Letshuoer Cadenza 12 Review
Letshuoer’s flagship pair of in-earphones
Verdict
The Letsuoer Cadenza 12 don’t have a distinct signature style to call their own, but they do actually have high-end characteristics to match their price, and are hugely enjoyable all-rounders.
Pros
- Excellent layering and depth
- Good bass speed and slam
- Smart cabling system
Cons
- Perhaps a touch too warm
- Slight upper mid granularity or hardness
- Scratch-happy glossy finish
- The price is grotesque by most people’s estimations
Key Features
- 12-driver arrayThese earphones have twelve drivers per earpiece. 11 are balanced armatures, and the last is a dynamic driver.
- Removable cable As well as using a removable cable, the Cadenza have switchable cable terminals, which requiring traditional adapters.
- Titanium earpiece casingsThe outer shell of these earpieces is high gloss titanium, an expensive low-weight metal.
Introduction
The Cadenza 12 are Letshuoer’s flagship pair of earphones. They use 12-inch drivers, a mixed array of dynamic and balanced armature styles from Sonion and Knowles, the biggest names in this area.
These are true show-off earphones. But the character of the design, and the proposition of the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 as a whole, aren’t quite a match.
The idea of a $2000-plus earphone is never not going to be provocative. However, the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 sound has a surprising purity of purpose I don’t tend to hear in the most ambitious pairs from Chinese brands.
This also means I don’t quite get the scads of challenging very high-frequency detail I was hoping for, or a hugely distinctive character. However, the intricately layered presentation is fantastic, offering imaging as good as I’ve ever heard from an IEM.
Design
- Titanium alloy housings
- Not excessively heavy despite their appearance
- Very good passive isolation
The Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are large earphones, but perhaps not quite as big and heavy as you might imagine given how many drivers live inside each enclosure. These are titanium alloy earpieces, a metal significantly less weighty than the stainless steel used in some other top-tier pairs.
That moderate weight means there are no major comfort issues, and the extra-sturdy form-holding cable winds over the ear in traditional IEM fashion for additional stability. The cable is removable too.
There is going to be a period of adjustment if the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are your first high-end IEMs, though. They are much less of a breezy set to wear than a pair of true wireless earphones, or a more ordinary pair of cabled IEMs.
First up, the cable is designed to curve over the top of your ears, like just about every self-consciously serious pair of earphones in this style. The cabling is also thick, heavy, and ostentatious. Earphones can only be so large, so the cable itself becomes a battlefield for showing off.
These efforts aren’t without substance, mind. It’s a “204-strands cable 6N Monocrystalline Copper and Silver Hybrid” cable set according to Letshuoer. A good chunk of the Cadenza 12’s cost goes into this cable.
It uses a two-prong interface, not an MMCX connector — something to be happy about given how many MMCX connectors I’ve had go a bit loose over time. This isn’t the kind of cable you replace unless you end up damaging it, though, or needing something longer. Three cable adapters are included, and these aren’t just your usual 6.35mm screw or plug-in affairs.
Unscrew the terminal sheath and you can pull off the standard 3.5mm connector. You’ll find a 4-pin terminal interface, letting you replace it with a 2.5mm or 4.4mm connector. It’s a smart way to offer multiple connection types without relying on clunky adapters.
Letshuoer also includes a carry case, and three different types of tips designed to alter the sound a little. One enhances bass, one treble and the third is a neutral set. The aperture of the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 earpieces have a fine mesh right over the outer opening, so there’s no need for a cleaning tool.
There’s no water resistance here. But would you really want to risk these for use during exercise? I’ve enjoyed using them while just walking around, though, as their passive isolation is excellent. Earphones like this don’t have active noise cancellation or other such smarts, so passive isolation is all the more important.
Features
- Sonion and Knowles drivers
- 12 drivers per earpiece
Like many of today’s high-end Chinese IEMS, the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 have a high number of drivers in each earpiece.
There are no big surprises here. Each Cadenza 12 earpiece houses 7 balanced armatures by Sonion, four by Knowles and a 10mm “liquid silicone surround” dynamic driver.
Judging by a render published on the Letshoeur website, these are split into groups, whose output is pointed at a number of sound tubes that direct their sound to the aperture.
Sound Quality
- Great bass slam and speed
- Strong sound depth
- Slight upper mid granularity at times
The Letshuoer Cadenza 12 do not make my job easy. They do not have a particularly distinct sound character, or very obvious tonal character their makers were aiming for.
Such elements make for a memorable listen: the micro-detail of the Sennheiser HD800, the ultra-fine treble detail of the Final F7200 or the flam of the original HiFiMAN HE5 are all things I remember well years later. However, do you necessarily want those as someone looking for an all-rounder headphone you may never need to upgrade from?
My initial thoughts on listening to the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 were that they are a little safe. But after listening for a few hours you start to appreciate their abilities more. Not every exceptional earphone needs to be outright challenging.
I think two aspects of the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are among the very best I’ve ever heard in an IEM. These are their bass slam and tautness, and their ability to layer sound clearly, resulting in a highly three-dimensionsal presentation of music.
Working with these earphones is more of a challenge than the average pair as the depth of the sound field is just so engaging.
They are ideal for close listening of music, while the solid bass depth and the speed of that bass make sure the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 still have a real fun factor. I’d say the depth of the presentation here is more impressive than its width, which is merely decent, but that is quickly forgotten as you listen.
Detail is very good, but again this comes more from the imaging and contouring of sound than a particularly bright or prominent treble.
The Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are earphones that will let you rediscover your music, even if that is absolutely not the impression they at first give off. There are two other elements that either could have been better, or at least don’t suit my tastes.
There’s a granularity to the higher-register mids that can — in certain songs — stand out, or seem grating. It can seem clear in spoken-word content too. It’s better than sibilance, but is still there.
I also find the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 perhaps a touch too warm, thanks to the slight mid-bass or low-mid padding here. This can often make earphones sound bogged down or clogged up. Not so here, but could they have even better separation with a slightly colder tone? That’s a stylistic choice, of course, and one that to some could make the Cadenza 12 seem a little anaemic or unappealing to plenty of listeners.
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Should you buy it?
You want easygoing top-tier sound
Quite a lot of top-end earphones can be a challenge to listen to for some ears. Too lean. Too obsessed with detail. Too cold. The Cadenza 12 aren’t like that, and have an easy-to-like signature.
If you are not ridiculously well-off…
Paying this much for earphones is a bad idea for almost everyone. And while the Cadenza 12 sound fantastic, their mid-bass weight may dilute their best characteristics a touch.
Final Thoughts
The Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are a ridiculous concept for most, a highly expensive pair of earphones with a show-off number of drivers, like so many in this class.
Listen to them, though, and you find the Letshuoer Cadenza 12 are oddly practical. They combine a highly approachable sound signature with the kind of levels of insight and sound field depth you might usually associate with a more analytical-sounding pair.
Sure, they’re still a one-star buy for people who should never really consider buying earphones like this. But the only two off-putting areas from a sound perspective are an occasional noticeable granularity in the upper mids and a lower-mid warmth some might find a questionable fit for an IEM this expensive.
How we test
We test every set of headphones we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy
Tested for several days
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FAQs
These earphones have no water resistance rating, which is common for sets of this style.
They have a claimed frequency range of 20Hz to 30kHz.
They use 12 drivers per earpiece, including a dynamic driver.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
