[MattFH]

Hello,
I'm interested in these 3 IEMs, Moondrop Aria Snow, Final E3000 and FiiO JH3 or FD1, as they come with various recomendations and are in the same price range where I am. Or they are actually 4 with the Fiios and I don't know which Fiio would be better either.

I like neutral or "realistic" sound with good imaging, without the listening being tiring. Which one might be the best, by consensus or experience?

Addendum: I'm considering to simply rule out the FiiOs, as I've seen complaints about broken pins for both. Maybe you have another suggestion for the ultimate IEM at that price point, or can make the choice between the others easier.

 

[baskingshark]

Hello,
I'm interested in these 3 IEMs, Moondrop Aria Snow, Final E3000 and FiiO JH3 or FD1, as they come with various recomendations and are in the same price range where I am. Or they are actually 4 with the Fiios and I don't know which Fiio would be better either.

I like neutral or "realistic" sound with good imaging, without the listening being tiring. Which one might be the best, by consensus or experience?

Addendum: I'm considering to simply rule out the FiiOs, as I've seen complaints about broken pins for both. Maybe you have another suggestion for the ultimate IEM at that price point, or can make the choice between the others easier.

Final E3000 is very bassy and is not neutral at all. It is also very hard to drive from weaker sources. It seems this may not be the option for you if you want "neutral" as per your post.

Aria Snow is neutralish, but is a bit bass lite and has thin note weight.

If you want neutral/reference sound, do read about the DUNU Titan S. It is neutral bright, better technicalities than Aria Snow. It may be a bit hot in the upper mids region though.

 

[MattFH]

Yes, reading of the lack of bass of the Moondrop Aria Snow has been bothering me, however it depends on how conscious it will be.
Unfortunately the DUNU Titan S costs a bit more for me, I'm wondering if I go that high. Speaking of higher, how much better is the Moondrop Starfield compared to the Aria Snow?

And maybe someone can chime in on the extraordinary robustness (that they don't break easily) of their FiiO JH3 or FD1.

Addendum: I had a misunderstanding. I can get the original Aria instead of the Aria Snow just as well, but unclear amazon info and pictures just made it seem the Aria would be Bluetooth, which I don't want to use. However then I saw a review which also spoke of a production or quality control issue, similar to the FiiOs...

 

[baskingshark]

Yes, reading of the lack of bass of the Moondrop Aria Snow has been bothering me, however it depends on how conscious it will be.
Unfortunately the DUNU Titan S costs a bit more for me, I'm wondering if I go that high. Speaking of higher, how much better is the Moondrop Starfield compared to the Aria Snow?

And maybe someone can chime in on the extraordinary robustness (that they don't break easily) of their FiiO JH3 or FD1.

Addendum: I had a misunderstanding. I can get the original Aria instead of the Aria Snow just as well, but unclear amazon info and pictures just made it seem the Aria would be Bluetooth, which I don't want to use. However then I saw a review which also spoke of a production or quality control issue, similar to the FiiOs...

The Aria and Snow are not Bluetooth IEMs, they are wired IEMs. But you can use an aftermarket Bluetooth adapter to convert them to wireless usage.


Titan S is regularly on sales, seen it at $50 USD sometimes.

 

[MattFH]

I find wired more convenient or simpler for my purposes. Anyway.

Does the Aria's slight bass boost ever bleed into voices? I currently have the Sony MDR-XB55AP, and it does that quite a bit, aside from having noticeably recessed and slightly grainy mids.

 

[MattFH]

I didn't put attention on the T3 Plus, since they seemed a standard amazon choice and I equated them with the T3 on RTings.com, which is apparently incorrect (simply that equation, not the site).
However it seems to come up in comparison to the Dunu and some also say it's more neutral than the Aria.
An advice on that choice (T3 Plus and Aria)?

 

[baskingshark]

I didn't put attention on the T3 Plus, since they seemed a standard amazon choice and I equated them with the T3 on RTings.com, which is apparently incorrect (simply that equation, not the site).
However it seems to come up in comparison to the Dunu and some also say it's more neutral than the Aria.
An advice on that choice (T3 Plus and Aria)?

T3 Plus and Aria 2021 are sidegrades.

The T3 Plus is actually a bit more V shaped than the Aria 2021. The Aria has less bass (but the bass is of better quality, as the Tin T3 Plus bass bleeds and is one-noted without much texture). The Tin T3 Plus is a bit hotter in the lower treble region.

In terms of imaging, instrument separation and clarity, the Aria edges it over the Tin T3 Plus. Perhaps the Tin T3 Plus has better soundstage and slightly better microdetails.

