Intro

This review and feature covers the latest from the audio brand Letshuoer named the Letshuoer Astralis ($189). The Letshuoer Astralis is a planar magnetic earphone coming from a brand who quite literally specializes in the driver tech. Those are my words, not theirs. Though I would think that they’d agree. Anyways, I derived that conclusion after reviewing as many of their planar magnetic earphones as I have over the years and enjoying every one of them. Of course, some more than others, but that’s to be expected. In fact, their Letshuoer S12 2024 Edition is one of my absolute favorite planar sets market wide and at any price point. Also, there is not a better budget planar for smooth organic timbre and bassy vibes than the Letshuoer S08. However, Letshuoer also has upscale planars which flat-out rock, like the Letshuoer Ember, or the Letshuoer S15. In truth, it has been Letshuoer who’s basically led the planar magnetic charge with their iconic S12 Series of iems. Granted, let’s not forget, there are the MP145’s, Timeless, and P1’s of the world, but it really seems that most of the community engagement landed on Letshuoer’s plate. I’m not even bringing up Letshuoer’s other sets of different driver configurations. In fact, below is a list of some of the Letshuoer reviews that I’ve conducted…

Astralis

I am actually waiting on the Astralis to arrive at my home, and as usual this gives me some time to learn as much as I can about the product. I am always curious about names. It’s important, to a degree. Did you know that the name “Astralis” means “Of the stars”? A very cool fantasy celestial branding if I do say so myself. However, the name is hardly the most important piece of the puzzle. Now, to my delight and from what I’ve gathered, the Astralis has actually been a very long R&D project for Letshuoer as they set out to create a planar iem which has all the benefits of a planar magnetic earphone but also none of the less desirable side effects. Those being, planar timbre, weaker bass slam, and occasionally thin or peaky treble etc. After I read that in the Astralis promotional material I couldn’t help but laugh because Letshuoer has already crafted planars which do just that. The S12 2024 Edition, the S15, the S08, the S12 Ultra, and the Ember all carry a more organic and natural sound, bigger bass focus (certainly not weak) and none of those sets have any real peaks up top. It has also been noted that Letshuoer is deciding to go with their 5th Gen. ring-type planar magnetic driver, which is really-really cool, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jacked-up to check them out. After recently reviewing the Ember and S12 Ultra I am very curious to hear what took all of this time to conceptualize, prepare, and create.

The Astralis Arrives

The Letshuoer Astralis finally arrived at my home amid a hectic week which was made wonderful the moment I saw that package grace my doorstep. I’ve already given the Astralis a short listening session and spent enough time to deduce that of course I am reviewing this set. That is a no brainer. The next thing I did was put the Astralis into my burn-in station for a long run-in session of at least 3-5 days. I am about one day in and will absolutely run that to fruition. Friends, the next generation “Planar Wars” is in full swing. The first Planar War began with the 7hz Timeless, Letshuoer S12, and ended with a bang when Hidizs came out with the Hidizs MP145 as well as about 15 other solid planars. However, this new era of planar magnetic earphones is better, cleaner, less edgy, less planar metallic timbre, deeper and more palpable bass, and these newer planars should change the face of the market for some time. I have high hopes for the Astralis folks. With all of that said, I am definitely ready to get this one going. So, without further ado… the Letshuoer Astralis everyone….

Unboxing

As I said in my intro, the Letshuoer Astralis arrived at my front door in a smaller box than we are used to seeing from Letshuoer at roughly 6” x 4” x 2” and no real wasted space. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Of course, I know zero of you are reading this, but I must do my due diligence. Anyways, the box actually has a very nice artistic drawing in the cover as the main sleeve has an off-white base color along with the same blue as on the Astralis coloring the moon over a landscape of rolling hills and many stars in the sky. Obviously, this alludes to the name “Astralis” (of the stars). You’ll also see some typical specs on the back of the sleeve. Now, take the sleeve off of the main box and you’ll see an all-black box with Letshuoer in the middle. Next, open the box and you’ll see some reading material like the warranty card, manual, and repair ticket. Under that you finally see the gorgeous Astralis earphones sitting within a soft foam cut-out. Next to the earphones is the round carrying case also sitting in a foam cut-out. From there you need to simply open the case by unthreading it and you’ll find a round holder full of eartips, the modular cable, the cable adapters too. Now, I noticed on the web page for the Astralis that Letshuoer also provides the Letshuoer DT01 3.5 se dongle dac with purchase, but I did not get one. However, I do have a couple lying around and so I am adding this to the package, but I won’t include it in the overall package picture. Altogether the unboxing isn’t bad by any stretch. It’s small, not wasteful, and easy to open, which is worth its weight in gold for me.

