[n00kie]

I tried the moondrop kato, and I had to return them.
It was just not fun to listen to, sure I can hear the detail clearly but it's not fun and a little sibilant.
I can't listen to this for hours.

I think the hype around them isn't justified.

Have you tried the different filters to alter the sound to your liking?

 

[jclyle]

Shameless plug for the Illumination and Blessing I listed for sale...
They both come with 3.5 SE and 4.4 balanced options.

Illumination:
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/moondrop-illumination-amber-moon-cable.30116/

Blessing 2:
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/moondrop-blessing-2.30642/

 

[Zenbun]

Have you tried the different filters to alter the sound to your liking?

yes there are only 2.

 

[pushyo2khun]

Has anyone tried using XBass (specifically with iFi Gryphon) for Moondrop S8?

 

[bahamot]

Moondrop Stellaris

 

[Matias]

Also known as "Starchu".

 

[r31ya]

Moondrop Stellaris

Oooh, the paint...
really hoping it won't have Aria bubbling paint issue or Starfield ease of scratches.

 

[RCracer777]

Had this beauty come in last Friday and I've been listening to them over the last weekend.

I've got to hand it to Moondrop, the Kato really impressed me. They look good, they come with the best cable of any of my IEM's and sound great. While I don't say it much I absolutely love my Starfields and the Kato is a good step up from them. Now I've listened to them for less than 15 hours so far and only used the steel nozzle so these are just some initial impressions.

The Kato has a nice natural sound, tonally accurate and very clean. Mids are very good, not to thick but still with a good note weight and above all, clean. The treble is very nice, a little elevated but with no sibilance to be heard but it lacks a little extension. The bass is my kind of bass, tight and punchy but not overpowering, it's just so satisfying. It has a nice amount of texture and a pretty good amount of details. The soundstage is similar to others at this price and the imaging is great so far.

That's where I'll leave it for now, these need more ear time to really appreciate them.


And I've just realized something, all of my Moondrop IEM's are blue

 

[unifutomaki]

Had this beauty come in last Friday and I've been listening to them over the last weekend.

I've got to hand it to Moondrop, the Kato really impressed me. They look good, they come with the best cable of any of my IEM's and sound great. While I don't say it much I absolutely love my Starfields and the Kato is a good step up from them. Now I've listened to them for less than 15 hours so far and only used the steel nozzle so these are just some initial impressions.

The Kato has a nice natural sound, tonally accurate and very clean. Mids are very good, not to thick but still with a good note weight and above all, clean. The treble is very nice, a little elevated but with no sibilance to be heard but it lacks a little extension. The bass is my kind of bass, tight and punchy but not overpowering, it's just so satisfying. It has a nice amount of texture and a pretty good amount of details. The soundstage is similar to others at this price and the imaging is great so far.

That's where I'll leave it for now, these need more ear time to really appreciate them.


And I've just realized something, all of my Moondrop IEM's are blue

Man the dark blue KATOs are beautiful. Enjoy!

 

[DynamicEars]

I got Kato coming on my way, with little bit regret why I bought the silver chrome one instead of the blue. Should have go for the blue after thinking twice that i got lot of silver IEMs. More over indeed @RCracer777 's look stunning in blue. Sigh

 

[bahamot]

Mod your Chu:.

 

[morndewey]

Had Kato for a few days now. Got the blue one.
Very impressed. Love it.
Have it paired with Kann Max & PW Audio No.10 cable.
The pins on the stock Kato cable scared me off at a glance. Gappy and long in the tooth!
Medium gain.
After extensive search, Spinfit CP 100+ tips did the trick.
Balanced, clear and dynamic across the spectrum.
Now, to those who may scoff because I have a $200 iem paired to a $1300 dap & $200 cable:
One, this is the gear I have.
Two, don't necessarily expect your iems to reveal themselves to full capacity when paired to similarly priced parts of the audio chain.
This is perhaps a bitter pill to swallow, and cost certainly isn't everything as Kato amply demonstrates, but it is a fact.
It isn't generally reasonable to think a cell phone or dongle will be able to perform at the same level as a powerful, refined dap.
From my experience, and a "value" perspective, you get more performance by investing in daps and cables than iems.
And if a budget iem scales up to so-called endgame or TOTL territory, so much the better for the budget iem owner.
Just fun to comment on that, is all. Pinches of sodium chloride all around.

 

[prawdziwysimone]

Where is the best price atm to get a Kato with shipping to europe (tax avoidance needed )? Or is there any europen distributor?

 

[RCracer777]

Where is the best price atm to get a Kato with shipping to europe (tax avoidance needed )? Or is there any europen distributor?

I know that WiFiMedia is the Dutch distributor, they ship through the whole of Europe and they've just added the dark blue Kato. Amazon is always an option too. Both include taxes but are normally €40~50 cheaper than AliExpress (Currently €27 due to the sale).

 

[snip3r77]

May I check if the size for Variations are ok for prolong listening?
Also I'm kinda looking at balanced + ( OK with some bass boost ).

Would this be suitable for me? Thanks

https://crinacle.com/2021/07/27/the-best-500-tribrids-oracle-excalibur-variations-est112-ej07m/