[manukmanohar]

Those having moondrop A8, would really appreciate your help in understanding how they fare wrt comfort and isolation? More impressions on how they sound are also welcome

 

[spion]

I basically followed the guide from https://www.reddit.com/r/inearfidelity/comments/ag3tey/mh755_mmcx_mod_guide_credit_g_anon/ but on the crescent, more or less.

I didn't use a hobby knife to separate the driver here - since the shell is a tank i simply used pliers and carefully twisted repeatedly in both directions until it separated.

Another difference, the strain relief of the Moondrop Crescent is threaded - and the thread matches the threaded mmcx connectors that typically get used *exactly* (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MLL...MMCX-Earphones-With-Built-in/32905370386.html). So
I also removed the strain relief with pliers by unscrewing it.

Unlike the mh755 process (where you glue the mmcx terminal) there is some effort involved to avoid tangling the wires too much while screwing it on the Crescent. If they get too twisted, the impedance between them will get low enough to act as a parallel resistor (resulting with a noticeable decrease in volume and increase in amp distortion if you try louder volume due to much lower impedance)

 

[DynamicEars]

I removed Moondrop Crescent's biggest flaw, and attached a non-flaw

Wow man! any sound changes after modified? What a work man, the shell is metal / alloy isn't it?

 

[HAMS]

I basically followed the guide from https://www.reddit.com/r/inearfidelity/comments/ag3tey/mh755_mmcx_mod_guide_credit_g_anon/ but on the crescent, more or less.

I didn't use a hobby knife to separate the driver here - since the shell is a tank i simply used pliers and carefully twisted repeatedly in both directions until it separated.

Another difference, the strain relief of the Moondrop Crescent is threaded - and the thread matches the threaded mmcx connectors that typically get used *exactly* (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MLL...MMCX-Earphones-With-Built-in/32905370386.html). So
I also removed the strain relief with pliers by unscrewing it.

Unlike the mh755 process (where you glue the connector) there is some effort involved to avoid tangling the wires too much while screwing on the connector. If they get too twisted, the impedance between them will get low enough to act as a parallel resistor (resulting with a noticeable decrease in volume and increase in amp distortion if you try louder volume due to much lower impedance)

Do you prefer crescent over mh1?

 

[spion]

Wow man! any sound changes after modified? What a work man, the shell is metal / alloy isn't it?

None that I can tell, but I haven't measured to verify. Will post after measurement later.

It was actually much easier than you would expect, because the threaded mmcx terminals i linked to fit perfectly into the threading of the strain relief. Its even exactly the same color. No drilling needed, just some soldering and careful rotation to screw on the soldered mmcx terminal after.

left side: crescent strain relief with small thread on top
right side: mmcx connector i linked, same size threading:

 

[spion]

Do you prefer crescent over mh1?

Yes I personally do. There is more treble sparkle due to slightly stronger resonant peak as @yuriv measured in his review and that extends all the way to 11KHz



Graph says it all:

* crescent has a bit less sub-bass than my good MH1C copy (but with some copies it might be exactly the same)
* its sounds a bit more laid back, less shouty (3K has 2.5dB less, only 9dB raise not 12) - but MH1C varies so much that there are copies that are exactly the same again
* its brigther in the mid-upper treble by about 3dB (graph doesn't show it but it actually starts earlier at 7.5K for me, could be as low as 7K depending on insertion depth) and has more sparkle, which i really love (and no MH1C copy has that, treble is smoother and a bit more recessed there). I always felt that the mid-upper treble of MH1C is way too recessed for my taste, making it sound somewhat boring...

 

[HerrXRDS]

I love the upper half on the Crescent. On very busy tracks like folk-metal or Irish-punk acoustic guitars sound so happy and clear. Things even some of my multi Knowles BAs setups have problems with, these do wonderful. They don't sound tiring, bright or peaky, just balanced. On things like Waggaki Band the samisen, koto and guitar have all the notes presented to you even on busy sections. Very clean, pleasant and non tiring sound. I just wish the lower section was as good, IMO it's pretty crappy. Overemphasized sub-bass and non present mid-bass makes drums and bass guitars sound bad. Listening to Parkway Drive with something like FH5 or even AR-3001 which cost $7, the different drum toms have a nice echo and decay going "Buuum, Biiiiiing, Boiiing" , on Crescent is more like "BUM,BUM,BUM" All that sub-bass and no flavor. A shame.
I have the Kanas on the way, hoping they do bass better but I'm afraid from what I've heard in a few different sound demos, it has the a similar bass response, impressive for certain genres, but not so good for drums.

Someone mentioned one side going quiet after a while, had the same issue with Crescent. After a few hours of listening seems like the metal shells caused enough condense to block something. After I've let them dry, they started working. Maybe I'll try to change the grill if this becomes an issue.

