Moondrop in-ear monitors Impressions Thread

[vsg28]

Do you have the starfields to compare to by chance? Really curious how the falcon pro is

Unfortunately not, I am new to audio reviews and I only have a couple of Moondrop samples here (Aria, Sparks, and now Kato) thanks to HiFiGo, and not Moondrop directly.

 

[Lamim Rashid]

Unfortunately not, I am new to audio reviews and I only a couple of Moondrop samples (Aria, Sparks, and now Kato) thanks to HiFiGo and not Moondrop directly.

The aria sound close enough to the starfields so that would do! I'm also super curious about the KATO. Would love to hear a comparison of the Falcon Pro to the KATO cause I want to get and keep one of these. I want the Aria comparison to both of those because they should sound very close to my starfields which is what I'm most familiar with

 

[kmmbd]

Do you have the starfields to compare to by chance? Really curious how the falcon pro is

I had the Starfield and I have both the Aria and Falcon Pro. The latter is even better at midbass though sub bass rumble is tad more noticable on Aria. Mids are about on par in terms of tonality but technicality wise Falcon Pro is a tier above. Treble is more extended and can portray the shimmer of cymbal hits better on the Falcon Pro. Imaging and staging is also noticeably better.

 

[vsg28]

FYI the Aria and the FALCON PRO are really very different tunings, I don't really see them compared to each other as competitors even with any of the three nozzles that come with the FALCON PRO

 

[bcaulf17]

Fortunate to say that a little patience was all I really needed. The B2 Dusk feels way more comfortable to me now, either my ears got used to them or I got better at inserting them in a way that doesn't cause discomfort but still provides a good seal.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Fortunate to say that a little patience was all I really needed. The B2 Dusk feels way more comfortable to me now, either my ears got used to them or I got better at inserting them in a way that doesn't cause discomfort but still provides a good seal.

Don't know which tips you are using, but I found bliss using the Sedna Xelastic smalls on the Blessing 2.

 

[Lamim Rashid]

Got my B2 Dusk in the mail today. They really were barely used, even the tips still looked brand new. Previous owner bought these like a month ago and said they didn't fit good for him.

Anyways impressions. I will be comparing them to my favorites, the starfields mostly.

So these iems surprised me in two different ways. I knew these would be technically superior to pretty much everything I own but I didn't think it would be as noticable as it was. Second surprise, I don't think these are a clear cut upgrade from some cheaper headphones as people make it sound. These are my second favorite in my collection with my starfields as first.

Pretty hot take right? Starfields being better than the dusk. Well, they aren't better, they just sound better to me. Here's why.

- The bass is a bit much on the dusk, it's cool I guess but a little fatiguing and overpowering (the other frequencies) compared to the starfields which felt like it had just the right amount. This is weird for me cause Ive always considered myself a bass head. I have a 10 inch Klipsch sub next to me in a custom ported enclosure and 250w plate amp for my 2.1 ch desktop PC setup. My car had a 2200w amp (one that actually exceeds specs on the Dyno) and 12 inch dayton sub in a custom sealed enclosure. Yeah I like my bass. I've come to the conclusion too much bass just ruins the sound when it comes to iems cause there's so little space. My isn h40 and bgvp dmg had the same issues here so I wonder if this is just a hybrid iem issue.

- Vocals sound way better to me on the starfield. The dusk sound a bit "clinical" comparison. Vocals on the starfield sound more full, lush and forward. These first two points are the main reasons why I like my star fields.

- The treble is a bit more fatiguing on the dusk. Not sure why. I think maybe it's cause I have to turn the volume more up on these to get the frequencies I like up to a preferable level for my taste. Or maybe there's a peak somewhere in high mid or treble that's particularly fatiguing to me. The starfields overall are less fatiguing to me, sound more balanced, natural and full. Music in general sounds a lot more hollow on the dusk than starfields, especially if I don't turn the volume way up.

Those are the three reasons why I like my starfields more. Let's talk about what I like about the dusk though.

They're technically superior. Sure that's easy to say without details but let's talk about why I think that. Better soundstage, imaging, lofi and detail retrieval. I'm not a soundstage person, I can't really tell what makes a good soundstage so don't take that point too seriously from me but I will say I hear way more sounds and things I've never heard before. I've experienced this before when going from my starfields to other IEMs but never to this degree. The little details I have never heard or noticed before are way more than I thought I could have possibly missed. I was skeptical that a lot of this could be in people's head but looks like I'm very possibly wrong about that. Last thing that makes me think these are technically superior, the audio isn't grainy at all anywhere, the starfields sound a bit grainy in comparison, (the bgvp dmg too, but the isn h40 don't).

I don't think the starfields are a good comparison so I don't get why people say these are a complete upgrade from the starfields. They're not. They're not even similar enough to be. These sound way more similar to my hybrids like my bgvp dmg and Isn h40 than my starfields. The sound signature is somewhere between the two but the dusk is better than the two pairs in pretty much every way I could tell. The isn h40 is really underrated here, if the dusk are really as good as everyone says then the H40s REALLY punch above their weight even if they still aren't as good. I find the treble less fatiguing on the h40 but the bass too bloated on the h40. The dusk are still way better for details, bass quality etc, etc but damn do the h40 get close in everything else.

