MOONDROP DAWN 4.4mm

Hi there, before i even begin this short review, please do forgive my weird English and grammatical mistakes.
the Moondrop Dawn 4.4 is purchased with my own money and this is purely my subjective opinion.

lets start with the Packaging

Design and Build
There is also a Companion App available named "Moondrop Link" for customizing :

• Filters
• Gain
• LED
• Volume Control

For Android users, I suggest to download the APP from Moondrop websites because the playstore version is not up to date.

Battery consumption on this dongle is rather frugal for how much power it offers.

Sound

Sound is tested using "Slow Rolled Off Phase Compensated Filter"

My first impression using this dongle is that it has clean black background without any hiss or RF Interference.
I also found that midbass and uppermid on this dongle is slightly emphasized, treble is extended but smooth.
It has good dynamics, but at the same time its well controlled, clean and spacious
Detail retrieval, staging is above average for its price

I also tested this dongle to push my Sundara, it didn't have any trouble pushing it to loud listening level and still has decent dynamics.

This dongle also has leaner overall presentation, not really analytical but not exactly musical either, pretty neutral best of both worlds I would say.


Comparison

Moondrop Dawn 3.5 : Dawn 3.5 is the more musical and a bit warm if compared to the 4.4 version, the Dawn 4.4 has better dynamics and wider staging compared to the single ended brother.

E1DA 9038D : 9038D overall presentation is more towards analytical and has better detail retrieval and resolution, it also has detachable cable, sadly it picks up RF Interference and consumes more battery than the Dawn 4.4mm.

Tanchjim Space : Space technicality is very close to the Dawn 4.4mm, the only thing I notice is that Space has more neutral mids compared to the Dawn 4.4mm emphasized upper mids.


Conclusion / TLDR ;
Moondrop Dawn 4.4mm is recommended for :

• users on a tight budget
• already have balanced cable
• want a dynamic sounding dongle

Moondrop Dawn 4.4mm is NOT recommended for :

• users who appreciates removable cable
• want the most analytical and best technicalities
• didn't want to spend balanced cable for every single IEMs and Headphones

thats all from me for now,
thanks for reading and again, sorry for my weird English and grammatical mistakes.


best regards,


-littlenezt

DAC-Amp dongles are a dime a dozen these days. Not too long ago, most IEM manufacturers would purely focus on earphones and perhaps cables. The sources were left to dedicated source manufacturers.

Things have changed now, as popular brands are coming up with their own dongles. Moondrop also wanted in on the fun and introduced the MoonRiver 2 as their top-of-the-line offering.

The Dawn aims to cater to mid-range buyers instead and comes in two different flavors: 3.5 (only single-ended output) and 4.4 (only balanced output). The Dawn 4.4 stands out between the two with its superior output power, lower distortion figures, and significantly higher channel separation.

Can the Dawn 4.4 stand out amidst a sea of competitors? Read on to find out.

This review originally appeared on Headphonesty.

Packaging​

The Dawn comes in a very interesting container, with an aluminum can serving as both the packaging and carrying case.

The DAC/Amp and accessories sit inside a foam cutout to prevent damage during transport.

Design​

Moondrop absolutely nailed the industrial design of the Dawn 4.4.

Click to expand...

The cylindrical shape with no buttons or protrusions on the sides makes the Dawn 4.4 a joy to hold. The transparent cable-sheathing adds to the glamor and gives it a unique look.

The anodized aluminum shell is spray-painted and resistant to RF interference. A solitary LED button on top glows orange during operation. On top, there is the 4.4mm balanced output.

The bone of contention here is the fixed USB type-C cable.

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As such, no native compatibility with iPhones since you’ll need an adapter to get it working. Also, this raises concerns about long-term durability.

I am not too concerned about the durability here since there is ample strain relief all around. Also, a detachable cable has its downsides too (mainly, the mechanical stress exerted during transport), so it’s not all so black and white.

Connectivity​

The Dawn 4.4 connects directly to Android phones, Macbooks, and iPads without any external driver or app installation. You will need the windows driver to get things working properly for Windows.

The Moondrop Link iPhone and Android app allows finer customization of features, including gain level, controlling the LED light, selecting reconstruction filter, etc.

Power Consumption​

Optimization here is good for a dual-DAC device, with the Dawn 4.4 drawing approximately 400mW of power from USB at 25% volume.

The Apple dongle has a noticeably lower power draw at a similar volume (approx. 150mW) but does not sound as dynamic or detailed as the Dawn.

Something’s gotta give, I guess.

