Moondrop VENUS, PARA and COSMO (re-equipped with the Brainwavz Memory Foam Hybrid Earpads XL Size and ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads or ZMF BE2 Lambskin perforated pads or AliExpress 110 mm Real Sheepskin perforated earpads) Discussion.

[marekm]

What about Fiio FT5 ?

I have no clue how they compare (sound-wise) to Ananda, XS or the new Moondrop Venus, but am ready to gamble a considerable sum, that quality of Fiio planars is on a different (higher) level than the quality of the afore mentioned headphones.

It would be a relief to learn that one can now buy headphones, that compete with the likes of Ananda Nano sound-wise, cost same or less and are of better build quality

 

[eric65]

Hi all.

To the question of whether the Moondrop VENUS has too much treble or not, you will find four below categories of comparison of frequency response of the VENUS versus other known headphones, comparison of headphones deliberately targeted in the high mid and treble (between 2 KHz and 10 KHz), where the ear is most sensitive.

Bass, midrange (below 2 KHz) and extreme treble (above 10 KHz) appear grayed out.

I deliberately grayed out the extreme treble (above 10 KHz), for two reasons; on the one hand, the measurements of the FR at these very high frequencies are random and depend on the placement of the ear and the headphone, sometimes to the mm (Nb: we can go from a trough to a peak in frequency just by by moving the centering of the headphones on the ear); morether, the sensitivity of the ear in the extreme high pitch is quite variable from one person to another, and also depends on age.

A - category of headphones with approximately as much high mid and treble (between 2 KHz and 10 KHz) as the VENUS:
- Hifiman Susvara
- Sennheiser HE-1

Spoiler

B- category of headphones with a little more high mid and a little less treble than the VENUS:
- Sennheiser HD-600
- Moondrop PARA
- Hifiman Edition X

Spoiler

C- category of headphones with less treble than the VENUS:
Audeze LCD-2 C
Audeze LCD-3
Audeze LCD-4
Audeze LCD-5
Sennheiser HD-660S
Focal Clear MG
Hifiman HE 500
Kennerton Thror

Spoiler

D- category of headphones with more high mid and/or more treble (between 2 KHz and 10 KHz) than the VENUS:
Beyer Dynamic DT 1990 Pro
Hifiman Ananda
Hifiman Arya
Hifiman Arya Stealth
Hifiman HE-1000 V2
Hifiman HE-1000 SE
Hifiman HE-6 SE
Hifiman HE-6 (6-screw)
Hifiman Shangri-La Jr
Sennheiser HD-560S
Sennheiser HD-800
Sennheiser HD-800S

Spoiler

Once again, these graphs only predict the tone criterion of the headphone compared (here in the high-mid and treble, between 2000 and 10 KHz), a particularly critical zone for hearing.

These curves in no way predict the technicality and resolution of a headphone.

Concerning the VENUS, according to my experience and that of other reviewers, it seems certain that the resolution (and technicality) of the VENUS is superior (or even very superior) to that of the Hifiman Sundara, Ananda and Edition-X, the Kennerton Thror, the Sennheiser HD-560S, HD-400 Pro and HD-58X, and finally the Moondrop PARA.

 

[wmedrz]

Have you ever tried Hifiman stuff so that you can compare with them? (vague memories are enough, I just want to have a estimation before trying at the shop)

I owned the HE1K and HE1KV2 for years, as well as the original edition X. From what I heard in Chicago this year, the newer models follow this tuning. The edition X were my favorite out of those three because they weren't as sibilant as the 1K's and sounded more natural (they were also easier to drive and sounded good out of a small dap). While the treble was smooth ok the 1K's, the "s" sound was far too emphasized and would get fatiguing. Most consonants were too hot. They did have this undeniable quality of being very holographic for their time...at the expense of sounding distant and for lack of better word, stripped of body. There was little "weight" to the sound if that makes sense (most dynamic drivers veer the opposite direction being too heavy sounding and muddy to my ears). The 1K's were probably a bit more resolving than Venus. The edition X also suffered from that lack of body, and even though they were more natural sounding than 1K's, they weren't natural or neutral enough tuning for me. I enjoyed them for a long time but sold all three and kept the HE500 and HE6. I eventually sold the HE6 after numerous speaker tap cables, amps, and mods...they too were rather rough almost graty in the treble...but the older HFM headphones have a far different tuning than the newer batch of models. The newer models all following the same vein of that original single magnet HE560/HE1K sound I remembered hearing for the first time nearly a decade ago. I also own the original wood veneer 560 which depreciated too much to bother selling and they're not worth mentioning in this lineup.

