[Wasaabi]

Moondrop has always been a company pursuing Harman Target Curve, and so is their Variations.

There's a small hole on the panel of Variations, which should be designed for its DD. It is a three-way design with three channels at the sound outlet, each channel is responsible for bass, mids and treble. The shell is frosted and it feels good to the touch, but it looks a bit rough (like CIEMs that has not been completely processed).

 

[Wasaabi]

Now I go to bed and continue to update tomorrow.

 

[Wasaabi]

Variations uses 0.78 connectors. I like 0.78 connectors, because it seems to get a longer life span than mmcx.

 

[Wasaabi]

It uses a translucent cavity, we can vaguely see the BAs, DD, ESTs and transformer for the EST. The BAs for mids is from Softears, maybe I will talk product from Softears later.

 

[Wasaabi]

Like FiiO and Dunu, Moondrop also uses replaceable plugs (2.5, 3.5 and 4.4). Among the three brands, I think Dunu’s design is the best, strong but easy to replace; FiiO’s design is as strong as Dunu, but requires a little bit strength to replace; Moondrop didn't use a strong locking structure like FiiO and Dunu, so if it was made into a straight type, the plug and the cable would be easy to separate from each other.
But when it comes to price, the Dunu's cable, which is best-designed, is also the most expensive, while Moondrop's gets a more afforadable price (for me). Although the design of the plug is not so good, Moondrop's cable has a shielding design (that is, the coaxial structure Moondrop calls), and it's light in weight, not very thick, which is very suitable for portability. So I bought another one for my CIEM.

 

[Wasaabi]

Variations compared to Moondrop's previous products (such as A8), the bass has been greatly increased, but the overall curve is still very close to HRTF. Lowering the spl at 200-600hz can well avoid the feeling of dull, but this will make songs with male vocal and drum beats less pleasant. There is a 10dB increase in spl from 200hz to 20hz, which guarantees a good sub bass. Lowering the spl of 6-7kHz also alleviates the problem of sibilance sound.
Moondrop’s tuning has always been good, as has Variations. But maybe because of the participation of EST drivers, Variations's sound is a bit harsh(don't know if this is the right word to use), and too much reference to HRTF also makes its sound a bit thin.
If 10 is for perfect score, I will give Variations 8 points.