I got the chance to listen to the DUNU lineup, including the LUNA, at The Source AV event in California last month. Special shoutout to
@DUNU-Topsound for bringing the lineup to the event!
I'm honestly not much of an in-ears kind of person, but the LUNA was pretty spectacular overall. Of the in-ears I've liked, they're generally of just a single dynamic driver type, and the LUNA is exactly that. At the same price, I much prefer the LUNA's sound over the Sony IER-Z1R.
Most of you probably know that the LUNA houses a pure beryllium foil driver, versus one that has beryllium atoms deposited on a non-beryllium driver. Since it was at The Source AV anyway, I did a couple listening tests between the LUNA and the Utopia since they both use 100% beryllium drivers; and they do have some similar sound characteristics.
The pure beryllium driver likely aids in part to the LUNA's excellent imaging ability from when I listened to it, which I think is one of the strong points of this in-ear. This was probably the number one thing that stuck out to me while listening to the LUNA: instruments were well-separated from one another in sound mixes, and they retained their shape even in denser sections of tracks. Usually this is a hard feature to have in in-ears from my experience, and it was really enjoyable to listen to music with.
The soundstage does sound pretty spacious for an in-ear, but nothing like an open-back headphone, of course. It was more spacious-sounding than my UE Reference Remastered, so that was another strong point for the LUNA that I really enjoyed.
On to the overall sound signature of the LUNA, I found it to be pretty balanced-sounding overall with an emphasis on the upper-midrange and a presence peak for the treble section (kind of similar to the Utopia for me). Its got more of a reference sound for sure, as opposed to one for casual fun listening.
The bass is simply just clean, well-textured, and has great extension. Most dynamic in-ears excel in the bass department, and the LUNA is no exception. Due to the terrific imaging abilities of the LUNA, I actually tuned in to the clean bass response more so than other in-ears I've heard recently. It's one of those qualities where you can just get lost in the music.
Likewise, the midrange as a whole sounds pretty clean to me, with the only exception being the upper-midrange. Depending on the insertion depth of the in-ear, and the shape of your ear canal, you might hear different resonance frequencies. For me, with the stock blue LUNA tips, the upper-midrange sounded a bit bright for me; not nearly as bright and sibilant-sounding as the IER-Z1R, and not as fatiguing as the Etymotic ER4SR. Because of this, things like guitar strings and female vocals seemed more present in the mix than what I'd imagine them to be, but that might be a plus for some folks.
The treble is where many dynamic driver in-ears kind of fall apart, but the LUNA somehow manages to keep up with the higher frequencies like a balanced armature driver in-ear might do. There is a slight presence peak, so things sound a bit sizzley up top, but overall it's a very nice-sounding treble response.
My sound preference for an in-ear is warm so that when I'm using it outside, the emphasized bass compensates for the loss of bass while walking around, and the reduced treble compensates for the increased volume one would use. Because of that, the LUNA isn't quite the in-ear for me and how I use in-ears, but many others prefer to have a reference sound and I think the LUNA is a great option for that.
Some eye candy.
The aesthetics of the Luna are of another cosmos. Photos and video don't do it justice: you have to see it in-person to get the full appreciation of its design. From the machined-titanium concave faceplate, to the loud, blue silicone tip that represents Earth, everything about the design seems to be meticulously crafted to be 1) themed around space, and 2) functional for its use case.
The MMCX silver-plated OCC copper-core cable feels well-built and I feel like it will last forever, and the interchangeable terminated ends are freaking amazing. You don't have to swap the entire cable to get a different termination, and you don't need to change cables from balanced to unbalanced: you simply just swap the connector. This cable is what I'd consider to be the gold standard for headphones/in-ears.
I almost thought I'd to buy them.
