could give.

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While I said that I wouldn’t 100% recommend buying them, I do agree with you that this is among THE best IEMs in the up-to $1K range. Today, having both the Andromeda and the EJ07, I would take the EJ07 with no hesitation. I still think that for MOST consumers, it’s a huge chunk of change to drop and they could be better served by waiting to see what comes next. The whole scant accessory bit doesn’t bug me that much, because like you I appreciate most of the cost going into development and sound quality before all else. I do feel that it’'s worth noting, though, because some people do think of it as a ‘package’ deal, especially at that price point.
Regarding the rattle, it may be wires in your (and your friend’s) units, but in mine you can literally see the crossover board shake as it rattles. It’s not just the wires, although the amount of space it has to move inside the housing is no minimal that I have zero worries about it incurring damage as a result.
As for the cable issue, yeah, it’s the weirdest thing. I swapped everything around, tested every combination/orientaion I could manage in order to try singling out something that perhaps I was doing wrong, but I got the results that I did. I have another 2pin on the way to test with, and I’ll try the balanced once I get a source on hand that can handle it (I’ve got the Hiby R3pro on pre-order).

Upon further testing (and the arrival of yet ANOTHER cable this morning), I think that the HifiHear cable I have is actually defective (either a loose or incorrect wire/solder-point) and, short of actually having anything on-hand to actually measure response and SPL, everything else has been psychosomatic. This is also logically sound, as no cable SHOULD make a difference unless it is outright defective, incorrectly constructed, or is unreasonably long.

sub-bass on these? Looking for a Monarch with a smaller shell, would these be it?

Variations.

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There really is no way to avoid moondrop it seems :joy:
Really dislike them as a company… sigh

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Yap, me too. Or you can buy ej07 anyway and enjoy the music :call_me_hand: it has dark treble and low extension tho, but people swear by it. Mine is on the way

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Can’t wait to hear your impressions of it! Hope it’s a good purchase for you

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