[G777]

Perhaps save up for ybf iss014? That one is considered as blon upgrade, only issue is their wonky QC

Might as well get a Moondrop Aria at that point.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Might as well get a Moondrop Aria at that point.

Agree,
Here is my first impression for Aria posted to moondrop thread. I currently see Aria with removed hex stock filter as very competitive IEM for sub$300 segment. I prefer Aria over KXXS/Starfield.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Agree,
Here is my first impression for Aria posted to moondrop thread. I currently see Aria with removed hex stock filter as very competitive IEM for sub$300 segment. I prefer Aria over KXXS/Starfield.

It is interesting that you are using them without any filters! Doesn't it lead to any moisture and/or wax buildup?

 

[AmericanSpirit]

It is interesting that you are using them without any filters! Doesn't it lead to any moisture and/or wax buildup?

You can see the picture at the bottom of the post, Aria has another acoustic filter on top of hex filter, so at the end of the day, it’s still covered

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

You can see the picture at the bottom of the post, Aria has another acoustic filter on top of hex filter, so at the end of the day, it’s still covered

Ahh! Had to really zoom in to see that. Thinking of getting one so will try this mod if I find them not upto my taste OOTB as I'm not much of a believer in burn-in. Brain burn-in, possibly.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Ahh! Had to really zoom in to see that. Thinking of getting one so will try this mod if I find them not upto my taste OOTB as I'm not much of a believer in burn-in. Brain burn-in, possibly.

Good luck!
LCP drivers does get affected by burn-in more than Carbon-based drivers used in KXXS/Starfield. LCP is thin and flexible yet very solid, that produces a very unique tone that resembles to what I heard about pure-beryllium drivers do. To me it sound as fast and accurate as BA with full bodied dynamic drivers full impact! I ordered discontinued KBear Belive due to raise in raremetal prices, and would like to have a comparison with Aria vs Believe after receiving it.

Right out of the box, Aria’s cymbal presentation is just pessimistic, it crashes to everywhere without proper control. Moondrop actually wrote in the product guide of Aria to “recommend to burn-in for 100 hours before listening “

also note Aria uses same high-end cable as Massdrop’s KXXX.
It’s fabric-covered cable and the build is very solid! Because of this good made cable, I didn’t even bother to try running Aria with balanced cables. The touch of cable is one of the best one I had.

So, if anyone value the long term comfort of Aria, I’d say it is S tier comfort For me the cable itself worth $40.

To sum up:
-right out of the box impression and comparison with Starfield:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moondrop-in-ear-monitors-impressions-thread.894139/post-16311440

-post burn-in with removed filter mod:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moondrop-in-ear-monitors-impressions-thread.894139/post-16322830

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Good luck!
LCP drivers does get affected by burn-in more than Carbon-based drivers used in KXXS/Starfield. LCP is thin and flexible yet very solid, that produces a very unique tone that resembles to what I heard about pure-beryllium drivers do. To me it sound as fast and accurate as BA with full bodied dynamic drivers full impact! I ordered discontinued KBear Belive due to raise in raremetal prices, and would like to have a comparison with Aria vs Believe after receiving it.

Right out of the box, Aria’s cymbal presentation is just pessimistic, it crashes to everywhere without proper control. Moondrop actually wrote in the product guide of Aria to “recommend to burn-in for 100 hours before listening “

also note Aria uses same high-end cable as Massdrop’s KXXX.
It’s fabric-covered cable and the build is very solid! Because of this good made cable, I didn’t even bother to try running Aria with balanced cables. The touch of cable is one of the best one I had.

So, if anyone value the long term comfort of Aria, I’d say it is S tier comfort For me the cable itself worth $40.

To sum up:
-right out of the box impression and comparison with Starfield:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moondrop-in-ear-monitors-impressions-thread.894139/post-16311440

-post burn-in with removed filter mod:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moondrop-in-ear-monitors-impressions-thread.894139/post-16322830

Hmmm this is interesting. I'm very much impressed by the overall package that Moondrop is providing with Aria, that itself is very promising in this price bracket.

Locally, Aria is available for over $100 which is a big dampener. I'd try to get them in a month or two as soon as covid surge recceds in my country. Thanks for your impressions. I always wanted to try a Moondrop product and I feel nothing would be better than Aria as it more or less fits into what I generally like in an IEM.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Hmmm this is interesting. I'm very much impressed by the overall package that Moondrop is providing with Aria, that itself is very promising in this price bracket.

