[IEMusic]

Those of you who have ordered from AliExpress since The end of April, have you received your products? I’m still waiting for stuff ordered last week of April. Also I get the feeling Aluexpress sellers aren’t not transparent about the inventory they hold and when they actually ship products. I see stuff being dispatched for weeks before there is any movement at all

Maybe this can provide a better outlet.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/shipping-discussions.935735/

 

[kmmbd]

Just received the Moondrop Starfield.

First impressions: great build and design, but I don't like the stock cable at all. Even stock KZ cable is better and I never thought that's possible.

As for the sound, not sure if this is the intended signature but they sound too boring and lacks dynamics. Also the sub-bass rumble is almost absent for some reason. I initially thought it to be a seal issue but after trying multiple eartips, that doesn't seem to be the case. I will listen to them for a while before passing the final judgment but for now, not too impressed.

Edit: It seems that I didn't push in the pin on the left earpiece hard enough, that's why the bass sounded off (although there was sound, surprisingly). Now, the bass is rather articulate, although it still doesn't rumble below 30Hz so extension isn't the best. The midrange is really good, vocals are absolutely spot-on. The treble is there mostly to complement the sound rather than dominate. Imaging is pretty decent but the soundstage is kinda intimate, not claustrophobic though.

Hopefully I can share more over the weeks.

 

[OleOlafOle]

A FOODIE'S GUIDE TO EARPHONES

Burp!

 

[Qualcheduno]

Just received the Moondrop Starfield.

First impressions: great build and design, but I don't like the stock cable at all. Even stock KZ cable is better and I never thought that's possible.

As for the sound, not sure if this is the intended signature but they sound too boring and lacks dynamics. Also the sub-bass rumble is almost absent for some reason. I initially thought it to be a seal issue but after trying multiple eartips, that doesn't seem to be the case. I will listen to them for a while before passing the final judgment but for now, not too impressed.

Yes, they surely are on the safe side, so for those who are less sensitive than me they can sound boring, BUT I don't agree with you on the bass department, mine reaches pretty deep and hits with a fair amount of punchiness

 

[IEMusic]

It probably needs a little bit of time for the DD to break in. I’ve never read any reports of anyone complaining of too little bass with the Starfields.

 

[kmmbd]

The bass is definitely there, not complaining about the quantity of the bass. It's more about the quality of it since I don't get the sub-bass rumble post 35Hz and it felt like the bass lacked textured, though I mostly tried on Rock/Hard Rock songs. I will take turns listening to them over the week, let's see how it develops.

Edit: @Qualcheduno @IEMusic it turns out the cable on the left wasn't plugged in properly. Detected this issue after listening to them individually. Now they sound as they should.

 

[IEMusic]

The bass is definitely there, not complaining about the quantity of the bass. It's more about the quality of it since I don't get the sub-bass rumble post 35Hz and it felt like the bass lacked textured, though I mostly tried on Rock/Hard Rock songs. I will take turns listening to them over the week, let's see how it develops.

Hopefully the quality of bass/sub bass improves for you. I would think that would change the most if there is any change with driver break in.

 

[gr33nhorn]

Check out Final E3000.

I share the same quest. I found the only way to achieve this (with IEMs under $100 USD), was with an EQ, to do a cut at the offending frequency. For portable use, you can get a (Bluetooth receiver) Radsone ES100 MKI for $80 on Amazon or as low as $63, for "Amazon renewed guaranteed".

I have a few sub $100 USD basshead sets that don't have sharp treble/upper mids, but some of them are out of production or hard to find:

I agree. I would take a look at the E3000, E4000, and E5000. I recently bought the E3000. It’s very warm, with a lot of bass, but the upper mids and treble are smooth, and not bright at all. Important caveat, those E series IEMs need a LOT of power for an IEM, in order to come alive. I wouldn’t count on most cell phones being able to adequately power them. The E3000 has a fixed cable, so you can’t run it balanced, but the E4000 and E5000 have removable cables.

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations - I did go through the E3000 reviews - decided against it for now because its price is just under $50 - which brings it into my semi serious budget range (and at that price, most of the reviews say the sub bass isnt enough, and the cable is fixed - which puts them in the "maybe" category)

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Rose Aurora?

In other news, i got a pair of KZ ZS1. I am very impressed. the bass on this thing is very nice - approaches the sony XB50AP - only con is that the sub bass is slightly less, and slightly muddied mid bass, but handles EQ and power pretty nicely. The jury is still out on if the highs are better (they are definitely not worse). But found out this is the new version, not the original, so the bass is lesser - can't imagine what the bass in those would have been. Mids are also smooth and not too recessed. Overall the signature is pretty much what i prefer.

Letting it burn in, will check back in later. Also because these are DD, i can amp them to the limit and not worry about blowing up the DD drivers. I hope instead of cramming 10 BA drivers into a shell, somebody would put some effort into making a good 2 DD IEM with some subwoofer level bass, and smooth and warm, but detailed highs (something that should be easier to achieve with a 2DD combo) - something like a combo of a blon bl03 driver for the highs/mids, and the sony xb50 driver for the lows.

 

[DBaldock9]

...

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Rose Aurora?

...

I've got a set.
The Aurora uses the same fairly thin shell as the Kinera BA05 / BD005 (comfortable to wear while sleeping).
They don't have as much low Bass as the BA05 or Tennmak Pro, but have a more balanced sound, with a nice wide Sound Stage.

 

[Slater]

In other news, i got a pair of KZ ZS1.

Do you know which version of the ZS1 you got?

If you take off the ear tip and look at the end of the nozzle, does it have stainless steel nozzle mesh, or a brass piece with a hole in the middle?

 

[gr33nhorn]

Do you know which version of the ZS1 you got?

It's the new one - with the wire mesh in the nozzle and no brass /crossover board.

 

[Sebastiaan156]

Just got my blon bl-05 today (was 3 weeks shipping to the Netherlands from Alie)

I really like them after a couple of hours of use. Bass sound signature like the bl-03 but more sharp highs (more sparkle). I know it's a love or hate product put I'm sold to them.i prefer them over the bl-03, ie80s, tinhifi p1 and T2, ikkio oh1 and more

Now in the trail ofnoredereing a cema cable for it. Stock cable is crap but works better on the bl-05 than on the bl-03. Also the bl-05 works better with less propper sources. Like a fiio m5 or Meizu dac.

 

[darmanastartes]

First impressions: great build and design, but I don't like the stock cable at all. Even stock KZ cable is better and I never thought that's possible.

Oh c'mon, the cable is not *that* bad.

 

[Podster]

Oh c'mon, the cable is not *that* bad.

Agreed, I like kmmbd but the cable on the Starfield is not that bad and I'm not sure what KZ cables he's talking about? I think the Starfield cable is as good as some of the KZ upgrade cables even. Not sure of his source either as my Starfields on my Opus #1 are quite lively and not boring to me in the least but you know my motto, we all hear them a little differently

 

[gr33nhorn]

when it rains, it pours! all my aliexpress orders seem to have decided to come at once!
got my opera factory OM1 and the VJJB N30. now the VJJB seems to have a lot of promise.
Its pretty low sensitivity - doesnt hit decent volumes off my phone or laptop, but run them off an amp and then suddenly it becomes pretty brawny and starts blasting out some pretty awesome bass. It doesn't seem to compromise on the treble either. (but the mids are somewhat overshadowed) Finally getting somewhere!