Moondrop in-ear monitors Impressions Thread
Jan 17, 2020 at 12:10 PM Post #4,487 of 11,918
Mine seems ok.
Wow, using leads to measure resistance. Tough. You guys get stable readings? No aligator clips? You guys don't get changing values?

The problem I see with leads is that they touch very minor portion of the conductor. When you plug stuff in, isn't more area touched? I would like to see a rig that has actual plugs as the ends to measure.
 
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Jan 17, 2020 at 1:21 PM Post #4,488 of 11,918
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(I still love you iBasso....I'd just take the Starfield for the price)
 
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Jan 17, 2020 at 1:30 PM Post #4,490 of 11,918
So, it01 was your previous fav iem? What do you find Starfield to be improved upon? I saw some peaks on the it01 and stayed away.

Also, sounds like you change best friends all the time. Not a loyal friend. Lol

*For $100

The IT01 weren't as vibrant. It had a very dynamic and fun sound but kinda like a gucci college bro that seems like he has it all, the moment you look closer, you realize he is hover arming everyone and not getting close to anyone, he has the personality though. Not as detailed and smoshed too many peaks.

I'll find them again and do a quick AB

Pandas are the most loyal bears of all. We are greater Pandas for a reason .

5LYzTBVoS196gvYvw3zjwDIbAMpdDAT2WjUiq6C6WviCvd4AN_nxEr3d34EhaSyH
 
Jan 17, 2020 at 1:59 PM Post #4,491 of 11,918
did order the starfield from shenzenaudio, a week ago. But no shipping yet.
Can't wait for them. I also had the ibasso it01, until I lost them. Their nozzle were on edge of being to big in diameter for my little ear canals.
How is the nozzle of the starfield?
 
Jan 17, 2020 at 6:26 PM Post #4,493 of 11,918
did order the starfield from shenzenaudio, a week ago. But no shipping yet.
Can't wait for them. I also had the ibasso it01, until I lost them. Their nozzle were on edge of being to big in diameter for my little ear canals.
How is the nozzle of the starfield?
Most China workers are on holiday right now. That's why your item hasn't been sent.
For nozzle, thy are the same KXXS.
 
Jan 19, 2020 at 4:05 AM Post #4,496 of 11,918
Alrighty guys! Big news (and lots of it so get ready)! So my CIEM S8's came in the mail while I was finishing a big assignment. To be honest, the thought of coming home to my first set of custom IEMs really motivated me to finish my work. Right when I got back, I dropped everything and went off to unbox them. However, as soon as I took them out from the case, two things seemed a bit off. They were huge and the color of the left face plate looked nothing like in the pictures. I shrugged this off and then proceeded to admire how beautiful the transparent body was with the drivers inside. Not long after, I plugged them in and popped them in my ears. I was still unsure at the time since this was my first set of customs, but I knew something was wrong. In the two pictures below, you can see how much they stick out (they should be flush). The wire isn't even resting against my face.

DSC05319.jpg Right side.DSC05322.jpg Left side.

As I struggled, I found it difficult to get a good seal. Every movement of my head or even making facial expressions would cause the body of the IEM to separate from my ears, letting sound in. Even when I did achieve a seal, the isolation was subpar. Usually wearing CIEMs and taking them out require twisting them backwards and forwards. However, I was able to pull them out laterally (and very easily) which meant they were not in securely. It was quite difficult to get sound impressions since my OCD didn't let me concentrate on the music while I felt that something was wrong with the fit. After some listening, I can conclude that the sound is absolutely wonderful as expected, but let's dive deeper into the root of these problems.

DSC05327.jpg DSC05328.jpg DSC05329.jpg
As you guys can see, the set really is a stunner. Too bad I don't have my macro lens with me so I just improvised with a wide angle and some cropping.

With these complaints in mind, I contacted my dealer, Thomas from Mingo Headphone in Hong Kong. I sent him a barrage of photos and descriptions of my problems and he jumped on the case as soon as I let him know. Props to him. My worries were continuing to build since I am staying in the United States. If I needed to get a second set of impressions done, I would have to deal with an audiologist and all of the hassle here. He reassured me that Moondrop would take responsibility for this and that a problem like this has happened before where a customer lived in the US. After some diagnosing and brainstorming, I hypothesized that it must have been the short nozzle and thick body that was messing with the fit. Looking at pictures online and asking friends who also own CIEMs, they said that the tragus of the ear plays a part in holding in the IEMs. However, since these extend past my tragus, they can't grip my ears and almost fall out with little disturbance. Since it is the weekend, he says that Moondrop won't be able to respond until Monday. However, he says that the plan will most likely be as follows...