I've been listening to music all day from rap, hip hop, RnB, indie, rock to metal on these. I prefer most of my music on the starfields still but there were a few songs that shined a bit more on the B2D. Dynamic songs with electronic type beats that benefit from having a nice bassy thump like edm music, rap like ethreal Sakura by Deko ft yam eii really bump on these. These seriously kill it in edm/electronic/dubstep/trap/lofi and similar music, it isn't even close (sadly I don't listen to too much of those genre, but the dusk is really starting to get me into it). I really like electric guitar on these too so there were a lot of rock/metal songs I liked on these. Synthesized and heavily autotuned vocals aren't bad on these but for everything else vocals related I give it to the starfields.

Even though I like these a ton and think they're great I'm surprised I don't like them even more for how good they are. It must be the tonality and timber, or something like that. It does everything well, I just don't like how it colors music compared to the starfields.

Starting to think hybrids just not be for me. I think the mangird tea might be my last shot at hybrid if I ever get my hands on them. I'm wondering if I'd like going the tea or another DD more. The oxygen is tuned super similar to the starfields so I probably would have liked those more but the treble is more peaky and I'm pretty sensitive to treble fatigue so I probably wouldn't be able to listen to them for long. The falcon pro looks really interesting, tuned a lot more toward my preference than the dusk from what I can tell of the graphs posted recently by early adopters of this iem, however the bass looks a tad bit too anemic and the treble to be a bit too peaky where I don't like it. Still need to see how the KATO graphs in reviewer hands but I'm thinking my preference is gonna be between the KATO, and mangird tea. the timeless 7hz looked pretty interesting too but I think the treble would have been a bit much for me. I'm actually a little confused if I like DD or hybrid more because I like my starfields more than everything but I dislike my other DD iems (blon-03, kbear believe, and penon orb) more than my other hybrids (isn h40, dusk and possibly my bgvp dmg too). Hard to tell cause those aren't fair comparisons cause of how step above the dusk and the h40 are.

 

[prawdziwysimone]

Still need to see how the KATO graphs in reviewer hands

If you look on the other Moondrop's advertised graphs you could see that they are pretty much the same as measured by Crinacle or other reviewers

 

[Lamim Rashid]

If you look on the other Moondrop's advertised graphs you could see that they are pretty much the same as measured by Crinacle or other reviewers

Yeah, but I was hoping to compare to the iems I'm familiar with and interested in on a graph comparison tool like someone's squig or similar.

 

[H T T]

Got my B2 Dusk in the mail today. They really were barely used, even the tips still looked brand new. Previous owner bought these like a month ago and said they didn't fit good for him.

Anyways impressions. I will be comparing them to my favorites, the starfields mostly.

So these iems surprised me in two different ways. I knew these would be technically superior to pretty much everything I own but I didn't think it would be as noticable as it was. Second surprise, I don't think these are a clear cut upgrade from some cheaper headphones as people make it sound. These are my second favorite in my collection with my starfields as first.

Pretty hot take right? Starfields being better than the dusk. Well, they aren't better, they just sound better to me. Here's why.

- The bass is a bit much on the dusk, it's cool I guess but a little fatiguing and overpowering (the other frequencies) compared to the starfields which felt like it had just the right amount. This is weird for me cause Ive always considered myself a bass head. I have a 10 inch Klipsch sub next to me in a custom ported enclosure and 250w plate amp for my 2.1 ch desktop PC setup. My car had a 2200w amp (one that actually exceeds specs on the Dyno) and 12 inch dayton sub in a custom sealed enclosure. Yeah I like my bass. I've come to the conclusion too much bass just ruins the sound when it comes to iems cause there's so little space. My isn h40 and bgvp dmg had the same issues here so I wonder if this is just a hybrid iem issue.

- Vocals sound way better to me on the starfield. The dusk sound a bit "clinical" comparison. Vocals on the starfield sound more full, lush and forward. These first two points are the main reasons why I like my star fields.

- The treble is a bit more fatiguing on the dusk. Not sure why. I think maybe it's cause I have to turn the volume more up on these to get the frequencies I like up to a preferable level for my taste. Or maybe there's a peak somewhere in high mid or treble that's particularly fatiguing to me. The starfields overall are less fatiguing to me, sound more balanced, natural and full. Music in general sounds a lot more hollow on the dusk than starfields, especially if I don't turn the volume way up.

Those are the three reasons why I like my starfields more. Let's talk about what I like about the dusk though.

