TL;DR: Speciality vs Linearity
While being a far more logical comparison compared to the Brain Dance, the $219 Planar and Piezo ET142 and the $259 Dual Planar The Legend are no less interesting of a comparison.
But unlike the Brain Dance, both sets are proper full sized planars. This makes you think that they’d have very similar qualities, but you’d be sorely mistaken.
The Legend is closer to the “traditional” planars of yesteryears like the OG Timeless and S12 but far, FAR more refined. Sure, there’s still a bit of planar zing on The Legend, but it is far smoother and cleaner sounding than the previously mentioned IEMs. The highlight of the set is the impeccable cleanliness of the instrument separation that sets it apart from its single DD and hybrid contemporaries. But the fundamental quality of The Legend that relates to my comparison against the ET142 is the smooth, semi-linear tuning.
The ET142 is as peculiar as IEMs get tuning wise, but it doesn’t take away how it follows the modern tuning philosophy of planar IEMs by bringing the musicality and smoothness to make it sound closer to a super high quality DD or hybrid. The amount of bass this thing has is enough to cosplay as a very tight but high quantity single DD IEM. But that peculiarity in its tuning is something that will not satisfy everyone, at least compared to The Legend.
What does this mean for overall performance? The ET142 doesn’t sound like a planar while The Legend does. Planar IEMs usually have the “fast attack, fast decay” quality in their sound, meaning notes are well-defined and clean but lacks the physicality and impact that single DDs and high quality BAs have. This applies to The Legend, but not the ET142
If you read my Legend vs Brain Dance comparison yesterday, I mentioned how “nuanced” the Brain Dance sounded compared to The Legend, while the Legend had a far smoother, cleaner and more consistent sound. The same could not be more applicable with the ET142.
This is due to the fact that the level of tactility and impact that the ET142 has is so damn physical that you genuinely couldn’t tell that it’s a planar IEM. The Legend is far smoother, cleaner and more consistent in contrast. Notes are well-defined on both sets, but the ET142 has more physicality.
I could bring the painting example again and how the ET142 is similar to the Brain Dance, but it’s far more complicated. A comparison with the use of food feels more appropriate here because I also want to mention another very specific element to the two.
The Legend is like a well-made pepperoni pizza from an established and authentic Italian joint sprinkled with a bit of spice to make it exciting. We’ve tasted thousands of Pepperoni pizzas in our lives, but tasting one from an authentic Italian joint is something that’ll stimulate your taste buds for Pepperoni like you’ve never had before. And best of all, it doesn’t stray away from the usual taste of Pepperoni pizza, so this is something that you know you’ll at least enjoy at the most basic level.
The ET142 on the other hand is a hand tossed Spinach pizza from a local joint. You may scratch your head on why this thing exists, but tasting it once will be enough for you to know whether this isn’t for you or is the greatest thing you’ve ever tasted. The way the spinach and cheese combine as it hits your taste buds will bring you to your knees with just how much flavor a “spinach” flavored pizza could bring to the table.
Another odd analogy aside, it all comes down to a smooth, safe and generally enjoyable sound or a specialized, hard hitting and highly nuanced sound. I can guarantee that, at least for most people, The Legend will be more tolerable than the ET142 tuning eise. It does the traditional planar sound in such a smooth, refined but still distinctly planar sounding way. The tuning being on the flatter side also allows it to be more versatile for more genres. But if you’re a big fan of a highly nuanced and specialized sound, there is nothing like the ET142 in the market.
This should conclude my Vacation Thoughts as these are the only IEMs I brought with me and wanted to compare, but I’ll be comparing budget planars to The Legend once I come home. Until then, time for me to head back home!
