The Moondrop Stellaris is…hmmm…bright…

The Moondrop Stellaris were kindly supplied by SHENZENAUDIO for my analysis – and I thank them for that. You can get them from SHENZENAUDIO for currently around $100.

Introduction

Planar-magnetic earphones came into fashion (again) when a YouTube salesman hyped the $220 7Hz Timeless per spaceship into a starfield (excuse the pun) not even a year ago (setting the scene to cash in on a “collab” with the next release of this technology). The Timeless feature a driver that had been dismissed by major manufacturers a couple of years earlier. Admittedly, this model was good enough for co-bloggers Biodegraded and Durwood to purchase one :).

LETSHUOER were the next company to pick up on this technology with their $135 S12, which likely features the same driver as the 7Hz Timeless, but with a different tuning. I compared both models in this article.

What followed was “a race for space”. Many manufacturers wanted to have a piece of the cake, which resulted in “planar wars”, artificially constructed by another bunch of attention-seeking YouTubers. I only got part of the tail end of it with the $115 TINHIFI P1 Max and the $199 Dunu Talos. More planar-magnetics are flooding the market as we speak (I am eagerly awaiting the Akoustyx S6 from California).

In the past, planar-magnetic earphones had been overpriced and underperforming. Not anymore…which was actually a good thing about the 7Hz Timeless hype.

But what makes a planar-magnetic earphone distinct? First, the driver digs deep down, it has a tight bass response, low distortion, it is easy to drive, has a great imaging and a deep stage.

On the downside, a planar-magnetic earphone may lack slam, may be rather lean in the lower midrange, and be bright (“more lean than bright”), which may contribute to midrange clarity but exposes a lack of richness. Treble may be robotic through an overly fast note decay. Many planar magnetic iems do not do a good job in the reproduction of acoustic sets (“classical music”) – too artificial sounding.

Prices have come down even further since the release of the 7Hz Timeless. Moondrop offer the Stellaris at $109.99, on par with their Starfield and between their $79.99 Aria and their $189.99 Kato (all single DDs). The Aria is generally considered to be one of the best iems below $100, and it outclasses the Starfield. Therefore, Moondrop appears to create their own in-house competition in search of the class leader.

Who are Moondrop? They are one of the world’s most innovative earphone companies out of Chengdu, Sichuan, a city I know well and love. We “audioreviewers” have analyzed many of the company’s models (see below).

Specifications Moondrop Stellaris

Physical Things and Usability

The Moondrop Stellaris was costmetically modelled after the Moondrop Starfield. Both share the same coating with its characteristic luminous bluestone that shimmer…and chip if abused (no chipping on mine so far).

But what’s different is that the Moondrop Stellaris is big. Big and heavy earpieces…little monsters…ouch…but with long nozzles, good for my ears. The earpieces need to be deeply inserted into my ears and I wished today’s generations of planars were as small as, let’s say, the current Sennheiser single-DD iems.

So if you do this to your ears, you’d expect some reward, which would be sound quality. However…

Tonality and Technicalities

The Stellaris are tuned according to Moondrop’s own VDSF (Virtual Diffuse Sound Field) target response, the company’s version of the Harman target. You find more about this on Stellaris’ product page. They have their low-end boost in the sub-bass (rather than the mid-bass) for a dryer bass response and well extended treble. The midrange is a bit odd with a large spike at 2.5 kHz.

Other than that – as in so many other cases – the graph sells us little about the IEM’s sound. The Stellaris’ overall signature is uneven: warm at the bottom and bright on top.

Let’s face it, the Stellaris are most of all bright, very bright. Bright right up to the uppermost registers. Cymbals and hats are dancing arround my eardrums, the bass is partially swallowed and the vocals are somewhat honky. Well, that monstrous pinna gain between 1 and 2.5 kHz does not help either.

The signature is unbalanced, which throws the Stellaris out of the orbit of my sonic enjoyment. This iem lacks cohesion. So much for the general validity of target response curves.

Other than that, some of the individual aspects are not bad. For example, the bass is reasonably deep reaching and somewhat controlled. A bit dry, perhaps, as it peaks towards the bottom end. Punch is decent and reasonably well dosed.

The lower midrange is…weird…voices are pointy and lean…nasal that is, and the opposite of rich and full. They are so thin that even the sub-bass kick overshadows them. Well, and then there is this mess at the top end.

Technically, the Stellaris are capable: big stage, good midrange clarity, decent imaging, but overall they fall easily behind the likes of the LETSCHUOER S12 and TINHIFI P1 Max – and, if you go up to $200, the Dunu Talos. Hence no reason to discuss them further.

Concluding Remarks

The Moondrop Stellaris are a disappointment to my senses: they are bulky in my ears and uneven sounding. They simply lack soul despite their technical prowess…and are therefore a great advertisement for the $79 Moondrop Aria, which remains one of the best iems in the $100 area.

Get the Aria instead.

Until next time…keep on listening!

The post Moondrop Stellaris Review – Champagne Supernova appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Instead of first impressions, we offer completely flavour-neutral optical treatments before following up with our exhaustive reviews of the products’ performances.

Current Photography

1. BQEYZ Autumn vs. BEQYZ Summer (Jürgen Kraus)
2. Hidizs MM2 (Jürgen Kraus)
3. IKKO OH2 vs. IKKO OH1S (Jürgen Kraus)

Vintage Photography (prior to March 2022)

1. AME Custom Argent Hybrid Electrostatic (Jürgen Kraus)
2. Anew X-One (Jürgen Kraus)
3. Blon BL-05 Beta (Jürgen Kraus)
4. Blon BL-05 Beta (Jürgen Kraus)
5. Blon BL-05 MKI & MKII (Jürgen Kraus)
6. BQEYZ Spring 1 (Jürgen Kraus)
7. BQEYZ Spring 2 (Durwood)
8. CCA CA16 (Durwood)
9. Drop + JVC HA-FXD1 (Jürgen Kraus)
10. Fidue A65/A66 (Jürgen Kraus)
11. FiiO FD1 (Jürgen Kraus)
12. FiiO FHs1 (Jürgen Kraus)
13. Hill Audio Altair • RA (Jürgen Kraus)
14. iBasso IT01 V2 (Jürgen Kraus)
15. Hilidac Atom Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
16. Ikko OH1 (Jürgen Kraus)
17. KBEAR Believe (Jürgen Kraus)
18. KBEAR Diamond (Jürgen Kraus)
19. KBEAR hi7 (Jürgen Kraus)
20. KBEAR KB04 (Jürgen Kraus)
21. KBEAR Lark (Jürgen Kraus)
22. Kinboofi MK4 (Jürgen Kraus)
23. KZ ASX (Jürgen Kraus)
24. KZ ZSN Pro (Slater)
25. Moondrop Crescent (Jürgen Kraus)
26. Moondrop Illumination (Jürgen Kraus)
27. Moondrop Kanas Pro Edition (Jürgen Kraus)
28. Moondrop SSP (Jürgen Kraus)
29. Moondrop SSR (Jürgen Kraus)
30. Moondrop Starfield (Jürgen Kraus)
31. NiceHCK Blocc 5N Litz UPOCC OCC Copper Earphone Cable
32. NiceHCK Litz 4N Pure Silver Earphone Cable (Jürgen Kraus)
33. NiceHCK NX7 (Jürgen Kraus)
34. NiceHCK NX7 Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
35. Queen of Audio Pink Lady (Jürgen Kraus)
36. Revonext QT5 (Slater)
37. SeeAudio Yume (Jürgen Kraus)
38. Senfer DT6 (Slater)
39. Sennheiser IE 300
40. Sennheiser IE 500 PRO
41. Shozy Form 1.1 and Shozy Form 1.4
42. Shozy Form 1.4 (Jürgen Kraus)
43. Shozy Rouge (Jürgen Kraus)
44. Simgot EM2 (Jürgen Kraus)
45. Simgot EN700 Pro (Slater)
46. Smabat ST-10 (Jürgen Kraus)
47. Tin Hifi T2 Plus (Jürgen Kraus)
48. Tin-Hifi T4 (Jürgen Kraus)
49. TRN-STM (Jürgen Kraus)
50. TRN V90 (Jürgen Kraus
51. TRN-VX (Jürgen Kraus)
52. Whizzer Kylin HE01 (Jürgen Kraus)

The post Photography appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — Bass doesn’t retrieve every last detail, treble might be too rolled off for some and upper mids a touch too high for others, ‘light’ note weight in the mids and highs compared to full DD units.

Executive Summary

The Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk is a tonally balanced (with tasteful bass bump), technically focused hybrid that does just about everything right. Its highly resolving midrange features lighter note weights and excellent detail retrieval, imaging and instrument separation for a very ‘clean’ overall presenation. While technicalities are the first impression, I don’t find anything really ‘off’ about the timbre. Its revealing rather than euphonic nature would make it a complement to, rather than a replacement for, a good dynamic-driver pair.

Tonality and Technicalities

These in some ways have the classic Moondrop signature (before their attempts at diffuse-field neutral, eg SSR, SSP Illumination): a not-too-exaggerated upper midrange and a slightly rolled-off treble – but, with a bit of added bass, focused on the low- to sub-bass. The balance of the bass on these is very good, having a good low rumble along a level of mid- to upper bass that doesn’t intrude on the lower mids. It’s not bass-head material and neither does it overly warm things up. The bass, however, is the one area I find the technicalities of these earphones are a bit lacking: some detail is missing in some material, e.g., reverb trails fade too early and ‘dirty’ distortion is underplayed or absent.

In the upper midrange, I find that between a balanced-armature earphone and a dynamic-driver earphone that measure the same, the BA will seem to be more shouty and harsh than the DD, possibly because of the BA’s faster but ‘lighter’ transients. With the Moondrop Blessing2:Dusk, I find the upper midrange to be getting close to the edge of what’s acceptable, perhaps because of the contrast with a treble that rolls off early.

One of the main notables for me about these earphones is the resolution through the midrange. Detail retrieval is excellent, all sorts of microdynamics and subtle pitch variations being discernible even with amps that tend to gloss those aspects over (Dragonfly Black). At least partly because of this, imaging, instrument separation, and L to R staging are also very good. While sometimes an overly technical focus will make for an unsatisfying overall musical picture, I don’t find these phones to exceed the boundaries of good taste in this respect. For me another big plus is that the common ‘BA timbre’ of overly fast yet lightweight transients, most noticeable in how cymbal shimmers decay, is barely present in these earphones.

Source Synergies

While many all-BA earphones have a difficult impedance vs frequency profile, leading to amplifiers with somewhat elevated output impedances markedly changing the phones’ frequency response, hybrids as a class don’t seem to suffer from this as much. The Blessing2:Dusk is one of these, its impedance profile indicating that the mid-treble would be boosted significantly only if amps of 10 Ohms or greater are used.

In other respects they’re fairly amp-friendly too. They’re sensitive enough to be driven loud from portable sources and don’t seem to need great power to make them ‘wake up’, yet not so sensitive that they hiss or overly restrict the usable volume-pot range from typical headphone/IEM desktop amps. I don’t mind a bit of treble rolloff, so I found sources with a neutral or slightly laid-back signature to work best, allowing the midrange technicalities of the Blessing2:Dusks to shine through without emphasizing the upper mids too much. People wanting the last gasp of treble might prefer brighter sources.

Concluding Remarks

While a) I don’t really want to buy any more IEMs and b) I’m cheap, I’ve been thinking that a more technicality-focused BA or hybrid pair to complement the weightier, dynamic-driver timbre of the Drop JVC HA-FDX1 would be a ‘nice to have’. At their $US320 price, the Moondrop Blessing2:Dusk, with their well-balanced tonality, great midrange technicalities, and lack of ‘BA timbre’ have me thinking about it.

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All Our Earphone and Earbud Reviews (with Links)

Disclaimer

I received these from Jürgen as part of a tour initiated by Crinacle, and held them for two weeks, before sending them on to the next reviewer.

Get the Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk from SHENZENAUDIO.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk Review (2) – Minority Report appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — 10 kHz driver resonance peak introduces some hardness at higher volumes.

Executive Summary

The Moondrop Aria is a cohesive sounding single dynamic-driver (“DD”) earphone with a good timbre and excellent technical competence that may suffer slightly from a treble peak. It is a “substantial sidegrade up” from the “slower” Starfield at a lower price.

Introduction

I claim to know a bit about Moondrop single-dynamic-driver earphones. Following their trends from with the Harman-target-tuned Kanas Pro Edition (KPE) and Crescent, through the slightly bass-reduced Starfield variety, to the near-diffuse-field tuned SSR and SSP, I recently ended with the premium Illumination. To be continued.

This is not Moondrop’s first Aria model. The previous one has the same cylindrical shells as the Crescent, and both went somewhat under the radar and were discontinued, prematurely (imo). The $30 Crescent was undermining Moondrop’s own marketing by being competition to their $180 KPE. Yes, it was that good. Will the “new” Aria, which has absolutely nothing in common with the “old” one, also be able to compete with Moondrop’s higher-priced models?

