[Otto Motor]

Here they finally are, my thoughts on the Moondrop Kanas Pro -- soon also on Head-Fi. I tested the hype and found it was not even remotely warranted. After the recent rigour in our reviews of the Brainwavz Koel, Sennheiser IE 500 PRO, some verboten stuff, and now the Moondrop Kanas Pro, I fear my blog will dry out soon due to the lack of review supplies.

 

[Light - Man]

^ I agree with your sentiment. Most reviews are totally meaningless. Reviewers gloss over obvious flaws with the skill of a well seasoned politician.

Blissful ignorance or just gross incompetence or maybe just subconscious fear of the prospect of no more free samples!

Far too many 4-5 stars being given,which makes a complete farce of the whole Universe.............

End of rant!

 

[chickenmoon]

The Moondrop Kanas Pro hype has not been driven by free review samples at all.

 

[jon parker]

Keep at it Otto

I do appreciate reviews.

One thing though that is often missed in both reviews and comments is CONTEXT.

The Moondrop Crescent is AMAZING for a $20 IEM - Is it amazing compared to a TOTL IEM? - of course not

Another example - I personally found the Sennheiser IE40 to be ok-ish - nothing special but perhaps good for a commute IEM. What really pissed me off about it is that Senn. CLAIMED and named them to be a 'PRO' IEM

The term 'PRO' can be either accurate in that it is telling the buyer that the tuning is created for a professional's needs and are not necessarily tuned for a fun HiFi sound,
or the term 'PRO' can be used as a marketing gimmick to sell a mediocre product for a higher price line than it should be by fooling the prospective buyer into thinking they are buying something special . . . a REAL Pro product for what can be a cheap price compared to genuine specially tuned actual pro products

Another aspect of CONTEXT is the qualifications of a reviewer.

I think being a QUALIFIED reviewer is like becoming a Sommelier (A qualified wine waiter) in that you need to drink and experience a lot of wine from table wine up to top vintage Bordeaux over a long period of time to really learn what is 'good' what is good and what qualifies as a great aspect of the item
Of course this isn't easy as it take a lot of money and time to get this lofty position of experience & qualification

Also MOTIVATION and INTENTION is hugely important as is the moral fibre of the reviewer. Do reviewers always understand the responsibilities they hold in that people could spend hard earned money based on what they say ??

Anyway...just a few thoughts. I find the good, the bad, the newbies, the old hands and everyone here has something interesting to offer. You do sometimes need to use your wisdom to extract what it useful and qualified from the various comments but - thanks. Everyone's thoughts and input is appreciated - Without this place I wouldn't be enjoying the amazing quality of audio that I do today xx

 

[Light - Man]

The Moondrop Kanas Pro hype has not been driven by free review samples at all.

I am talking generally. Regarding the Kanas, I take your point to a certain extent. But the hype started on YT and then gathered momentum. There seems to have been QC issues which has not helped.

To me the Kanas was special in a few areas but was messed up generally and I am glad to see the back of it - thanks to Amazon!

 

[chickenmoon]

I am talking generally. Regarding the Kanas, I take your point to a certain extent. But the hype started on YT and then gathered momentum. There seems to have been QC issues which has not helped.

To me the Kanas was special in a few areas but was messed up generally and I am glad to see the back of it - thanks to Amazon!

Nope, the YouTube vids come after the word of mouth by regular users here in generic threads, then in the Moondrop thread, all the reviewers played catch up for once with that one.

 

[SilverEars]

To me the Kanas was special in a few areas but was messed up generally and I am glad to see the back of it - thanks to Amazon!

What was so messed up with it? And what iem doesn't sound messed up to you?

@Otto Motor

What is your recommendation for tonally balanced at the same price-point of Kanas pro or lower? I understand it's bass is elevated, particularly sub-bass, but it doesn't muddle up the sound to my ears. It isn't neutral for sure, but ER4 is considered netural and lack bass, and particularly sounds a bit thin. Comparatively Kanas pro has weight to the sound.

Is it a bit on too smooth for high-hat response?

You wrote it01 is preferable? Is it the treble accentuation?

 

[Light - Man]

Nope, the YouTube vids come after the word of mouth by regular users here in generic threads, then in the Moondrop thread, all the reviewers played catch up for once with that one.

I suppose it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I am more of a headphone guy and just want in-ears for convenience when out and about.

I have not been following the numerous in-ear threads until recently. A few youtube people got my attention so I bought them to see what the fuss was about.

What do you think of both versions of the Kanas and do you think that they are worthy of the hype. How do they compare to your Flare Audio Flares Pro. What is the favourite of your collection.

(BTW, everything in my sig is a verified purchase so I have no axe to grind)

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

Here they finally are, my thoughts on the Moondrop Kanas Pro -- soon also on Head-Fi. I tested the hype and found it was not even remotely warranted. After the recent rigour in our reviews of the Brainwavz Koel, Sennheiser IE 500 PRO, some verboten stuff, and now the Moondrop Kanas Pro, I fear my blog will dry out soon due to the lack of review supplies.

The MKP was of great value for me! I was able to unload them very quickly and got enough for them to buy the IE40 Pro and the Crescent! Two winning iem's for an iem i thought as good, but not nearly as good as even the IE40 Pro. So thanks Kanas Pro!

 

[Light - Man]

What was so messed up with it? And what iem doesn't sound messed up to you?

@Otto Motor

What is your recommendation for tonally balanced at the same price-point of Kanas pro or lower? I understand it's bass is elevated, particularly sub-bass, but it doesn't muddle up the sound to my ears. It isn't neutral for sure, but ER4 is considered netural and lack bass, and particularly sounds a bit thin. Comparatively Kanas pro has weight to the sound.