Internals​

Moondrop went for the tried and tested CS43131 chipset by Cirrus Logic. It is basically the CS43198 with an onboard amp, so you are getting similar specs to the nearly three times more expensive MoonRiver 2.



There are a pair of dual-crystal oscillators that further improve jitter performance. Overall, a very competent design from the folks at Moondrop.

Moondrop Dawn 4.4 Sound​

The Dawn 4.4 has a neutral sound signature with a slightly lean-sounding midrange.

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It does not sound analytical or harsh. However, the mids are not the most lush or engaging, if those are the terms. Treble does not exhibit any glare, and staging and imaging are fairly good for a small DAC/Amp.

Macrodynamic punch is decent and microdynamics (subtle shifts in volume) are not as obvious as they are on some higher-end sources. At this price, though, that would be nitpicking.

I like the output power, especially when connected to a laptop or PC. It can drive full-size headphones with authority (unless we are talking about low-impedance, low-sensitivity monsters).

The voltage swing is not high enough to fully drive high-impedance dynamic driver headphones but most IEMs will be driven with authority. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the Dawn 4.4 complemented the Hifiman HE-400se.

Even planar magnetics can be powered by the Dawn 4.4 – unless we are talking about very inefficient designs.

Click to expand...

One area where the Dawn 4.4 falls short: powering low impedance, low sensitivity IEMs. One such example is the Final E5000. Having just 14 ohms impedance and 92 dB/mW sensitivity (both of which get lower with frequency), most portable devices fail to power them properly.

The Dawn 4.4 is no exception. They can get the E5000 loud, but the bass lacks control, and treble air is reduced. Staging and imaging suffer as a result.

This, however, is an extraordinary case and does not apply to most IEMs.

Comparisons​

The Moondrop Dawn 4.4 is the second cheapest dongle in my collection, with the least expensive being the Apple dongle. As a result, the comparison is a bit unfair on paper.

Quloos MC01​

The Quloos MC01 is a more interesting comparison. It has the exact same specifications on paper, with the only difference being added digital power filters, a single-ended output, volume buttons, and an OLED display.

The MC01 sounds more detailed than the Dawn, but can veer into “information overload” territory. The slightly more laid-back nature of the Dawn is more agreeable to my ears. Power figures are similar between them.

If you do not need the display or the buttons of the MC01, the Dawn 4.4 is a great alternative at one-fourth the price.

Questyle M15​

The final comparison is against the best dongle I have in my collection, and the best I have tried until now: Questyle M15. It doesn’t have a display or buttons but makes up for all those with the sound.

Sadly, the Dawn 4.4 is no match for the M15, with the Questyle dongle displaying better dynamics, transparency, and imaging than the Dawn. Only stage width is slightly better on the Dawn 4.4. Power draw is even lower on the Questyle.

Then you look at the price tag – four times the cost of the Dawn 4.4! So the Dawn 4.4 wins the “price-to-performance” battle.

Conclusion​

Moondrop did a great job with Dawn 4.4. For a mere USD$10 extra over the single-ended Dawn 3.5, you get almost twice the output power, much better channel separation, better noise performance, and a dongle that can drive some planar headphones.

Some corners were cut, namely a lack of buttons and display. Also, no single-ended output means you have to have a balanced cable with your IEMs or headphones.

If you have already subscribed to the “balanced” lifestyle, the Dawn 4.4 is a no-brainer when it comes to mid-range dongles. I struggle to find another dongle that offers the same level of sound quality under USD$100.

Subjectively and objectively, the Moondrop Dawn 4.4 is a great product and earns my recommendation.

The review sample was kindly provided by Shenzhen audio in exchange for an honest review.
I didn't receive monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don't use affiliate links.
The price of the Dawn is $69.99 and you can buy it from Shenzhen audio online shop.

Moondrop

If you are into the headphones hobby there is no chance that you don't know about Moondrop.
Founded in 2015, is among the most well known manufacturers of IEMs with many successful products like the Aria Snow and the Kato.
The company is striving to produce earphones that combine excellent performance with friendly prices that don't break the bank.
Moondrop also designed one of the first USB DAC dongles in the market when such products were not so popular.
It was the Moonriver 1 that wasn't mass produced, then followed by the Moonriver 2 and now they are expanding their USB DAC line with the Dawn that is available into two versions, one with 4.4mm output and the another with 3.5mm.