Moondrop engineers will see the pictures sent to them of the fit of the IEMs in my ears and remodel the driver placement such that the shell can be much smaller (and hopefully flush fit). They will then 3D print an empty shell with the new shape and send it to me in the US. I will then wear them and see if they fit well. If they do, I will have to get a new set made and send my old ones back. According to Thomas, they will cover the costs of all the shipping (which is to be expected). Another worry of mine is that they physically shape the ear impressions before scanning them which means that if they cut off the ear canal portion of the impression, they would not have the shape required to extend them in the new set. I am guessing that this process will take quite some time so hopefully Moondrop addresses this in a professional manner (I will definitely let you guys know if they aren't).

v2-88ce44b315dfbee210dbc8d9c96ea009_hd.jpg


Moving on to the last problem. When I chose the faceplate for the right ear, I chose the design on the lower left hand corner. As you can see, it resembles a dark blue marble with small grain size. If you look at the pictures from earlier, they are clearly a much lighter blue with a simple glitter texture. This is a poor match with the wood on the right side and I am honestly not very happy with it. The problem is, when I was deciding on face plates, the only reference I had was a very low quality set of images that had poor resolution and color accuracy. When I asked Moondrop on Facebook to send me better pictures either from what they had or from the factory, they simply said that it couldn't be done. So much for making an informed decision am I right?

All in all, not a great experience as of now. The universal S8's were much more comfortable than these but let's see if the next set will allow me to regain confidence in both customs and Moondrop. I'm sure that the process of getting them fixed will be a hassle. The wait for these was already quite long so it seems it will be even longer until I can enjoy audiophile bliss. I will keep you guys updated as I try to get them fixed!
 
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Jan 19, 2020 at 10:48 AM Post #4,497 of 11,918
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Jan 19, 2020 at 10:50 AM Post #4,498 of 11,918
Bummer about that. Couple things. The S8 is a large IEM. No getting around this. Next the length of the sound tubes matters and is part of the tuning. What I'm saying is they might not be able to make a S8 that fits how you want, flush.
 
Jan 19, 2020 at 11:44 AM Post #4,499 of 11,918
Alrighty guys! Big news (and lots of it so get ready)! So my CIEM S8's came in the mail while I was finishing a big assignment. To be honest, the thought of coming home to my first set of custom IEMs really motivated me to finish my work. Right when I got back, I dropped everything and went off to unbox them. However, as soon as I took them out from the case, two things seemed a bit off. They were huge and the color of the left face plate looked nothing like in the pictures. I shrugged this off and then proceeded to admire how beautiful the transparent body was with the drivers inside. Not long after, I plugged them in and popped them in my ears. I was still unsure at the time since this was my first set of customs, but I knew something was wrong. In the two pictures below, you can see how much they stick out (they should be flush). The wire isn't even resting against my face.

Right side. Left side.

As I struggled, I found it difficult to get a good seal. Every movement of my head or even making facial expressions would cause the body of the IEM to separate from my ears, letting sound in. Even when I did achieve a seal, the isolation was subpar. Usually wearing CIEMs and taking them out require twisting them backwards and forwards. However, I was able to pull them out laterally (and very easily) which meant they were not in securely. It was quite difficult to get sound impressions since my OCD didn't let me concentrate on the music while I felt that something was wrong with the fit. After some listening, I can conclude that the sound is absolutely wonderful as expected, but let's dive deeper into the root of these problems.


As you guys can see, the set really is a stunner. Too bad I don't have my macro lens with me so I just improvised with a wide angle and some cropping.

With these complaints in mind, I contacted my dealer, Thomas from Mingo Headphone in Hong Kong. I sent him a barrage of photos and descriptions of my problems and he jumped on the case as soon as I let him know. Props to him. My worries were continuing to build since I am staying in the United States. If I needed to get a second set of impressions done, I would have to deal with an audiologist and all of the hassle here. He reassured me that Moondrop would take responsibility for this and that a problem like this has happened before where a customer lived in the US. After some diagnosing and brainstorming, I hypothesized that it must have been the short nozzle and thick body that was messing with the fit. Looking at pictures online and asking friends who also own CIEMs, they said that the tragus of the ear plays a part in holding in the IEMs. However, since these extend past my tragus, they can't grip my ears and almost fall out with little disturbance. Since it is the weekend, he says that Moondrop won't be able to respond until Monday. However, he says that the plan will most likely be as follows...

