The Vocals IEM

Pros: Fantastic vocals and clean guitars
Good quality bass
Good quality IEM
Great accessories
Modular cable
Great for folk or instrumental
Bass doesn’t overwhelm the mids

Cons: Microphonic cable
Mediocre highs
Bass quantity
Clinical tuning

Overview:

Up for review today is LETSHUOER’s EJ07 IEM. I feel like I just yelled a lot in that last sentence – hmm. Anyway, this is supposedly their flagship IEM, despite the existence of the more expensive EJ09. I don’t get that, but whatever. The EJ07 retails for $899 from Linsoul or directly from Letshuoer Here for the same price. SOWE is also somehow involved, though I’m not sure how and some of the EJ07 come with SOWE written on the faceplate, which kinda ruins the looks, which must be why they sell for less.

The EJ07 comes with a Quad electrostatic tweeter, a custom 10mm Dynamic Driver, and a dual mid-Balanced Armature driver. The focus of the IEM is detail and clarity and it really does succeed in this mission. It is also built for classical and symphony music – these are not made for your EDM, though they aren’t bad at it either. These are supposedly professional musician IEMS. So, how do they sound?

Accessories/Earpads/Eartips (10/10):

For the price range, the EJ07 comes pretty well-equipped. There is a slew of ear tips in the box, though finding them is a surprise since they are hidden behind a flap in the top of the box. There’s also a modular cable connector for 4.4mm and 3.5mm. It’s more ear tips than I’m used to seeing, and they are good quality tips with lots of options. The box itself is pretty plain other than the large silver S on it. It holds the carrying case snuggly inside, which is a nice-looking leather-ish type case. So, overall, this is one of the better-appointed IEMs I’ve seen, despite the missing brush and replacement filters. This was picked up in a trade, so I’m still going to use my Spinfit W1s because they just work great for my ears and I use them on everything (Here if you want some.)

Cable (5/10):

Please, I beg of you, stop making IEM cables with paracord – it’s SO BAD. I can’t stand the microphonics of this cable, which according to Letshuoer is an upgrade cable. Sure, it’s modular which I love, it’s also 6N OCC copper, which is great, and it has 4 cores, though it’s not braided, so that’s meh. But geez, do audio companies really not realize that paracord is the most microphonic material you could put on the outside of a cable? Sandpaper or velvet are the only things I can think of that would be worse. Every time I moved my head, there was a scraping sound in my ears – I can’t imagine a professional musician using these without going insane or just buying a $20 cable from Linsoul to replace it (Here if you want one.) Good job on it not being tangly or memory retentive, and on it being modular, but the microphonics make it basically unusable. If I was keeping these and needed a modular cable, I’d just buy an extra Kinera Leyding or Ace (Here or Here.) Cable rant complete.

Build Quality/Comfort (10/10):

Good, really good. The faceplates pick up fingerprints like it’s going out of style, but the build quality is fantastic and the single-piece resin is great. The nozzles are somewhat large, but my W1s fit just fine on them if a little tight. The faceplates have small shiny pieces of foil built into them and it’s a cool look, though you never know what colors you’re going to get.

The IEMs are not huge by any stretch, but they are also nowhere near the size of the Symphonium Meteor, which are tiny. The Meteor are actually too small and don’t fit as well in my ears due to the short nozzle. That could just be a me problem, but the EJ07 takes top marks for both build quality and comfort.

Sound:

Looking at the EJ07 and Meteor squig.link, we can clearly see more bass and lower midrange from the Meteor. The mids are pretty similar on paper, though not in actuality, and the highs are similar until 8k when the EJ07 drops it like it’s hot while the Meteor continues on relatively neutral. I will be powering both IEMs with Tidal HiFi from my Shanling M6 Ultra (Here if you want one) with a balanced 4.4mm cable at volume level 32-35/100 for the EJ07 and 47-50/100 for the Meteor (dang that thing is hard to drive.)

Lows (14/20):

Starting off with the Mid-bass/Sub-bass test I’m using David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue).” The impact of the bass drums is there, but it feels flat and uninspired with more bass bloat than I’d like. The sub-bass is slightly above average, but nowhere near the levels of the Thunder or Multiverse Mentor (MM), both of which cost a ton more. Still, this is not a bad showing in the under $1k price bracket, but it can’t compete with the Meteor when it comes to bass quantity, though the quality is higher.

Up next is Demon Hunter’s “I Am A Stone,” which I use to test whether the bass is too strong and overwhelms the mids. The EJ07 passes this test with flying colors. The bass is still strong but without overwhelming the voices or other string instruments. This is a very good representation of how strong the bass should be on this song, but still not quite at the W900 level. The Meteor completely overwhelms the mids with its strong bass here.

Mids (15/20):

Weaving The Fate’s “The Fall” is a test song for guitars and vocals. The clean guitars sound really good in the intro, but the distorted guitars sound pretty rough, a bit sharp, and overwhelming. The vocals are forward and sound really good if a little flat. The overall impression here is of a 2D soundstage without a lot of imaging, or instrument separation. Again, not bad for the price range, but not impressive either. Compared to the Meteor, the Meteor sounds a bit better on this song with more breadth and body, though less clean and more distorted.