Moondrop Dawn 4.4mm

The Dawn 4.4mm is Moondrops latest portable USB DAC/amp designed with fully-balanced audio circuitry.
It houses two CS43131 high performance DAC chips that perform four-channel balanced signal decoding.
Thus Moondrop Dawn brings superb performance achieving a high signal to noise ratio and ultra-low distortion.
Thanks to the balanced architecture the Dawn outputs a maximum line-out power of 4Vrms or 230mW at 32Ω load.
Moreover the Dawn comes equipped with dual independent crystal oscillators that ensure high quality digital signal transmission with ultra-low signal jitter.
The Dawn supports decoding up to 32-Bit/768kHz PCM and native DSD256 but no MQA.
It is compatible with Android and Windows OS while it is also compatible with Apple devices through adapters but due to the limitation of power supply for the lighting interface the maximum power output is limited to 1Vrms or 32.5mW at 32Ω.



Build quality and appearance

The Dawn has a barrel type shaped body that is made from aviation grade aluminum with a satin white matte painting.
Build quality is excellent while the shell has high rigidity and is thick enough to offer shielding from the external electromagnetic interference.
The painted surface is very beautiful looking but this kind of finish is more prone to scratching than full metal alloy surfaces.
Measuring 120x16.4mm and weighing 13.7g, the Dawn is compact sized and lightweight enough but somewhat bulkier than similar products like the FiiO KA2.

The USB type C cable is permanently attached to the main body by the means of a thick plastic ring.
There are strain reliefs at both ends of the cable which is made with a customized parallel arrangement of high purity, copper silver plated wires, a structure that is more beneficial to the transmission of digital signals.
There are no hardware buttons and the user have to control volume and playback from the host device.

The Dawn comes packed in a metallic rounded box together with a USB-A to USB-C adapter of high quality.



Moondrop LINK application

The Dawn is compatible with the Moondrop LINK android application that allows the user to switch between 2V or 4V output and select one of the five available low pass filters.
You can also customize the notification LED between on, temporarily off and off.
The communication between the application and Dawn is flawless, your selections are permanently stored on the device memory but for some strange reason they are not highlighted into the user panel so you never know what you have selected…



Listening impressions

The Dawn has an inaudible internal noise floor and it doesn't pick EMI even when placed near to the cell phone antenna.
Power output is more than enough for most earphones and it can also drive pretty well sensitive headphones like the Sennheiser HD660S.
I have used various IEMs including the FiiO FA7S, Moondrop Aria Snow and Meze ADVAR among others.

Sound performance is really stellar, the Dawn is very musical and engaging with excellent technicalities for the category without missing anything compared to the competition.
The overall sound signature is that of the CS43131, a little more musical and natural sounding when compared to the slightly more technical ESS products.
In this way it much resembles similar USB DAC dongles that use the same chip configuration, like the now discontinued iBasso DC04 and ddHiFi TC44B.



The Dawn is clear, clean and open sounding with great transparency and excellent detail retrieval.
Frequency response is absolutely linear, the sound signature is balanced with a convincingly natural timbre, especially with the NOS low pass filter, which is my favorite one.
Sub bass extension is great, the bass is impactful, fast and dynamic with excellent control and well defined layering.
The presentation is quite full bodied and weighty, this is not a lean sounding DAC, the sound is full throughout the whole frequency range.
The mid range is expressed with clarity and excellent articulation, plenty of harmonic saturation and a wealth of overtones, the overall texture is painted with vivid colors.
Treble is extended, resolving and not rolled but still smooth and controlled without inducing any fatiguing brightness while it doesn't sound too artificial or digital.
I have been listening to this new album by Alison Balsom which has a few pieces that combine a lot of high pitched instruments together with her trumpet and nothing sounded out of tune, piercing or harsh while there was some great frequency coherency from top to bottom.



Very controlled is also the timing and the naturalness of the decay, the Dawn is neither too fast nor slow, it sits somewhere in the middle, it is not dull nor aggressive making it suitable for all types of music, from electronic to classical.
The benefits of the dual DAC architecture are apparent in the soundstage which is heard expanded and spacious with above average imaging and a rather holographic (for the category) presentation.



Compared to the FiiO KA2 ($60)

This is another, dual CS43131 USB DAC dongle with similar functionality and parameters albeit somewhat less powerful than the Dawn.
It can do 153mW at 32Ω and the max output voltage is limited to 2.2Vrms but in exchange you get a lower power consumption.
You can use the FiiO Control application to configure the gain, channel balance and select between the five available low pass filters.
The FiiO application is considerably more polished with a friendlier and aesthetically pleasing user interface.
The FiiO PCM decoding is limited to 384kHz instead of 768kHz but it is Apple friendly as it also comes in a lightning cable version and its power output will not be limited to 1Vrms.



