[jisukim]

I couldn't get any of the stock tips to work, they all create suction and hurt eventually. I know Spiral Dot++ have been a success for a few, I'm using AET07 and find them excellent.

Thank you! Want to try some, but worried that I would get the wrong size? Tried to read as much of this entire monster of a thread haha, but couldn’t find others who had a problem with the bottom of the casing hitting the tragus? I’m worried that I might get too big of tips as I have been using the L hybrid tips, but others recommend smaller ones.

 

[surfgeorge]

I just received the new Moondrop "Spring" tips and am testing them with the M9.
After extensive search my current tip selection was Spiral Dot ++, left side S and right side MS.

These tips are very interesting. They have a slightly narrower stem, which sits very securely on the M9 nozzle, but then the tip opens to a wide bore with a rather sharper edge and a very soft, slightly sticky, "umbrella" that is ribbed on the inside. I have rather small and somewhat oval ear canals and the small Spring tip gives me a deeper fit than I have managed with any other tip so far. The soft umbrella seals well, but allows for good control of vacuum pressure. The M size tips also fit well but the M9's shell sits a little further out with this tip. But very comfortable.

As always I need more time to form a final opinion but I think these are a very good option.
First impression is a clean, open sound and more energetic sound with a nice and open stage with good separation and positioning. Bass is really good too, punchy, clear and extended. The Spiral Dots sound a bit smoother, with a more compact stage and less clear separation. This might at least be partly due to insertion depth and seal, but I have to say the result is great for me and my ears.

They get a "highly recommended" from me, but I would love to hear other opinions

Moodrop Spring tips are available from the Moondrop store on Aliexpress
Source: Chord Hugo 2, tested with various music styles, Classic, K-Pop, Sound Tracks, Acoustic

Quick update on the Moondrop Spring tips.
They remain my favorite tips and take the lead from the Spiral Dot ++
Vacuum pressure control is a little more challenging than with the Spiral Dots but worth it to me.

They simply sound clearer, livlier and more open to me.
I'd really like to let those who call the M9 laid back listen to the combination of CHORD Hugo 2 and M9 with CEMA PS cable and those tips! To me they sound really stunningly good and plenty dynamic!

 

[hoofman]

A little bit on the background: I am a happy owner of the FiiO FA9 and I really love its detailed and balance sound. Last Dec I was curious how my FA9 compared to other IEMs, so I went to showrooms to try other models (iBasso DT07, Campfire Audio Solaris, Campfire Audio Ara, Sennheiser IE900, etc.) but none convinced me that I should spend more to upgrade. The only one that almost made me to consider was the Ara, but I was not that convinced anyway. I thought that there is hardly anything else significant better to me than the FA9.

And then I remember hearing good things about the M9. I didn't bother to even try the M9 for so long because of a very silly reason. I have the A3 which is my daily driver for many years now. I heard that the A3 was only a little bit worse than the Z5, so to me it's not that worth trying. I think it'll be the same thing for the newer Sony IEMs - they are bout that level only. Lucky enough I still went to store to try them just for fun, without any expectation that I'll ever bring them home. I found out pretty quick how wrong I was the moment I put them on and pressed play. I thought I was a fool for ignoring the M9 for so long. I sat there to "quickly test the M9", well quickly for an hour, until the store had to close. I left the Sony store to avoid impulse buying. Of course I missed the sound so much and went back to the store a few days later to listen to the M9 again. The second time was pretty much the same: there is no mistake. The M9 is THE IEM that I must have.

I was skeptical because I love the FA9 so much (I still do, like the first day I put them on), but the M9 is on a whole new level in every single aspect compared to my FA9. The M9 sounds very detailed with full sound and naturalistic timbre for each and every note, from core to overtone. Instruments as well as vocals sound clear, realistic, and engaging even when I'm throwing in busy, fast and demanding recordings with many things going on. No funny sound soup, all beautifully presented voices. I don't know much audiophile vocab so the best way for me to express how I feel is to compare them to the sounds in real-life music performances. The M9 is much closer to real musical experience compared to the FA9. It maintains all the good things and then bring those to another level. The only bad thing about the M9 is that it's hard to put them down once I put them on.

 

[brazy001]

Quick update on the Moondrop Spring tips.
They remain my favorite tips and take the lead from the Spiral Dot ++
Vacuum pressure control is a little more challenging than with the Spiral Dots but worth it to me.