They're technically superior. Sure that's easy to say without details but let's talk about why I think that. Better soundstage, imaging, lofi and detail retrieval. I'm not a soundstage person, I can't really tell what makes a good soundstage so don't take that point too seriously from me but I will say I hear way more sounds and things I've never heard before. I've experienced this before when going from my starfields to other IEMs but never to this degree. The little details I have never heard or noticed before are way more than I thought I could have possibly missed. I was skeptical that a lot of this could be in people's head but looks like I'm very possibly wrong about that. Last thing that makes me think these are technically superior, the audio isn't grainy at all anywhere, the starfields sound a bit grainy in comparison, (the bgvp dmg too, but the isn h40 don't).

I don't think the starfields are a good comparison so I don't get why people say these are a complete upgrade from the starfields. They're not. They're not even similar enough to be. These sound way more similar to my hybrids like my bgvp dmg and Isn h40 than my starfields. The sound signature is somewhere between the two but the dusk is better than the two pairs in pretty much every way I could tell. The isn h40 is really underrated here, if the dusk are really as good as everyone says then the H40s REALLY punch above their weight even if they still aren't as good. I find the treble less fatiguing on the h40 but the bass too bloated on the h40. The dusk are still way better for details, bass quality etc, etc but damn do the h40 get close in everything else.

I've been listening to music all day from rap, hip hop, RnB, indie, rock to metal on these. I prefer most of my music on the starfields still but there were a few songs that shined a bit more on the B2D. Dynamic songs with electronic type beats that benefit from having a nice bassy thump like edm music, rap like ethreal Sakura by Deko ft yam eii really bump on these. These seriously kill it in edm/electronic/dubstep/trap/lofi and similar music, it isn't even close (sadly I don't listen to too much of those genre, but the dusk is really starting to get me into it). I really like electric guitar on these too so there were a lot of rock/metal songs I liked on these. Synthesized and heavily autotuned vocals aren't bad on these but for everything else vocals related I give it to the starfields.

Even though I like these a ton and think they're great I'm surprised I don't like them even more for how good they are. It must be the tonality and timber, or something like that. It does everything well, I just don't like how it colors music compared to the starfields.

Starting to think hybrids just not be for me. I think the mangird tea might be my last shot at hybrid if I ever get my hands on them. I'm wondering if I'd like going the tea or another DD more. The oxygen is tuned super similar to the starfields so I probably would have liked those more but the treble is more peaky and I'm pretty sensitive to treble fatigue so I probably wouldn't be able to listen to them for long. The falcon pro looks really interesting, tuned a lot more toward my preference than the dusk from what I can tell of the graphs posted recently by early adopters of this iem, however the bass looks a tad bit too anemic and the treble to be a bit too peaky where I don't like it. Still need to see how the KATO graphs in reviewer hands but I'm thinking my preference is gonna be between the KATO, and mangird tea. the timeless 7hz looked pretty interesting too but I think the treble would have been a bit much for me. I'm actually a little confused if I like DD or hybrid more because I like my starfields more than everything but I dislike my other DD iems (blon-03, kbear believe, and penon orb) more than my other hybrids (isn h40, dusk and possibly my bgvp dmg too). Hard to tell cause those aren't fair comparisons cause of how step above the dusk and the h40 are.

The timbre of the B2 and by extension the B2D has been a contentious issue in review after review. You love the Starfield. The Tanchjim 2021 Hana is everything the Starfield wished it was.

Yeah, but I was hoping to compare to the iems I'm familiar with and interested in on a graph comparison tool like someone's squig or similar.

Crinnacle lets you compare two IEMs at a time. If you need more than that there is a charge.

 

[Lamim Rashid]

The timbre of the B2 and by extension the B2D has been a contentious issue in review after review. You love the Starfield. The Tanchjim 2021 Hana is everything the Starfield wished it was.


Crinnacle lets you compare two IEMs at a time. If you need more than that there is a charge.

I would have hoped on the oxygen already if it weren't for those treble peaks. I don't think crinnacle has Falcon Pro or KATO in his database so I'll still have to wait

 

[H T T]

I would have hoped on the oxygen already if it weren't for those treble peaks. I don't think crinnacle has Falcon Pro or KATO in his database so I'll still have to wait

The 2021 Hana does not have troublesome peaks that I have an issue with. I am sensitive at the 6 kHz area, but more accommodating at 8 kHz.

https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,Dusk_S2,Hana_2021

https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,Hana_2021,Starfield

https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,Hana_2021,Oxygen

Ask someone is the Falcon Pro thread. I think @RikudouGoku might be able to help. I have not heard that anyone in the forum has the Kato yet. There are Moondrop's graphs for the Kato. Moondrop doesn't embellish graphs.

edit: added links to graphs; grammar

 

[Animagus]

Ooooh....look what came in today. Let's see what Moondrop did with this one.

 

[prawdziwysimone]

Ooooh....look what came in today. Let's see what Moondrop did with this one.

Impressions, please

 

[Animagus]

Impressions, please

Haha. Just got it a couple of hours back and unboxed it to check if all is well. I'll need some time with it to whip up an impressions post. I'll try it out along with KXXS if I get done with the review I'm working on early tonight.

Btw, Moondrop finally joined the attractive stock cable team. Kato's cable is quite the looker and much better than KXXS, Blessing2 and S8's stock cables.