[ttorbic]

I emailed him yesterday and he gave me the same prices. He also quoted me 3-4 weeks lead time to build.

How long ago did you purchase his earbuds for those prices, @ttorbic. Seems like prices have increased.

Yeah I think he's been increasing his prices a lot. I ordered 10 March. He initially said 3-4 weeks but the parts were delayed, then he messed up the order a bit, and shipping took ages to the UK, so the sets were delivered on 30 April. So 51 days lol

 

[Leonarfd]

New Moondrop earbud about to launch

 

[Carrow]

Yeah wow I got quoted as much to ship a Proteus to me as for the earbud itself without a cable.

@Kenyon So about that group buy you were organising?

 

[cottaudio]

Still waiting on the B70 and cable for the aeolian bells to rock up, but I have managed about 4 or 5 hours of proper sit down listening time with the Alpha 3.

I have to say that coming from headphones, iems, and 2 channel I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get with flatheads. I kind of felt that the lack of seal and small drivers would just remind me of terrible plane buds and the like.
But boy was I wrong!

(Keep in mind I listen to mostly classical music - I can see for other types of music the lack of sub-bass could well be an issue)

My initial impressions of the alpha 3 are super, super positive. In fact, for solo and chamber music they are already easily my co-favourite way to listen alongside 2 channel.
With bigger symphonic stuff I feel as though it can get a little bit overwhelmed at times and loses a bit of preciseness in the imaging, but very dependent on the recording and repertoire - still sounds good to me for a lot of symphonies, just not all.
Comfort wise, these fit me really well with the included full foams - absolutely no discomfort or problems there.

These are of course just initial impressions and thoughts, but so far I am completely sold on flatheads and the Alpha 3 in particular. There is something very attractive about the way flatheads present music, particularly for classical music in my case.

I’m very excited for my other purchases to arrive and give those a proper go and to make some comparisons.

I kind of can’t believe how good they sound, for about $80 there is a lot of quality to be had here. Fair enough I’m listening through an $800ish source, but still quite miraculous what has been achieved here in my mind.

The rabbit hole has well and truly drawn me down and I don’t expect to be out for some time…

 

[fooltoque]

New Moondrop earbud about to launch

No way! that's so exciting!

 

[trevdawg94]

New Moondrop earbud about to launch

That has one of the most unique stem designs I've seen, it looks like the plastic piece that holds the cable is possibly adjustable up and down? It would make wearing them over ear much easier which is one of my main hesitations about getting the Chaconne. I wouldn't be surprised if the sound signature is more well-rounded and hopefully the price is much cheaper since they're not using a large machined body which undoubtedly contributed to the Chaconne's high cost. Glad to see that Moondrop hasn't given up on flathead earbuds as they're a lot more well known than most of the companies that focus on flatheads and will hopefully help more people see how far they've come.

 

[mt877]

No way! that's so exciting!

That has one of the most unique stem designs I've seen, it looks like that plastic piece holds the cable is possibly adjustable up and down? It would make wearing them over ear much easier which is one of my main hesitations about getting the Chaconne. I wouldn't be surprised if the sound signature is more well-rounded and hopefully the price is much cheaper since they're not using a large machined body which undoubtedly contributed to the Chaconne's high cost. Glad to see that Moondrop hasn't given up on flathead earbuds as they're a lot more well known than most of the companies that focus on flatheads and will hopefully help more people see how far they've come.

I looked at the picture and thought, whaaat? Earbud drivers attached to paperclips...? Then on closer inspection, maybe the tubing will be acting like some sort of bass pipe?

 

[ttorbic]

Looks...weird...like they cable tied the cable to the shell lol. Let's guess what the price will be! I'm guessing sub 150 USD

 

[trevdawg94]

I looked at the picture and thought, whaaat? Earbud drivers attached to paperclips...? Then on closer inspection, maybe the tubing will be acting like some sort of bass pipe?