Besides, I vowed years ago never to buy another product from Bian after the nightmares I ran into with HFM cans (wood veneer peeling, stuff cracking, headbands breaking, drivers dying). I nearly broke this promise with the HE6se. Thank goodness I didn't seeing as they're 500 bucks now (can anything that depreciates that much that quick..be...legit?) There always seem to be two versions of HFM cans, the beta test group stupidly marked up, and the alpha group at a discount. People refer to this as the HiFiMan tax. And I paid my share years ago. Looking around, I see nothing changed.

This is why I'm so happy about Zhang's company. I think they're pivoting to take HFM down. Their experience in IEM's is established, and if they continue to produce quality products at great prices like the Venus, then I can see them sweeping up the headphone game in the ChiFi scene in the very near future. Venus build is miles ahead from the typical plastic toy you get with some brands. And I tried to love HFM for years...I really did. Now only if the Venus drivers last as long as my Parasound amps have been alive (30+ years) I'll be one happy camper.

As a side note, I'm not trying to rag on HFM. I had a love hate relationship with the company before severing that relationship, so trying to relay my personal experience. These are all things to consider when shelling out on premium 1st world indulgences. They do have fantastic customer service that would always replace or repair my cans at a very low price, if any, and their headphones sound nice.

Now back to the Venus... Moondrop, can we please get a ported pad for these things? Has anyone broken the seal on the pad with theirs? The bass comes eerily alive but the rest of the tuning stays identical. It's easy to do since the cups pivot in place when you move them. I leave a little gap around my temple and the quality of that planar bass

 

[eric65]

Now back to the Venus... Moondrop, can we please get a ported pad for these things? Has anyone broken the seal on the pad with theirs? The bass comes eerily alive but the rest of the tuning stays identical. It's easy to do since the cups pivot in place when you move them. I leave a little gap around my temple and the quality of that planar bass

Hi.

I confirm your comments regarding the VENUS, and the modification of the seal of the VENUS pads (for example by wearing glasses).

I broke the seal of the pads, on the front of the pads, with glasses with medium thickness temples, for my comparative of headphones here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moo...-reasonable-price.970569/page-6#post-17859415

I had to wear glasses to see correctly the video of Hans Zimmer's live concert (very well recorded for the sound).
Source: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moo...-reasonable-price.970569/page-6#post-17858587

This break in the seal of the VENUS pads, slightly in front of the pads, enhanced the bass of the VENUS by + 3 dB between 30 and 80 Hz, as this graph (below as spoiler) shows very well, without modifying the rest of the FR, which is very important, because the VENUS medium is truly fabulous; it would have been a shame to modify it.

Spoiler

Source: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moo...-still-reasonable-price.970569/#post-17824148

 

[JUICEe36]

Back to the pad topic - Has anyone tried the Venus with a different pad and, if so, what kind and thoughts?

 

[wmedrz]

I had to wear glasses to see correctly the video of Hans Zimmer's live concert (very well recorded for the sound).

Hi Eric, I ordered Live in Prague last week as a result of hearing those demos from your post. Looking forward to listening to it on vinyl, unfortunately it won't arrive until aroubd Dec 18th.

With the exception of the Diana TC, I don't recall any other headphones I heard having this bass effect with a broken seal. Typically the bass decreases and overall FR changes once the seal is broken. The Venus is truly looking more special the more I discover its nuances.

 

[eric65]

Back to the pad topic - Has anyone tried the Venus with a different pad and, if so, what kind and thoughts?

Hi.

