Review - Letshuoer D13

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Also available on YouTube in Spanish: Acho Reviews YouTube

The Letshuoer D13 have been sent to me by Letshuoer in exchange for the publication of this review, they have not made any specific requests, although I will leave a non-affiliate link to the official page of the D13 below.

This means that, as always, I will do my best to be as unbiased as possible in the review of these IEMs, always reminding you that these IEMs have not actually cost me anything.

The Letshuoer D13 official page is here: https://letshuoer.net/products/letshuoer-d13-dlc-diaphragm-dynamic-driver-iem-moving-coil-headphones

Intro…

Letshuoer, previously known as Shuoer, are a company that have been around for quite a while, at least as far as the world of IEMs time frame is concerned, with a few models that have gained a lot of popularity. One of my favourite daily drivers is the Letshuoer S12, a planar magnetic set of IEMs that I am very fond of.

The D13 is a dynamic driver set, featuring a 13mm DLC diaphragm, which comes with two sets of nozzles featuring two filter types that create slight changes to the overall tuning of the IEMs.

At the time of this review, the IEMs cost around 115€, although there is a sale that drops them to around 105€.

That means that, while they are not in the ultra-cheap budget category, they are still reasonably priced IEMs.

Presentation…

Presented in a nice modern box, the contents are similar to those included with the S12 that I have received previously.

Other than the IEMs, we get a nice cable which is available either as a 3.5mm unbalanced or a 4.4mm balanced (the latter being the one I have received), 6 sets of silicone tips (in two types), a storage/transport case which is the same as the one included with the S12 but with a different text on top, the additional set of nozzles, the usual warranty card and a Letshuoer product manual.

There is nothing included that is extraordinary but at the same time, the contents are plenty for a set of IEMs in this price range, at least in my opinion.

Build and aesthetics…

Starting with the IEMs, the build quality looks to be of very good quality and the aestheitcs are something that I find very pleasurable (of course, this is a totally personal opinion).

The shape of the IEMs is a break from the norm, using a round shell with the connection point located on top. The shape is not unique, as there are other manufacturers that have used similar shapes in the past, but the overall design and aesthetics give it a very original look. Available in black or blue, I have the black version which is actually a very dark gunmetal grey, something that I am quite fond of, making the red highlights stand out without looking out of place.

As far as comfort, I personally find them very comfortable, with the shells fitting nicely inside my ear and no hot spots developing even after long listening sessions.

The included cable is thinner than the one included with the S12, something that I also prefer, in a dark brown colour sporting hardware that matches the finish of the IEMs.

I have absolutely no complaints with regards to build, aesthetics or comfort, although two of these three will vary from one person to the next.

Sound…

NOTE: as always, all tracks are clickable links to reference the mentioned track in the streaming service of your choice.

As I mentioned, the D13 includes two nozzles, one with a gold filter and the other with a silver filter. The differences in sound between the two are not huge but they are noticeable, here is what they look like in comparison to my personal preference target:

As you can see on the graph, the silver filter adds some more presence in the low end, while dropping the 2kHz presence a little, the rest is almost identical. Now, anyone who has followed my reviews will guess that I prefer the nozzles with the gold filters… and I do.

I find the gold filters to have a little more clarity to them, still with plenty of bass (maybe a little too much at times) for my tastes, making the overall sound more impressive in my opinion. I have spent time with both sets of nozzles, yet my overall feeling when using the silver nozzles was that things are just a little duller and not quite as defined.

So, my following thoughts are based on using the nozzles with gold filters, together with the dark grey silicone tips that come included.

In the low ranges, there is plenty of presence, with the bass being the main focus of this set, and in my opinion, what it does the best. Playing the usual test track, “Chameleon” by Trentemoller, when the main bass kicks in at 0:31, it is quite a “wow” moment, especially upon first listen. I do find that at 0:47, when bass increases even more, it can get a little overpowering for me but then again, the track itself is rather overpowering.

Testing the subbass with something a little more sane, like “Royals” by Lorde, there is a nice rumble that I don’t find overpowering. I have mentioned before that the subbass in “Royals” is a little “loose” (for lack of a better word) and the D13 certainly don’t make it any worse.