 

[CoiL]

I have the Kanas on the way, hoping they do bass better but I'm afraid from what I've heard in a few different sound demos, it has the a similar bass response, impressive for certain genres, but not so good for drums.

I don`t have regular Kanas but Pro has crazy good drums! Just finished listening one of all-time favourites TOOL - 10000 days and I have never heard it having so clean and detailed percussion with 100% natural timbre (I have been in 2 bands as bass-player as side notice). Hi-hat and cymbals dynamics and intonations are just freaking perfect and very detailed/transparent through other instruments/sounds.
And another note, kick drum and bass thump have best "separation" I`ve heard when they go with same rythm... both punching hard& tight with distinguishable tonality and "note".
Also GoGo Penguin - Humdrum Star sounds best I`ve heard to date. Contrabass fast play and thump in Bardo is very tight and fast with correct contrabass timbre and wooden-body "thump".
I could bring more examples but been busy with just enjoying music...
I think Crescent is just technically not able to provide what KPE does (different driver tech& size) and has more mid-bass which could complicate sound in busy tracks. KPE bass is clean as it gets and never bleeds into other FR.

 

[drey101]

I basically followed the guide from https://www.reddit.com/r/inearfidelity/comments/ag3tey/mh755_mmcx_mod_guide_credit_g_anon/ but on the crescent, more or less.

I didn't use a hobby knife to separate the driver here - since the shell is a tank i simply used pliers and carefully twisted repeatedly in both directions until it separated.

Another difference, the strain relief of the Moondrop Crescent is threaded - and the thread matches the threaded mmcx connectors that typically get used *exactly* (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MLL...MMCX-Earphones-With-Built-in/32905370386.html). So
I also removed the strain relief with pliers by unscrewing it.

Unlike the mh755 process (where you glue the connector) there is some effort involved to avoid tangling the wires too much while screwing on the connector. If they get too twisted, the impedance between them will get low enough to act as a parallel resistor (resulting with a noticeable decrease in volume and increase in amp distortion if you try louder volume due to much lower impedance)

Thank you! That's basically my only complaint with the Crescent, and with this, I might be able to DIY this myself. I only did the removable cable mod for the MH755, so this will be a bit more difficult. I might try doing this first on my second MH755 first so I have practice before doing this on the Crescent. If it's not too difficult, would it be possible for you to open up your Crescent so we can have a view on the insides?

PS Crescent is much better than MH755 imo. But I love using the MH755 tips on the Crescent.

 

[spion]

If it's not too difficult, would it be possible for you to open up your Crescent so we can have a view on the insides?

I might do it if I get brave enough honestly, its pretty much the same as a mh755 with the driver attached to the front part and the back volume is more or less empty with a strain relief hole. Same thing as mh755, different material and back part dimensions.

Imagine a mh755, but with more of a larger, rounded cylindrical back section.

Just pull carefully, I pulled way too strong for the first side, ended up with this:


and had to solder on the driver side (needs to be very quick to avoid heat damage)

 

[drey101]

I might do it if I get brave enough honestly, its pretty much the same as a mh755 with the driver attached to the front part and the back volume is more or less empty with a strain relief hole. Same thing as mh755, different material and back part dimensions.

Imagine a mh755, but with more of a larger, rounded cylindrical back section.

Just pull carefully, I pulled way too strong for the first side, ended up with this:


and had to solder on the driver side (needs to be very quick to avoid heat damage)

Ohh, that's good enough actually! Thanks again!

 

[CactusPete23]

Just listening to this extra long version of the Allman Brothers Jessica on the Kanas Pros (with KZ Starline Tips)... Sounds Great !

 

[blacksesame]

using the AR-M20 (ifi earbuddy) with the Kanas pro ... it's sounding oh so amazing. I haven't heard anything better (although I don't have much experience with high end stuff...)

it's been 3 months now so the honey-moon stage is over and yet I think these are amazing !!

 

[Asakurai]

So here's my opinion about Moondrop A8

Spoiler: A8 + Violet

Do mind to take note that for me "Midrange is King" and it also reflect on my playlist which consist of 70% Chinese Audiophile, My impression might be different with yours because of different playlist and source. and i also use ZX300 as my source

How is the sound? (with standard cable)
Overall tuning is balanced, Full and thick sound with great clarity, Vocal is lively and a bit "Erotic", Low frequency is soft
Detailed sound as below:

Treble:
Overall performance is great, Treble extend really well, really smooth, the line is very clear but not very thin and sharp. Speed is also good, BUT it does lack those "Bite" that makes it less exciting. In the end, A8 really has good control in this area

Mid:
Vocal distance relatively close with good density, what i really like is the balance between grainy and smooth in the vocal. Midrange has really good clarity and the articulation is top-notch. Female voice is delicate and soft with good texture, while male voice has enough weight