Both devices sound almost identical with the most subtle differences if any.
The FiiO KA2 is slightly more aggressive and bolder, a little more agile and treble forward with a faster decay.
Still natural and engaging with a convincing timbre is just an idea more lean - dry sounding and more detailed than the Dawn, with a hint of extra upper treble enthusiasm.
Another thing of notice is that the Dawn offers better dynamics and control over all earphones and especially the lower sensitivity ones.
You will be hard pressed to choose the one over the other, I suppose the FiiO will better suit people who like their tunes a little more exciting and technical or want to save $10 while the Dawn will be the better choice for acoustic instruments and timbre enthusiasts.
Thus said, both of them are a welcomed addition to their ESS siblings that have flooded the market.

In the end

The Moondrop Dawn is a really excellent sounding USB DAC dongle without any negatives, the performance and overall value are definitely greater than the modest asking price.
Nothing more to add, this is highly recommended without any strings attached.
Moondrop, well done.

Test playlist

Copyright - Petros Laskis 2022.

MOONDROP DAWN: VALUE for the MONEY





Summary & Objective:

The @MOONDROP DAWN is the latest dongle release by MOONDROP promising great performance. It comes with great build quality and balanced 4.4mm output. It is powerful enough to drive most IEMs which makes it a great contender for the price bracket.




Introduction:

The MOONDROP DAWN comes with great build and promises outstanding sound performance for the price bracket. It comes Dual CS43131DAC chips and 4.4mm connector balanced output and is quite powerful.
The MOONDROP DAWN is priced at $69.99.




Disclaimer:

This unit was sent by @shenzhenaudio for the purpose of an honest review. Everything mentioned in this review are purely my own based on my experiences with the Dongle DAC/AMP.


Design, Build & Features:

I wouldn't want to make this a very long review by describing each feature but for people who want to know here are some extracts from the @shenzhenaudio website.




Specifications:

The MOONDROP DAWN comes with $69.99 price tag and the specifications are as below:

https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/...hz-dsd256-type-c-to-4-4mm-headphone-amplifier




NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SOUND....


Items Used for this Review:
IEMs: @DUNU-Topsound ZEN PRO, @CampfireAudio Dorado 2020, @UniqueMelody MEST MKII, QoA Margarita, 7hz Timeless, 7Hz Dioko, 7Hz Eternal, BQEYZ Topaz,

Source : iPad Pro, ASUS ROG Laptop, iPhone 13 Pro max
Streaming Source: QOBUZ



Tracks Used:
The tracks I have used can be found from the below playlist that I have used and generally use for most reviews...




MOONDROP DAWN Sound Impressions in Short:

The BASS:

The Bass sounds just great. has enough details and is able to produce enough attack in the mid base region as well. In tracks like : "Anna R. Chie (Remastered) - Konstantin Wecker" and "Dreams (2001 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac" you can feel the the deep attack of the different instruments with just enough details. The thumps and slams are very enjoyable.

The MIDS:

The Midrange is quite detailed and open. It is able to produce a textured midrange that is soothing to the ears while having enough details in it. The vocals are natural and both male and female vocals come with good amount of details. Instruments sounded natural. In tracks like: "Anchor - Trace Bundy" and "Ruby Tuesday - Franco Battiato" while you will love the overall midrange specially transients of the guitars, violins etc... instruments and the vocals.

The TREBLE:

Though some people MOONRIVER 2 being quite peaky and bright, but despite the Dual CS43131 Chip at play here - this implementation is just good and seemed quite the neutral. Hence, the treble just sounded nice and full and without any unwanted peaky-ness.

STAGING & RESOLUTION:

The staging and resolution is just great and just the amount the track requires. Nothing artificial here. Tracks like: “ She Don't Know – Melody Gardot” or “Bohemian Rhapsody (live aid) – Queen” sound good & enjoyable. Resolution is amongst the best in the price bracket and better than few others above it's price bracket also.

Impedance & Amplification:

The smart impedance features seemed to work correctly in all cases that I've tested and the dongle was able to power all IEMs with the rare exception of the Tinhifi P2 plus which requires desktop grade amplification and power.

Pairing:
The best pairing experiences I have found are with slightly warmer or reference grade IEMs. Unlike some other Dual CS43131 implementations, this doesn't have the tendency to increase peaky-ness when paired with bright IEMs



Conclusion :

The superb performance of the MOONDROP DAWN makes it an easy recommendation to anyone who is looking for a balanced 4.4mm output dongle in the below $100 price range. Having used the iFi Audio Go Blu for a short while, I can say that this sounds much better and fuller than the Go Blu.. This makes it an easy recommendation and a great value for the money.