They simply sound clearer, livlier and more open to me.
I'd really like to let those who call the M9 laid back listen to the combination of CHORD Hugo 2 and M9 with CEMA PS cable and those tips! To me they sound really stunningly good and plenty dynamic!

These tips should arrive any week now hopefully. Wide bore tips definitely make a difference to my ears - with the same open sparkly clearer sound. I just did an a/b to see if I wanted to swap back to stock tips and it was pretty noticeable straight away.
Unfortunately I am using the discontinued ue900s tips where the flange sits outside the stem adding a few mm to the opening.

I second the interest to see if others notice the same changes with different tips. This and the balanced connection seems to have noticeable changes which I find hard/impossible to detect with other IEMs. Specific 4.4mm cables I couldn't perceive any changes but I'm currently using a GUcraftsman ATM for something different to look at.

 

[SlothRock]

Just ordered the moondrop spring tips. I’ve been enjoying the foam tips I got but having more challenges with comfort than with silicone tips. Excited to get em and see how it goes!

 

[Vamp898]

A little bit on the background: I am a happy owner of the FiiO FA9 and I really love its detailed and balance sound. Last Dec I was curious how my FA9 compared to other IEMs, so I went to showrooms to try other models (iBasso DT07, Campfire Audio Solaris, Campfire Audio Ara, Sennheiser IE900, etc.) but none convinced me that I should spend more to upgrade. The only one that almost made me to consider was the Ara, but I was not that convinced anyway. I thought that there is hardly anything else significant better to me than the FA9.

And then I remember hearing good things about the M9. I didn't bother to even try the M9 for so long because of a very silly reason. I have the A3 which is my daily driver for many years now. I heard that the A3 was only a little bit worse than the Z5, so to me it's not that worth trying. I think it'll be the same thing for the newer Sony IEMs - they are bout that level only. Lucky enough I still went to store to try them just for fun, without any expectation that I'll ever bring them home. I found out pretty quick how wrong I was the moment I put them on and pressed play. I thought I was a fool for ignoring the M9 for so long. I sat there to "quickly test the M9", well quickly for an hour, until the store had to close. I left the Sony store to avoid impulse buying. Of course I missed the sound so much and went back to the store a few days later to listen to the M9 again. The second time was pretty much the same: there is no mistake. The M9 is THE IEM that I must have.

I was skeptical because I love the FA9 so much (I still do, like the first day I put them on), but the M9 is on a whole new level in every single aspect compared to my FA9. The M9 sounds very detailed with full sound and naturalistic timbre for each and every note, from core to overtone. Instruments as well as vocals sound clear, realistic, and engaging even when I'm throwing in busy, fast and demanding recordings with many things going on. No funny sound soup, all beautifully presented voices. I don't know much audiophile vocab so the best way for me to express how I feel is to compare them to the sounds in real-life music performances. The M9 is much closer to real musical experience compared to the FA9. It maintains all the good things and then bring those to another level. The only bad thing about the M9 is that it's hard to put them down once I put them on.

Especially with 和楽器バンド they are performing insane. They are unreal good.

 

[hoofman]

Especially with 和楽器バンド they are performing insane. They are unreal good.

Yes they are amazing. Their albums are always in my must-test list to determine my experience on music playback gears.

I also wanna say that I own you a lot for introducing the M9. I remember reading some reviews that said the M9 sounds dull with bad bass and meh vocal. The M9 was then compared to the campfire audio which I tried and my experience with those didn't help too.

I read your reviews and bought the gears and listened to what you listened and described. After the FA9 I know that I can gain better understanding from your impressions than some sin wave impression and noise measurement. I know how instruments and vocals sound in real life, so when you talk about what you hear in recordings like the cymbal sound, or clapping sound, or how long high airy melodies supposed to sustain I can imagine how those translate to real sound. Thanks to all that now everyday I'm rocking the M9

 

[SlothRock]

Just got the spring tips in and they're currently my fav. I've been having a lot of difficulties getting the right tip for the M9. Some make the bass really bump but then take away a lot of the incredible mids/clarity in the process and don't end up being super comfortable, some emphasize every single note in each song with ease but make the bass puny and almost non-existent, some strike a great middle ground but have the suction effect. The spring tips, so far, are more comfortable than the "comfort tips" that sony provides, have that middle ground that provides a good quantity/emphasis on bass while retaining the sound signature that make the M9 so special. Hopefully these are finally "the one" for me

