Thanks for bringing us exciting news about Moondrop's latest flagship and tantalizing updates. I am pretty much sold!
As an aside, COSMO is actually short for "Cosmopolitan", given its Chinese counterpart.
Thanks !
Thanks also for clarifying the name of the COSMO : short for "cosmopolitan" (not cosmos), which means "one who can live with all countries, with varied national mores".
Similarly, PARA is the proven diminutive of "paradise" (for the (lost?) earthly paradise so well represented by the young girl in bloom on the PARA box.)
Speaking of PARA (and COSMO), there are a number of similarities (as well as important differences) between these two headphones.
The COSMO apparently uses the PARA's headband, which is lighter and more reliable (for fastening the suspension band) than that of the VENUS ; height adjustment with 5 notches.
The driver's construction is also lighter (by weight) than that of the more massive (machined aluminum) VENUS, and more similar to that (lighter by weight) of the PARA (which uses more synthetic material in its construction): this will result in a lighter weight to wear for the COSMO than that of the VENUS.
Unlike the PARA (which lacks them), the COSMO, like the VENUS, has two waveguides (attached to each outer face of the 2 x 9 neodium magnet bars per driver) that profile the magnets. The waveguides are machined aluminum for the VENUS (and synthetic for the COSMO).
Otherwise, the 100 mm diaphragm thickness of the COSMO's (planar) driver is 500 nm (0.5 um), compared to the 2 um of the VENUS. (Note: that of the PARA is unknown ; given also that the PARA's resolution is lower than that of the VENUS).
500 nm should correspond to the membrane thickness of an LCD-4 (which costs 4000 Euros/dollar), while COSMO is advertised at a price of 700 dollars...
The COSMO's resolution should be at least equal to, if not better than, that of the VENUS, which is already excellent.
As for the COSMO's FR (tonality), it's hard to know for sure unless it's directly compared with that of the VENUS and the PARA on the same measurement platform.
However, looking at the PARA FR as shown on the PARA product sheet, there is, apparently, some similarity between that of the PARA and the COSMO.
The FR curve of the COSMO is perhaps slightly better in the upper midrange and treble than that of the PARA, but, with, what I fear, still an (apparently), the same lack of bass (compared to the VENUS, in particular)
(to be confirmed or disproved later with new measurements carried out on the same measurement platform, and above all by listening, if possible in very good conditions, i.e in a quiet environment, and not in a noisy public exhibition).
As for the COSMO's harmonic distortion (THD), it's excellent ; even better than that of the PARA (which was already very low).
As for the price/performance ratio of the COSMO, Moondrop's new flagship, a priori at least as good, if not better than the VENUS (the old flagship), it doesn't follow the same logarithmic price progression as that followed by its competitors (AUDEZE and HIFIMAN), which consisted in doubling the price of the headphones with each new generation of the flagship (1000 --> 2000 --> 4000 dollars (Audeze) or 1500 --> 3000 --> 6000 dollars (HIFIMAN) ..); the price of COSMO is clearly wiser (and more reasonable) in its progression : apparently only $100 more than the VENUS ($700 versus $600).
It remains to be seen how sensitive the COSMO will be (expressed in dB / 1 V and also in dB / 1 mW, as well as its impedance in Ohm); but obviously, a good amplifier (like the one shown in this photo below) will be needed to exploit the full potential of such high-tech planar headphones; a potential that is undoubtedly very high, in line with Moondrop's ambitions in the high-end, high-performance planar headphone market.
Internal cross-section (3D structure) of the COSMO driver, with its two external waveguides (made of synthetic material), attached to each row of magnets.
Internal cross-section (3D structure) of the PARA driver which, unlike the COSMO, does not have these two external waveguides attached to each row of magnets (squares).
Internal cross-section (3D structure) of the VENUS driver, with its two external waveguides (metal, machined aluminum), attached to each row of magnets.
The THD (Total Harmonic Distorsion) of the COSMO seems even better than that of the PARA (which was already very low), but the FR of the COSMO seems quite similar to that of the PARA, to be confirmed or not on other test benches ...
(FR and THD (very low) of the PARA).
(FR and THD (ultra low) of the COSMO)
The FR of the COSMO seems more akin to that of the PARA than that of the VENUS.
COSMO's FR (tonality) seems fairly close to that of the PARA, with perhaps a little less upper-midrange - low-high (between 2 and 3-4 KHz) than the PARA, and also a little less high (between 4 and 6.5 KHz) than the PARA, which is rather a good thing and should make its tonality even more pleasant to listen to than that of the PARA, but with, alas, from all appearances, the same lack of bass as the PARA, compared to the VENUS in particular; it's a pity; unless other COSMO FR measurements carried out on another measurement platform invalidate this initial interpretation of these first FR curves.