TONALITY: 8.2/10
TECHNICALITIES: 9/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
AMPING POWER-QUALITY: 8.8/10
SOUND VALUE: 9/10

MOONDROP doesn’t need introduction, they are well recognize and respected by audio community but mostly known for making IEM inspired by harman target sound balance.

Lately, they offer a first portable DAC-AMP (dongle) call Moonriver 2, it doesn’t make lot of noise among audio enthusiast, surely due that at 190$ it wasn’t very competitive in term of price value. While the Moonriver use 2 CS43138 flagship DAC, the Moondrop Dawn dongle I will review today use more common CS43131 DAC. Priced 70$, the Dawn have a 4.4mm balanced output and very promising specs that can be read bellow.

Let see in this review if it’s a dongle that can stand out from the overwhelming amount of chifi dongles offered on the today market.

To note: There 2 versions of this dongle, 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm single end for 5$ less (65$)….i really don’t see the point of buying the single ended version since you will have 2 times less power output (2vrms vs 4vrms) and poorer dynamic range and especially crosstalk wich inflict on imaging perception. Only plus of 3.5mm se is lower impedance output for ultra sensitive IEM, unfortunately, impedance specs aren’t available.

Product highlights​

• 132dB dynamic range
• Ultra low 0.00017% THD+N
• >117dB SNR
• PCM 32-bit/768kHz
• DSD256
• 230mW output
• 4.4mm fully balanced output
• Dual crystal oscillator

Specs​

• Earphone jack: 4.4mm balanced
• Frequency response range: 7Hz – 90kHz (-3dB)
• Port: USB Type-C
• Background noise: 1.3uV(AES17 20kHz)
• THD+N: 0.00017% (AES17 20kHz, without load)
• SNR: 132dB (AES17 20kHz, A-weighted)
• Gain: high/low (software switching)
• Line out: 4Vrms (high), 2Vrms (low)
• Maximum output power: 230mW @32Ω, 54mW @300Ω
• Weight: 0.4oz (13.7g)
• Size: 4.7″ x 0.64″ (120mm x 16.4mm)

CONSTRUCTION, CONTROL AND FEATURES​

The Dawn come in a round metal box, with minimal packaging and accessories which include a usb c to USB adapter and that’s it.


Construction feel very good in hand, the dongle have light weight for it’s size and is made of avion grade alloy with mate white paint. The plug is gold plated, a sign of quality too. The usb c cable is attached to the body and seem to be a 4 cores silver plated cable. One thing that perhaps can be worrysome if I nitpick is this cable because it’s flat and perhaps the benting with time will affect it’s durability, this is one of the reason why i prefer detachable cable for dongle, if something happen with the cable you don’t have to get rid of your dongle.


As expected, using this dongle is plug and play, you don’t need to install driver on your laptop nor your phone. In stock form, the Dawn is on high gain, but you can download the Moondrop Link app to select gain as well as digital DAC filters. While it’s nothing like Radsone or Qudelix app in term of features and control, it’s very appreciate to have this type of extra control possibilities.

Battery consumption is quite low, which is a feature of CS43131 DAC. I easily get 6-8H of listen on my LG V30 phone, which is quite old and doesn’t have very good battery life.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS​

(IEM used the most for this review: FINAL A8000)

This is a great sounding dongle no doubt about it. Due to my overwhelming love for Tempotec E44 using same dual DAC, I was expecting something of a sidegrade or downgrade….but in all honnesty it’s an upgrade in term of technicalities as well as power output. As a ”biased” Tempotec fan boi, i’m not happy to conclude this! But i need some psychoacoustic adjustement because the Dawn is brighter than E44, yes, but in a smooth crisp way….how come? Well, resolution is very high here, yet delicate in dynamic with a slight 1db W shape push, Moondrop way, which is all about a musical neutrality inspired by harman and VSDF target audio perception they learn about. Its strange to say, but if i can compare this dongle soundsignature to a Moondrop IEM it will be the Kato, but with Aria smoothed dryed timbre. OK thats very vague so let’s explore more the tonality and perfomance.

TONALITY favorize transparency of timbre, effortless resolution and treble sparkle and snap, it have a hint boosted mid bass, more in texture and grip section so the kick is super tight and energic yet not round and heavy, bass line are excellent in presence and texture while not very rumbly or thick, it’s all about articulation finess and well define soundscape here.

BASS is a hint dry and lean with extra punchyness, it doesn’t move lot of air nor make your IEM have a better rounded slam. It attack fast, but have short sustain and release. Definition, separation and resolution is excellent.

MIDS are clean, crisp and transparent. Its a bit more lean than bass and treble, you don’t have extra lushness and note weight are on light side. Presentation is realist, lively and better suited for violin and female vocal than piano or cello.

