It’s no secret I really liked LETSHUOER’s S12 and their C12. While I liked the initial S12 offering, it always sounded a little raw in the treble and I always figured they would find a way to improve the Planar performance and tighten the sound up over a few generations. While the new S15 is a different beast compared to the S12, it’s an attempt to refine and offer a substantial product upgrade/update over the S12. The S15 uses a updated 14.8mm Planar driver paired with their take on a pressure relief valve and in this case, it's a 6mm passive radiator unit. It comes in at $329.00.
Gear Used
IPhone 14 Pro Max with headphone adapter, iPad Pro 11in(M4), Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti, Moondrop Blessing 3, LETSHUOER S12, Eversolo DAC-Z7/SMSL SP400 desktop stack via Audirvana Studio.
Looks and fit
The shell uses the same material or at least feels very close to their DZ4 shell material which is a very soft and very comfortable material when it touches your ear. I do have weird fitment issues with the S12 and this S15 shell via the shorter nozzle design. I can solve the issues with larger Spinfit tips which is fine as I prefer Spinfit tips anyways. I find the units are lightweight and due to the shell material, I find the long term comfort to be wonderful. The light blue color is a little pale and reminds me of a hearing aid but the shell design does give it a little life and looks wise to my eye. Overall a comfy and average looking IEM.
Isolation and sound leakage
The S15 has average passive sound isolation. The shells only have a few pin hole vents on the inner side of the shells so it does well at keeping most sounds out. Good enough for most situations but if you want a strong seal and high passive isolation, this might not quite be it. The sound leakage is minimal and you can get away a little with slightly higher sound volumes in quiet places. I wouldn’t blast the volume in a quiet area however as the sound leakage gets substantially louder at higher volumes vs average-quiet volumes.
Packaging and accessories
The S15 comes in the typical LETSHUOER packaging they use for all their newer IEMs. The packaging is downsized to a smaller rectangle box that does well with packing everything inside it. I’m a fan of smaller packaging since I store everything for a year before removing audio packaging from my Audio storage(poor closet). Which means smaller packaging doesn’t consume a bunch of space and it’s better for the environment as well so win-win. Inside the sleeved box we get the IEMs at the top, a carrying case/puck that has the tips and cable with the alternate plugs. Lastly we get the standard warranty cards and QC pass cards. I’m happy with the included accessories and the smaller packaging. I appreciate that they continue to include a few different tips with different bore sizes.
Sound(overall)
These final impressions were done off the Eversolo DAC-Z8 connected to the SMSL SP400. This was all done using Audirvana Studio as the main audio player. These impressions are what the S15 sounded like to my ears. This was also using the Spinfit CP500 ear tips. Things like ear tip selection and DAC/amp selection will produce different results and impressions vs what my ears hear on my specific gear.
I would call the S15 a neutral-bright “all rounder” IEM. The lows have a decent sub-bass performance. As with most of the other Planar IEMs, it has a tight and fast overall bass but is still able to produce a strong bass thump on call. The mid-bass is neither too lean or too thick so it sounds nice and well controlled which has a stronger focus on the sub-bass hits. I prefer a cleaner bass like this that still produces good slam/impact performance in “all rounder” type IEMs. The mids are a little more artificial sounding but they do sound accurate but sound a little fast which gives off a sense of artificial sound. It’s not that distracting so most might not even notice it. The vocals are surprisingly natural sounding however and bring in really good vocal detail. Vocals sound a little more intimate and close to the ear but overall pretty good. The upper mids sound a little strong and certain instruments can sound a little brighter but nothing noticeably sibilant to my ears. The upper mids and treble are pretty close in strength and intensity which makes for a balanced upper frequency presentation. The treble comes through with a slightly slower speed so it sounds a little less like an intense Planar and more like a really good hybrid. The treble is detailed and in combination with the upper-mids, pulls in very good details. I like the S15 tuning and I think it makes for a very good “all rounder” type of IEM that will provide a good performance on most genres with a refined brighter flavor.
Soundstage/Imaging
The staging is wider but lacks a little depth. It has a more intense “wall of sound” that comes in right at my ears. This can give off the sense of reverse imaging/staging at times which make the staging sound slightly different. The imaging is pretty spot on and I can pick things out easily in the wider stage. I would prefer a little more depth. Some tracks can sound like the music is slightly off compared to other IEMs with deeper staging. This of course was with my preferred ear tips and the stock tips and other tips will affect the staging. The CP500 tips are a deeper tip with a wide bore. This usually helps staging but not always.
Sensitivity/Drivability
The S15 isn’t very hard to drive. It likes a little bit of power but any modern source device should be able to get the S15 up to a preferred volume. I had zero sensitivity issues when running balanced and most modern IEMs lack the floor noise issue these days that older IEMs had in the past.