Locally, Aria is available for over $100 which is a big dampener. I'd try to get them in a month or two from as soon as covid surge recceds in my country. Thanks for your impressions. I always wanted to try a Moondrop product and I feel nothing would be better than Aria as it more or less fits into what I generally like in an IEM.

Aria(removed filter) bass is what I can prefer over Blessing2, Thieaudio Monarch and hard to decide between MEST MKII, you’d definitely want to give it a try

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Ahh! Had to really zoom in to see that. Thinking of getting one so will try this mod if I find them not upto my taste OOTB as I'm not much of a believer in burn-in. Brain burn-in, possibly.

I just opened Aria box, and noticed it comes with both hex filter(the outer filter) and acoustic filter (the inner filter) spares! Also the user guide clearly stated LCP driver performs poorly at the beginning and it needs 100 hours of burn-in.
I see some negative feedbacks of Aria from some, and they seemed not performed suggested burn-in it seems. I agree and without prejudice, stated at the unboxing impressuon that Aria sounded off-tone out of box, so this proved my statement.

 

[gadgetgod]

I just opened Aria box, and noticed it comes with both hex filter(the outer filter) and acoustic filter (the inner filter) spares! Also the user guide clearly stated LCP driver performs poorly at the beginning and it needs 100 hours of burn-in.
I see some negative feedbacks of Aria from some, and they seemed not performed suggested burn-in it seems. I agree and without prejudice, stated at the unboxing impressuon that Aria sounded off-tone out of box, so this proved my statement.

How to use these filters??

 

[gadgetgod]

Currently under burn-in period. I don't understand how to use the provided tuning filters :/.

Initial impressions, the pair has a good punch in the lower end, but what I love the most about it is the overall clarity and resolution for its price.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

I just opened Aria box, and noticed it comes with both hex filter(the outer filter) and acoustic filter (the inner filter) spares! Also the user guide clearly stated LCP driver performs poorly at the beginning and it needs 100 hours of burn-in.
I see some negative feedbacks of Aria from some, and they seemed not performed suggested burn-in it seems. I agree and without prejudice, stated at the unboxing impressuon that Aria sounded off-tone out of box, so this proved my statement.

Interesting this is. Thanks for your impressions and extensive help on this. I was anyways done with sub-50 sidegrades and have decided I'd step up to sub-100 and instead buy 3-4 IEMs a year which actually make a difference to my collection instead of buying 20 of which I won't even listen to half of them 6 months down the line

 

[AmericanSpirit]

How to use these filters??

It’s a replacements filters.
You use the black tweezers that is in the picture to operate.
But to remove the hex iron filter, I recommend to use some .

After removing that hex shaped iron filter

It will be like below.

That’s what I call a remove hex filter mod.
It will although derail the sound sigunature from MoonDrop’s house harman curve to more bright neutral with slight U hints, but technicalities could be significantly improved.
The unusual hex shaped filter is a handcuff to force sound to stick with harman curve, with some sacrifices.

Note:
I’d recommmend to keep this acoustic white mesh filter to stay unless it’s ultimately damaged. You have to destroy the white mesh filter in order to remove it.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Interesting this is. Thanks for your impressions and extensive help on this. I was anyways done with sub-50 sidegrades and have decided I'd step up to sub-100 and instead buy 3-4 IEMs a year which actually make a difference to my collection instead of buying 20 of which I won't even listen to half of them 6 months down the line

It’s a journey to find your personal ultimate favor, so I believe sidewalks are sometime necessary, but yes at sometime you’d walk forward I’d settle with Aria and Tri Starsea for $ around 100 choice. Aria for ultimate dynamic, Starsea for “mini 64audio U12t”.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

It’s a journey to find your personal ultimate favor, so I believe sidewalks are sometime necessary, but yes at sometime you’d walk forward I’d settle with Aria and Tri Starsea for $ around 100 choice. Aria for ultimate dynamic, Starsea for “mini 64audio U12t”.

Yes, for now, I feel I'm very saturated with the offerings in the sub $50 bracket and I've figured out what my preferences are. As my current collection gives me great diversity. Maybe in future I'd get something in this realm which is exciting and path breaking. Also, as you mentioned, at times it is necessary to move forward, I think this is a good time to step-up and see what the Western 'budget-fi' has in store for me.

Thanks for the recos, but I'd like try a planar and probably an EST if it ever trickles down to this price range apart from Tape. Starsea is the one with tuning switches right? I have them in my radar as well.