Focusing more on the midbass, listening to “Sun is Shining”, I find the bass to be clean and articulate, making a good job of this specific track and resulting in a pleasant listen. With another common test track of mine, “No Sanctuary Here”, I find that there is a little too much midbass for my taste but it is clean and articulate, making the track still enjoyable, even if a little overly boosted in these ranges.

With “Black Muse”, here I do find that the bass is not quite as detailed as it should be, yet I am coming to realize that this track seems to be a difficult one for IEMs to get right, at least as far as what I consider “right”. “New Life” is another track that I felt had too much in the low end but in general, for such a bass orientated set of IEMs, I must say that I found myself enjoying more often than not.

Moving into the lower mids, the presence drops quite a bit, through the center of the mids also, and this helps keep the low end clean and tidy. The mids can seem to be further back than I appreciate (even more so with the Silver filters), yet they are not absent, it is just the kind of V tuning that these IEMs are going for. An example of this would be “Back It Up”, where vocals could do with a little more presence.

When playing acapella tracks, such as “These Bones”, vocals are warm and articulate, in fact, “These Bones” sounds pretty good on the D13! With Nellie McKay in “I Concentrate On You”, I did find her voice to not be quite as lively as I would like it to be.

That brings us to the upper mids, where the 2kHz presence works hard to bring vocals and the likes further forwards, avoiding them being too far back in the mix. The D13 don’t do a terrible job in this regard but they don’t do an excellent job either.

In some tracks, such as “Back It Up” that I already mentioned, I get the feeling that vocals are not quite present enough, where on other tracks, such as “All Eyez On Me”, I find the opposite to be true, it is just a little too harsh in the upper mids.

I feel that this is due to the 2kHz rise being a little too much and rolling off a little too soon. If the presence wasn’t quite as boosted and was extended a little more towards the 3kHz mark before dropping, then it would maybe be a little more balanced.

One thing I will say is that, when a track is recorded in a way that matches the tuning of the D13, such as “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, it sounds pretty great. In fact, I would say that these IEMs are best suited to modern music recorded like “Don’t Start Now”, as they seem to work great for it. I would even venture to say that, for modern pop, I would need to think long and hard about choosing the Dusk over these (the Dusk being my default pick for modern pop).

Moving into the upper ranges, some harshness can again present itself on occasions but only sporadically. In general the upper treble is decent and sibilance is also avoided quite well. Listening to “Code Cool”, sibilance is tamed but is not dulled, which is a good thing.

Details are not spectacular, making smaller details in the background difficult to appreciate, although I don’t really think that these are IEMs that are designed for fixating on tiny details. For example, in the track “All You Love (Turned To Passion)”, the tonality of the guitar and vocals I find quite nice, along with the majority of what is happening in the foreground, yet those tiny details that depend on the reverb etc. during the intro, they are not quite there, even when focusing on them.

Soundstage is about average for a set of IEMs, nothing groundbreaking in this regard, with an image placement that is good but is also not excellent. I don’t really have any complaints here but I don’t really have any praise either.

As I have been mentioning lately, the above is a graph of the isolation of the D13 in comparison to Zero Isolation (grey dotted line). They are not the most isolating of IEMs but are not terrible either, sort of around average, which is to be expected with the rear vents. You can compare these to other IEMs by following the link at the end of this review.

Conclusion…

The D13 are another set of IEMs that bring some fun to the table for a reasonable price. The build is good, the aesthetics and comfort are great (both in my opinion of course) and the overall sound signature is something that works well for a lot of music.

They put plenty of emphasis on the bass region without overdoing it, at least not with the majority of music, and I find that they make for a very pleasant listen with EDM, modern pop and other similarly produced music.

They are not a set of IEMs that I would choose to focus on details and pick apart recordings, more something that I would pick for being on the move or while doing other things that involve focus elsewhere. Paired with a BT receiver, such as the Go Blu in my case, I find that they are a great pick for doing chores that involve moving around and enjoying music without dissecting it.

I also wouldn’t pick them for acoustic music, which a lot of my listening is, I think they are more of a “Friday afternoon” set 😁

I think Letshuoer are working hard to improve and bring quality with their latest releases and the D13 is another good effort that is around the 100€ mark. There are a couple of other models of theirs that I would like to get to try and I’ll be interested to see what else they bring forward in the near future.