The 6mm Passive “Module”
This isn’t the first time they’ve used the passive module(DZ4) and if you read up on it, it’s a pretty neat idea. It activates at higher volume or “sound pressure levels” but it allows the module to vent sound to stop discomfort on the listeners ears. This should give the same listening experience in theory whether you listen at lower volumes or higher volumes. It’s hard to test this but even at my preferred listening volume which is just below my volume threshold, I don’t notice long session fatigue as quickly with other IEMs. I also don’t hear a big difference in sound tuning between a lower volume that I use at work and a higher volume at home like I do with other IEMS. I like the idea and while I can’t confirm it actually does anything, I believe it’s working as intended at least.
Stock cable
The stock cable looks a lot like the stock cable that came with the S12 and S12 Ultra. The added feature is the swappable plug system. The cable uses the same silver and black layout but the Plug housing uses the same soft plastic material that the case and IEM’s use. I like the cable but I do find the ear guide material is kinda thick so it takes some effort to get the angle right if the stock shape causes the S15 to pop out of your ear. I would leave the cable unless you have a personal preference for other cable designs and colors.
IEM comparisons
Moondrop Blessing 3
The Blessing 3 has a brighter tuning and comes in around the same price as the S15. The big difference that I hear between the two is the effort put into the tuning. The B3 has a good amount of drivers and was set up for success but dropped the ball IMO when it came to tuning. Both provide a more controlled bass response and I find both IEMs have a “when called for” strong bass performance that gives good bass response when it needs it but noth lack a little fullness in the low end. The mids on both are neutral enough but the S12 does have a little bit more of a metallic sound to the mids which is gonna be a personal preference thing. The Vocals on both are good and I prefer the S12 here as it has a better natural vocal presentation. The upper mids are brighter on both with the B3 sounding substantially more sibilant. The S12 is bright too but it just doesn’t get as harsh as the B3 and stays well within my personal preferences. The treble is faster and pulls in details a little better on the B3 vs the S15. While I like the treble performance on the B3, the rest of the tuning kinda ruins the experience for me. The soundstage is good on both with the B3 sounding a hair better balance in width and depth. The Imaging is a little better on the B3. The S15 overall sounds better and more enjoyable to my ears. It has its downsides compared to the B3 but it makes up for it with a good tight tuning that the B3 lacks.
LETSHUOER S12
The S12 was their more popular planar IEM that had a few collabs and alternate versions released. It was a more raw sounding bright tuned IEM but I really like what they managed to pull off. All the planar IEMs at the time were all over the place tuning wise and the S12 managed to sound the most balanced to my ears for what was a sea of overly brighter sounding planar IEMs. Now compared to the S15 and ever some of the alternated S12 variants, it’s quite obvious their planar designs and tuning choices have heavily evolved. The S15 easily leads the pack in both tuning competency and detail retrieval. The lows sound tighter and hit harder on the S15, the mids are detailed and sound refined. The vocals are cleaner and less metallic over the S12. The upper mids are a little better balanced on the S15 and lack sibilance issues to my ears. Finally the treble is still super sharp and fast but it sounds less “raw” and more detailed vs the S12. Staging is a little better balanced on the S15 as well. Both are good IEMs but I feel the S15 is just a great example of R&D at LETSHUOER continuing to hone their planar lineup in an attempt to make the ultimate all rounder planar.
Amping Combinations
Moondrop MoonRiver 2 Ti
I did most of my listening from this little dongle while at work. I actually really like the way the MR2 Ti pairs with most IEMs since it produces very good detail with a hint of added warm color to the sound. The added warmth does well to relax the overall Planar specific sound signature. This means a ever so slightly slower sound and little extra warmth specifically to the treble that makes the S15 sound more natural sounding. I like the pairing but the S15 seems to scale well to different DAC/amp sound signatures. Staging and imaging were about what I heard on my desktop setup.
Eversolo DAC-Z8/SMSL SP400
As mentioned in my sound impressions, this is the main stack I used for my overall impressions of the S15. Like with most IEMs, I don’t think the S15 needs an extreme amount of power in order to sound great. This desktop stack did provide the best sound but I was still equally impressed with portable units like the MR2 Ti or even the slightly brighter sounding Topping G1. If you already have powerful top end gear, it will compliment the S15 nicely.
Overall thoughts
I really like the S15. I have no real complaints about the tuning or design. Is it worth the price? I think so! Which is why the S15 gets a recommendation! I think it will please those who like a slightly brighter tuning or even a more refined “planar IEM” sound. I’m glad to see LETSHUOER is continuing to experiment a little without rocking the boat or dropping the ball on tuning when it comes to their new planar offerings. LETSHUOER leads the planar IEM group and they’re constantly improving the planar design and tuning for their planar IEMs. Great job to their team and look forward to what they come out with next! Thanks for Reading!!
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