The “new” Aria is Moondrop’s first ~$100 model in over a year. It follows the Starfield by frequency response, which is broadly a bass-reduced Harman target – now with a treble boost. Sound wise both follow the same scheme with the Aria being more cohesive and “disciplined” to my ears. It differs from the lower-priced SSR/SSP by its reduced hotness and better staging.

The similarities between the Starfield and the Aria have been recorded by many reviewers. While this does not come as a surprise, there are distinct differences and – spoiler alert – I prefer the Moondrop Aria for many reasons, from haptic and ergonomics to sound. I actually like it A LOT.

Specifications

Physical Things and Usability

Yes, the Moondrop Aria also offers improved ergonomics. The earpieces have shrunk compared to its older $100-200 single-DD siblings, at least on the outside: the faceplates have become flat so that they sit flush with the ears, the “cherries” don’t stick out as far anymore. Fit and comfort are as good as before and isolation is ok.

The textile cable has no mentionable microphonics and feels as smooth and attractive between the fingers as the earpieces themselves with their matte metal finish. The homogenous presentation is rounded off by the nifty box – could have been a bit more roomy. I take it, Moondrop’s target keyword for the Aria was “compact”…from storage through appearance to sound.

Tonality and Technicalities

Equipment used: MacBook Air/iPhone SE (1st gen.) + AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt; iPod Classic (6th gen.) with Helm DB12 THX mobile amp.

The elephant first: from my holistic view, the Moondrop Aria is a single DD with a tight bottom and a well extended top end, the synergy of which results in a very articulate presentation with extremely good cohesion. The midrange definition further benefits from a 10 kHz driver resonance peak that also introduces some hardness. Nevertheless is the Moondrop Aria a sonic delight that works well with a phone but also does justice to more expensive days/amps.

Don’t tell us it’s got a long trunk, fat legs, and rough brown skin. Tell us instead it’s an elephant!” – RON FROM MEXICO CITY

Sure, the the Moondrop Aria broadly follows the Starfield in its tuning. Apart from some tiny differences at the low end and a slightly reduced upper midrange, the Moondrop Aria features the aforementioned prominent driver resonance peak at 10 kHz, which is clearly audible. But quantities tell us only half the story…let’s focus on the sonic qualities.

Frequency Response Diagrams of Moondrop Aria and Moondrop Starfield

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Whereas many claim there is not much of a difference between Starfield and Aria, the devil is in the small details…which ad up to a snowball effect, at least to my ears. According to the manufacturer, the Moondrop Aria, with its new liquid crystal polymer (“LCP”) diaphragm promises to deliver “excellent transient response and high resolution sound details”, and this is actually true in my opinion. So, what you expect is that the LCP diaphragm should have a better distortion characteristic for low frequencies.

And yes, that’s what I hear. The bass is articulate and well textured, no hint of fuzz or boom, fast bass sections do not get smeared. The well extended low end is well controlled and composed, it fits in like a brick in the wall. One could compare it to a tight sportscar suspension. It was its bass boom the Starfield had been criticized for.

The bottom shelf has consequences for the transition to the lower midrange, the Achilles heel of previous models. It is seamless. In some previous Moondrop DDs, a soft, voluptuous bass led into a lean, neutral vocals department, which did not harmonize at all. In the Aria, bass and vocals are from the same mold. And while the midrange remains neutral and well sculptured in the Moondrop Aria, the less distorting/less smearing bass brings it out better and this also results in midrange clarity and transparency. The upper midrange was kept pretty much the same as in the Starfield – which avoids shoutiness – but only by a hair.

Another difference to previous <$200 Moondrop single DDs is a better treble extension, which also introduces a driver-diaphragm resonance peak at around 10 kHz. This adds some crispness to the overall presentation, but also some hardness at higher volumes. But since it contributes to midrange clarity also, moderate volumes benefit from this resonance.

Adding all this up not only translates to a very articulate, accurate presentation, it also contributes to a reasonably wide (but not the most expansive) and tall soundstage, with a good depth, great spatial cues, as well as a really good definition, separation, and, most of all, to an outstanding note definition and cohesion across the frequency spectrum. Very good technicalities. All this makes for a great listen independent of the Moondrop Aria’s modest price.

Moondrop Aria Compared

Back to the Starfield. Its slower low end and its reduced treble extension makes the whole sonic perception less crisp and cohesive. The differences become most obvious when listening to the whole frequency spectrum in context. It is the cohesion and the faster transients that make the Aria most appealing to my ears. The elephant, you remember…

Compared to the SSP/SSR, the Moondrop Aria is much less spicy and grainy, notes are better defined, and the ceiling on the stage is higher. The Aria sounds simply more homogenous, and is technically better, but you see/hear the handwriting from the SSP/SSR.

Frequency Response Diagrams of Moondrop Aria and Moondrop SSP

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Another recent find is the Whizzer Kylin HE01. It is by no means worse than the Moondrop Aria, just different. And quite a bit.

Frequency Response Diagrams of Moondrop Aria and Whizzer Kylin HE01

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Apart from it retro appearance and its resin build, the Whizzer is easier to drive and more on the fun side. It is exuberant, forward, with more and slightly looser bass, and very intimate vocals.  Moondrop Aria is more disciplined, controlled and composed, and more technical. 

If the Whizzer was the guy in the jeans outfit with a Volkswagen cabriolet on the beach, the Moondrop Aria is the chap in a suit with a mid-sized BMW in front of the opera house. I’d say the Whizzer works better with cheap electronics and you tickle out more of the Aria with a good dac-amp.

YouTube Video

Concluding Remarks

What makes Moondrop distinct from many of their competitors is that they invest in real R&D, that they continuously evolve their technologies, and that they always have some good ideas. And this progressive development shows.

The Moondrop Aria is a winner. It may look inconspicuous and generic on a first glance, but wait until you put them into your ears and switch the music on. Actually, only until you hold them in your hands…It is another step up in Moondrop’s single DD offerings below $200, and that at a lower price. I prefer it over the Starfield based on its cohesion and faster transients. And it likely even puts Moondrop’s KXXS to shame. What else do we want?

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

The Moondrop Aria was supplied from Moondrop in Chengdu (but dispatched from Shenzenaudio), and I thank them for that.

Get the Moondrop Aria from the Moondrop Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

Gallery

The post Moondrop Aria Review (1) – The Super Stars We Are appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — Very source AND volume dependent; rather bright and therefore aggressive sounding at higher volumes; shallow soundstage; music bleeds to bystanders; LACK OF TUNING FILTERS; haptically not much different from the company’s budget/mid tier offerings; mediocre accessories for its class; expensive.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Moondrop Illumination is a warm-bright single-dynamic-driver earphone that will please the purist but it can be aggressive sounding for many at higher volumes.

INTRODUCTION

I like single-dynamic drivers. In fact, I prefer them over hybrids. Yes, I sacrifice technical competence for natural sound. What good is it when a symphony sounds detailed but artificial?

Reviewers have to listen analytically for the review’s sake in the short preparation period, and there is a tendency for many to find ever new and unusual adjectives, fancy attributes, and flowery language to make themselves and their review stick out.

But apart from advances in prose one should also have the recreational listening experience in mind, looking ahead to the everyday use of the product beyond a review. How long will the appeal last? This long-term enjoyment, which defines the real value of a product, relies less on strict technical performance but on factors such as “sonic comfort”, for example. And that’s where dynamic-driver earphones are typically underrated.

I have been following Moondrop for the last few years observing their shift in tuning philosophy from Harman target towards diffuse-field neutral. Together, we steered our Spaceships and Super Spaceships (Pulse and Reference) through the odd Starfleld across the Milky Way. We are now reaching the outer edge of our galaxy, where we encounter some…erm…Illumination. And, while asking for forgiveness for my flat humour, I will describe this phenomenon as follows.

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers: 11 mm dynamic
Impedance: 25 Ω @ 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 124 dB/Nrms @ 1kHz
Frequency Range: 20 – 20,000 Hz (IEC60318-4); 10-50000Hz (1/4Inch Free field Mic)
Cable/Connector: OCC copper with SPC shielding + replaceable plugs (2.5 mm single ended, 2.5 mm/4.4 mm balanced); 0.78 mm, 2 pin
Tested at: $799
Product Page/Purchase Link: Moondrop Official Store

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

In the boox were the earpieces, the occ copper cable with replaceable plugs, airplane adapter, spare filters with tweezers, eartips, and a case.

The haptic of the earpieces is not much different from the discontinued $180 KPE or the current KXXS models…other than that the colour is golden and not silver. The silicone eartips are the same as in all other Moondrop models. Even the twisted cable is not out of the ordinary (it works). The only extravaganzas are that monstrous retail box and the Louis-Vuitton-grade carrying case. Overall, I am missing the “little luxury” expected from this price category.

The metal earpieces are reasonably small, not too heavy, they fit me well and are comfortable over longer sessions. The nozzles are long enough even for my problematically huge ear canals, and they don’t have a lip (but I never “lost” the eartips). Isolation is quite good for me…but not for my wife next to me (or the guy on the bus), as sound bleeds owing to the design. And I had to swap the stock eartips for the SpinFit CP145 to optimize seal.

The Moondrop Illumination are driven very easily.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

Follow these links for some background information:

My tonal preference and testing practice

My test tracks explained

Equipment used: MacBook Air alternating with Khadas Tone2 Pro (balanced circuit) and AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt; ifi Audio Nano BL (IE Match).

The Moondrop Illumination follow the classic recent Moondrop tunings of being slightly warm towards the bottom end but bright-neutral in the midrange and with a relatively early rolloff towards the top end. In fact, the Moondrop SSP’s and Moondrop Illumination’s graphs track each other.

I tested using mainly two dac-amps which produced slightly different results and enjoyment levels with the MacBook Pro. It became clear early that the Illumination rely strongly on source and that a warm amp produces the best results.

The natural Khadas Tone2 Pro (“T2P”) produced great headroom and w i d e soundstage but a robotic, metallic, digital timbre and lots of harshness. The warmer Dragonfly Cobalt (“DFC”) eased that pain with a more organic, natural, bassier sound adding lightness/ease, overall body but a smaller soundstage (in all dimensional) with lesser technicalities. And the midrange still remained somewhat on the bright side, which is unpleasant for my ears at higher volumes. As a last resort, I rolled the warmest of all my possible dac-amps in: the ifi Audio Nano BL, but it did not make a huge difference to the DFC in terms of temperature.

In detail, bass of the Moondrop Illumination is relatively subdued (more so with the T2P, but clean, well textured, and well extended). It is slightly meatier with the DFC. Bass by itself is actually excellent.

The elegant, minimalistic bass moves the midrange into focus, which is shouty and harsh with the T2P at higher volume while yielding a nice transparency at lower volumes. The elevated upper midrange improves clarity and transparency, but it can hurt my ears.

Midrange is lean to varying degrees depending on dongle, but vocals and piano notes are intimate, well sculptured, well defined, and, yes, you heard it before, they can be sharp. I’d attach a smoother, less edgy midrange to a premium earphone.

Treble rolls off early, classic Moondrop, but any high note I hear has very good definition (for a single DD earphone). The T2P produces the treble in a robotic manner whereas the DFC introduces a more natural and therefore slower attack and decay. T2P’s cymbals sound metallic and overpixelated.

Soundstage is rather wide with the T2P’s balanced output but not very deep, independent of source, that’s what you expect from a moderate low end. Technicalities certainly lag behind multi-driver earphones, which is also no surprise. Separation, layering etc. are good but they did not blow me, the budget guy, out of my socks with the DFC, they were better with the T2P.

What is actually very well implemented is dynamics. Listening to a symphony, the impulse is very natural and so are attack and decay, and this also works very well for electronic music. Good balance in this department.

Also very good is the natural timbre, despite its bright spin. At low to moderate volumes, it ads that layer of silk and smoothness you want from a single dynamic driver. It is like adding a tube to your ears…

THE MOONDROP ILLUMINATION COMPARED

Yes, technicalities in the Moondrop Illumination are better than the Sennheiser IE 400 PRO or IE 300, those cannot compete in terms of clarity, definition, and refinement, but they are more cohesive sounding, at least at higher volumes. The Illumination, in turn, sound more open. You can turn the Sennheisers up without regret where the Moondrop Illumination start screaming.

The Moondrop Illumination are also technically better than the JVC HA-FDX1 with their wider stage and their cleaner sound across the frequency spectrum. The JVCs sound less refined in comparison.

The identically tuned Moondrop SSP sound a tinge more aggressive than the Illumination, have a smaller stage, and can’t compete with their timbre either – BUT BUT BUT, they come at 1/20th of the price. I like the Moondrop SSP for quiet listening sessions – but moving up to $800, expectations are naturally much higher.

In any case should you pair the Moondrop Illumination with a warm dac-amp. A neutral analytical dac-amp will make them sound too aggressive for many. I wished Moondrop had gone for a tuning similar to their excellent $30 Crescent, which were premium earphones with sloppy technical competence.