Eartips

Letshuoer adds in a total of six pairs of eartips over two distinct styles of tips within the packaging. You’ll notice that the little plastic holder for the tips has five pairs on it while Letshuoer puts a medium set onto the Astralis upon receiving them. Out of the pairs that Letshuoer provides I think they both have their place in a collection, but I honestly don’t like them as much on the Astralis. At any rate, the first set of three (S, M, L) eartips Letshuoer refers to as their “Vocal” tips. These tips are dark gray silicone tips with a semi-wide bore, flimsy flange, and a fairly flimsy stem. I have no doubt that these tips will lessen the low-end weight while lifting the upper mids, however, I didn’t try them to find out as they are simply way too flimsy. The next set of three (S, M, L) Letshuoer names their “Balanced” eartips. These are also dark gray silicone tips, and they too have a semi-wide bore. However, these tips have a very firm flange and stiff stem. Honestly, they are remarkably similar to KBear 07 tips without the color. I do like these tips, but I knew I could find better eartips more in line with the Astralis’s tuning. So, I went through many eartips and ended up landing on the Divinus Velvet Wide-Bore eartips. The wide bore opens up the upper end of the spectrum without losing any bass weight or depth. I definitely like wide bore more than anything as they add more of an openness to an otherwise warm sounding and bassy iem.

Carrying Case

Once again Letshuoer provides the same carrying case as we’ve seen with most of their iems. It is a plastic threaded case with a screw-on top, hockey puck style round. I’d say it is just large enough to fit your earphones, the cable and probably the small type-c dongle dac from the packaging. It’s not the largest case I’ve ever seen, but it works. Great for throwing into a bag and not having to worry about your precious earphones getting banged up. If you’ve gotten any recent Letshuoer iems than you know this case. At times the threads are tough to get started when putting in the lid, but it does seal tight, which is nice.

Letshuoer DT01

As I said, in the web page promotional for the Letshuoer Astralis, they say that the Letshuoer DT01 is added into the packaging. For whatever reason they did not provide the DT01 into the package I received. No big deal because I already have a few of them. Lol. So, I’ll just add that to the package picture and speak on it quickly. Letshuoer provides the DT01 3.5 single ended dongle dac which terminates in a type-c DSP dac/amp connector. You can actually purchase this little guy on your own if you’d like here… Letshuoer DT01, valued at $16 US. It’s a very nice touch and a solid extra addition to the package. However, I rarely use this dongle dac just because I do feel the Astralis does much better with more raw power. That said, it certainly doesn’t sound bad by any stretch of the imagination. For my listening I didn’t have to overly crank the volume for good sound amplification and dynamics. It’s a nice little dongle dac. Letshuoer actually put a nice dac chip inside, the Cirrus Logic CS46L41. However, this is not a very strong dongle with a rough output power of about 25-30 mW at 32 ohms. I will explain more later, but the Astralis shines with power. Still, it’s a nice added piece to the overall package, and a nice portable accessory that sounds good in a pinch, out and about in the market, around the house, and good for anyone who doesn’t want to take their better sources out and about with them.
Cable

The cable provided in the package is without question my favorite accessory. Thankfully I will not have to cable swap or find a better cable. It’s actually quite dope looking on this set. Very similar in braiding, texture, feel, and materials used as the cables which come packaged with many of Letshuoer’s iems, though it is different. To be exact, the cable provided is a modular cable which comes with both 3.5 single ended and 4.4 balanced adapters, easy to install and screw into place. This is a sturdy and strong wire for sure with no microphonic effects. It is a white & very light brown braided 2-pin, 216 strand, high-purity silver plated copper cable which is fairly fat and looks fantastic in contrast to the Astralis earphones. Letshuoer did a nice job on this one for sure. I suppose that the outer insulation may be a bit sturdier than some may enjoy, but altogether the cable works like a charm, sounds good, and looks slick.

Build / Aesthetic / Internals / Fit 

Build Quality 

All of Letshuoer’s builds are well done. The Astralis is no exception at all. It is made out of CNC machined lightweight aluminum alloy and carved beautifully. These are smaller earphones which weigh almost nothing in the ear at 7-8 grams. I’ve been very impressed by how unbelievably comfortable this set is for my ears. Nevertheless, the Astralis is built like a tank, and I love the matte finish on the shell body. The curvature of the Astralis’s shell body seems to curve perfectly to my ears which is great. There’s no pressure build up either as the Astralis has plenty of pressure relief venting. It actually has two rear vents which do serve a tuning purpose. Also, the nozzles are right around medium or average length with a standard 6mm nozzle width. So, basically any eartips should fit this set just fine. A finely built set that should last for a long time.
Aesthetic

When talking about the aesthetic design and appeal of the Astralis, I find that this is one of the cooler looking sets from Letshuoer. However, there have been some mixed thoughts and opinions on its design from others. Still, I love a minimalist and classy design and the Astralis has just that. Like I said, they have this nice textured matter silver finish on the Shells which is very cool. There’s also a nicely contrasted deep blue non-metallic and anodized artistically designed inlaid faceplate with a simple design on them. You’ll also notice an etched “L” on the left shells and an “R” on the right. Overall, I really like the look of this set, but I’m sure there are those who don’t feel the same way as I do. Anyways, nice work Letshuoer!