Bass:
Overall looks slightly soft, dive quite deep (Typical BA sound which is not satisfying enough for me), it does has good atmosphere rendering ability. Speed is moderate

Soundstage, Separation and Resolution:
Width and Depth is a bit better than average at this price point and A8 has good height. Great imaging and positioning and obviously amazing resolution for the price


What is Lyre Acoustics Violet? (For non-believer, just skip this part)
It's an optional upgrade cable which you can buy as bundling with Moondrop A8 (4999 Yuan @taobao), and actually i do recommend to upgrade it!
Violet will make the sound thicker and richer, though it will give those "heavy" feeling compared to the Original cable (Lyre Acoustics Pansy) which is more refreshing, There is no difference in clarity, but overall more dense, Bass will give more slam, vocal more mellow, and smoother treble. Separation and soundstage is bit better, and it does strecth and extend both ways (bass and treble)

Sooo after listening for more than 40 hours, it does on par on PP8 based on my memory, actually A8+Violet impressed me more than PP8

Hope this helps

 

[yuriv]

...
Just pull carefully, I pulled way too strong for the first side, ended up with this:


and had to solder on the driver side (needs to be very quick to avoid heat damage)

I knew I had the wisdom to let someone try this first so that I could learn from their mistakes. Lol. I had suspected that the rear cup was mostly empty space. I had been trying to reduce the bass on this thing because it’s too much for me, but covering the three rear holes and the both ends of the strain relief didn’t reduce much it by much. It suggested that there was still a lot of air behind the driver—enough so that the diaphragm’s excursion wasn’t limited much by the seal.

It took me a while to decide how to reduce the air volume in the rear cup like I did with my Sony MH750 mod, but after a few tries on the right channel. I got something that I could live with:

Moondrop Crescent, effect of reduced rear volume (right channel shown)
Gray: Stock
Dark Gray: Three rear holes and both ends of strain relief covered
Red: Putty in rear cup, rear holes and strain relief blocked from inside
Green, Blue: more putty in rear cup​

In my first two tries, I used too much putty, and the result is shown in blue and green in the chart above. It did suggest, however, that the bass response could be tuned somewhere between it and stock. Note to anyone who’s thinking of trying this on their unit: You do so at your own risk! That said, mine seems to be holding up just fine.

That’s too much Blu Tack!​

The picture shows the amount I tried at first. Putting a large piece all at once partitions the rear cup in two, resulting in too small a volume behind the driver. Later I found that putting small pieces of Blu Tack little by little starting at the very back works better. It also seals the three rear holes and the strain relief from inside. I suppose I could have tried to keep the end of the strain relief open to make the rear volume become part of a Helmholtz resonator, but that experiment will have to wait. I eventually settled on the amount that produces the graph in red above. I managed to match the response on the left channel on my first attempt:

Moondrop Crescent, reduced rear volume, stock tips. Frequency response of stock unit shown in gray.​

One of my reasons for this is that the peak from the ear canal resonance started to bother me. It didn’t at first. Using a foam tip reduces the level of the peak and spreads its energy across a wider band. But it makes the balance too dark for my liking. The peak really balances the elevated bass. They go together. It doesn’t sound as severe as shown in the graph, but it’s there. You can verify it by listening with a sine sweep. I have one in my sig, and you can play with its peaking filter to find out how high and how wide the spike is. It surprised me how tall it really was.

Decreasing the compliance (or increasing the stiffness) of the rear volume reduces the bass enough that it doesn’t sound so dark anymore with foam tips. Here’s what it looks like with Comply Sport Pro tips with Smart Core:

Moondrop Crescent, reduced rear volume, Comply Sport Pro with two pairs of Smart Core tips. Frequency response of stock unit shown in gray.​

The Comply tips all look the same, but there is some variation in the sound. I had to cherry pick two that had similar results to make sure both channels were balanced. Another pair of tips has a slightly different response.

Overall, I’m pleased with the sound. But then again, my priorities might be different from yours. The response is smoother now, and more forgiving of variations in insertion depth. Compared with the stock tips, it isn’t as sparkly and it doesn’t have as much air in the top octave. I also noticed that without the resonant peak, mechanical noises from musical instruments aren’t as emphasized, e.g., the scraping of fingers on guitar strings, pages of sheet music on a piano being flipped, etc. With Comply foam, you can still hear them, but they’re not as up front. Or maybe this is just confirmation bias. Lol. For me, it’s still bassy so maybe it needs a still smaller rear volume, or maybe I’ll make a pinhole on the grille to increase the treble. But that’s moving into non-reversible mod territory. I’ll have to listen some more to get more accurate judgment before I do that.

Anyway, I’ll have to update my so-called “review” with this data.