Moondrop VENUS, PARA (hybrid default pads and EP-100A pads) and COSMO (re-equipped with the Brainwavz Memory Foam Hybrid Earpads XL Size and ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads or AliExpress 110 mm Real Sheepskin perforated earpads) Discussion.

[TwizzyTonkaa]

You will hear it though when you touch the cable and you will hear headband crinkling when you move your head

 

[BearPL]

Regarding to comfort - I had an issue with Venus. I solved the problem with furniture pads. I sticked few of them below the metal element of the headband to fit my head perfectly. Now pads pressure is even. Befor this fix the lower part of the pads were pushing a bit more and they were slipping down a bit. It was really annoying. Cosmo are a bit lighter and the comfort is even better, however on Para pads my ears were touching the driver and it wasn't comfortable at all. The pads themselves were soft. It's personal thing.

I agree than Cosmo are better all-rounder than Venus and the music genres listed above were also consistent with my opinion more or less.
I however totally don't agree with Venus being somwhere between Para and Cosmo. For me Venus and Cosmo are a huge step up from Para. I was not blown away by Para price to performance ratio. They were fine but there is a strong competinion at this price.

I ususally use Venus for instrumental music, vocal jazz etc. For rock and prog rock I prefer my other headphones. Venus with poorly mastered tracks can be unpleasent.
Music is all about preference, so if someone prefers Cosmo over Venus I totally understand.

I hope I will have some day a chance to hear Cosmo on some more comfortable pads.

 

[eric65]

....

I hope I will have some day a chance to hear Cosmo on some more comfortable pads.

Hi, there.

For use with the Cosmo, if you find the Para's hybrid pads too soft and not deep enough for your ears, then you have some excellent pads just right for upgrading the Cosmo, which are the Brainwavz Memory Foam Hybrid Earpads XL size, a little firmer and deeper ; these XL Brainwavz hybrid pads are 5 mm deeper than the Para's hybrid earpads, have very generous internal dimensions (more volume available for the ear) than the Para's hybrid earpads, are inexpensive to buy, and sound great with the Cosmo, with an even wider soundstage than the Para's hybrid earpads and greater tonal density than the Para's hybrid earpads. These are the very large (and great) pads I'm currently using with my Cosmo.

https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/fr/products/headphone-memory-foam-earpads-xl-size-hybrid

 

[Rayzilla]

Hello everyone.

Like Hifiman before it, Moondrop lowers the price of its full-size planar headphones.

At Shenzhenaudio.com, where I bought my COSMO, prices of three Moondrop planar headphones just reduced; headphones currently on special offer.

New prices (excl. VAT) for these three planar headphones (in $ USD) (currently on promotion)
COSMO: $791.12 USD (instead of $899 USD)
VENUS (still on sale): $527.99 USD (instead of $599 USD)
PARA : $263.12 USD (instead of $299 USD)

Source : https://shenzhenaudio.com/collections/headphones/products/moondrop-cosmo-100mm-full-size-flagship-planar-headphone?_pos=5&_fid=9e2149f46&_ss=c

Although the price/performance ratio of these planar headphones is very good from the outset, there's no small savings to be had ; so take advantage of these new (temporary) promotional rates.

PS: for Europeans: 1 US Dollar equals 0.91 Euro (this day).

I just checked. Promotion must be over. It's back to the normal $899 price now.

 

[eric65]

I just checked. Promotion must be over. It's back to the normal $899 price now.

Indeed.

That said, good for all those who were able to take advantage of this temporary promotion on the price of Cosmo (and also the Venus and Para) in time.

For the rest of you who weren't able to take advantage of this (even though it was announced) opportunity in time, be conforted in the fact that, even at the Cosmo's current price (excluding promotion), you won't be spending as much money as you would to buy an equivalent product, such as a Susvara OG or a Susvara unveiled, significantly more expensive than the Cosmo, even if you add 20 or 30 dollars to get upgrade pads that sound good with the Cosmo and are also more comfortable to wear than the stock pads.

 

[sawindra]

Ah, the bass was the one thing I was hoping might be improved on the Cosmo. So much for that idea.