TREBLE is both vivid and delicate, with tremendous amount of nuance and micro details. You have good brilliance and snap and the balance is cohesive, not too boosted so both lazy and active listener will achieve wow effect in term of micro details finds.

DYNAMIC is vivid in presence sharpness, attack is very well controled yet not too boosted in impact where it’s more about loudness impact than weight impact, all in a well balanced and cohesive way within macro presentation. You have minimal but enough note weight, but it’s more of an edgy attack than one lead by lower harmonic heft. Lower bass, lower mids and mid treble seem a bit leaner than rest of spectrum, which create a sens of airyness and openess. You have the right mix of note sustain and decay here, since post impact is resonant and their no sens of compression. The very impressive 132db of dynamic range showed in the specs seem real, it’s vivid and lively yet very diversify in loudness variations.

RESOLUTION is excellent, extremely impressive for the price since it’s very clean and refined in it’s imaging. Texture is free of grain that would affect transparency, so a hint organic yet not overly smoothed since their plenty of micro details in there. It’s crisp and clean, with plenty of sound layers floating around. While not artificial sounding at all, the slight treble section focus that highlight clarity make tonality just a hint cold, let say it’s the ”anti-euphony” dongle here, yet musicality is alive and accurate.

TIMBRE is where the euphony can play a good role, or bass or lower mids can add some meat, which isn’t the case here, we have a rich but not very dense timbre, very transparent yet not lush or breathy.

OVERALL TECHNICALITIES are great, near mind blowing in fact due to how the Dawn can deal with fast and difficult tracks and keep it’s clean accurate presentation. Attack and sustain are on the fast side, this tight attack permit excellent timing between instrument as well as clearer separation in imaging. Transparency as said is excellent, underlining a low distortion. Background noise floor is very black. Sounds layers are well extracted and mixed with static sound without feeling sticken togheter. For 70$, I don’t think you can have better technical performance than this, just different tonality.

AMPING POWER

At 230mw@32ohm (4vrms) and with a rather low THD of only 0.00017%, the Dawn promise clean stable power output, which it deliver in plentyness. It’s not the type of amping that feel pushed in gain or boosted in loudness artifically. Its note grainy nor noisy in the background. Lean conductivity that doesnt affect tonal balance, a little bit like a THX amp but move lively.
Their no IEM that the Dawn can fully drive, which include legendary hard to drive Final E5000 as well as Tinhifi P1 or other planar. Don’t be afraid your low sensitivity or high impedance can’t be drive, still, don’t expect a little dongle to fully drive full size Planar Headphones like the Sundara, even if yes, it will play music nicely you will not achieve end game perfection. The Sennheiser HD820 too can be drive properly to achieve crisp open sound, yet in all honnesty nobody will conclude this dongle is the best match possible for an high end Headphones.

PAIRING MINI IMPRESSIONS​

With Moondrop Snow
Oddly enough, I wouldn’t consider these a good match, since its a bit like mixing 2 time the same sound signature. Tonality is clean, dry and earn a bit of extra punchyness but no sub bass boost which is already a bit rolled off. No extra warmth here that could thicken timbre neither. Overall musicality lack naturalness here and doesn’t feel very open.

With Final A8000
This is a great match. Excellent clarity and resolution of A8000 is preserved without making treble spike go harsh, even vocal seem less prompt to sibilance. Transparency too is preserved permiting excellent imaging. Bass loose a hint of weight and roundness in slam but not to the point of making it feel rolled off since sub bass have good presence and rumble with A8000. Sure, again, extra warmth and density would have been great for mid timbre, so in that regard no romantic euphony but not compressed mid range either since female vocal and instrument sound very wide open, with well define layering. Excellently preserved attack accuracy, speed and control too.

With Final E5000

Driving those is pure hell, and tend to never match with any dongle, either sounding very compressed or having distortion at high volume. Unless you push the E5000 to ear destroyin volume level, you will not encounter problematic distortion even with heavy bass track….this is quite phenomenal and indeed a very good match since neutral bass light sound approach make the E5000 more clean and crisp. Bass keep heavy punch but have less bass resonance bleed, so mids are crisper and female vocal more upfront. Level of micro details is up too, making E5000 less dark. Very surprising pairing and a proof of stable and powerfull amping output.