I don't know if you will easily find alternative (or replacement) pads for the VENUS, because they are large pads.
Note precise measurements of the VENUS pads at the following link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moo...-reasonable-price.970569/page-6#post-17858075

VENUS pads and driver

 

[eric65]

Hi Eric, I ordered Live in Prague last week as a result of hearing those demos from your post. Looking forward to listening to it on vinyl, unfortunately it won't arrive until aroubd Dec 18th.

With the exception of the Diana TC, I don't recall any other headphones I heard having this bass effect with a broken seal. Typically the bass decreases and overall FR changes once the seal is broken. The Venus is truly looking more special the more I discover its nuances.

Hi.

You will have the recording of Hans Zimmer's Live In Prague before Christmas.

You will be delighted: this recording is great (*) and the VENUS is just as great with this recording, especially if you slightly peel off the front of the VENUS pads to slightly break the seal, on the front, to boost the bass of approximately +3 dB.
(*) https://expressiveaudio.com/blogs/record-review/hans-zimmer-live-in-prague
Note; the sound quality of this live concert (very well recorded) is much better on uncompressed audio media (LPCM 48 KHz) (CD, Blu-ray, DVD) than on a compressed YouTube demo.
EDIT: I didn't know it also existed in Vinyl.

Yes, the VENUS is special, and it pleases me more than I expected.

 

[Fusi]

@eric65 Hello again, i'm looking for an all rounder heaphone since as a student i've got not much money to invest on hobbies, therefore, do you think that either Venus or Para could be an all rounder? Im leaning towards Para cause obviously half of the price but Venus is still on my mind.

 

[eric65]

@eric65 Hello again, i'm looking for an all rounder heaphone since as a student i've got not much money to invest on hobbies, therefore, do you think that either Venus or Para could be an all rounder? Im leaning towards Para cause obviously half of the price but Venus is still on my mind.

Hi.

The PARA is a good versatile (all rounder) headphone, pleasant to wear and hear, qualitative, but which requires a headphone amplifier ; it is a little less bright in the treble than the VENUS, also a little more "midds-centric" than the VENUS; it has a good midrange, comparatively slightly cooler (or less warm), than that of the Sennheiser HD-58X (which I was able to compare): both headphones are excellent.
The HD-58X has a high clamping, quite uncomfortable for large heads (like mine); PARA has significantly less clamping.

If you are not allergic to very good highs (very fine) and if you are sensitive to a sumptuous midrange, obviously there is the VENUS, certainly twice as expensive as the PARA, but of superior technicality (resolution, speed, precision of the soundstage more three-dimensional with the VENUS than with the PARA); not to mention that there is a little more bass with the VENUS versus PARA.
The differences in sound quality between these two headphones (VENUS and PARA) will be better perceived with a high-performance Hi-Fi system, than on the basic sound card of a PC when watching highly compressed YouTube videos which greatly alter the sound (dynamic compression and compression distortions altering timbres).

I gave the PARA to my eldest son (20 year old student); I kept the VENUS for my main Hi-Fi system; otherwise I use a Sennheiser HD-400 Pro (very similar to the HD-560 S, which can be found inexpensively) for use on my PC to watch and listen to YouTube videos or to play at vido games.

 

[eric65]

@eric65 Hello again, i'm looking for an all rounder heaphone since as a student i've got not much money to invest on hobbies, therefore, do you think that either Venus or Para could be an all rounder? Im leaning towards Para cause obviously half of the price but Venus is still on my mind.

Hi.

Battle of the headphones with the best midrange (to my ears).

Based on my previous headphones confrontation: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/moo...-reasonable-price.970569/page-6#post-17859415

Note: It is true that the Viva 2A3 tube amplifier also magnifies the beauty of the midrange of these headphones; with the VENUS, as already mentioned, you get the most beautiful mids, truly sumptuous.

For the sound quality of the midrange and upper midrange, also integrating the first highs (overall between 200 and 4-5000 Hz), for the headphones listened to (VENUS, PARA, HD-58X, HD-560S/HD-400 Pro, HD-600), I ranking them as follows:

Moondrop VENUS (fabulous mids) > Sennheiser HD-58X (slightly warm mids) = Moondrop PARA (slightly cold mids) > Sennheiser HD-600 (slightly shouty high mids) = Sennheiser HD560S/ HD-400 Pro (slightly bright high mids).

