Moondrop Aria 2021

Disclaimer
This unit of Moondrop Aria was purchased with my own money during November 2022 and no party have any influences in whatever i said in my review. Keep in mind, although i do not believe in burn-in, i have put my moondrop aria on pink for 60 hours+ before relistening to it to avoid any controversy of "not burn-in" yet. I won't be talking about unboxing or accessories since there are tons of youtube videos and reviews on this page already noting every elements on those kind of thing. I will keep it simple on just writing my subjective opinion. Take it with a big pot of salt because my aria 2021 was on third party cable and ear tips since day 1

Specifications
Name : Moondrop Aria High-Performance LCP Diaphragm Dynamic IEMs
Driver Unit : LCP liquid crystal diaphragm-10mm diameter double cavity magnetic Diaphragm Dynamic unit
Headphone Socket : 0.78pin
Sensitivity : 122dB/Vrms (@1kHz)
Frequency response : 5Hz-36000Hz Effective frequency response: 20Hz~20000Hz



Gears owned
Main source : Topping DX3 Pro+ on low gain
Others : Apple lightning to 3.5mm adapter
: Topping NX1S
: CX-PRO CX31993
: VE Abigail
: VE Avani

Third party pairing used : NiceHCK Jialai JLY2 3.5mm (Substitution for the stock cable giving the same stock look while providing the same comfort of fabric cable)
: FENGRU 6N UPOCC Single crystal copper silver plated 19awg 3.5mm
: Dunu SpinFit W1 (Giving a better fit over stock ear tips included, slightly better imaging and staging imo)
: Moondrop Spring (For people who thinks its too bassy, Moondrop spring cuts down the bass)

My Playlist/ Library :

• JPOP/JROCK- Yoasobi, WINDS, ANZA, Mariya Takeuchi, Miki Matsubara, T.M Revolution
• KPOP- Taeyeon ( Bias), Girls's generation, Super junior, IU, Blackpink, TWICE, CNBLUE
• Metal- Avenged sevenfold, AC/DC, Celldweller, Disturbed, Three Days Grace
• POP-Green Day, Linkin Park, Hoobastank, Earth,Wind And Fire
  
  
  
  

Drivability
Easily reaching loud volume on the most basic usb-c dongle or just phone 3.5mm audio jack.

Sound Impression
Warm mild V-shaped with laidback upper-mids that benefit long hours listening with sprinkle of upper treble on top for micro details.

Bass​

Moondrop Aria exhibit a good good sub-bass depth and rumble. Coupled with good bass texture and adequate mid-bass slam that don't bleeds into the mids and vocal. On tracks like yoasobi racing into the night, the bass rumbles and note weight stands out giving basshead all the adequate satisfying bass you need to balanced out the bright vocal of yoasobi.

Mid​

This is where Moondrop Aria shines the most. On vocal focused playlist like IU / Taeyeon ballads oriented songs. It can gives you very full bodied female vocal while not being fatiguing to listen to, to my ears it is not like harman treble which can makes female vocals became shouty where it will be a tiring listening experience for most. Taeyeon and IU sounded angelic despite having quite laidback upper mid tuning.

Treble​

The downsloping nature of Moondrop Aria is what that makes it so addicting to listen to compare to other conventional harman type tuning set. Althought i should note that there is a sharp peak in the upper treble region giving micro details and sparkle while also making the stage sounded wide. However, there are some friend of mine (notably younger person) that has noted the upper treble can get fatiguing and unnnatural most time for them because of age related listening loss. To my ears the upper treble is just enough providing good micro details and making thing sounded airy . As with the intended tuning, there are no metallic timbre and in the opposite, it sounded very natural to my ears due to cymbals and not apparent 8khz gain in the tuning, it makes things sounded super natural and organic compare to cheaper single DD sets from KZ/TRN/QKZ.

Technicalities​

When we talked about technicalities, we need to manage our expectations because it depends on personal experience and budget. In comparison, in my opinion, if one were to buys the Moondrop Aria at MSRP solely on the technicalities consideration, i would have pointed them towards the Tripowin Olina/ Olina SE or Letshuoer S12 Pro ( During big sales). Technicalities on Moondrop Aria is somewhat slightly below average in the 80 dollar price bracket. The only standout of the Moondrop Aria is the wide staging and spread of the instruments but not to the extent to comparing against the Olina / S12 pro level of proficiency.



Conclusions
Personally i don't think Moondrop Aria provided a solid value at the MSRP it is competing and selling at, there are a lot of other options which does thing that Moondrop Aria does way better but as an all rounder, i think Moondrop Aria still provides a good first IEM for people who just getting started into the hobby. If MOONDROP were to reduced the Aria pricing to 50usd, i would give double thumbs up recommendation for the Aria.