DAC-AMPS COMPARISONS​

VS VE MEGATRON (ES9018k2m DAC + ? OP amp-50$)

Firstly, the Dawn is a proper portable dongle while I don’t see myself briging the big brick Megatron. Megatron have more output choice (3.5mm se and 4.4mm-2.5mm BAL) while the Dawn have just a 4.4mm balanced output. Megatron have a Line out too, which Dawn lack.
When it come to power output, it’s quite similar when I try to drive the demanding Final E5000 I need to go in 75/100 volume step with both, the Megatron seem to have more gain yet it make distort the E5000 way more, and overall presentation is more compressed and messy than the Dawn.
Now, taking the Final A8000 to judge sound quality, distortion issue doesn’t occur with any of those 2, the Megatron offer a more bright and agressive sound presentation with more dynamic gain loudness, bass is more punchy yet not as transparent and nuanced making kick impact blur bass line definition, mids have more upper mids bite but more compressed presentation in the sens vocal doesn’t open as wide but feel more upfront in a centered way. In fast busy track, Snow show it’s superiority as shown in a track like ”Skink” from Elephant9 where you can more easily extract all instrument and sounds in super busy and fast passage, bass line and synth are more accurate and clean in presence while percussions energy is better balanced.
All in all, the Megatron is far from being bad but show it’s technical limitation against the more accurate, clean, neutral, transparent, detailed and articulated sounding Snow, which is smoother too and have a wider spatiality and more precise and crisp imaging.

VS TEMPOTEC E44 (Dual CS43131 DAC-80$)

Ok, these 2 sound quite similar since they both use dual CS43131 dac and it’s implemented amping chip, but Moondrop use dual crystal oscillator and state a superior power output of 230mw@32ohm against 175mw@32ohm.
Hum, so simply put, E44 is a hint warmer and thicker sounding, with a more natural timbre to my ears but slightly inferior transparency and resolution, it’s not as neutral and delicate sounding as the Dawn.
Bass is cleaner and tighter with the Dawn, we have more sens of immediacy in kick as well as perhaps slight boost where E44 have thicker warmer slam with more rumble vibrancy.
This inflict on vocal presentation, being denser with E44 while cleaner and better resolve with Dawn, mids dynamic is more vivid than leaner smoother E44, for ex female vocal jump at you faster with the Dawn yet make tone a bit boosted in presence gain (upper mids).
Treble is sharper with the Dawn and tend to create less harmonic distortion in busy or complex tracks, it’s more edgy in definition and percussions will attrack your attention more than more softed E44.
Soundstage is perceived wider and taller with the E44, notably deeper with the Dawn.
All in all, i would say technically the Dawn is superior, yet tonal balance not as organic and natural as E44, bit crisper dryer in musicality with delicate treble push that add airy feel to it.

VS FIIO KA3 (ES9038 DAC+independant OP amp-90$)

This time, it doesn’t sound similar, the KA3 is brighter and more excited in macro dynamic, so it feel more W shape in the sens bass, mids and highs are more upfront and less nuanced in dynamic gain.
KA3 sound shouty compared to Dawn, mid range especially are more prompt to sibilance and lack transparency. Bass is chunkier as well as overall timbre less thin than Dawn. Treble is dryer, less snappy, sparkly and brilliant than Dawn, whole spatiality is notably less clean in resolution too. Amping section of KA3 seem to have introduce harmonic distortion and hint of euphony to attack edge and sustain, which the Dawn is free off, feeling more refined and reference neutral in it’s sound presentation. In term of power output, we can say they offer same amount since both can play super loud and KA3 deliver 240mw vs 230mw for the Dawn.
All in all, KA3 is very similar to the Megatron here but with superior technicalities….which are inferior to Dawn crisper and more accurate performance.

CONCLUSION​

I wasn’t expecting much from this dongle, but it really grown on me with the time and I confidently conclude it’s now one of the best technical performance you can get under 100$.

But that’s not all, the 230mw power output in such a tiny package is something to celebrate too.

Sure musicality is something very subjective, and the mature refined sound the Dawn deliver will perhaps appeal more serious audiophile than those searching for colored, warm or bassy tonality.

This is why one dongle isn’t enough I guess! Having one for technical performance and other for musical guilty pleasure might be the best choice and this is possible to find under 100$ now.

Still, the Moondrop Dawn musicality is dynamic, crisp and immersive more than enough and will show what your IEM are capable off in term of attack speed, imaging, resolution and wide range of micro details. It seem the use of dual crystal oscillator with balanced output do marvel here and permit to achieve one of the cleanest more accurate sound experience you can get for 70$.

Well done Moondrop! Recommended!

BONUS VIDEO REVIEW HERE:


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You can buy the Moondrop Dawn (balanced) for 70$ here:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/moondrop-dawn-4-4mm
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The Moondrop Dawn is a compact DAC/AMP combination unit with a 4.4.mm balanced output and a fixed USB-C termination. ShenzhenAudio sent me the Moondrop Dawn in exchange for my impressions. The Moondrop Dawn retails for 69.99.