Mainly the slow lumpy bass with poor articulation that can't keep up with anything dynamic and therefore messes up the whole experience of a lot of music that I listen to.

The shoutyness aspects of the vocals and a sharpness in the treble, not all the time but too often to be acceptable to me.

The questionable ergonomics of the fit and the unbalanced weight.

The Tin T3 never seems to lose composure and the KZ ZS10 Pro does very little wrong with the right tips.

I am fairly new to in-ears so I do not profess the be any type of an expert.

I just wanted to give my views to give an overall balance of views, that might help or confuse people even further......................

Way past my bedtime...................................

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

What was so messed up with it? And what iem doesn't sound messed up to you?

@Otto Motor

What is your recommendation for tonally balanced at the same price-point of Kanas pro or lower? I understand it's bass is elevated, particularly sub-bass, but it doesn't muddle up the sound to my ears. It isn't neutral for sure, but ER4 is considered netural and lack bass, and particularly sounds a bit thin. Comparatively Kanas pro has weight to the sound.

Is it a bit on too smooth for high-hat response?

You wrote it01 is preferable? Is it the treble accentuation?

This was one of the reasons I let them go. The highs were a tad bit attenuated. Too smooth up top. Drums just didn't shine through the way I like. That's not to say it's a preferred signature for some. I respect the ears of others, and that's why the MKP was very popular. It has some kick ass sound staging and nice mids, plus meaty bass, but I just wasn't a fan of the overall smoothness (same goes for Sony MH755) and the lack of resolution and timbre with the stock cable. Now when i switched out the cable, I got better resolution, but the connection tended to slip, and I couldn't find an equivalent two pin cable that fit snug enough except the stock cable. At the end of the day, I'm much happier with the IE40 Pro and the Crescent. The Crescent has better highs than the Kanas.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

Mainly the slow lumpy bass with poor articulation that can't keep up with anything dynamic and therefore messes up the whole experience of a lot of music that I listen to.

The shoutyness aspects of the vocals and a sharpness in the treble, not all the time but too often to be acceptable to me.

The questionable ergonomics of the fit and the unbalanced weight.

The Tin T3 never seems to lose composure and the KZ ZS10 Pro does very little wrong with the right tips.

I am fairly new to in-ears so I do not profess the be any type of an expert.

I just wanted to give my views to give a overall balance of views, that might help or confuse people even further......................

Way past my bedtime...................................

We heard them very similar. I didn't think the treble was at all sharp, and mostly smooth and lacking resolution, but yes, we heard them very similar, so I don't feel so bad not liking them as much as some. Thanks for sharing your experience with them.

 

[SilverEars]

This was one of the reasons I let them go. The highs were a tad bit attenuated. Too smooth up top. Drums just didn't shine through the way I like. That's not to say it's a preferred signature for some. I respect the ears of others, and that's why the MKP was very popular. It has some kick ass sound staging and nice mids, plus meaty bass, but I just wasn't a fan of the overall smoothness (same goes for Sony MH755) and the lack of resolution and timbre with the stock cable. Now when i switched out the cable, I got better resolution, but the connection tended to slip, and I couldn't find an equivalent two pin cable that fit snug enough except the stock cable. At the end of the day, I'm much happier with the IE40 Pro and the Crescent. The Crescent has better highs than the Kanas.

I don't consider MH755 smooth with the 6-8k elevation.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

I don't consider MH755 smooth with the 6-8k elevation.

I don't hear any spikes or tizziness at all with the MH755. They are smooth as butter to me, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, just not MY THING when it comes to preferred signature. I know a lot of people, my brother included, who likes a smoother presentation. I just think that certain drum sounds get lost in the translation of smoothness.

 

[chickenmoon]

I suppose it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. I am more of a headphone guy and just want in-ears for convenience when out and about.

I have not been following the numerous in-ear threads until recently. A few youtube people got my attention so I bought them to see what the fuss was about.

What do you think of both versions of the Kanas and do you think that they are worthy of the hype. How do they compare to your Flare Audio Flares Pro. What is the favourite of your collection.

(BTW, everything in my sig is a verified purchase so I have no axe to grind)

Well, I was one of the KP "early adopters" and since I've somewhat contributed to the hype I'd have to say that yes they are worthy of it. I still don't know any other IEM that's got better mids for the money. Regular Kanas has just more bass than KP so if you like big bombastic sub-bass they are great IMO and due to some bleed they feel a bit less thin in the lower midrange too.

Flares Pro is different , I like it a lot but I had to foam mod it to cut a 12khz peak I didn't like. It's got a 8khz peak, a 3khz bump and has slightly above neutral bass but very flat and extend very well in both ends. Just like KP however I don't think it's a bread and butter IEM, works better with some genres than others IMO. I don't like either with the kind of dense and busy spacerock and stoner I listen to. FP is technically better than KP IMO.

If I had to cut my current collection to just two, I think I'd keep EN700 Pro and Oxygen, they both have a very pleasant sound signature, have no peaks and work well enough for me with anything. I prefer the tonality of the Simgot but the Tanchjim has significantly better technicalities. I am hoping my coming TFZ No3 Ti (saturday hopefully) will combine the strenghts of both of these. Of course by keeping just those two I would miss out on what others do better than either of them.

Can't really talk about the ATH-CKR100iS, EX-800-ST and R1 Zenith yet as I've just received them earlier this week and haven't had too much time with any of them but they are sure good enough to warrant being in my siggie.