 

[jinx20001]

Hey, not new around here but used to frequent head-fi in the earlier 00's, my last post was probably 2010, something like that... been away from the IEM/headphone market for some years after having 3 children and my wife became seriously ill etc... had to quit work and got into some pc gaming to pass the time when not caring for my wife and kids... after basically giving up the hobby all them years ago i recently decided i would purchase a new set of in ears and needless to say i was absolutely overwhelmed with just how much choice there is out there today, back when i visited this forum i had a number of IEM's ranging from ultimate ears super fi 5's which were one of the first ''high end'' in ears i ever tried (and might i add it always left a fantastic impression on me) to the shure e3c's and e500/se535's, i had UE triple fi 10's, etymotics er4's, i tried a couple of westone in ears, w30 and w40's, even had a couple of customs at the time if i remember rightly i had a pair of ue 5 pro and ue 10 pro's but at the time the moldings became brittle and discolored and they were long since part of the IEM graveyard, the last pair i had and really enjoyed before packing it all in due to those circumstances were sony mdr ex1000 in ears and i really enjoyed them a lot and so here i am today and i decided to grab some M9's....

Once again the eyes are open, long forgetting what a nice set of in ears can do, they don't hit me like the super fi 5 pro hit me all those years ago, im not wowed like i was back then but i was younger and easily pleased, back then i could not believe what in ears could do, today i know what they can do and the M9's serve as a reminder, a very pleasing reminder, they sound like a shure se535 but on another level of clarity, the warmth is present but far more defined, there is a seperation the shures in particular did not have, they would color the mid range a little which would fill out the midrange and bring it forward making them known for a lush mid range but the high end would massively lack presentation and sparkle, the M9's are everything the shures back then should have been. The low end is full but incredibly clear, completely separate from the mid range but somehow still being very cohesive and smooth in the transition, back then the shure headphones and westone's too would bring that warmth into music that didn't suit the music, creating a veil where music should have been clean and clear, somehow i feel like the M9's do just that, they hit hard when the music calls for it but then sit back and let the mids and highs sing alone when called for. i had my eyes on the shure se846 for the longest time after i gave up on the hobby, i was a big shure fan regardless of the obvious shortcomings, wondering what they might be like but promising my wife i would never spend that kind of money again on in ears. I never did get some and perhaps now never will... have to question why they took the lengths to improve sub bass response when the high end was what needed that love and attention.

its difficult to find a shortcoming to the M9's honestly, the imaging is excellent, the sound-stage is amazing, i don't expect many to know what im talking about here but i play a game called escape from tarkov on the pc pretty regularly ( i know im a 33 year old child at heart ) and these in ears allow me to easily identify other players left, right, in front or behind long before i lay eyes on them, so much so i far prefer these to even my DT1990 pro over ears which i used for the pc for a long while, this shocked me the most in fact because sound-stage as im sure you all know is never typically an IEM strong point but they do it for me, do it incredibly well. picking out a weak point i think i will say the highs can show a hint of sibilance, but its minor and likely a poorly mastered track here and there and perhaps even some lower quality spotify rubbish when im too lazy to listen to the flac material.

consider me a fan, this time 15 years ago i would hop from IEM to IEM in search of that sound i like, that just isn't going to happen this time around, im a one IEM man today and i think i landed on the one for me first time. with that said, i do wonder what the Z1R's are like, nope stop it im not doing it again. this might be my last post for another 10-20 years, i doubt its a useful one since anybody on this thread already knows how good the things are but hey its nice to share thoughts from time to time and better with like minded folk. happy listening.

 

[BonGoBiLai]

Hey, not new around here but used to frequent head-fi in the earlier 00's, my last post was probably 2010, something like that... been away from the IEM/headphone market for some years after having 3 children and my wife became seriously ill etc... had to quit work and got into some pc gaming to pass the time when not caring for my wife and kids... after basically giving up the hobby all them years ago i recently decided i would purchase a new set of in ears and needless to say i was absolutely overwhelmed with just how much choice there is out there today, back when i visited this forum i had a number of IEM's ranging from ultimate ears super fi 5's which were one of the first ''high end'' in ears i ever tried (and might i add it always left a fantastic impression on me) to the shure e3c's and e500/se535's, i had UE triple fi 10's, etymotics er4's, i tried a couple of westone in ears, w30 and w40's, even had a couple of customs at the time if i remember rightly i had a pair of ue 5 pro and ue 10 pro's but at the time the moldings became brittle and discolored and they were long since part of the IEM graveyard, the last pair i had and really enjoyed before packing it all in due to those circumstances were sony mdr ex1000 in ears and i really enjoyed them a lot and so here i am today and i decided to grab some M9's....