VALUE

OK, at $800 the Moondrop Illumination do not come cheap. They face much competition from multi-drivers in this segment, but none from any single-dynamic driver, other than perhaps the Beyerdynamic Xelento and the Dunu Zen…none of which I have tested (Zen loaner is on its way). And you can go up to $2000 in that category. Value above a certain price is perceived as – and we know that – diminishing return. In the end it depends on what type of buyer you are.

In the case of the Moondrop Illumination, you have to like a bright midrange in an otherwise warm sounding iem. I find it problematic that, at this price, you have to pair the Moondrop Illumination very carefully in order to make them sound decent (at least for ears like mine). They should work universally. And cable and eartips are rather basic for “premium”.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Moondrop Illumination appear to have been tuned for the Asian market with their boosted upper midrange. But depending on source and volume, you can actually get the pleasant dynamic-driver sound I expected from them. It is a good and bad earphone in one from my perspective.

I am surprised that Moondrop, with their outer-space vision, did not equip this model with tuning filters (as the aforementioned JVCs and even some $10 iems such as the KZ ED9) to appeal to a universal, not to say a galactic audience….and to generate a broader market appeal. Adding brightness to the usual technical limitations of a dynamic driver, the Illumination will probably have a tough stand against their hybrid competition.

For me, these Moondrop Illumination mainly work well for naturally generated sounds/acoustic instruments.

But that should not keep you from having a good look at them if you do like this kind of tuning.

And while I just mailed this unit to the Super* Review YouTube channel for “further processing”, I am eagerly awaiting the Moondrop Dusk Crinacle from audiodiscourse.com. That’s great and that’s how it should be.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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DISCLAIMER

The Moondrop Illumination were provided on loan by Moondrop up my request. And I thank them for that. Following my review, I sent them on to Super* Review, a popular YouTube channel.

Get the Illumination from Moondrop Official Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

Measurements

The post Moondrop Illumination Review – Good And Bad…But Not Ugly appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Pros

Well built metal shells.
Smooth and non fatiguing tuning.
Good timbre.
Above average isolation.
Good price to performance ratio.

Cons:

Iffy fit (slightly better than the fit of the infamous BLON BL-03).
Same crappy accessories (stock eartips/cable).
Not the best in technicalities.
Midbass bloat, might be too bassy and warm for some.
May not be getting full potential with low powered smartphones, amping is needed to scale the IEM.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The BLON BL-01 is a warm and mild V shaped, bassy set, it is smooth and non fatiguing, and it prioritizes timbre and tonality over technicalities. It is not an analytical or technical set for critical listening, but is a set very suited to just kicking back and chilling to enjoy the music. The BLON BL-01 does boast a good price to performance ratio for the price, but it needs amping to scale better, and sounds meh from a lower powered source.

Aerosmith might say “No More, No More!” to another BLON release, but the BLON BL-01 is definitely worth the cost of a small restaurant meal, and after hearing this set, BLON Cultists will surely say “More, More!! Take the Oppoty opportunity to Break the Levee to release mooooooar BLONs!”

SPECIFICATIONS

• Driver Type: 10mm Biology Fiber Diaphragm Driver
• Impedance: 32 ohms
• Frequency range: 20 – 20000Hz
• Sensitivity: 102 dB/mW
• Cable type: 2 pin 0.78 mm
• Tested at $17 USD

ACCESSORIES

In addition to the IEM, it comes with:

1) Silicone tips of various sizes (one comes in a wider diameter, the other is narrower).

2) Stock cable.

3) Sackcloth pouch.

Essentially, the famous (or rather infamous) stock accessories of previous BLON iterations is here to greet us. This includes the barely serviceable cable and the usual BLON tips and lame sackcloth pouch. The meme generating BLON box advising BLON cultists to “LET MUSIC BURN”, together with BELIEF and NEVER GIVING UP and OPPOTY is however, not present!!!

Budget CHIFI companies need to cut costs somewhere, so as to pass down a cheaper price to the consumers, and accessories are understandably the first area they target. Some CHIFI (cough cough TRN BA8 and TRN VX) retailing at much more expensive prices may also have a similar dearth of accessories, so I won’t beat BLON with a stick for this and can close one eye, since this is a sub $20 USD set. Anyway, what’s more important is the IEM’s internals and how it sounds, and I think those of us in this CHIFI hobby might have some aftermarket tips and cables lying about, so no biggie swapping the BLON BL-01’s stock tips and cables out.

For the purposes of this review, I stuck with the stock tips and stock cable, so as to give a fair impression of what the average layman will encounter when opening the packaging (who may not know about tiprolling). Aftermarket tips (or cables if you are a cable believer) may skew the sound signature, and aftermarket eartips may not fit every individual ear anatomy, so it might be quite different in sound if reviewed with aftermarket accessories. Hence, I felt it would be a more fair apples to apples comparison to do the review with stock accessories, even though they ain’t optimal, at least we have a common baseline accessory set to discuss. But for sure I’d swap to aftermarket tips and cables for music appreciation for the BLON BL-01 once this review is over.

BUILD/COMFORT

The BLON BL-01 really looks like a mango or banana, in fact it is nicknamed the “BLONANA” on some audio forums. Looks aside, the BLON BL-01 is just slightly better in fit for me than the infamous fit of the older brother, the BLON BL-03 (ie that’s not saying much, they are both iffy in fit due to a too short nozzle). But as usual, when it comes to fit, it’s YMMV, as we have different ear anatomies. I managed to get a proper seal with the BLON BL-01 using the stock tips, but I would have preferred a longer nozzle eartip or spacer to use with the BLON BL-01 as it felt a tinge insecure for me with stock eartips.

The BLON BL-01 is made of a nice metal build, and comfort is very good. I have used it for hours with no issues. The shells are on the heavier side due to the metal, so some who are sensitive to weight may have issues with it.

I didn’t find any driver flex. I liked that the BLON BL-01 came with a 2 pin connector, as I had tons of issues with MMCX connectors and their general longevity in my CHIFI journey.

ISOLATION

With stock tips, the iolation on the BLON BL-01 is above average, better than the BLON BL-03 older brother. But like most dynamic driver types, it is vented and hence it doesn’t have as good isolation as some unvented multi BA types.

DRIVABILITY/SOURCE

I tried the BLON BL-01 with a Khadas Tone Board -> Fiio A3 amp, Khadas Tone Board -> Topping L30 amp, Shanling Q1 DAP, lower powered smartphones, Ziku HK-X9 DAP -> Fiio A3 amp, Sabre HIFI DAC (ESS ES9280C PRO) and Tempotec Sonata HD Pro. The BLON BL-01 is rather hard to drive from low powered sources. One only gets the full potential when amping it (due to the lowish sensitivity of 102dB/mW). It is not an issue of volume only, but the BLON BL-01 scales better in soundstage, details, dynamics and bass tightness with amping. I preferred brighter or at least neutralish sources with it in general, as the midbass was a bit bloated in the BLON BL-01, so it doesn’t pair the best with overly warm or bassy sources.

One might then ask a quite relevant question, does it make sense to pair a more expensive amp with the $20ish BLON BL-01 to unleash the full potential? Fair enough, I think most folks entering into this budget price bracket, or newcomers to the hobby may not be interested in getting an amp, compared to those that are entering the midfi market. As such, I probably won’t be recommending the BLON BL-01 to new users if you don’t have a more powerful source than the average non LGV smartphone. You can perhaps consider an alternative IEM if so, there are many other gems at this price bracket that don’t need amping. But for those that have been around the CHIFI block and are long term recalcitrant addicts to CHIFI, do whip out your amp or balanced gear if you have one lying about, so as to unlock the full potential of the BLON BL-01.

SOUND & TECHNICALITIES

In a nutshell, the BLON BL-01 is a warm mild V shaped, bassy set, which is smooth and non fatiguing, it prioritizes timbre and tonality over technicalities. The BLON BL-01 is not an analytical or technical set for critical listening, but is a set very suited to just kicking back and chilling to enjoy the music. Those wanting microdetails and technicalities best look elsewhere, but I would argue that it is much easier to find a technically proficient set at the sub $50 market, rather than something with good timbre/tonality such as the BLON BL-01.

With a good fit and eartip seal, the BLON BL-01’s bass is north of neutral, and is a level shy of true basshead quantities. It is slightly more midbass focused than subbass focused, but the subbass extends very well and can give a good rumble when amped. The bass is definitely faster and tighter than the BLON BL-03 older brother, but the midbass is still quite bloated and bleeds into the lower mids. Some might like or dislike the additional warmth this gives to the music, it’s gonna be a love it or hate it thing, so those that want a very fast and clean bass best look elsewhere. The bass is rather thick and is unfortunately not the most textured (though as said still an improvement over the BLON BL-03).

The BLON BL-01’s lower mids are recessed compared to upper mids. There’s a slight upper mids boost but this is quite tamed compared to most of the budget CHIFI out there. Female vocals are still more forward than male vocals, but not shouty. Some might find the mids a tinge too recessed for vocals and guitars, so mid and vocal lovers best consider an alternatively tuned IEM.

Treble is not that extended on the BLON BL-01, it is polite and safe, without sibilance/harshness. Though the other side of the coin of such a safe treble is that some microdetails and resolution in the treble is lost. I’m treble sensitive and this treble actually is my cup of tea, but maybe trebleheads and those wanting a bit more pizzaz in their music might find the treble too tame actually.

Timbre is good for acoustic instruments as per its single DD roots. Note weight is on the thicker side.

In the area of technicalities, the BLON BL-01 loses quite a lot of points for me. For example, instrument separation and details are not the best in the BLON BL-01, compared to other budget single DD types. There’s a fair amount of microdetails lost in the music, for pieces I’m familiar with. In terms of soundstage, height is above average, but width and depth is bang average. Imaging is good for the price, but music can sound congested and be smeared in very complex movements. Honestly, against other multi BA/hybrids at the same price bracket, the BLON BL-01 gets eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper in the technicalities department. Amping does help improve the technicalities, but overall, the music sounds a bit low res even when amped. But then again, this is nitpicking for a sub $20 USD IEM, and as we discussed, this set focuses on timbre and tonality over pure technical performance.

COMPARISONS

I chose some common budget single DD sets to compare below. I left out multi BA/hybrids from the comparison as the different transducers have their own pros and cons, so it would be an apples to oranges comparison as such.

VS the BLON BL-03:

For myself at least, the BLON BL-01 fits a tinge better with stock accessories than the BLON BL-03. I actually didn’t need to swap any stock cables or tips out to secure a fit, so that’s a plus point already. Isolation is also better on the BLON BL-01.

I am not sure about QC and unit variance, but my BLON BL-03 has more recessed mids than the BLON BL-01. The BLON BL-01 is a tinge cleaner and brighter than the BLON BL-03 in terms of tonality. BLON BL-03 is warmer and more organic sounding. In terms of technicalities, the BLON BL-01 is slightly better, in the areas of instrument separation, imaging, details, bass tightness, maybe soundstage, but both BLON siblings are better in timbre and tonality than technicalities.

If you ask different audiophiles on the forums, there will be multiple impressions for the BLON BL-03 when it comes to the bass department, since most folks are using different aftermarket tips with the BLON BL-03 due to the atrocious fit (too short nozzle). The different aftermarket eartips all influence seal and isolation and hence subbass amounts, to varying extents. Different eartips also change the sound signature of the entire frequency spectrum (which changes the perceived midbass amounts), so it is gonna be tough to compare the bass amounts on the BLON BL-03 among different individuals against the BLON BL-01 (not to mention QC may cause unit variation in bass amounts). Nevertheless, I did A/B testing with the same source/eartips/cables and when volume matched, the BLON BL-01 may actually be a tinge bassier (in quantity) than the BLON BL-03. But in terms of quality of bass, the BLON BL-01 is better. The BLON BL-01 has better subbass extension than the BLON BL-03. I find the BLON BL-01 is less bloaty in the bass and faster and tighter than the BLON BL-03 in the bass frequencies, with a faster bass decay in the BLON BL-01. Some may find that the midbass of both BLON siblings does bleed and encroach a bit into the lower mids, the BLON BL-03 being a much worse offender in this area. I’m a basshead so I don’t mind, but perhaps amping and aftermarket eartips may tighten the bass for these sets.

Overall, I would say when adequately powered and fitted optimally, the BLON BL-01 is a marginal upgrade over the BLON BL-03. The BLON BL-01 is also slightly cheaper, but of course that is in stock form (assuming aftermarket cables and tips are not added to the equation to achieve a fit among the BLON siblings).

VS the BLON BL-05S

Not to be confused with the shouty BLON BL-05 (non S), this set we are describing here is the radioactive green shelled one, the BLON BL-05S. For myself, the BLON BL-05S fits much better and is lighter than the BLON BL-01. The BLON BL-05S is less V shaped, and has a thinner note weight, with less bass quantities than the BLON BL-01. In terms of bass quality, the BLON BL-05S is tighter and not as bloaty as the BLON BL-01.