This product was sent for review from https://apos.audio/ for my honest opinion and I've not been paid or influenced in any way. My opinions are just that, I do this out of a love for the hobby.


The packaging is what I've come to expect from MoonDrop great looking and well documented. Inside is a bunch of good accessories, tips, case, cable and the Aria OG, this model doesn't come with the spring tips, but I think after using them it doesn't benefit from them anyway. Build is good and solid, comfort, looks and isolation are as well.

The Moondrop Aria is a 10mm LCP diaphragm and CCAW voice coil DD with a brass-plated inner cavity and a neodymium N52 magnetic circuit inside.

Sound Impressions:
Bass: presents more toward the balanced side and sub-bass is more predominant, it was good control but is on the thinner side.

Mids: Are neutral and sound organic and have a good timbre but are a little on the lean side. Vocals are placed well and have good body and emotion.

Treble: Has a good airy and energetic presentation but is smooth and is well controlled with no harshness at normal volume.

Soundstage: Is decently wide and open, it handles busy recordings well and accuracy is decent but not the best.

My afterthoughts: This is a good beginner IEM with qualities most would appreciate, it may not be everyones cup of tea but I could see the attraction of this one.

Notes/Disclaimers​

The unit of Moondrop Aria that I tried belongs to a friend of mine, and I got the chance to hear it for myself. Keep in mind that I've tried it for quite some time, enough for me to make a review out of it. With that being said, I'll be going to skip the unboxing and accessories stuff. Last but not least, you can take my review with as much salt as you want because the unit that I tried has already been paired with a third-party cable (TRN cables if I'm not mistaken). Also, I didn't use the stock tips to audition the unit. I used Final Audio Type E instead.

For this review, I'm using iBasso DX160 with Lurker add-ons as my main source. You can also check out my IEM Ranking List to see where Moondrop Aria stands. You can also see the tracks that I usually use as benchmarks.

Low/Bass​

Based on the frequency response, Moondrop Aria has a good sub-bass extension. But when I have actually heard it, I have to say that bass is where Moondrop Aria falls short when compared to the other sets that I have. Don't get me wrong here, Moondrop Aria has a good bass texture and rumble, and not to mention, it doesn't get bloated to the point where it overwhelms the midrange/vocal. However, the biggest concern that I have when it comes to the bass is the overall depth. When I play tracks that are supposed to give this very deep bass such as Kitty Cat Adventure by Inori Minase and Himawari no Yakusoku by Motohiro Hata, Moondrop Aria doesn't represent the deepness and punchiness that I seek. It certainly lacks authority when it comes to that.

Mid/Vocals​

Moondrop Aria really excels in this department, especially when it comes to female vocals. On tracks such as Hikari by Lilas Ikuta, Moondrop Aria can represent the sweetness and heavenly vocals of the artist really well. Not only that, but they are also natural. Despite that, it doesn't have the most organic female vocals, because I can still notice some shoutiness in the vocals occasionally. Sometimes, it is very noticeable on emotional tracks such as Again by Beverly.

The vocals on the Moondrop Aria lean on the upper side, so male vocals come across as a bit thin and lack thickness. So at the end of the day, the part where Moondrop Aria really shines is within the female vocals.

High/Treble​

The treble on the Moondrop Aria is what separates it from other sets with harman-ish tuning. No, the lower treble is not being pushed, and it doesn't sound fatiguing at all. But as there is a boost in the upper treble area, you will notice that the treble on the Moondrop Aria can get airy, which is very unique and sometimes addicting. Cymbals don't sound artificial, and it has a good natural timbre. No metallic timbre can be found. Despite that, as it pursues a harman-ish tuning, Moondrop Aria still lacks a bit of treble extension.

Technicalities​

There's nothing impressive about Moondrop Aria when we talk about technicalities except the staging. The staging can get really wide when I play tracks such as Hotel California by Eagles (Live on MTV). The details are also pretty good but not that special. And for the rest (separation and imaging), it is fairly decent.

Comparisons​

Moondrop Aria ($80) vs Tin T2 Plus ($60)
I actually like the tuning on the T2 Plus more than the Aria. The bass is deeper and punchier, and the treble has better extension and also better airiness. Aria didn't give me the same open and spacious sensation that I get on my T2 Plus. However, when it comes to the vocals, Aria has better texture and control. Tonality aside, the technicalities on both are pretty much on the same level, except that Aria has wider staging and slightly better details.