Spoiler

 

[eric65]

Hello everyone.

For lovers of the Symphonic Metal genre, last night I listened, with the VENUS, to the voice of Floor Jansen (the charismatic female singer of the Symphonic Metal band Nightwish).

I liked it a lot, because for once, the tonality of her soprano voice seemed to me to be just right, without sacrificing the upper-midrange and the low-highrange (as the Thror does) nor exacerbating the low-highrange as the HD-400 Pro/HD-560S do. Above all, the voice seemed detached from the accompanying instruments, sharp and focused, distinct, standing out against the "black background" separating it from the instruments, giving it a very credible (if not real) presence and appearance, as well as being more "three-dimensional" (as opposed to being "flat" and drowned in the acoustic background).

A great moment.

 

[eric65]

Hi Eric, I ordered Live in Prague last week as a result of hearing those demos from your post. Looking forward to listening to it on vinyl, unfortunately it won't arrive until aroubd Dec 18th.

With the exception of the Diana TC, I don't recall any other headphones I heard having this bass effect with a broken seal. Typically the bass decreases and overall FR changes once the seal is broken. The Venus is truly looking more special the more I discover its nuances.

Hi.

Well, I wanted to know what could bring the VENUS closer to an Abyss DIANA TC, two atypical headphones in terms of their sound presentation, when the pads are slightly unsealed (broken seal): increased bass level, with no change in the midrange and treble, whereas with many other headphones there's a drop in bass level and/or a change in FR in the midrange and treble.

For the price, the similarity between these two headphones (Abyss DIANA and Moondrop VENUS) is not obvious: 5000 Euros including taxes (in France) for the Abyss DIANA TC (and 3800 Euros including taxes for the Abyss DIANA V2), versus 600 Euros including taxes for the Moondrop VENUS.

You'll have to look elsewhere.

In terms of physical appearance, the similarity between these two headsphones is also not obvious; the pads seem quite different between these two headsets (even though they're both unperforated on the outside of the pads; I'm not talking about the inside of the pads).

As for the respective FR of the two headphones (here Abyss DIANA V2 versus Moondrop VENUS); well, there's a similarity of FR here in the bass (sealed pads), between 20 and 200 Hz, and perhaps also, pads slightly unsealed (broken seal)?
Is this a characteristic of the Abyss DIANA and Moondrop VENUS drivers?
Who knows?

Spoiler

The VENUS truly is a special headphone in a class of its own.

 

[Terriero]

Hello everyone.

For lovers of the Symphonic Metal genre, last night I listened, with the VENUS, to the voice of Floor Jansen (the charismatic female singer of the Symphonic Metal band Nightwish).

I liked it a lot, because for once, the tonality of her soprano voice seemed to me to be just right, without sacrificing the upper-midrange and the low-highrange (as the Thror does) nor exacerbating the low-highrange as the HD-400 Pro/HD-560S do. Above all, the voice seemed detached from the accompanying instruments, sharp and focused, distinct, standing out against the "black background" separating it from the instruments, giving it a very credible (if not real) presence and appearance, as well as being more "three-dimensional" (as opposed to being "flat" and drowned in the acoustic background).

A great moment.

What happens if, suddenly, Floor appears at your house? I thought about that because of this sentence:

giving it a very credible (if not real) presence and appearance

 

[eric65]

What happens if, suddenly, Floor appears at your house? I thought about that because of this sentence:

To answer your question.

To begin with, I'd be very intimidated; I think she's 1 m 83 (almost as tall as me: 1 m 85); on the other hand, I don't speak a word of English, nor Swedish, nor Dutch.

I'd say to her, "bonjour" in French, or "Hello"; then with very bad English: "what are you doing at my house this evening?"

More seriously, who hasn't dreamed of seeing their favorite singer (male or female) materialize at home, or at least his voice, in a very credible and realistic way?

That's the magic of VENUS.