[Grimrypper]

Hello. I have a problem with my Moondrop S8 IEMs.

Basically the right earphone sounds weird, like some distortion is happening, from what I've read in the glossary, the term that would fit is edgy or piercing and like it has lower bitrate compared to the left side, when high frequencies are being used.
At first I thought that it was because that was how some songs were mastered, but it was ridiculous for so many songs to have the same problem, and I decided to test it a little with the windows sound test and there is indeed a problem.

Tried different cables, sources, switched left with right but the problem still stays with the right side. I'm thinking it is some hardware issue, perhaps a BA driver became faulty.

Here's a playlist with the normal sound and how it sounds with the right earphone, the issue occurs towards the end, it can be easily heard:

Playlist

Now my questions are the following: Is there anything I can do to repair them? What might cause the problem? Is this something that falls under warranty? (Bought them from https://hifigo.com/ )

 

[ProtegeManiac]

There are variances in performance in driver production. That's why some measurements of headphones/IEMs don't have an averaged graph, but separate left and right side graphs, so you'll get an idea of how bad manufacturing variance can be (although given a sample of one or just a few separate units by different reviewers, strictly speaking this is too small a sample size, though it's better than nothing if the results are consistent enough).

Kind of like how there's such a thing as silicon lottery so CPU and GPU reviews for games and apps don't typically involve overclocking at all, much less squeezing the most out of either or both in one test rig, apart from 1) GN taking Intel to 5.0ghz and AMD to as high as it can go and 2) GPUs typically don't get much performance gain on average FPS (though 1% lows may improve) even though a combined CPU and GPU overclock may benefit Total War games for example.

 

[Grimrypper]

The thing is that I have had them for about 5 months and have done lots of headphones test and everything was alright when I bought them, including the windows sound test, and now, when I tried the tests again the problem could be heard even without putting them in ears. I wish I could record the problem better, but that's the best I can with a phone.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The thing is that I have had them for about 5 months and have done lots of headphones test and everything was alright when I bought them, including the windows sound test, and now, when I tried the tests again the problem could be heard even without putting them in ears. I wish I could record the problem better, but that's the best I can with a phone.

If you cleaned your ears or had an ENT clean them just before they sounded like that you're now hearing what they actually sound like from the start ie there was a noticeable manufacturing variance.

Otherwise the driver could have deformed within the 5mos somehow.

 

[Grimrypper]

If you cleaned your ears or had an ENT clean them just before they sounded like that you're now hearing what they actually sound like from the start ie there was a noticeable manufacturing variance.

Otherwise the driver could have deformed within the 5mos somehow.

I go to ENT monthly, but change the tips of the IEM every month or 2 and clean them after every use.
Regarding the driver, now I remembered one time I accidentally used them while the dac (Ifi iDSD BL) was on turbo mode, but wasn't more than 3 seconds (Thankfully they weren't in my ears). Perhaps this might have had an effect? But only on the right side seems weird.

 

[earmonger]

I'd suggest contacting Moondrop. Maybe you can work out a free or discounted replacement for that side.

 

[Grimrypper]

I'd suggest contacting Moondrop. Maybe you can work out a free or discounted replacement for that side.

Should I contact them first or the place I've bought them from?

 

[earmonger]

Frankly, I'd try both. Chinese New Year is coming Feb. 1 and many companies take a week off, so you should see if you can get a response from Moondrop before then.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I go to ENT monthly, but change the tips of the IEM every month or 2 and clean them after every use.
Regarding the driver, now I remembered one time I accidentally used them while the dac (Ifi iDSD BL) was on turbo mode, but wasn't more than 3 seconds (Thankfully they weren't in my ears). Perhaps this might have had an effect? But only on the right side seems weird.

I'd check and see if you can get a warranty replacement but Tet is this Tuesday so most of Asia's gonna be blitzed if not off work this week or at least until Wednesday.

 

[Grimrypper]

Thanks for the help. I will try to contact them after 10 February and hope for the best.

 

[DenverW]

This sounds like a driver problem. If you've had them for 5 months hopefully the seller will honor some kind of warranty for you.

 

[TurttleRabbit]

Thanks for the help. I will try to contact them after 10 February and hope for the best.

Do you have any updates about or case? I have the same problem with my Moondrop S8 and I also have bought it around the same time as you.

 

[Grimrypper]

Do you have any updates about or case? I have the same problem with my Moondrop S8 and I also have bought it around the same time as you.

Yes. I've talked both with the seller and Moondrop, sadly with Moondrop they told me they can't really do much with warranty directly and that I should just talk with the seller, that as long as I've tried different cables, filters and sources and the issue still occurs, it should be valid.

I've talked with Hifigo and after 3-4 email replies trying to explain that I've already tried everything that I could on my part and that the issue is 100% hardware related(This link presents quite well what you can do on your part), I've been asked first if I can repair them in my country, or somewhere near(the nearest center would be in Ukraine, so it's kinda impossible), since it would take a long time due to people contacting covid by touching overseas parcels, so it would need to stay in the China post office a while.

Now the problem is that I've never sent anything, especially internationally. I will try to send them with Fedex, since I got the package with it, but will need to research more as what to write on the package, and how and where I will need to put the package as to be sent.

 

[Grimrypper]

So I finally got the replacement. Boy has it been one hell of a journey.
First, the nearest repair center was in Ukraine, and guess what? the very next day war started for them...

Then, I had to learn about how to transport internationally, I tried with the courier that came the first time, Fedex, and it was an absolute hell, eventually I had to give up since they didn't even say what additional acts were needed, there were problems with payments, a very bad experience overall. Eventually I found about UPS, although more expensive, but it was flawless this time.

Then, after the broken iems arrived in china they were left in deposit, they should have been left there for about 15 days for sanitary purposes, but guess what? The situation there kept getting worse and worse, and from 15 days it got to 2 months or more I think. I finally got a notification that they have been received and have waited for a month I think, until I wrote them an e-mail again if they received the iems. Thankfully they replied positively, and just when they sent them, they got stuck in Shangai, since the entire city got locked down.

But when I finally got them, and the issue was no longer present, damn it was so satisfying, since this confirmed that it was indeed a physical problem with the drivers, not something wrong with my ears or cables.

Thankfully this story has a happy ending