Both sets have good timbre as per their single DD roots, but the BLON BL-05S trumps the BL-01 in technicalities (imaging, instrument separation, clarity, details, soundstage, transient speed), and is easier to drive.

When both are amped, I would consider the BLON BL-05S to be a true upgrade over the BLON BL-01, though the BL-05S comes in quite a hideous shell colour, and of course the BL-05S is more expensive. But if you can top up the additional outlay, the BLON BL-05S would be my recommendation, if you don’t mind the gaudy shell colours.

VS the Moondrop SSR

The Moondrop SSR is tuned somewhat diffuse-field neutral with an upper mids boost, with a colder tonality and thinner note weight and poorer isolation than the V shaped BLON BL-01. It has less bass and is much more sibilant than the BLON BL-01. Moondrop SSR is shoutier at the upper mids/lower treble than the BLON BL-01, especially when used at louder volumes (Fletcher Munson Curve). For technicalities, the Moondrop SSR is much ahead of the BLON BL-01 in the areas of better clarity, imaging, details and instrument separation.

I’ve said this before, but the Moondrop SSR actually sounds nice at low volumes, but by pumping up the volume a few dB, the 3 kHz area is shouty and is too much for me (Fletcher Munson Curve). The Moondrop SSR has very polarizing reviews, and I think this may be due to the different volumes all of us are using it at, and volume levels are typically not mentioned by reviewers or consumers. Not to mention the different sources, tips, hearing health we all have may affect our perception of upper mids/treble in the Moondrop SSR. After doing A/B testing using the same source, tips (and even cable), I’ll take the BLON BL-01 any day over the Moondrop SSR, as the 3 kHz peak and the sibilance on the SSR is a deal breaker for me.

Different strokes for different folks though, I know a lot of our friends like the Moondrop SSR, especially those that use it at lower volumes. The Moondrop SSR actually has better technical performance than the BLON BL-01, but unfortunately it isn’t my cup of tea in terms of tonality, and I’ll take tonality over technical performance as my first priority. I haven’t had a chance to try the newer Moondrop SSP, which is supposed to be bassier but I’ll update this review if I get the Oppoty opportunity to try it.

Oh ya, how could I forgot the most important point of comparison here?! The Moondrop SSR comes with a waifu anime box! This box packaging may actually be the most important criteria for some purchasers and may make some shout at the moon (no pun intended)!

VS the HZSound Heart Mirror

The HZSound Heart Mirror is tuned neutralish bright with less midbass quantity and is less “fun sounding” than the BLON BL-01, especially when bass foward music is involved. The HZSound Heart Mirror sounds more analytical and colder, with a thinner note weight. Timbre, vocals and technicalities are much better on the HZSound Heart Mirror. The HZSound Heart Mirror wins in transient response speed. Both sets do need amping to scale to their best.

I see the mildly V shaped BLON BL-01 and the neutralish bright HZSound Heart Mirror as complimentary sets with different tunings to suit different music genres/preferences. But tonality aside, even though the HZSound Heart Mirror is more expensive, I think it is a true upgrade over the BLON BL-01 in most areas (accessories, timbre, technicalities, build, fit).

CONCLUSIONS

The BLON BL-01 is a warm and mild V shaped, bassy set, it is smooth and non fatiguing, and it prioritizes timbre and tonality over technicalities. It is not an analytical or technical set for critical listening, but is a set very suited to just kicking back and chilling to enjoy the music. The BLON BL-01 does boast a good price to performance ratio for the price, but it needs amping to scale better, and sounds meh from a lower powered source. I can see a lot of folks liking this set, considering it is rather affordable and has nice timbre and is not shouty or fatiguing. It is much easier to find a technically proficient set at the sub $50 range than something that has good timbre and tonality like the BLON BL-01.

So, this latest BLON hypetrain is being hyped to the moon and back and is being heralded as the next best thing since sliced bread and a giant killer. Does it deserve the hype? Well, I do think it is a very good budget set, but my honest assessment is that in terms of overall performance, it is probably a marginal upgrade over the BLON BL-03. IMHO, what holds the BLON BL-01 back from truly legendary status is that it hasn’t the best technicalities and the bass has bloat, this is more apparent when faster or complex passages of music kick in and things get congested and muddied. The BLON BL-01 also needs amping to truly shine (which a lot of folks entering into this budget segment may not have) and one may also need to swap the usual poor stock tips/cables for aftermarket accessories to secure a better fit, which can add to costs. Overall, these are nitpicks, considering it is a sub $20 USD set, and I still think it is a very good set, for sure it punches above its weight and has excellent value proposition, and is indeed a great addition to the BLON family.

Aerosmith might say “No More, No More!” to another BLON release, but the BLON BL-01 is definitely worth the cost of a small restaurant meal, and after hearing this set, BLON Cultists will surely say “More, More!! Take the Oppoty opportunity to Break the Levee to release mooooooar BLONs!”

Thanks for reading and Let Music Burn!!!

MY VERDICT

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DISCLAIMER

I would like to thank the Wooeasy Earphones Store for providing this review unit. You can Belief in it, and take the Oppoty opportunity to get the BLON BL-01 at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001705164790.html

Our generic standard disclaimer.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post BLON BL-01 Review (1) – Another BLON!? Aerosmith Says No More No More!!! appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Gear of the Year: Just in time for Christmas we list our our personal favourites of 2020 – the portable audio we personally enjoyed most. Note, these are not necessarily the best, but the ones we…you got it. Therefore, these are highly personal, subjective listings. Please be aware we don’t offer reviews for everything we like/we list here (yet).

That Christmas tree on the right is a carryover from last year. It stood in the lobby of the Windsor hotel at the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro…and it should be a symbolism for looking forward to travelling again. Viva Brazil!

Most of our reviews would have not been possible without our 2020 cooperating partners. We thank:

Acoustic Effect, ADV, Akoustyx, Apos Audio, Azla, Bill Barraugh/Audiotiers, Blon, Cozoy, CVJ, ddHifi, Dekoni, Dunu, EarMen, Earstudio, Hifigo, iBasso, ifi Audio, KBEAR, Keephifi, Moondrop, NiceHCK, Opa Audio Store, Sennheiser, Shenzhenaudio, Shozy, Smabat, Tempotec, Tronsmart, TRN, Vision Ears, V-Moda, Wooeasy Earphones Store, Yaxi, Don’tkillusifweforgotyoujustsendusanotandwefixit. 

For the companies: you can check for your products/yourself in the search field on the right-hand side.

Note: we do not make any money (or getting compensated by products) through the gear we review. No affiliate links, trackers etc. We keep the conflict-of-interest potential as low as possible by attempting to stay at arm’s length.

As to the popularity of our reviews with you, the reader: our top-viewed BLOG POSTS for 2020 were (click to go to the respective article):

1. Simplified Guide To Silicone Eartips (~13,000 views in early Dec 2020)
2. Tin Hifi T2 Plus Review
3. Blon Bl-03 Review
4. KZ ZSN Pro Review
5. Blon Bl-05 Beta Photography
6. Tempotec Sonata HD Pro Review
7. Moondrop SSR Review
8. Drop JVC HA-FDX1 Review
9. Apple Audio Adapter Review
10. Earphones Of The Year 2019
11. Sennheiser IE 500 PRO Review
12. Reversing Starlines Eartips
13. TRN V90 Review
14. Moondrop Starfield Review
15. Sony MH755 Review

Total Number of Blog Posts in 2020: 186

Facebook Group (est. 2020-01-01)| https://www.facebook.com/groups/audioreviews: >5200 members

YouTube subscriptions | https://www.youtube.com/c/audioreviews: 660

Our most-watched YouTube Video of 2020:

And yes, this blog grew and grew and grew in 2020. We are now 8 reviewers on 3 continents. Below are our personal favourites of 2020…

Baskingshark…Singapore

My 2020 favourites in the following categories are:

Earphones

$300 – 500 USD:
LZ A7. Provides a mind boggling 10 tuning configs (or more with aftermarket tuning nozzles). It has excellent technicalities, good fit, good isolation, and the best part that surprised me is that the LZ A7 has very natural timbre for a BA/piezo containing tribid (other than the higher treble frequencies handled by the piezo). Most folks would find an ideal sound signature with it, maybe except diehard bassheads. 

$200 – 300 USD:
Audiosense T800. It has good technicalities, is “fun sounding” and excellent isolation nearing 30 dB. Even though it contains a BA bass, it sounds like a DD bass due to a vented subwoofer. The T800 may be a bit on the bright side, so it isn’t the best option for treble sensitive folks, but you can use knowles filters, warm sources or eartips to tame the treble.

@ $100 – 200 USD:
TRI I3. Smooth, balanced, grand and coherent despite the weird 1 planar + 1 BA + 1 DD config. It needs amping though, the planars handling the mids are quite power hungry. It has one of the best soundstages at the $100ish region when amped, with sweet planar mids. Treble is safe, bordering on darkish, so maybe not for trebleheads.

KBEAR BElieve. “Bearly believable” for a full beryllium set at this price? The KBEAR BElieve sports a smooth and refined U shaped tuning, great technical chops in the mids and treble areas for a single DD. It has good timbre for acoustic instruments but is very hard to drive, as per the 98 dB sensitivity. It sounds muddy, congested and slow in the bass with a low powered source, but scales beautifully when optimally amped, so those that don’t intend to get an amp best look elsewhere. With power, the KBEAR BElieve does hit about 70% of the technical performance of the famed DUNU LUNA, at 10% of the price! 

@ Sub $100 USD:
HZSound Heart Mirror. Nice mirror like shells, as per its namesake, it is a neutralish bright set, excellent timbre for acoustic instruments. I like how it manages to get a forward upper mids without going into harsh or shouty territory, a very fine line to balance. The Heart Mirror has good transients and speed on the driver. Note weight is thin and soundstage is not the best though, and it needs amping to shine, sounds meh from a smartphone. Good set for vocal lovers and timbre lovers, but maybe not so all rounded due to the lack of bass, but it takes to EQ in the bass like a champ.

Favourite earbud for the year:
SMABAT ST105 Black Gold. Neutralish set with subbass and upper mids boost. If you have always looked down on earbuds for not having subbass, think again. The SMABAT ST10S Black Gold has the best subass quantity and extension I’ve ever heard in a bud. It has excellent technicalities, is MMCX
detachable and can be worn over ears or cable down. It needs amping though, as per the 150 ohm impedance. Not to be mixed up with the SMABAT ST10S Black Silver, which is tuned differently (and has lower impedance).

Best lucky bag/Fukubukuro/Mystery bag:
Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 – it is extremely exciting to see whether u get a beryllium vs “noble metal” driver. Or a working versus wonky mmcx. Even newer batches of the Urbanfun have been reported to have QC problems in the audio forums.The Urbanfun can be summed up in this statement by Forrest Gump: “My Mom Always Said Life Was Like A Box Of Urbanfuns. You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get.”

Best price to peformance joke IEM of the year:
TRN golden ears $14,750.00 USD IEM paired with $3400 USD xiaofan ortiz “king of the gods” cable. Mere mortals cannot hope to use these gear if not you’ll be struck down by lightning! I hope the Bellsing BAs inside are also made of gold!

Biodegraded…Vancouver, Canada

Sorry, from me you get stuff that mostly hasn’t been reviewed. In no particular order; and most aren’t new this year.

Digital transports:
Pi2Design Pi2AES (+ Raspberry Pi)
For streaming (via wifi or Ethernet cable) digital music from your computer, you could go cheap and crap like a Chromecast or Airport, brutally expensive like an all-in-one streamer from Naim or PS Audio, or this $US 149 HAT for a Raspberry Pi which will produce excellent quality AES or S/PDIF digital audio to feed into your audiophile DAC. DIY aesthetic & philosophy, audiophile quality, fantastic convenience once you figure out how to set it up (variety of OS solutions, some better than others).

Amps/Preamps:
Ifi Audio Zen Phono RIAA phono preamp
$US 149 for excellent resolution and transients and the ability to work with a wide range of cartridges. Might benefit from an improved power supply such as Ifi’s own iPower, but my jury remains out on that. Audioreviews summary here.

Amp accessories:
GE JAN 5670W vacuum tube
Cheap and widely available true new-old-stock military-surplus tube that works really well as a 6DJ8/6922 preamp tube substitute (great in the Schiit Vali 2).  Nice tight lows, smooth but detailed mids, sparkly highs. 6922 to 5670 adapter required to translate the I/O pin pattern so nothing blows up.

Headphone accessories:
Yaxi pads for Porta Pro / KSC75 / PX-100
Tastefully boost bass and treble while (on the Kosses) lowering the prominent 5kHz peak. And they’re comfortable! Audioreviews summary here.

IEMs:
Drop/JVC HA-FDX1
Champion single-dynamic earphone with great DD timbre and almost BA-fast transients. Slightly boosted in the uppermost mids, heavy in the ears, intermittent availability, but huge bang-for-buck. Audioreviews summaries here and here (note that Loomis isn’t their greatest fan).