Moondrop engineers will see the pictures sent to them of the fit of the IEMs in my ears and remodel the driver placement such that the shell can be much smaller (and hopefully flush fit). They will then 3D print an empty shell with the new shape and send it to me in the US. I will then wear them and see if they fit well. If they do, I will have to get a new set made and send my old ones back. According to Thomas, they will cover the costs of all the shipping (which is to be expected). Another worry of mine is that they physically shape the ear impressions before scanning them which means that if they cut off the ear canal portion of the impression, they would not have the shape required to extend them in the new set. I am guessing that this process will take quite some time so hopefully Moondrop addresses this in a professional manner (I will definitely let you guys know if they aren't).

v2-88ce44b315dfbee210dbc8d9c96ea009_hd.jpg


Moving on to the last problem. When I chose the faceplate for the right ear, I chose the design on the lower left hand corner. As you can see, it resembles a dark blue marble with small grain size. If you look at the pictures from earlier, they are clearly a much lighter blue with a simple glitter texture. This is a poor match with the wood on the right side and I am honestly not very happy with it. The problem is, when I was deciding on face plates, the only reference I had was a very low quality set of images that had poor resolution and color accuracy. When I asked Moondrop on Facebook to send me better pictures either from what they had or from the factory, they simply said that it couldn't be done. So much for making an informed decision am I right?

All in all, not a great experience as of now. The universal S8's were much more comfortable than these but let's see if the next set will allow me to regain confidence in both customs and Moondrop. I'm sure that the process of getting them fixed will be a hassle. The wait for these was already quite long so it seems it will be even longer until I can enjoy audiophile bliss. I will keep you guys updated as I try to get them fixed!
The nozzles look too short, especially for a custom set. Hope they fix it for you with the second print.

As for colors...they mostly never match. Just look at your own photos.
Small change of the perspective already makes the colors change quite a bit.
Also since the faceplates are semi-transparent, it's hard to capture their real color, especially if you put a grey pad under them like Moondrop did on their product photo ^^'
color.jpg
 
Jan 20, 2020 at 4:02 AM Post #4,500 of 11,918
Thanks for the responses and support. However, after chatting with Thomas for a while, it has come to my conclusion that Moondrop is not willing to act professionally and amend their mistakes.
The nozzles look too short, especially for a custom set. Hope they fix it for you with the second print.

As for colors...they mostly never match. Just look at your own photos.
Small change of the perspective already makes the colors change quite a bit.
Also since the faceplates are semi-transparent, it's hard to capture their real color, especially if you put a grey pad under them like Moondrop did on their product photo ^^'

I definitely agree that its the nozzle being cut too short. Also in response to redrol's observations, I agree that they are large. Despite this, the universals were almost flush with my ears so I am quite boggled as to why the customs are even larger. Combining both of your reasons, if they had made the nozzles longer, the sound tubes would remain the same length, allowing the drivers to be more deeply seated in my ear (making for a much smaller IEM without the protrusion and piss-poor fit). However, they are now asking me to get new impressions here in the US in addition to shipping back the old ones. They promised to cover the costs of shipping me the new set but my consistent questioning on them covering other costs has been parried or ignored. As a customer who paid a decent amount of money with the expectation of receiving a working product, I must say that I am more than frustrated having to waste more of both my time and money. Not only do I have to spend more money on impressions and shipping, but I also have to waste my time with all of this just to get a product I already paid for.

When Thomas was talking to the factory, the factory asked me for a list of IEMs that I used to wear. I was confused but among these was the Etymotic ER4XR that I haven't worn in quite some time. The factory responded that the one other person who experienced fit issues also owned Etymotic products. They blamed this set for causing the fit issues and shook off all responsibility on their side. This explanation seemed ludicrous to me since I hadn't worn them for some time, which strongly led me to believe that they conflated variables in order to not take responsibility for their mistake. I SERIOUSLY doubt that wearing a deep fitting IEM led the engineers to create such a poor fitting custom that stuck out of my ears almost 7 mm and had a stubby nozzle. By shifting the blame away from themselves and onto the history of my IEM ownership, they could avoid paying for other costs.

I applaud Moondrop for creating a great product but to be honest, their customer service is a joke. I spoke with a friend who owned a 64Audio product and also experienced fit issues. For him, the dealer took care of all extra costs and fixed his problems without causing any extra hassle. I understand that 64Audio is a more expensive brand but Moondrop has made me lose faith in them overnight. As fellow consumers who just want to enjoy music by making sound investments, I am sure that you guys understand my sentiments. Crappy customer service can really ruin your day. If Moondrop does not act more professionally in the coming days, I must say that this will be my last set of IEMs from them. Time to become a new customer to their competitors! Thanks again for the help guys. Much appreciated.:)
 
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