[Nabillion_786]

In this song, the Timeless sounds better especially the guitar. The plucking sound is very natural, the ambiance and resonance from the guitar presented beautifully. The KATO is good, but the guitar especially the resonance seems a bit muted.

Does the planar of timeless have the exact type of sound as the Kato's especially in midrange? I've never experienced planars and was thinking if planars have any weird artificial sounds like some ba's can for me. Single dd's has always been the way for me and I just enjoy the sheer realism and power from those driver. Maybe more resolution could be welcome though.

 

[Ludvig Nilsson]

Haven't tried Momentum, but as someone who used to smartphone>Dragonfly Red>IEMs, which by far better than most budget tws
Switching to BTR5 especially with 2.5 balanced out, its more awesome. while wired connection give you more visceral sound so to speak (its cleaner than DFR).
in bluetooth mode (LDAC), its still pretty damn awesome. enough that i didn't bother to carry wired connection to my phone for day to day use.

Alright cheers! Now I’m really stoked to get my stuff!

 

[littlenezt]

just got myself the Moondrop S8 2 days ago, really lovin it !

i want to ask, which one is the "Serial Number" of the S8, the one embossed on the IEM Shell or the one on the packaging box? i need this information for extra added insurance for "peace of mind"

also, if i need to contact Moondrop reps, which social media / email should i sent to? i write to the support email but got no response, sent DM and comment on Instagram no response, the Facebook one i got response but only replied one sentence and kinda makes me confused.

edit : Moondrop reps finally replied to my email, guess they were busy

 

[r31ya]

Just removed the metal filter on my Aria in search on fixing the odd static noise...
Holy crap, the bass... still tight but the impact is different. The lower male vocal i'm looking for is more present without the filter
Is it safe to be used as daily without the filter?

and the static i'm looking for might come from my BTR5...
i'm gonna try to clean the jack plug

 

[littlenezt]

Just removed the metal filter on my Aria in search on fixing the odd static noise...
Holy crap, the bass... still tight but the impact is different. The lower male vocal i'm looking for is more present without the filter
Is it safe to be used as daily without the filter?

and the static i'm looking for might come from my BTR5...
i'm gonna try to clean the jack plug

i guess you can put non acoustic damper nylon filter to prevent ear wax from getting inside the nozzle / driver. but i dont know for sure if its save or not

 

[jsmiller58]

Just from a brief listening, the Timeless has bigger soundstage while the KATO is more intimate. The vocal on KATO presented more forward. The bass on Timeless has much better decay and impact whereas the KATO is tighter. The treble interestingly sounds pretty similar so far.

Sounds like we should all hope for the love child of the Timeless and KATO!

 

[MOONDROP]

just got myself the Moondrop S8 2 days ago, really lovin it !

i want to ask, which one is the "Serial Number" of the S8, the one embossed on the IEM Shell or the one on the packaging box? i need this information for extra added insurance for "peace of mind"

also, if i need to contact Moondrop reps, which social media / email should i sent to? i write to the support email but got no response, sent DM and comment on Instagram no response, the Facebook one i got response but only replied one sentence and kinda makes me confused.

edit : Moondrop reps finally replied to my email, guess they were busy

it's the number engraved on the headphone shell.

 

[voicemaster]

The KATO is starting to grow on me. I am using Timeless green + white tips on my KATO. This gives the KATO a fuller bass and more impact. I compared the KATO with the ARIA briefly and they share a similar sound signature. The KATO has better bass, more detailed mid and more extend treble. The Aria probably like 80-85% of KATO.

 

[unifutomaki]

The KATO is starting to grow on me. I am using Timeless green + white tips on my KATO. This gives the KATO a fuller bass and more impact. I compared the KATO with the ARIA briefly and they share a similar sound signature. The KATO has better bass, more detailed mid and more extend treble. The Aria probably like 80-85% of KATO.

That really underscores what a great deal the Aria is!

 

[jsmiller58]

That really underscores what a great deal the Aria is!

Also demonstrates how after a point marinal improvements are much more costly…. At about $190 is the KATO really only 1/10th as good as $2K sets? There may be the rare exception, but I will bet not in general. I am pretty happy being firmly in the mid-fi world, owning lots of IEMs from $30-$600 so I can enjoy and explore more sound signatures than if I tried to go for summit-fi, and I am convinced that for pure music enjoyment I am not missing out on much!