I'm quite happy with the bass on the Venus, but I feel like it could use more sub-bass. There's a point where it drops off sharply.

physics in play unfortunately.. lighter and thinner diaghpram resonates at higher freqencies and faster. Add a small subwoofer, it will move air 1000x more than any planar magnetic headphones.

 

[eric65]

physics in play unfortunately.. lighter and thinner diaghpram resonates at higher freqencies and faster. Add a small subwoofer, it will move air 1000x more than any planar magnetic headphones.

Hi,

Headphones will never reproduce the physicality of the bass and sub-bass of a subwoofer or of speakers with large loudspeakers, but planar headphones do a pretty good job of reproducing the bass and sub-bass; some are better than others; on the other hand, in the midrange, other planar headphones are better than others.

 

[sawindra]

it might resonate low, but wont move air as a dynamic driver unfortunately. i will soon ( next week) post my set up with subwoofer.

 

[N3urolink]

I've uploaded new demo sounds of the COSMO, HD800S, and ANANDA on my YouTube channel.
Feel free to check them out if you're interested!

 

[eric65]

I've uploaded new demo sounds of the COSMO, HD800S, and ANANDA on my YouTube channel.
Feel free to check them out if you're interested!

Thank you so much @N3urolink for this latest sharing.

Super interesting video to listen to (for me with my Sennheiser HD-400 Pro headphones on, right now, on my PC).
The differences between headphones are noticeable; headphone No. 3 sounds pretty terrible, for me the least good of the three headphones tested; it's sorely lacking in bass and sounds skinny. The headphones that I find the best, on all the musical extracts heard, are headphones N°2, which give the most natural listening for timbres and also with the most sound relief; the flattest headphones (the least in sound relief, probably due to its lack of bass) are headphones N°3; headphones N°1 are not bad, with sufficient bass, but seem to me less natural than headphones N°2, also with less sound relief.

As a Frenchman, I can't remain unaffected by Céline Dion's voice in the soundtrack to the film Titanic; for me, headphone N°2 is the best of the three headphones for rendering this famous voice.

My final ranking, after listening to this video: headphones N°2 > headphones N°1 > headphones N°3.

 

[N3urolink]

I forgot to mention, but the answers for each headphone are listed in the video description.

 

[eric65]

Hi @N3urolink.

On the subject of comparative listening to several headphones “listened in” remotely via a microphone coupled to a flat coupler, the link below should interest you; use your favorite translator, as the post in question is written in French (and not English).

Link : https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/post181441173.html#p181441173

 

[TwizzyTonkaa]

Rock and electronic music are the best genres for this because of how well it renders bass and drums

 

[eric65]

Hi everyone.

Comparisons of the FR of the Moondrop Cosmo (stock pads, Para hybrid pads, EP-100A pads, Dekoni hybrid Elite HE pads (awaiting publication of the FR of the Cosmo equipped with the Brainwavz hybrid XL earpads)), Moondrop Para (stock pads), Moondrop Venus (stock pads), Hifiman Susvara OG (3.5 mm), Audeze LCD-5, Focal Utopia (2022), Sennheiser HD-600 (2021), Sennheiser HD-800S and Hifiman Ananda Stealth (V3) , with the latest target curve published on squig.link (Flat KB50xx DF target).

Spoiler

 

[eric65]

Rock and electronic music are the best genres for this because of how well it renders bass and drums

But also a classical or jazz orchestra ..

Percussion and brass instruments are rendered extremely well with the Cosmo equipped with Brainwavz XL hybrid pads, without auditory fatigue, with great clarity, definition, and even dynamics, as long as you listen at a realistic SPL level, the one that covers the snapping of fingers at your ear's mouthpiece.

For example, this YouTube video below (percussion and brass) seems to me to be quite well recorded, and it sounds very natural with my Cosmo so equipped...



EDIT: For the bass guitar (5-string, if I'm not mistaken, descending to 31 Hz), the bass rendering, with groove, making you want to move, is well rendered with my Cosmo on this video below, at a satisfactory SPL level compared to the other instruments played, with very good definition (detailed texture); here, I think most well-built headphones will work well with this bass, very catchy, with groove.