Once again the eyes are open, long forgetting what a nice set of in ears can do, they don't hit me like the super fi 5 pro hit me all those years ago, im not wowed like i was back then but i was younger and easily pleased, back then i could not believe what in ears could do, today i know what they can do and the M9's serve as a reminder, a very pleasing reminder, they sound like a shure se535 but on another level of clarity, the warmth is present but far more defined, there is a seperation the shures in particular did not have, they would color the mid range a little which would fill out the midrange and bring it forward making them known for a lush mid range but the high end would massively lack presentation and sparkle, the M9's are everything the shures back then should have been. The low end is full but incredibly clear, completely separate from the mid range but somehow still being very cohesive and smooth in the transition, back then the shure headphones and westone's too would bring that warmth into music that didn't suit the music, creating a veil where music should have been clean and clear, somehow i feel like the M9's do just that, they hit hard when the music calls for it but then sit back and let the mids and highs sing alone when called for. i had my eyes on the shure se846 for the longest time after i gave up on the hobby, i was a big shure fan regardless of the obvious shortcomings, wondering what they might be like but promising my wife i would never spend that kind of money again on in ears. I never did get some and perhaps now never will... have to question why they took the lengths to improve sub bass response when the high end was what needed that love and attention.

its difficult to find a shortcoming to the M9's honestly, the imaging is excellent, the sound-stage is amazing, i don't expect many to know what im talking about here but i play a game called escape from tarkov on the pc pretty regularly ( i know im a 33 year old child at heart ) and these in ears allow me to easily identify other players left, right, in front or behind long before i lay eyes on them, so much so i far prefer these to even my DT1990 pro over ears which i used for the pc for a long while, this shocked me the most in fact because sound-stage as im sure you all know is never typically an IEM strong point but they do it for me, do it incredibly well. picking out a weak point i think i will say the highs can show a hint of sibilance, but its minor and likely a poorly mastered track here and there and perhaps even some lower quality spotify rubbish when im too lazy to listen to the flac material.

consider me a fan, this time 15 years ago i would hop from IEM to IEM in search of that sound i like, that just isn't going to happen this time around, im a one IEM man today and i think i landed on the one for me first time. with that said, i do wonder what the Z1R's are like, nope stop it im not doing it again. this might be my last post for another 10-20 years, i doubt its a useful one since anybody on this thread already knows how good the things are but hey its nice to share thoughts from time to time and better with like minded folk. happy listening.

M9 is like the Lexus LFA of iems. I am not sure if even Sony themselves can topple it. I have tried quite a few IEMs. Some priced thrice as much. None of them were as magical or as right sounding as the M9

 

[kissmojo]

I had an argument the other day with someone who promotes a 12 BA per side monitor(more than $3K) and trashed M9 in comparison.
I auditioned a very expensive pair of 12 or 16 BA monitor, and I can say these multiple BA IEM has serious design problem, I can easily hear multiple BA covering same frequencies all at the same time, this results in a very noisy and shouty sound. Most of these monitors are not using in house designed BAs, not like SONY who design and made the BA by themselves, and the difference is very obvious.

 

[jinx20001]

I had an argument the other day with someone who promotes a 12 BA per side monitor(more than $3K) and trashed M9 in comparison.
I auditioned a very expensive pair of 12 or 16 BA monitor, and I can say these multiple BA IEM has serious design problem, I can easily hear multiple BA covering same frequencies all at the same time, this results in a very noisy and shouty sound. Most of these monitors are not using in house designed BAs, not like SONY who design and made the BA by themselves, and the difference is very obvious.

You know, its very interesting that you mentioned that because the day after writing my impressions above i was so curious where IEM's have gone over the last few years, what heights they have reached should i say, that i decided to order some 64 audio U12T in ears, now i wouldn't have ordered them except i got them used at a much cheaper price than they are new, precisely half in fact at £1000 instead of £2000.