Headphones:
Fostex T50RP Mk3 with cheap angled pads and other mods
Closed or semi-open (depending on how much you stuff the cups) planar magnetic phones that with a little effort (see eg here for ideas) can be made both neutral and extended while retaining deep bass and technicalities. Need amp power to perform.

Players:
USB Audio Player Pro
Gets better with every update. Neutron is more configurable, but unnecessarily so. Put this on your Android phone, plug in a USB DAC/amp, and enjoy great lossless sound quality on the go. Equalizer plugins available. Android only though.

Durwood…Chicago, USA

CCA this year might as well been a lump of coal, it’s only two letters shy of selling your soul. If you want to talk to your boring Uncle Bob, (no offense Bob’s of the world) get yourself an iBasso IT00 or Tin Hifi T2 Plus you knob. Your uncle Bob is the guy who has lots of interesting things to say, but leaves you wondering what did you just listen to today. My only favorites this year were TRN STM who is the punk that your family doesn’t like to talk about and the Shozy Rouge as your killer looking date that likes to party but not shout. Waiting to see if Shozy Form 1.4 is in good form, only thing I decided to buy during the holiday sales storm. BQEYZ Spring 2 was a nice lively upgrade to the BQEYZ Spring 1, but fix that bass man, maybe take some lessons from the Nicehck NX7 Daniel son. Some of my friends from last year are still good folks to have around, Sony MH755, BLON BL03 for sleeping, and TinHifi T4 (I just wish you would hang in my ear longer than a few minutes of sound). Simgot EN700 is a carry over as well. I like a mild V if you can see.

Jürgen Kraus…Calgary, Canada

Blon BL-05s: These are very articulate playing single DDs also appeal to me through their hideous colour. Probably my most used items of the year (together with the JVCs and Shozy Form 1.4 below). Following the footsteps of the popular Blon Bl-03 – the Blon Bl-05s disappeared fast in the big black hole of anti-hype. And for a good reason: they look like the Bl-05, smell like the Bl-05, measure like the Bl-05, but the Bl-05 had been thrown on the market prematurely, and they sucked. The more distinguished audience may have realized that Bl-05 and Bl-05s have different drivers and sound completely different.

Drop JVC HA-FDX01: Hailed as arguably the best single DD on the market until Dunu Luna and Final Audio A8000 took over, this labour of love was originally only available 665 times….which has extended to above 2000 by now while the price dropped to $200. Carryover from 2019. Still my best earphones because of their organic timbre and great resolution.

TRI I3: Planar magnetic. Something totally different. Big and bold sounding yet soothing. Nothing offensive, nothing dull.

Sennheiser IE 400 PRO ($349): The best of their PRO series. Classic Sennheiser quality midrange. Super ergonomics. Nobody will dislike this one.

Shozy Form 1.4 ($199): The Shozy team somehow got their tuning 100% right. The Form 1.4 simply sound appealing to my ears…warm and fuzzy.

Guilty Pleasure: I pull the $70 FiiO FD1 out for the road: nice’n’punchy.

Vision Ears Elysium in the Endgame category. At 2500 EUR hand made by elfs and some Rhine mermaids in Cologne, out of reach for longer than a week (borrowed). Produce vocals better than real life but also melts credit cards. Cymbals as crisp as Swedish bread…

Perversions and Subversions: the Moondrop Spaceship at $20 beats the Moondrop SSR and SSP…less accurate but the better “junk food” for my ears. Moondrop have a history of undercutting their own mid-tier earphones with their budget offerings…we remember the $30 Crescent and the $180 KPE.

Inasmile Cable Protector: Discovery of the year. 20 cents that protect my fraying Apple cables from total breakage.

I still use the Koss PortaPro headphones with Yaxi earpads for video conferencing and listening when I need comfort around my ears. Also great are the Koss KSC75. Grab all of them when you can, they are affordable standard staples. And my standard full-sized cans are still the Sennheiser HD 600.

Tempotec Sonata HD Pro dac/amp dongle ($40): comes at the price of an adapter – but with all possible adapters to connect this little rascal to anything, including iPhones. Good enough to drive any iem. The very best dongles are the $199 EarMen Sparrow run on their balanced output, and the $120 Earstudio HUD100. In terms of larger portable dacs/amps (with integrated battery), I like the $199 ifi Audio Nano BL, the $149 ifi Audio hip-dac, and the $249 EarMen TR-amp. And I don’t think I need a bigger desktop amp.

Question mark of the year: The KBEAR Believe with their Japan sourced Beryllium drivers were too cheap to be true…which was underlined by some competing cheater Be-less Beryllium earphones and doubt seeded by the Dunu competitor. Hey, but the Luna have that Chi-Fi peak…

Personal Disappointment of the year: the continuing Chi-Fi peak between 2 and 4 kHz that kills western eardrums…TRN are leading the charge…the TRN BA8 cuts steel like butter.

Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir…Munich, Germany

I’ve tried and reviewed more stuff this year than ever, and part of it (actually, most of it) is due to the awful home-arrest that we’ve all succumbed too. Hope things get normal soon, sigh.

IEMs: 

Final E500 ($20): This otherwise “cheap/beater” IEM does one thing better than *anything* under $100 – binaural tracks and gaming. At least it did so until its brethren VR3000 came out, but I’m yet to hear that and that’s got a 4x price tag attached to it. People call the Sony MH755 the best value IEMs, for me it’s the Final E500.

Dunu Studio SA6 ($550): This is a great all-rounder IEM. Great bass for an all-BA IEM, the lower-mids are full and organic whereas upper-mids tread the fine line between forwardness and shoutiness. The treble has good amount of sparkle and air. Great design and accessory pack. Really, hard to pick a fault.

Honorable mentions: Final E5000, Samsung Galaxy Buds, Moondrop Blessing 2, Sony IER-M9, Final FI-BA-SS, Dunu Luna

Headphones:

Koss PortaPro X + Yaxi Pads ($40): Just buy one. Don’t be stingy. Thank me later. 

Sennheiser HD650 ($300): The once and forever king. The HD6XX esp is a no-brainer. Scales better than any headphone I’ve tried.

Honorable Mentions: Hifiman Sundara, Focal Clear, Final D8000

DAPs:

Sony NW-A55 ($200): If your primary need is to run efficient IEMs, look no further. Great ergonomics, actually usable UI, good display, fantastic battery life, and then there’s the MrWalkman mod to turn it even more awesome. The only “budget” DAP I recommend. 

Questyle QP1R ($600): Questyle made the QP1R 6 years ago. It’s still one of the best DAPs out there when it comes to overall dynamics.

Honorable mentions: Cowon Plenue V, iBasso DX160, Sony ZX300

Desktop sources:

YULONG Canary II ($230): One of the best budget all-in-ones I’ve come across. Criminally underrated too which is a royal shame.

Questyle CMA-400i ($800): The all-in-one system I ended up with after countless trials and tribulations. Perfectly aligned to my tastes.

Honorable Mentions: iFi Zen Can, Headamp GSX-Mini

And that’s a wrap. Hopefully 2021 brings us better times.

KopiOkaya…Singapore

This year there are 8 of us, thus there are more choices for our readers to choose from.

This year also marked the year of COVID-19…. Meaning, people are staying home longer and more often, thus they can listen to their gears on desktop systems other than portable music players and phones. Fortunately, desktop gears are much better and more affordable now.

Desktop DACs:

Denafrips Ares II (US$700): I don’t own one but my friend do. If you like natural, organic sound with a huge, deep, tall soundstage and don’t mind its higher price tag, look no further… This is it! 

Topping E30 (US$130): A nice warm-neutral DAC. It doesn’t sound as natural, as organic or has a huge soundstage like the Ares II but it offers great audio at an affordable price.

Note: Extremely sensitive to the quality of power supply used. Make sure you power it with something decent like the iFi iPower X.

Desktop Amps:

Yulong Canary II (US$250): This is actually a DAC/Amp with a Class A amplification stage. It posseses a warm-neutral sound signature with lots of low-end drive thanks to the Class A topography. Very good value and performance consider this is both a DAC and an amp! 

Topping L30 (US$140): My current reference amp… If you have noticed, so far I don’t have any balanced amp in my list. When I tune earphones, I never tune them in balanced, simply because if it sounds good in single-ended, it should sound even better in balanced… Well, this is usually the case! The L30 is great (for me) because it has a gain REDUCTION switch for IEMs with high sensitivity… Not many headphone amps have such feature. This is a very neutral, clean and transparent amp that doesn’t colour the sound of the source. That’s all I ask for when tuning earphones.

Portable DAC-Amps:

FiiO BTR5 / Shanling UP4 / EarStudio ES100 MK2 / Qudelix 5K (US$120 or less): I don’t want to decide which is better. To me, each has its pros and cons but my point is… acceptable Bluetooth quality listening is finally here! Almost everybody owns a smartphone these days, so why not use it as a music player? Some of you despise this idea but c’mon… A TOTL DAP still runs slower than my $150 Android phone operating on Android 10.

Earphones:

Etymotic ER4XR (US$350): My reference for tuning hybrid earphones. If you are familiar with Etys you should know their earphones have a near-neutral Diffuse Field Target tuning. The “XR” version has slightly more bass. 

Etymotic ER2XR (US$100): Similar to the ER4XR except this uses a single dynamic instead of balanced armature, thus my reference when I tune dynamic earphones. The ER2XR has more natural timbre and punchier bass than ER4XR. You can forget about Moondrop SSR/SSP if you plan to buy one. This is better.

Note: Etymotic earphones are to be worn deep inside the ear canals touching the bone… #Etyheads call “deep insertion”. This can cause discomfort to first time Etymotic users but you will get used to it eventually… I used to hate it but I am OK with it now.

Headphones:

Singapore is too damn warm for headphones, unless using air-conditioning while listening to music… Sorry, I am too cheap for that. Electricity is expensive here.

Loomis Johnson…Chicago, USA

TRN STM–$20 wunderkind is not, as Durwood aptly states, a purist’s earphone, and it veers towards sounding over-pixilated and artificial. However, it has that certain toe-tapping rightness that keeps me reaching for it over much pricier “audiophile-tuned” pieces. Did I mention it’s $20?

KBEAR Diamond—you can spend a lot more and get a bigger stage or a richer timbre, but this smooth, highly-resolving single DD is awfully refined for the price, with class-leading coherence and premium aesthetics and build.

Cambridge Melomania TWS—they don’t have ANC, EQ customizability or the bells and whistles of their Apple/Samsung peers, and microphone is sub-standard. However, they sound damn good for wireless buds—and are surprisingly good value at <$99. 9 hour battery life a plus.

Honorable Mentions: Shozy Rouge, Shuoer Tape.

Slater…Cincinnati, USA

Slater is short for “See Ya Later”…and you will see him later…

And This Was The Previous Year:

The post Gear Of The Year – Our Personal 2020 Favourites appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Good build, comfortable, well fitting.
Very good technicalities for a single DD set (may not beat multi driver types at this price point though).
Refined, organic and smooth tonality.
Good timbre.
Good accessories.
Good price to performance ratio compared to other purported full beryllium DDs.
Takes massive EQ like a champ.
2 pin connector -> better lifespan than MMCX in general.

Cons:

High powered source needed as per the low sensitivity – sounds muddy, congested and smears in bass when not powered adequately. (***PLEASE CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE IEMS IF YOU ARE NOT INTENDING TO GET AN ADEQUATELY POWERED SOURCE WITH THE KBEAR BELIEVE***)
Average isolation.
Average soundstage width.
Bass not the fastest in decay/transients when underpowered (this improves with amping).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

BEAR WITH ME, ISN’T IT BARELY BELIEVABLE THAT THE BELIEVE IS BRIMMING WITH BERYLLIUM?

The KBEAR BElieve is a purported full beryllium single DD set, priced so that one doesn’t need to sell our kidneys! It sports an organic, refined and smooth warm U shaped tuning, with very good technicalities (for a single DD). Timbre is good as per its single DD roots, but it has high power requirements due to the low sensitivity. When paired with lower powered sources, the bass is muddy, smears and is congested, so those that do not have optimal sources best look elsewhere. But once adequately amped, the magic starts and I daresay it can hit about 70% of the technical performance of the fabled DUNU LUNA, which is truly lunatical, no pun intended!

SPECIFICATIONS

• Driver Unit: pure beryllium diaphragm dynamic driver (imported from Japan)
• Sensitivity: 98 dB/mW
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 20000Hz
• Impedance: 17 ohms
• Cable: 2 Pin 0.78mm
• Tested at $159 USD

BEAR WITH ME, ISN’T IT BARELY BELIEVABLE THAT THE BELIEVE IS BRIMMING WITH BERYLLIUM?

Please skip on to the next section if you don’t want to read about beryllium and its controversies.