HEADPHONES:​

I have used the Moondrop Dawn with the following headphones:

• Moondrop S8
• Dunu Vulkan
• Raptgo Hook-X

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:​

The Moondrop Dawn comes in a round metal tin. Technical specifications for the Dawn are provided in English and Chinese on the rear of the box. The Dawn is held in a foam mounting sheet inside the tin. In addition to the Dawn itself, the box contains a quality control pass chit and what appears to be an unbranded Baseus USB-C female to USB-A male adapter. This adapter does not have active circuitry to prevent backpower and I do not recommend using this adapter. If you must use an adapter like this with the Dawn or any other DAC/AMP with a fixed USB-C termination, I recommend the ones from CableCreation. There is an additional slot in the foam mounting tray seemingly sized for an additional adapter, but my review sample did not include anything in this slot.

DESIGN, BUILD QUALITY, AND AESTHETICS:​

The Moondrop Dawn has a stout yet sleek matte white and translucent grey build. The round housing has a small orange power LED. In line with the LED is a subtle logo with the text “Moondrop DAWN Micro DAC.” The Dawn is otherwise unbranded. The Dawn’s USB-C termination is not gold-plated. The wires leading from the housing to the USB-C termination as well as the USB-C termination’s internal components are visible through the protective sheath. There is strain relief at both ends of the cable portion of the Dawn.

STANDARDS COMPLIANCE AND FUNCTIONALITY:​

I do not own any 2.5mm or 4.4mm cables with microphones or in-line controls, if such cables even exist, nor do I own any 4.4mm balanced to 3.5mm single-ended adapters. Therefore, I cannot confirm if the Moondrop Dawn implements Android’s headset button standards. However, I can confirm that the Dawn does not send connector status to the host device or pause on headphone disconnect, which is a shame.

APP FUNCTIONALITY:​

The end-user can control the Moondrop Dawn’s digital filter, output voltage, and LED using the Moondrop Link app, which is a level of extra attention to detail I appreciate.

POWER DELIVERY:​

Note: I made the following observations with a system-wide -4 dB pre-amp setting as suggested here and Spotify volume normalization set to “Normal.” While I recommend using this pre-amp setting to preserve fidelity, it does reduce the headroom of any and all connected source devices.
The Moondrop Dawn is ludicrously powerful. Pairing the Dawn with the Moondrop S8, I reach my typical listening volume at a Windows system volume setting of 8/100. On my Google Pixel 3, I achieve a usable volume at a system volume setting of 6/25.

POWER CONSUMPTION AND HEAT MANAGEMENT:​

I took the following power consumption measurements while the Moondrop Dawn was in use at the above volume settings:

PC

Google Pixel 3
This is the most efficient balanced output device I have evaluated and approaches the efficiency of the single-ended Meizu HiFi Pro dongle:
The Dawn can get warm to the touch after a multi-hour listening session, particularly if kept inside a pocket. The Dawn does not appear to have an idle mode. The difference in power consumption between the 2V and 4V outputs to achieve the same volume level is negligible, so I recommend leaving the output voltage at 4V.

SOUND COMPARISON WITH THE HIDIZS S9:​

Note: I made the following observations switching back and forth between the two devices repeatedly under sighted conditions while volume matched to within .3 dB. The Hidizs S9 was .3 dB louder than the Moondrop Dawn. Any perceived differences between the two sources may be a result of this volume difference. There was a delay of several seconds to facilitate source switching. The Moondrop S8 was used as the transducer for this comparison. I set the Dawn to use the fast roll-off, low-latency digital filter and 4V output before my comparison. In most cases, any differences between compentently designed sources are infinitesimal and would not necessarily be apparent under uncontrolled testing conditions.
Transient delivery did seem slightly sharper and more instantaneous on the Moondrop Dawn as compared to the Hidizs S9, particularly for percussion. Otherwise, the Dawn sounded largely identical to the S9, which is not a bad thing given that I use the S9 as my go-to source for IEMs.

CLOSING WORDS:​

The Moondrop Dawn is a powerful and competitively priced opportunity to dive into balanced audio. Moreover, it is noticeably more efficient in terms of power consumption than its peers. Power efficiency is frequently an afterthought in this product space. I hope that future revisions will incorporate pause on headphone disconnect functionality, which is my one major quibble with the Dawn. Otherwise, I am happy to recommend it.
The Moondrop Dawn can be purchased here:
MoonDrop DAWN Dual CS43131 Chip Portable USB DAC/AMP PCM 768khz DSD25 (shenzhenaudio.com)