That really was too tempting, of course they are 12 drivers per ear but i TOTALLY understand what you mean when you say sony designed their own armature and it works... it very clearly works because they are absolutely wonderful, however not all multi driver in earphones are just a collection of knowles armatures in an enclosure and 64 audio uses proprietary technology of their own, namely the TIA design which is a variation on the tweeter making it more open and exposed.

anyway without rambling too much i will just say i have not received the U12T yet, when i do i will be sure to make a comparison, its likely to sway in the direction of the U12T but why wouldn't it at that price and with its reputation, heck maybe ill prefer the m9. What is going to be interesting is how its going to differ, why is it going to be better or in what way is the M9 going to be better (besides price ofcourse)... i dont think its going to be completely one sided honestly, sony clearly know how to design a crossover, being a 5 driver with a 5 way crossover has worked wonders and somehow its so damn cohesive i believe it may retain that strong point even over the 4 way U12T, i don't think it will be a walk over at all. I know the U12T uses 4 drivers for the bass, 2 of which are sonion's largest balanced armatures dedicated solely to sub frequencies, so it will be interesting to see how the single sony driver holds up, judging by other reviewers again it probably isnt going to be a walk over.

ill post some pictures and a side by side review in the coming days, probably towards the weekend, whichever i decide to keep i can say for certain even right now that the M9 is a wonderful product and i certainly wont be trashing it.

 

[Vamp898]

I've read some excellent reviews about the EX-NI1000 and decided to buy them

https://www.sony.jp/headphone/products/EP-NI1000/

They are memory foam but the reviewers said that they can easily be used for an year without the usual signs of wear memory foam have. So from what I've read, they, they are still "like new" after regular use over a long time.

Also pretty much everyone mentioned that they feel very comfortable and isolated excellent. They don't have the usual "thing in your ear" feel normal memory foam have.

With ~20€ for one pair(!) They are insanely expensive, but I bought them and will try them soon

 

[kissmojo]

You know, its very interesting that you mentioned that because the day after writing my impressions above i was so curious where IEM's have gone over the last few years, what heights they have reached should i say, that i decided to order some 64 audio U12T in ears, now i wouldn't have ordered them except i got them used at a much cheaper price than they are new, precisely half in fact at £1000 instead of £2000.

That really was too tempting, of course they are 12 drivers per ear but i TOTALLY understand what you mean when you say sony designed their own armature and it works... it very clearly works because they are absolutely wonderful, however not all multi driver in earphones are just a collection of knowles armatures in an enclosure and 64 audio uses proprietary technology of their own, namely the TIA design which is a variation on the tweeter making it more open and exposed.

anyway without rambling too much i will just say i have not received the U12T yet, when i do i will be sure to make a comparison, its likely to sway in the direction of the U12T but why wouldn't it at that price and with its reputation, heck maybe ill prefer the m9. What is going to be interesting is how its going to differ, why is it going to be better or in what way is the M9 going to be better (besides price ofcourse)... i dont think its going to be completely one sided honestly, sony clearly know how to design a crossover, being a 5 driver with a 5 way crossover has worked wonders and somehow its so damn cohesive i believe it may retain that strong point even over the 4 way U12T, i don't think it will be a walk over at all. I know the U12T uses 4 drivers for the bass, 2 of which are sonion's largest balanced armatures dedicated solely to sub frequencies, so it will be interesting to see how the single sony driver holds up, judging by other reviewers again it probably isnt going to be a walk over.

ill post some pictures and a side by side review in the coming days, probably towards the weekend, whichever i decide to keep i can say for certain even right now that the M9 is a wonderful product and i certainly wont be trashing it.

Really forward your comparison, I respect any brand who can make great headphones, but there are many just want to make money and they want to make you believe the 12 or 16 BA design is superior and worth the super high price tag, the more the better.
I still believe a 12BA design can offer good sound quality, but it is technically very difficult.

 

[hoofman]

I've read some excellent reviews about the EX-NI1000 and decided to buy them

https://www.sony.jp/headphone/products/EP-NI1000/

They are memory foam but the reviewers said that they can easily be used for an year without the usual signs of wear memory foam have. So from what I've read, they, they are still "like new" after regular use over a long time.

Also pretty much everyone mentioned that they feel very comfortable and isolated excellent. They don't have the usual "thing in your ear" feel normal memory foam have.

With ~20€ for one pair(!) They are insanely expensive, but I bought them and will try them soon

Please do post feedback. I'm also interested. This is promising.