Alliterations about bears aside, 2020 is truly the year of the beryllium driver. Beryllium for drivers may or may not be a marketing gimmick, but these beryllium sets supposedly take EQ very well and you can read more about beryllium in IEMs in this very informative article by coblogger KopiOKaya (https://www.audioreviews.org/beryllium-drivers-ko/). Indeed, a lot of CHIFI brands are riding on a beryllium made hypetrain, and there’s been lots of single DD beryllium coated/plated gear released this year like the Moondrop SSR/SSP, Fiio FD1/Jade Audio EA1 and Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 (assuming it is not the “noble metal” driver version and that the QC is not a fail), amongst other hybrid containing beryllium coated/plated sets too.

Marketing aside, my personal take, is that what is more important than driver type/driver materials/driver count, is the actual implementation of the material/driver and the actual tuning. Also, I think beryllium may be toxic to process, so we have to be eternally grateful to the workers who risk their lives to get these pieces of audio nirvana to us!

That also leads us to talk about the issue of price. The beryllium coated/plated sets discussed above are generally cheaper than a purported full beryllium driver. So let’s address the biggest elephant in the room: does the KBEAR BElieve truly have a full beryllium single DD at this relatively cheap price point of $159 USD? Before the KBEAR BElieve, probably the cheapest advertised full beryllium DD set would have been the Periodic Audio BE ($299 USD) which has equivocal reviews, and deeper down the beryllium rabbithole, you have more expensive luminaries like the SummitFI single DD beryllium DUNU LUNA ($1700 USD) and Final Audio A8000 ($2000 USD).

Skeptics will surely ask, “How can the same tech be possible for $159 USD?” “That’s bearly barely believable for the price!” Well I’m on the fence about this, but just 3 years back, I would have laughed at you if you told me a multi driver IEM could be gotten at $16 USD (Senfer DT6 with piezos), as a triple driver set from a western/japanese brand then would have minimally cost north of $150 – 200 USD. I’m not privy to the inner workings of CHIFI land, but with economies of scale and cheaper labour/assembly in CHIFI land (and perhaps less robust patents/licensing), I would say, “never say never”, I wouldn’t discount the possibility?

I know there’s been a big shakeup in the audio world recently when an esteemed member of Audioreviews Facebook (Delta Fyre) dissected a certain brand’s IEM shell and realized the driver wasn’t beryllium as advertised, so biggest respect to him for exposing this (literally), and it prompted a withdrawal of that product by the company. Delta Fyre for sure deserves a noble metal prize for services to CHIFI (no Urbanfun beryllium pun intended). So now in addition to graphs for IEMs, this year we also move on to dissecting drivers and doing x-rays of gear to see what’s inside (yes there are folks doing x-rays in the audio forums!)

A famous and well followed Youtube reviewer also likewise dissected the KBEAR BElieve’s shell, showing the driver looks at least metallic, but I don’t have the necessary tools/expertise to proof otherwise for my set. There’ll be skeptics and “believers” (no pun intended) of the KBEAR BElieve regarding this beryllium question. Some will say even if KBEAR sends the driver to a lab for testing, the report may be rigged, or even if they send it to our Facebook laymen brethren to dissect, it may be a planted set. Anyways, one can open the driver and show the world it looks like beryllium, but do non professionals have the necessary equipment (eg spectrometer) to show the type of metal and even the purity and coating amounts? So this will be a beryllium made can of worms that will be argued till the cows come home, so I guess we need to move on to how it actually sounds. However, let me state for the record that false advertising of a purported driver material/type is a big no go for me, even if the IEM sounds great.

FWIW, take it from me that the driver in the KBEAR BElieve takes to EQ like a champ (with minimal distortion), even with massive EQ, which is kind of a hallmark of other beryllium sets I’ve used, though as discussed, I can’t prove anything, cause maybe plated beryllium sets also can also take EQ very well. And as stated above, I do feel that what is more important than driver type/driver materials/driver count, is the actual implementation of the material/driver and the actual tuning. And I daresay when adequately amped, the KBEAR BElieve can hit about 70% of technical performance of the DUNU LUNA (which is lunatical [no pun intended], considering the LUNA costs 10 times more). So question about driver type aside, the price to performance ratio for the KBEAR BElieve is very good. I will do further comparisons with the DUNU LUNA and other similarly priced single DD types in the comparisons segment below, but let us continue with the review proper.

ACCESSORIES

In addition to the IEM, it comes with:

1) PVC leather pouch

2) 4 strands of 6N single crystal copper Litz – the stock cable is very well braided and thick, with no microphonics. It’s very good haptically and asthetically. Cable skeptics and believers (no pun intended) can have your own arguments whether aftermarket type cables will improve the sound, which is beyond the scope of this review.

3) Two types of stock silicone tips in various sizes – one is of softer consistency (black) than the other (grey). The KBEAR BElieve is extremely tip sensitive, using wide bore silicone tips on it drops the bass and using narrow bore ones boosts the bass quite markedly. Of course YMMV as we all have different ear anatomies, but do explore with eartips to do slight modifications in the sound to suit your preferences.

4) Foam tips (2 sizes)

Accessories are very nice, and are quite similar to the predecessor, the KBEAR Diamond. The cable however is different from the KBEAR Diamond, the one included here in the KBEAR BElieve seems to be a 4 strands 6N single crystal copper Litz cable rather than the SPC cable of the Diamond.

For the purposes of this review, I stuck to the stock greytips and the stock cable.

BUILD/COMFORT

The KBEAR BElieve’s shell is very well made, comfortable and well fitting. It is on the heavier side as it is made of metal, but I had no issues using it for long listening sessions. I didn’t find any driver flex, but YMMV as this may be partially related to the eartips we use and different ear anatomies.

I liked that it came with a 2 pin connector, as I’m not a fan of MMCX connectors due to potential longevity issues, especially with frequent cable swapping.

ISOLATION

Isolation on the KBEAR BElieve is average with the stock tips used, as per most vented single DD types.

DRIVABILITY/SOURCE

I tried running the KBEAR BElieve with a Khadas Tone Board -> Toppping L30, Khadas Tone Board -> Fiio A3 amp, Shanling Q1 DAP, Ziku HD X9 DAP -> Fiio A3 amp, a low powered smartphone, Sabre HIFI DAC (ESS ES9280C PRO) and the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro.

So other than whether the KBEAR BElieve contains a full beryllium driver, let’s address the second biggest elephant in the room: the KBEAR BElieve is one power hungry IEM, I already suspected it from the store specs of a sensitivity of 98dB/mW (impedance: 17ohm). But on actual listening, this drove the point in that amping is mandatory. It sounds muddy and gooey on smartphones and lower powered dongles, with the bass smearing when underpowered. Sure you can drive it from a non LG smartphone or lower powered source at higher volumes. It’s not a matter of absolute volume, but amping tightens the bass, increases dynamics, microdetails and perhaps soundstage.

Personally, I think most 3.5 mm dongles can’t drive the BElieve optimally, maybe some extreme dongles like the 9038S may be able though. On high gain with the Topping L30, them the real potential is shown, with the sound opening up. The Final Audio E5000 was similarly another power hungry IEM in terms of raw amping needs, also sounded meh and muddy without amping, though the BElieve is not as power hungry as the Final E5000. The KBEAR BElieve is actually a tinge more power hungry than the TRI I3 (which has a planar)!

For the rest of this review, I used the Khadas Tone Board -> Topping L30 (high gain). I suspect a lot of folks who will be getting the KBEAR BElieve, may be using it from lower powered sources and are not gonna get the intended sound, and may walk away thinking it is a muddy set, similar to the Final Audio E5000 being muddy when underpowered. So be warned, it needs amping to scale to its real potential.

Since the KBEAR BElieve is on the warmer side, it doesn’t pair the best with warm amps/DAPs, as the bass may be a bit more woolly and muddy, so do consider neutral or brighter sources with the KBEAR BElieve.

Some folks will then ask, what is the point of pairing a more expensive source such as an amp/DAP with the KBEAR BElieve, doesn’t that add to the additional costs of the IEM? Well, for one, the KBEAR BElieve is a midfi IEM, and I guess folks that buy midfi stuff may probably own a higher end source or two and they will probably read up about the source requirements. And getting an amp/good DAP is probably a one time investment as we progress further down this rabbithole hobby. Sources may end up being the limiting factor in the audio chain sooner or later, and is a worthwhile investment I feel, more worthwhile then spending tons on cables for sure. Getting a good amp/DAP will also be future proofing as we can unlock other gear that have high requirements. I mean if it were a sub $20 set like the recent BLON BL-01 (which is aiming for a different market segment) and someone told me I need an amp to unlock the BL-01’s potential, I would ask them to fly a kite. But a lot of other IEMs such as the Final E series (Final E3000, Final E5000) and even the more expensive full beryllium Final A8000 are not the easiest to drive, and need amping to scale to their optimal sound.

One can also argue that IEMs are for their portability (compared to headphones), and that getting a desktop amp (or a powerful DAP) doesn’t make economic sense for a midfi IEM. Well that’s a valid point, and at the end of the day, if one doesn’t intend to invest in a powerful source, then I would advise to look elsewhere from the KBEAR BElieve, there’s lots of other options around the same price that don’t need amping. Horses for courses as they say, I apologize if I’m boring everyone here with this long discussion about source pairing, but I want to reinforce to everyone that the source will be the limiting factor and probably the biggest variable in getting optimal sound when it comes to the KBEAR BElieve. Do know make an informed decision: I don’t want to see people getting the KBEAR BElieve only to realize later that you don’t have a proper source pairing for it.

SOUND & TECHNICALITIES

The KBEAR BElieve is a warm U shaped set, it sports an, organic, refined and smooth U shaped tuning, with very good technicalities. The upper mids do look emphasized on the graph, but on actual listening, with adequate amping, they are very smooth and non fatiguing, managing to balance a fine line between having forward upper mids without shoutiness. With boosting the volume a lot (Fletcher Munson curve) or on poorly recorded material, then there might be rare instances of shoutiness at the upper mids. This isn’t a set that has the typical CHIFI sawtooth upper mids, but goes for a more mature and refined tuning.

For a midfi single DD set, the KBEAR BElieve has very good details, instrument separation and clarity. Imaging is generally above average but may not beat some multi BA/hybrids at this midfi price bracket. Nevertheless, the KBEAR BElieve manges to keep up with very complex musical arrangements. Soundstage is not the widest but it is quite deep and tall in soundstage, especially when amped. Those that want very large soundstages (you may argue even on the verge of artificially large soundstages) better look elsewhere.

Note weight on the KBEAR BElieve is a tinge thinner than average. The timbre for acoustic instruments is very good, as per its single DD roots, but there might be some rare instances of a metallic tinge for violins (which I have heard in some other beryllium sets).

Bass:

The KBEAR BElieve has a midbass that is north of neutral but not at basshead levels. Subbass is of less quantity than midbass. With lower powered sources, some may find the midbass quantity overly thick and the midbass decay slow, but this improves with amping as discussed. Subbass extension is okay for a single DD, the subbass can give a visceral rumble when called for, but this is not a subbass focused IEM, nor a basshead IEM.

In terms of bass transients, it is not the fastest (especially when compared to other beryllium type DD bass), texturing is good but not class leading. Even when amped, the slower bass decay does damp the transients and resolution a bit. This adds a bit of warmth to the music, I like it, but I know some who are adverse to it. Dynamics and timbre in the bass are very good. When amped, there is almost no midbass bleed, which is quite surprising for the slower bass decay, so no worries about the bass impinging into the other frequencies.

If you want to boost the bass to basshead levels or tame the bass to something more neutralish, then please feel free to EQ to your heart’s content. As discussed, the KBEAR BElieve takes to EQ like a champ (with minimal distortion), even with massive EQ, which is kind of a hallmark of plated and full beryllium sets, so EQ lovers will have a field day with this set.

Mids:

Mids-wise, they are slightly recessed at the lower mids, but are quite natural and transparent nevertheless. Upper mids are boosted, but as discussed, the upper mids are very smooth and not shouty (when amped). Female vocals are slightly more forward than male vocals, vocals for both genders are very intelligible. I liked that the upper mids manages to balance a fine line between having forward upper mids without shoutiness. As per the Fletcher Munson Curve, it can on rare occasions be hot in the upper mids at high volumes or with poorly recorded material. This isn’t a set that has the typical CHIFI sawtooth upper mids, but goes for a more refined tuning.

Treble:

The lower treble of the KBEAR BElieve continues on from the safe upper mids tuning, and is non fatiguing. The higher treble does extend quite well and is not harsh for my treble sensitive tastes. I didn’t find any sibilance (unless it is already present in the recording). Details, clarity and resolution are captured very well in the treble regions and cymbals sound very natural (cymbals can sound splashy on other CHIFI types).

COMPARISONS

As per comparing apples to apples, I left out multi BA/hybrids and rarer driver types from the comparisons as they have their own strengths and weaknesses among the different transducer types. I apologize that I’m not able to audition or get hold of a loaner unit for the hypetrain NF Audio NM2+, I think a lot of folks are interested to see how it performs against the KBEAR BElieve (as both are single DDs around the same price). If i do get it one day, I’ll definitely update this review, but I’ll make do for now to compare some TOTL single DD types all the way to $100ish USD single DD types.

