AOSHIDA LETSHUOER E20 Review – Insane Value
Aoshida Audio is one of the leading platforms specializing in providing audio products, such as amplifiers, decoders, players, headphones, cables, and accessories. In cooperation with LETSHUOER, they came up with an IEM, the E20 which has two dynamic drivers inside. With this driver configuration, price tag, and tuning, the E20 is a direct competitor to the Truthear ZERO brothers.
With high-precision 3D printing, the chamber enables the creation of intricate acoustic structures, resulting in a seamless single-piece design. This not only makes the product smaller and lighter but also enhances its strength and minimizes skin sensitivity.
Drawing from ergonomic principles, LETSHUOER designed a product that provides an unmatched wearing experience. It alleviates ear strain, allowing for extended use without discomfort or a heavy feeling. Enjoy your music while keeping your ears at ease.
The anodized aluminum back cover, meticulously crafted with CNC precision, features a sandblasted surface and hollowed-out treatment. This open design enhances overall sound quality, delivering a more natural and expansive audio experience.
The cable is crafted from high-purity imported copper wire, featuring four strands, with each strand consisting of 216 cores meticulously twisted together. This design minimizes internal resistance and is encased in a customized PVC outer sheath for added durability.
What’s in the box
Features
- Dynamic Drivers with an 8mm DLC Diaphragm.
- Encased in a Brass Unit Shell with CCAW Voice Coil.
- Unit Frequency Response Deviation within +-2dB.
- Ensuring Full-Range THD Remains Below 1%.
Specs
- Impedance: 12Ω+1%@1kHz
- Sensitivity: 98dB/mw@1kHz
- Frequency response: 20Hz-40kHz
- Dynamic drive: 10mm beryllium coated dynamic driver +8mm DLC diaphragm
- Wire rod: 1.25m,0.05mm*216 strands of copper
- Interface: 3.5mm plug,0.78 dual pin interface
- Price: $49.99
I want to thank Aoshida Audio for providing me with the review sample of the E20.
Sound
Out of the box, the E20 sounds clean and smooth. Is very pleasing, with a well-textured bass and good tonality. The beryllium-plated composite diaphragm dynamic driver boosts low-frequency performance, delivering a profound bass experience. Simultaneously, the 8mm DLC dynamic driver ensures crystal-clear and transparent high-frequency performance.
Lows
The E20 has elevated, impactful, and full-bodied bass reproduction. The sub-bass is slightly more prominent than the rest of the bass range, however, the bass feels abundant altogether. The textured and powerful bass contributes to the fun factor of the IEMs. The tuning prevents the bass from bleeding into the lower midsection. The detail level is also good. The bass is controlled, powerful, and quite exciting to listen to.
The bass is deep, full, punchy, and well-controlled. There’s a good amount of rumble, and the bass is not focused on delivering only the tip of the bass, or only the mid-bass, but rather a full and pleasing presentation. The overall bass note decay is natural. On EDM and Rap tracks, the bass is large and satisfying. The highest bass quantity and most focused energy are presented around the mid-bass. Drums, kicks, and bass guitar sound with natural bass notes.
Mids
The midrange is really clean, natural, and smoothly textured. The E20 has nice clarity and a natural tone. Vocals and instruments feel just right, with good timbre and body. The E20 has a beautiful fluidity for both male and female vocals. In all music styles, even rock and metal, the midrange keeps being smooth and pleasing to the ear with no harsh edges and no odd peaks/dips. Detail retrieval, clarity, and overall resolution are good, especially for an IEM with this price point.
Starting with the lower mids, the sound follows a recipe of linearity. I would easily say that this smart move ensures that the signature stays airy and a general sense of air is present. The overall signature feels quite spacious, as well as the stage and the space between the instruments. The midrange has a linear tonality and features a note weight that is rather on the lighter side of the scale. However, the body of the instruments and the body of the vocals do not feel particularly thin and insufficient. The vocals feel breathy with plenty of details and they are quite engaging to listen to.
Treble
The E20 does a pretty good job on highs for a budget IEM. It’s crisp, detailed, and airy, all without sounding sharp or sibilant. Overall music coming out of E20 sounds detailed, well-separated, wide, and clean. The midrange will be slightly recessed with some light coloration in the upper bass that adds a bit of warmth and color to the whole sound. With a fluid presentation to all textures and a natural to slow decay rate for all notes, E20 can be said to sound refined and mature. Being fatigue-free, yet having some sparkle to its treble E20 is enjoyable for all music styles.
The treble range follows the bass line, they are a little more pronounced compared to the lower midrange. The second dynamic driver does a good job of reproducing detailed, articulate, and clean treble. The resolution and detail level are certainly impressive for this price range and the extension is quite satisfactory.
Technicalities
The soundstage is one of the strong suits of E20 because of its 2-DD structure and tuning. The instruments have accurate positioning with ample space between them and you can easily track individual instruments on the stage. The 3D effect that the wide soundstage brings is there and welcomed by the gamers. Also suits well with movies etc.
Comparison
vs Truthear ZERO RED
The bass line almost follows the RED’s, slightly less on the mid-bass region (which is always welcome for me). Starting from the upper mids and all along the treble area E20 elevates the curve. This brings some vocals and instruments closer (forward), with a crisper tone.
vs Truthear ZERO
E20’s tuning takes the mid-bass bump away from the ZERO on a polite bass line but keeps the extensions on the treble side which the RED lacks. This tuning makes the E20 more on the balanced-sounding side but with better clarity and detail retrieval, at least if you are using a good source.
Take the bass line of the ZERO RED, the treble area from the original ZERO and you got yourself the E20 tuning. Depending on your taste you may not like this tuning or love it more. I love it.
Sum-Up
AOSHIDA LETSHUOER E20 is a surprising addition to the budget IEM market. With its quality and sound performance, as a whole package, in short, it’s an insane value for the asking price.