You're right, if you zoom in on the stem there's a hole drilled next to where the red ring is on what I'm guessing is the right earbud. I don't see one on the left earbud but it's probably on the other side so both holes are pointing backward if worn cable down. Very interesting design, I wonder how much it will improve on the lean bass levels the Chaconne has?

 

[kaeswiss]

To all of you LREY earbud owners, do you recommend going with the wired versions or MMCX?

The Aurora cable appears to be fabric. Is there any microphonics at all?

If you chose MMCX, what kind of lightweight cables do you recommend?

 

[jeejack]

To all of you LREY earbud owners, do you recommend going with the wired versions or MMCX?

The Aurora cable appears to be fabric. Is there any microphonics at all?

If you chose MMCX, what kind of lightweight cables do you recommend?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EzyWRQr
All three variants, white, blue and purple

 

[ttorbic]

To all of you LREY earbud owners, do you recommend going with the wired versions or MMCX?

The Aurora cable appears to be fabric. Is there any microphonics at all?

If you chose MMCX, what kind of lightweight cables do you recommend?

I don't move much when I use earbuds, so I didn't notice any microphonics.

MMCX is obviously cheaper, but only by 2000 php

 

[rkw]

New Moondrop earbud about to launch

Such a curious design, but so little information. We'll have to wait for details.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6yBfMhtmNr/

 

[mt877]

Such a curious design, but so little information. We'll have to wait for details.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6yBfMhtmNr/

Very cool minimalist industrial design going on there.

 

[metrics]

No worries, I was willing to take the risk based on what I've read about it so don't worry about feeling like you didn't give the whole picture upfront.

Good to know, that makes me feel less guilty.

I think people have a tendency to gloss over issues that aren't a deal breaker when they like something especially when it's new to them. But I'm glad you posted about the issues you have so others considering the DB1E are aware in case one of your issues is a deal breaker for them.

Totally agree

This just goes to show you how much just fitment varies from person to person, as the DB1E is about the same size as the RW2K which is the upper limit of what I can wear without discomfort. This might not be possible with 2-pin earbuds since the polarity will change but using the earbud meant for the opposite ear made a huge difference in the comfort of the RW2K for me. You could try a 2-pin to MMCX adapter which would let you correct the polarity as well as letting the earbud swivel for better positioning.

Have you looked into any rubber rings like the ones that come with some of Fiio's buds or plastic earclips that @samandhi made me aware of? Once my DB1E arrives I can give you the diameter of the area between the driver and housing for the plastic earclips if you want to try them. They helped a lot with keeping the RW2K in the correct position for me until I swapped the earbuds and felt that I didn't need them anymore.

I have already tried a lot of ways of improving its fit, i dare even to say that i tried most stuff.
Switching R and L sides does not improve fitment;
Silicone rings or are too big and/or unconfortable;
Plastic earclips, hmmm, i have tried the ones i got, and its unconfortable, but maybe a different design one...
Actually i use DB1E cable up and with a donut foam folded inside the full foam covering the faceplate, in order to form kind of a stem, its the best i can get it to fit me.
But i think that i could get a better fit if i use your idea of using a mmcx to 2-pin adapter, then i could rotate the bud to make it face directly my ear channel. Thank you for the idea.
Would you measure it? That would be wonderful!



A lot of pages back, when Cat Ear audio Mimi Pro launched, i remember that there was the belief that this new bud used the same driver as its predescessor, Mimi; i never felt like it at the time because they sounded significantly different, still i never said a thing.
Today my suspections were confirmed, as i cracked my Mimi Pro open, and found out it uses 32ohm DIY ShoonTH, as opposed to to OG Mimi, which uses... well, i'm not really sure what driver is it, but you can see it in the pics below.

I also would like to report that the Horseshoe inside both Mimi's were glued to the back vent with the adhesive tape that comes with this kind of horseshoe, and, said horseshoes were also glued to the back of the driver, but using glue; it was so drenched in glue that it looked like a piece of plastic.
I am not expert DIYer, but this not seem good building pratices...
Also, do not try to open buds of this brand, their glue is really strong and you risk damaging your buds.