 

[MattFH]

I have the Moondrop Aria for now. They don't seal well and are a bit of a fuss to put on. The sound is fairly thin, but relatively detailed, textured and fast. They were tinny and lisping at first, but that seems to have receded with usage. Some highs or high mids like keyboard keys can sound really sweet. Some lower mids or higher bass seems to be lacking somehow so that some guitar riffs get swallowed (I sample various streaming, soundtracks or metal music). Because of that lost area and because tbey sound so thin (and don't seal and are a bit of fuss), I'm still looking.

The T3 Plus experiences seem very varied, I wonder what's going on there. However by the looks of it, they are also of the non-sealing type.

 

[baskingshark]

I have the Moondrop Aria for now. They don't seal well and are a bit of a fuss to put on. The sound is fairly thin, but relatively detailed, textured and fast. They were tinny and lisping at first, but that seems to have receded with usage. Some highs or high mids like keyboard keys can sound really sweet. Some lower mids or higher bass seems to be lacking somehow so that some guitar riffs get swallowed (I sample various streaming, soundtracks or metal music). Because of that lost area and because tbey sound so thin (and don't seal and are a bit of fuss), I'm still looking.

The T3 Plus experiences seem very varied, I wonder what's going on there. However by the looks of it, they are also of the non-sealing type.

The Aria is actually on the warmer side, you might be having a bad seal with your current eartips and are hence losing the lower frequencies.

Maybe try the other eartips in the Aria packaging, try various sizes. If the seal is good, you should be able to hear the basslines well.

 

[MattFH]

I know it's not a perfect seal, but it's hard to achieve, nearly impossible to maintain. And honestly, it makes little difference.

I don't perceive it as warm in any noteworthy way, because it's overall a thin sound. It's a matter of pure analysis to call it warm. It's still more neutral than warm. And while I don't say there is brightness, there is an occasional lisp or a bit of a tinny quality to speaking voices and some sounds. I've been considering it to be "revealing" of recording quality, but that's just speculation, and it also seemed to have been worst at the start.

I tried two eartips, currently have smaller ones (though most sizes hard to tell apart) because the first ones seemed to fit into the ear worse. But soundwise I never noticed much difference based on seal.

But it's hard to say whether what I'm talking about as lacking is bass or lower mids, it's a guitar emphasis in Black Diamond by Stratovarius at about 3:40-3:43 after double melodic guitars at 3:23. A final transitional lower melodic emphasis (a bit like a car starting up) before singing starts again. I always found that part really neat, but it gets a bit swallowed with the Aria. It actually sounds more like bass on the Aria, because it lacks colour, but also pressure. A simpler way to describe it is it fails to be an emphasis of any sort, because it is too weak.
It may seem a small thing, but it decreases how well the section and thereby the song works with the Aria (I think), which is a shame. And I don't remember that from anything else.

 

[earmonger]

As noted by @baskingshark, it really sounds like you are describing a bad seal. Tinniness, thinness, weakness. Without a perfect seal, a lot of good stuff is just leaking away.

Do you have tips from other IEMs you could try with the Aria? Do you have larger ones? I have lots of tips at this point, and I often find that the stock tips on any particular IEM just don't work for me. You could have megabuck IEMs and without a perfect seal they will sound like airplane giveaways.

 

[552609]

Hello,
I'm interested in these 3 IEMs, Moondrop Aria Snow, Final E3000 and FiiO JH3 or FD1, as they come with various recomendations and are in the same price range where I am. Or they are actually 4 with the Fiios and I don't know which Fiio would be better either.

I like neutral or "realistic" sound with good imaging, without the listening being tiring. Which one might be the best, by consensus or experience?

Addendum: I'm considering to simply rule out the FiiOs, as I've seen complaints about broken pins for both. Maybe you have another suggestion for the ultimate IEM at that price point, or can make the choice between the others easier.

None of those. Get the TRUTHEAR HEXA.

 

[MattFH]

I've tried larger tips, but the smaller ones overall fit better. There is a slight audio difference between them, but nothing too great. Rtings also seem to have a category for that (difference in sound from seal), where the Aria are excellent.
The main issue for me is that they sound small and weak. My previous Sony had bass bleed, but they had an overall "full" sound, similar to headphones. The Aria actually remind me of the cheaper low price Sony I still have, with a thin sound.
Any tinniness is less noticeable in music, but more in speaking voices. I suspect that few really pay attention to that.

 

[MattFH]

I wonder why nobody notices or cares how small and weak the Moondrop Aria sound. Above there was still mention of thin note weight.
Isn't there a neutral option which sounds more direct and full? I might also prefer an option which one puts directly in the ear as opposed to first over the ear, so that it is faster and more convenient to put on.

 

[earmonger]

You are not going to get a full sound without a good fit. You could try small bullet-shaped IEMs that go deeper, like Etymotic ER2XR or Final Audio E series.