Staind’s “Something to Remind You” has clean electric guitars and wonderful vocals – this song tests vocal quality and background noise. The EJ07 really excels on this song. The vocals come in clearly and forward with the clean guitars placed nicely in the background. It’s definitely the type of music these were made for. I got chills from this song, which hasn’t happened in a long time. Beautifully done without the bass overwhelming the mids. The only complaint I really have here is a tinge of metallic sound, but that can be a common issue on this song. The Meteor has a warmer presentation of this song without the hint of metallic, but it feels less special as well. The bass can be heard more clearly but doesn’t overwhelm the mids. The vocals are pushed further back on the Meteor and there’s some bass bloat in the lower registers of Aaron’s voice when he goes low.

To test classical instruments in the mids, I’m using The Piano Guys’ “Code Name Vivaldi.” That metallic presentation of the strings returns for the intro here. After that, it disappears and we end up with a solid presentation of this song that won’t offend most people. It’s definitely a colder presentation of the classical instruments than the Meteor provides, but more accurate and clean. It’s like the difference between autotune and a normal person singing. The Meteor is definitely muddier here and the presentation, while warmer, is nowhere near as good as the EJ07.

Highs (12/20):

To test sibilance on headphones I use Panic! At The Disco’s “High Hopes. The EJ07 is OK on sibilance here. It’s not perfect, but it’s above average with just a touch of sharpness. The Meteor is pretty close here, which the freq graph actually shows at well since both are about the same in the 3.5kHz range. Obviously, graphs aren’t everything, so it’s good to listen, but neither IEM gets hard knocks here, and neither is perfect either.

The first highs test song I’ll be using is Dream Theater’s “The Alien,” which I use to test and see if the cymbals/high-hats/snare can be clearly heard and distinguished from the rest of the music. I’d expect the EJ07 to have good treble on this song, and while it’s decent, and you can hear some of the high-hats and symbols, it’s nowhere near the DUNU SA6 or The Aroma Thunder level of treble. I’d almost describe it as the baseline for average. The Blessing 2 even might be better. Heck, the Meteor is slightly better, likely because the highs don’t just fall off after 3k as they do on the EJ07. So, if you love your treble, don’t get the EJ07 – if you hate hearing cymbals, get the EJ07.

Michelle McLaughlin’s “Across The Burren” is another of my favorite highs/sharpness test songs as it can easily sound painful on some headphones. There’s a touch of sharpness to the song here, but it’s nothing horrifying that makes me want to rip the IEMs out of my ear – definitely above average. There is a bit of clangy background noise though I need to mention, so it’s not MM level. That little bit of drop at 3.5kHz on the Meteor helps it even more on this song. It sounds even less harsh and almost perfect. Bravo Symphonium, that’s surprising.

Soundstage/Instrument Separation/Imaging (5/10):

I use MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” to test soundstage, instrument separation, and imaging. The soundstage of the EJ07 is OK, it’s not completely flat, and it’s not MM or Kublai Khan-level of massive. The instrument separation is also middle ground and so is the imaging. A bit underwhelming here, especially since the Meteor is better in all three areas at the expense of clarity, which I’m not testing here.

Comparisons:

The Meteor is a solid competition for $300 less. If you want more bass, more treble presence, and a bigger soundstage with more instrument separation and imaging, at the expense of clarity and detail, the Meteor is a better fit for you. You will get more bass bloat and lower quality with the increased quantity and it will overwhelm the mids sometimes. It just comes across as more distorted than the EJ07, which is very clear. Also, the fit might not be for everyone since the nozzles are pretty small and it’s harder to get a good seal with the Meteor. You could also just get the Final A5000 if you want to pay half as much as the Meteor and don’t need the bass, or even the Truthear HEXA for only $80.

Conclusion:

The EJ07 is an odd duck – and I’m not sure it’s worth the asking price. It isn’t designed for people who like bass, but it doesn’t have the treble you’d expect from a less-bassy headphone. So, less bass, and less treble, but good clarity, and good detail, but a touch of sharpness still in the highs. It’s not how I would have tuned an IEM, but no one has asked me for a collab IEM yet haha. It comes down to your priorities really – are you someone who hates bass bloat, large soundstages, distortion, and highs? Then the wonderful vocals and clean instruments of the EJ07 might be perfect for you. I imagine these are designed for folk and instrumental music (Yes, Gordon Lightfoot and the Beatles sound good with these – so that’s who these are made for.)

Headphone Scoring (v3):
Accessories / Earpads / Eartips (10 pts):	10​
Cable (10 pts):	5​
Build Quality/ Design / Comfort (10 pts):	10​
Lows (20 pts):	14​
Mids (20 pts):	15​
Highs (20 pts):	12​
Soundstage / Instrument Separation (10 pts):	5​
Total:	71