DUNU LUNA ($1700 USD)

Just to put it out there, the DUNU LUNA is my most favourite single DD set in terms of how it melds technicalities, timbre, tonality and musicality. The DUNU LUNA is usually discussed in the same breath with the other full beryllium single DD summitFI set, the Final Audio A8000, and I do think the Final Audio A8000 has better technical performance, though I found the Final Audio A8000 too bright/fatiguing for me due to the wealth of resolution and details and there’s a peak somewhere at the 5 – 6 kHz region, so it isn’t my cup of tea.

I know it is kind of lunatical (no pun intended) to compare the KBEAR BElieve ($159 USD) to the $1700 USD DUNU LUNA, but since they are both advertised to have full beryllium DDs, here we go:

The DUNU LUNA has better timbre and thicker note weight. The DUNU LUNA is more refined, has faster transients and has better technicalities/dynamics, but it costs 10 times more, so that’s kinda expected. If I were to give a ballpark figure, I think the KBEAR BElieve can hit around 70% of the DUNU LUNA’s technical performance (when amped). Despite the high price, the DUNU LUNA is also not perfect, it has a subbass/higher treble rolloff. The DUNU LUNA is easier to drive, but has worse isolation.

So between the 2, it depends if you wanna chase the last 30% sound for huge diminishing returns, or are happy with hitting 70% performance for 10% of the cost, but the only problem is I can’t unhear what I have heard (the 30% improvement) in the DUNU LUNA hahaha.

Final Audio A8000 ($2000 USD)

The Final Audio A8000 as discussed above is another summitFI set that has excellent technicalities and also is advertised to have a full beryllium single DD. I would say the Final Audio A8000 has the best resolution, transparency, transients and technicalities I’ve ever heard in a single DD set, though it needs amping as it is also not that easy to drive.

For sure the Final Audio A8000 has better technicalities than the KBEAR BElieve (in clarity, transients, resolution, details, imaging, soundstage), but I found the Final Audio A8000 too bright/fatiguing for me due to the wealth of resolution/details and there’s a peak somewhere at the 5 – 6 kHz region, though I’m treble sensitive. Ballpark, I would say the KBEAR BElieve can hit about 60ish% of the technical performance of the Final Audio A8000 but the latter costs 12 – 13 times more, so big diminishing returns once more as you go up the ladder. Likewise it is an unfair comparison at the different price point for these 2 sets, but I brought it out since they are both advertised to have full beryllium single DDs. Between the two, the tonality is rather different too, the Final Audio A8000 goes for a brighter and crisper tonality compared to the warmer and more analoguish KBEAR BElieve.

KBEAR Diamond ($79 USD)

The KBEAR Diamond is the predecessor of the KBEAR BElieve, they both look similar externally, but are of a different colours and driver types (DLC versus purported beryllium). The nozzle is also slightly shorter in the KBEAR BElieve compared to the KBEAR Diamond, I actually find the fit more secure in the KBEAR BElieve cause the longer nozzle seems to “push” the KBEAR Diamond out of my ears.

The KBEAR Diamond does scale with amping too, but is easier to drive than the KBEAR BElieve. The KBEAR Diamond has poorer technicalities, is more V shaped, and can get a bit hotter in the upper mids, with a more depressed lower mids region (which some found polarizing). KBEAR Diamond is more bassy (when same tips are used). I do believe, no pun intended, that the KBEAR BElieve is a true upgrade over its predecessor, and is worth the extra outlay assuming you have an optimal source.

TFZ No. 3 ($109 USD)

The TFZ No. 3 is a more V shaped single DD basshead set. The TFZ No.3 has more copious midbass and subbass quantities, but the bass quality is worse, in being not the most textured, with boominess and midbass bleed in spades. The TFZ No. 3 also has a more shouty upper mids at higher volumes (Fletcher Munson curve), and it also has worse timbre and technicalities than the KBEAR BElieve, with a quite compressed soundstage too.

The TFZ No. 3 would suit bassheads and would be very good for bass forward music genres, but is kind of a one trick pony. I think the KBEAR BElieve is the more refined pair between the two, and is smoother and has better technicalities, although the TFZ No. 3 is much easier to drive (in fact it has a higher sensitivity and can hiss like a snake with certain sources).

Toneking Ninetails ($125 USD)

The Toneking Ninetails is more versatile as it has 9 tuning options (from basshead to V shaped to neutralish), so it has more sonic signatures than the KBEAR BElieve. The Toneking Ninetails IEM was a cult classic with good reviews among owners, but a lot were hesitant to purchase it due to the unconventional looking design. The Ninetails is actually quite well fitting and comfortable once you know how to wear it, but the KBEAR BElieve is still more comfortable due to the more ergonomic and conventional profile.

The Toneking Ninetails is easier to drive but has weaker technicalities than the KBEAR BElieve. Timbre between the two is similarly good. The Toneking Ninetails is also semi open backed and hence has a better soundstage, though this double edge sword makes it poorer in isolation.

CONCLUSIONS

The KBEAR BElieve is a purported bearly barely believable full beryllium single DD set, priced so that one doesn’t need to sell our kidneys! It sports an organic, refined and smooth warm U shaped tuning, with very good technicalities (for a single DD). Timbre is good as per its single DD roots, but it has high power requirements due to the low sensitivity. It can be played from a lower powered source, but the bass is muddy, smears and is congested, so those that do not have optimal sources best look elsewhere.

The big question about whether you “believe” or do not believe that the KBEAR BElieve does contain full beryllium drivers can’t be answered conclusively here, but I’d say it has good value proposition compared to some other full beryllium luminaries like the DUNU LUNA, just that the requirement for a higher powered source may limit the potential pool of buyers or some folks may be underpowering the KBEAR BElieve with weaker sources and may walk away thinking this is a muddy set.

The KBEAR BElieve hits close to my preferred tuning target actually. I do recommend this set for those that want a warm and smooth organic tuning, to chill back and just enjoy the music (without much loss of technical performance). Diehard bassheads or those that want a very crisp and analytical signature may need to look elsewhere. Technical chops, as we discusssed, are very good for a midfi single DD, although some similarly priced multi BA/hybrid types may trump it in this department.

The KBEAR BElieve has quite a smooth and well balanced tonality, and it will be accompanying me on many late night chill jazz sessions after a long day of work!

MY VERDICT

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I would like to thank the KBEAR Official Store for providing this review unit. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001722682651.html

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The post KBEAR BElieve Review (2) – Bearly Believable? appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — Boosted upper midrange may still be offensive to some; hard to drive; not the deepest soundstage.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Moondrop SSP is a variation of the popular Moondrop SSR with a slightly elevated bass but the same midrange and treble. Despite its weightier low end, the SSP may still be shouty to many ears, particularly at higher volumes.

INTRODUCTION

Moondrop are an aspiring, innovative company out of Chengdu, Sichuan, China. They are a bit different from the usual Chi-Fi fare in their approach in that they are pursuing imaginative designs and meander through phases of tuning concepts, from Harman target in earlier models to (pseudo) diffuse field in their current showings. Their designs are always paired with quality materials. The company put lots of detail and care even into their budget models – though this does not always work for all western ears.

The Moondrop SSR “Super Spaceship Reference” from earlier in 2020 was such a (almost) diffuse-field-tuned model that impressed by its build/haptic and its transparent, neutral sound, however it fell short with many customers and reviewers alike through its aggressive images at higher volumes. The company therefore addressed this with the Moondrop SSP “Super Spaceship Pulse”, which is essentially the same earphone with a slightly modified tuning (or just a different filter, heyhey?). The question is: do the Moondrop SSP appease the listenership?

You find reviews of all of the iems mentioned in this article here.

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers: Beryllium-Coated Dome + PU Suspension Ring
Impedance: 16 Ω
Sensitivity: 112 dB/V (94 dB/mW)
Frequency Range: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Cable/Connector: Silver Plated 4N-Litz OFC/0.78 mm 2-pin
Tested at: $40
Purchase Link: Moondrop Official Store

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

I did not receive the retail box. The supplied baggie contains silicone eartips (S/M/L), a cable, and the paperwork – the retail version will probably also include a storage bag. What I like about the identical Moondrop SSP/SSR’s shells is their smallness, their great fit, and their metal build. The Moondrop SSP has a more filigree, navy blue finish compared to the SSR’s more industrial power coating. I also fancy that pearly white SSP/SSR cable…all this is so different from most other Chi-Fi with their bulky earpieces in repetitive shapes and their braided cables. Yes, fit and comfort are great for my ears because of the long nozzles, however seal is only average. Build is very good. 

Overall, the haptic of the whole package is very good. One big bonus is that everything works right out of the box. No upgrade cable is needed and the largest tips fit my gigantic ear canals just fine. As to the source, hey, that’s a tricky one. With my iPhone the Moondrop SSP needs quite a bit of power – its sensitivity is 3 dB lower than that of the Moondrop SSR…and it is given in dB/V…recalculation into dB/mW yields a meagre 94 dB/mW.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

Follow these links for some background information:

My tonal preference and testing practice

My test tracks explained

Equipment used: stock cable/tips; iPhone SE (1st generation); Macbook Air with EarMen Sparrow.

Moondrop appears to tune their earphones of different price tiers in bundles to the same target. For example, their KPE and Crescent were tuned according to the Harman target curve, which gaves them a somewhat warm signature. The Moondrop SSR was tuned close to – but not quite – diffuse-field neutral, Etymotic style, which made them sound aggressive at higher volumes however transparent, clear, and spacious at moderate levels. The Moondrop SSP, Spaceship, and even their single DD flagship Illumination essentially share the same frequency-response graph. This is still not far off Etymotic neutral and features a boosted low end that adds some warmth to the image, at least up to the lower midrange.

The Moondrop SSP is sonically very close to the Moondrop SSR. The frequency response above 900 Hz is identical between the models. Below 900 Hz, the frequency responses deviate by up to 5 dB. The biggest difference is therefore the bass response and the Moondrop SSP’s low end is actually one of its best traits. The low-end is fast, tight, not overdone, and very appealing to my ears. It remains as articulate as in the Moondrop SSR however there is just more of it. Extension is only soso but realistic. This makes the Moondrop SSP sound like a warmer Moondrop SSR. Not for bassheads but more for audiophile-inclined listening. The added low end counteracts its “spicy” upper midrange. And this works to some extent.

From here on up, the tonality is essentially identical to the Moondrop SSR – see my review. The midrange to lower treble is still dominated by that “mountain range” between 1 and 10 kHz, it adds some transparency to the midrange but can make voices slightly nasal and sharp. However the added bass makes the midrange slightly more palatable but it is still rather bright. What does not work is removing shoutiness at higher volumes. Nope, play it loud and the sound breaks up. But at lower volumes is the tonality agreeable. As in many budget Moondrop models, the vocals department is neutral but also a bit lean in the SSP.

The treble is still rolled off (compared to Moondrop SSR) somewhat similar to but not as dramatically as in the Moondrop Starfield.

As to technicalities – same as Moondrop SSR. The soundstage is wide but not so deep however a bit deeper than in the Moondrop SSP because of its weightier low end. When amping with the Earmen Sparrow, the headroom opens up and the stage become taller and wider. Spatial cues and three-dimensionality are quite good.

As you would expect, timbre/natural sound reproduction is ok despite the lean voices.

In comparison, the Moondrop Spaceship has a bigger low-end extension, a slightly less articulate however warmer bass, a lesser detail resolution and separation, but it is also less sharp sounding. The tonality of the Moondrop SSP is more refined and exact, the Spaceship’s is warmer and more soothing. There is nothing wrong at all with the Spaceship with its chrome finish – it is the least shouty of the bunch and a really good earphone at $20. Moondrop SSP (and SSR) wins in technicalities only.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The SSR/SSP are “notmoreofthesame” in the big Chi-Fi picture, they are refreshingly different in many aspects. But internally, the SSP are just a marginally warmer variant of the SSR that may appeal to a wider audience. However be aware that the Moondrop SSP can still be shouty because they preserve the SSR’s “spicy” upper midrange. In my opinion, Moondrop should have gone farther in addressing the SSR’s shoutiness.

In summary, I would recommend the Moondrop SSP over the SSR, but be aware that the most soothing sounding Spaceship, albeit technically a bit behind, is the original one, still at $20.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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DISCLAIMER

The review unit was provided by Moondrop and I thank them for that.

Get the SSP from Moondrop Official Store

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About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

MORE…

The post Moondrop SSP Review – Sister Ship appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Good fit and comfortable. Light.
Excellent technicalities for a budget single DD such as good clarity, details and imaging.
Authentic timbre for acoustic instruments.