 

[little grayman]

Also demonstrates how after a point marinal improvements are much more costly…. At about $190 is the KATO really only 1/10th as good as $2K sets? There may be the rare exception, but I will bet not in general. I am pretty happy being firmly in the mid-fi world, owning lots of IEMs from $30-$600 so I can enjoy and explore more sound signatures than if I tried to go for summit-fi, and I am convinced that for pure music enjoyment I am not missing out on much!

You know I agree with that, I kept wanting something better and better, spending more and more and it is just starting to sink in with the higher price/diminishing returns whole thing.

 

[darkgod5]

Also demonstrates how after a point marinal improvements are much more costly…. At about $190 is the KATO really only 1/10th as good as $2K sets? There may be the rare exception, but I will bet not in general. I am pretty happy being firmly in the mid-fi world, owning lots of IEMs from $30-$600 so I can enjoy and explore more sound signatures than if I tried to go for summit-fi, and I am convinced that for pure music enjoyment I am not missing out on much!

It also vastly depends on the listener's library. I remember I had some fun comparing a $50 IEM vs. a $2000 IEM for some user's library picks and came to the conclusion that, for what they listen to, the $50 IEM was able to portray the music at least 85% as well as the $2000 IEM. On the other hand, if you're listening to some vastly complex piece of music in comparison such as this:
then that $50 will make it sound like mush and even a $700 IEM may only get you to 65% of what you'll get out of that $2000 IEM.

 

[jsmiller58]

It also vastly depends on the listener's library. I remember I had some fun comparing a $50 IEM vs. a $2000 IEM for some user's library picks and came to the conclusion that, for what they listen to, the $50 IEM was able to portray the music at least 85% as well as the $2000 IEM. On the other hand, if you're listening to some vastly complex piece of music in comparison such as this:
then that $50 will make it sound like mush and even a $700 IEM may only get you to 65% of what you'll get out of that $2000 IEM.

I have never had the privilege of listening to a ~$2K IEM, so I definitely will have to take your word for the differences!

However, I think that you do help me make my point, just by a different route. Unless the kind of music that will challenge lesser IEMs is what the listener always listens to, they will listen to a distribution of music, some of which will not demonstrate the benefit, and some of it that will. Again, potentially paying a very large markup for a more limited benefit.

With my layman’s understanding of economics, I don’t think that any of this is very unusual, with the oft repeated phrase of “diminishing marginal returns” describing that you pay a lot more for less and less incremental improvement, whether for each individual purchaser or for the group of purchasers as a whole. (Think about how much more a first class airplane seat costs you, and what incremental value is derived. I have flown in all classes, and in the end I had a MUCH better seat, food, and drinks, but got to my destination in the same time regardless of seat class, and could have had even better food and drinks for less at my destination!

While most of us cannot enjoy the $2K IEMs today, we actually should hope it does sound much better. Eventually previously pricey and premium tech is pushed down the cost curve through engineering and manufacturing improvements, and ultimately displaced at the high end by the introduction of yet newer expensive technologies. The combination of these leads to improvements in mainstream products as they adopt previously out of reach tech or builds, and the cycle repeats.

So, I really do hope some listeners are able to enjoy listening to choirs of angels singing with very expensive IEMs, because one day I will be able to as well for a much more reasonable price!

 

[darkgod5]

I absolutely couldn't agree more. I should have said that a track such as the one I posted is an exception to the rule of greatly diminishing returns. For the usual 99% of cases which apply to over 99.99% of people, a $2000 IEM will in no way sound even 2 times better than a $50 IEM let alone a $100 or $200 IEM.

It's like how most people that buy a sports car like a Ferrari will never or maybe only once take it to a race track to actually use and perceive what it was designed for. But I digress...

 

[unifutomaki]

It also vastly depends on the listener's library. I remember I had some fun comparing a $50 IEM vs. a $2000 IEM for some user's library picks and came to the conclusion that, for what they listen to, the $50 IEM was able to portray the music at least 85% as well as the $2000 IEM. On the other hand, if you're listening to some vastly complex piece of music in comparison such as this:
then that $50 will make it sound like mush and even a $700 IEM may only get you to 65% of what you'll get out of that $2000 IEM.

I absolutely do not see myself listening to such music, so I think the $2000 IEM is probably lost on me

Currently, though, I think I'm still on the good side of the diminishing returns curve. Among my wired IEMs, having stepped up from sub-$50 sets to the ~$80 Aria and then the ~$150 A4000, there has been a readily-perceivable increment in both tonality and technicalities with each upgrade. With TWS, I decided to stop wasting time with the multitude of budget offerings and just go for one of the best sets from the get-go.