Cons:

Shouty at 3 kHz region, especially at louder volumes (Fletcher Munson curve).
Sibilance fest.
Fatiguing with longer listening sessions.
Thin note weight. Brittle female vocals.
Not all rounder due to the lack of bass. Basslite with a lack of subbass rumble.
Below average isolation.
Not that easy to drive.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Moondrop SSR is a budget single DD set that is tuned somewhat diffuse-field neutral with an upper mids boost. It has excellent technicalities and timbre (for acoustic instruments), but unfortunately the upper mids do get shouty especially at louder volumes (Fletcher Munson curve). Sibilance is also present in spades. It sounds good at low volumes, but those who like to blast their music may need to look elsewhere. In addition, it may not be an all rounder due to the lack of bass, and the tuning is quite niche to say the least. Having said that, the Moondrop SSR has one of the best technical performances for a sub $40 USD single DD set.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Driver Unit: Beryllium Coated Dome + PU Suspension Ring
• Sensitivity: 115 dB
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 20000Hz
• Impedance: 16 ohms
• Cable: 2 pin detachable 0.78 mm
• Tested at $39.99 USD

ACCESSORIES

In addition to the IEM, it comes with:

1. Silicone eartips (S/M/L).
2. Silver-Plated 4N-Litz Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC) cable – For non cable believers, nothing to see here, please move on. If you are a cable believer, I prefer pure copper cables on the Moondrop SSR as they seem to me to tone down the treble/upper mids a tinge compared to the stock SPC cable.
3. Carrying pouch
4. Anime waifu box – Never ever underestimate the power of the anime designed box marketing. For some, it may actually be the most important item in this purchase, more important than the IEM itself!

For the purposes of this review, I stuck with the provided stock cable and tips, but I personally preferred Final E tips with the Moondrop SSR, as they helped to tame the sibilance and upper mids spike a tinge. I also preferred copper cables with the Moondrop SSR to add a bit of bass warmth, but YMMV as we have different ear anatomies and beliefs in cables.

BUILD/COMFORT

The Moondrop SSR is actually much smaller than it looks, and it is heart shaped and made of sturdy metal. It is very comfortable and light, I can wear it for hours with no issues. I didn’t detect any driver flex.

I liked that it came with a 2 pin connector, as I’m not a fan of MMCX connectors due to potential longevity issues.

ISOLATION

Isolation on the Moondrop SSR is below average. Personally, I wouldn’t bring it for commuting due to the poor isolation letting it outside noise, for which one may try to boost the volume to overcome the external noise, and this is not good for hearing health in the long term.

Secondly, bass frequencies are the first to be lost in a noisy environment, and the Moondrop SSR is already bass lite to begin with. So from my subway trip with the Moondrop SSR, I lost a lot of bass frequencies in my music and as the ears take the frequency spectrum as a whole, the upper mids 3 kHz peak could get very hot, especially if one tries to pump up the volume to compensate for the bass loss.

DRIVABILITY/SOURCE

I tried running the Moondrop SSR with a Khadas Tone Board -> Toppping L30, Khadas Tone Board -> Fiio A3 amp, Shanling Q1 DAP, Ziku HD X9 DAP -> Fiio A3 amp, a low powered smartphone and the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro.

The Moondrop SSR is actually not the easiest to drive, and scales better with amping.

Also, as the Moondrop SSR is on the brighter side, I find that pairing it with warmer sources manages to give the bass a bit more heft and evens out the 3 kHz area peak. Analytical sources may overemphasize the glare of the 3 kHz region and sibilance, so for my preferences, I wouldn’t recommend it.

SOUND & TECHNICALITIES

The Moondrop SSR is tuned somewhat diffuse-field neutral with an upper mids boost. This said upper mids area is pretty controversial and has very polarizing opinions. The Moondrop SSR actually sounds very good at low volumes, but those who like to blast their music may need to look elsewhere. The upper mids 3 kHz area gets shouty especially when the volume is increased (Fletcher Munson curve), with sibilance in spades. Most users/reviewers do not mention the volume they play their music at, but the Fletcher Munson curve really affects this set a lot, so this may explain the polarizing reviews we see about it.

Having said that, other than volume, upper mids/treble sensitivity is a very personal thing, since we all have different hearing health (due to age/occupation exposure/leisure exposure), different ear anatomy that may affect the pinna gain, and we also use different sources, different tips and have different levels of treble sensitivity/trebleheadedness. I know some friends who really like the Moondrop SSR (but they are low volume listeners or those that like a brighter signature), so YMMV.

The Moondrop SSR thankfully has very good technicalities for the price, considering it is a sub $40 USD single DD set. Lately there have been a lot of beryllium (coated/plated) single DD releases, of which the Moondrop SSR is one of them, I’m still on the fence whether this is a marketing gimmick or not. But for sure, I can say the imaging in the Moondrop SSR is very good, with good clarity, instrument separation and details too. Transient speed in the Moondrop SSR is fast, possibly due to the said beryllium drivers. I dare say the Moondrop SSR probably beats most other single DDs in the sub $40 USD region in technical performance.

Soundstage width and height on the Moondrop SSR is above average, depth is about slightly more than average. Music didn’t sound too congested on the Moondrop SSR during complex movements.

Note weight on the Moondrop SSR is rather thin and the tonality is cold for me, with the tuning veering towards the analytical side. Timbre is accurate for acoustic instruments, but vocals sounded a bit brittle, especially for female vocals.

Bass:

The Moondrop SSR has a rather neutral midbass, with subbass roll off. The bass is quite well textured with minimal midbass bleed and good speed. The subbass lacks rumble, but then again, I’m a basshead, and though the Moondrop SSR’s bass is not my cup of tea in the area of quantity, the bass is of good quality.

This lack of bass quantity may render the Moondrop SSR not that versatile for certain genres where bass forward music is present, eg EDM. In addition, this lack of subbass actually compounds the boosted upper mids (which we will talk about in the next section), as the ears take the entire frequency spectrum as a whole, and this gives a somewhat shouty and harsh upper mids skewed tuning.

Mids:

The lower mids are pretty neutral on the Moondrop SSR, but then it spikes up around +10 dB in the upper mids, which as discussed above, is a big bone of contention. This is especially so when the volume is boosted (Fletcher Munson curve), as the ears perceive the sound to be more V shaped at higher volumes, whereas it is perceived to be more U shaped at softer volumes.

Female vocals are hence more forward than male vocals, and there are excellent microdetails and clarity especially along the upper mids. Trumpets and horns and higher vocals can get quite harsh at the 3 kHz regions, especially in poorly recorded material. Due to the huge dynamic differences from lower to upper mids, sometimes female vocals and violins “jump” out and adds a glare and an unnatural tonality. Personally, I’m rather sensitive to the 2 – 4 kHz areas, and the 3 kHz area is a dealbreaker for me for the Moondrop SSR, but as always, YMMV.

Treble:

Lower treble is about the same level as the aforementioned upper mids, but the higher treble has some roll off. Higher treble is actually quite safe for treble sensitive folks, and cymbals are emphasized but not splashy. Compared to the overcooked upper mids, thankfully the treble manages to gear down nicely. Microdetails and clarity are good in the treble. Unfortunately, the dreaded S word, sibilance is present, and in spades, especially when the volume is jacked up.

COMPARISONS

As per comparing apples to apples, I left out multi BA/hybrids/exotic drivers from the comparisons, as the different transducers have their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Also, since the Moondrop SSR is an upper mids boosted set, I decided to pick some budget single DD types that have a boosted upper mids for comparison:

HZSound Heart Mirror

The HZSound Heart Mirror is a neutralish bright single DD set. Both sets have good technical performance for a single DD set, maybe the Moondrop SSR edges it slightly in clarity, details and imaging. The Moondrop SSR has a better soundstage than the HZSound Heart Mirror. Timbre for acoustic instruments is very good in both sets. The Moondrop SSR has quite bad sibilance and a thinner note weight compared to the HZSound Heart Mirror. Isolation is better on the HZSound Heart Mirror.

After doing A/B testing using the same source, tips (and even cable), I’ll take the HZSound Heart Mirror any day over the Moondrop SSR, as the 3 kHz peak and the sibilance on the SSR is a deal breaker for me, whereas the HZSound Heart Mirror balances a very fine line of pushing forward vocals without going into shouty territory. The HZSound Heart Mirror is smoother and very rarely gets harsh or sibilant. The HZSound Heart Mirror also has a slightly deeper subbass extension, even though both are not basshead sets for sure.

To summarize, the Moondrop SSR actually has better technical performance than the HZSound Heart Mirror, but a worse tonality along the upper mids, so different strokes for different folks, it depends whether technicalities or tonality is a higher priority.

BLON BL-05S

The BLON BL-05S is a mild V shaped set, with a slightly boosted upper mids region and slightly boosted midbass. The BLON BL-05S has a warmer tonality and thicker note weight, with better isolation. The BLON BL-05S is the more bassy set and is less sibilant. Moondrop SSR is shoutier at the upper mids/lower treble than the BLON BL-05S, especially when used at louder volumes (Fletcher Munson Curve).

Moondrop SSR is the technical superior of the BLON BL-05S in the areas of better clarity, imaging, details and instrument separation. Moondrop SSR also has a slightly better acoustic instrumental timbre, and has better treble extension. They are rather different in tuning and would suit different sonic signatures/music preferences.

Tin T2 Plus

The Tin T2 Plus is U shaped, with more bass and less upper mids than the Moondrop SSR. Tin T2 Plus is more analoguish and warmer, though the Moondrop SSR has better technicalities and is more analytical. I find the Tin T2 Plus more balanced and very inoffensive in tuning, and it is pretty non fatiguing in contrast to the Moondrop SSR (especially at higher volumes). Note weight is thicker on the Tin T2 plus too, though I occasionally find it a bit lacking in dynamics. Due to the boosted bass, the Tin T2 Plus is more versatile in tuning, being more all rounded for more music genres than the Moondrop SSR.

The Tin T2 Plus is plague by MMCX QC issues though, there’s been quite a few reports in the forums (my set has a wonky MMCX too). I would strongly advise you to only buy the Tin T2 Plus from places with a robust returns policy (eg Amazon), in case a lemon comes in the mail.

CONCLUSIONS

The Moondrop SSR is a budget single DD set that is tuned somewhat diffuse-field neutral with an upper mids boost. It has excellent technicalities and timbre, but unfortunately the upper mids get shouty especially at louder volumes (Fletcher Munson curve), with sibilance. It sounds good at low volumes, but those who like to blast their music may need to look elsewhere. Most users/reviewers do not mention the volume they play their music at, but the Fletcher Munson curve really affects this set a lot, so this may explain the polarizing reviews we see about it. Having said that, other than volume, upper mids/treble sensitivity is a very personal thing, since we all have different hearing health (due to age/occupation exposure/leisure exposure), different ear anatomy that may affect the pinna gain, and we also use different sources, different tips and have different levels of treble sensitivity/trebleheadedness. So YMMV.

In addition to only using the Moondrop SSR at low to moderate volumes, I will also not take this set outdoors due to the suboptimal isolation. The Moondrop SSR is not an all rounder due to the lack of bass, and bass forward music does sound pretty flat on it.

As such, I would say the Moondrop SSR’s tuning is quite niche, and is probably not a universally safe recommendation for everyone, especially those that listen to bass forward music, or are treble/upper mids sensitive, or those who like to blast their music. I know some friends who like it though (they are low volume and indoor users and/or trebleheads), so different strokes for different folks. Even though personally this tuning is not my cup of tea, I still applaud what sets the Moondrop SSR apart, and that is the excellent technicalities at the sub $40 USD asking price for a single DD set. It really beats most of the other sub $40 USD single DD sets in this department. Timbre for acoustic instruments is also quite authentic on the Moondrop SSR.

I very much look forward to the upcoming Moondrop SSP (Pulse), which is supposed to be a bassier variant of the Moondrop SSR. Hopefully the SSP’s bassier frequencies counteract the upper mids peak (since our ears take the entire frequency spectrum as a whole), or at least Moondrop softens the 3 kHz area peak a bit, but still preserves the excellent technical performance of the Moondrop SSR. They might have a true gamechanger then, if the Moondrop SSP’s price is similar, especially since a bassier sound may also be more compatible with more music genres.

MY VERDICT

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DISCLAIMER

The Moondrop SSR was borrowed from coblogger KopiOKaya for the purposes of this review, and was returned after the review was done.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post Moondrop SSR Review (2) – Shouting At The Moon appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The Moondrop SSP is the “sister spaceship” of the Moondrop SSR. Both are single-dynamic-driver earphones that share their tuning from the lower midrange up. The Moondrop SSP are obviously designed for people who found the Moondrop SSR too bright/aggressive sounding. Both earphones also share their physical features except the powder coating, which appears to be a bit more refined in the Moondrop SSP.

Here some technical photography showing the Moondrop SSP’s physical features. My full written review is here. The unit of the Moondrop SSP was supplied by Moondrop for my analysis – and I thank them very much.

Get the SSP at Moondrop Official Store

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers: Beryllium-Coated Dome + PU Suspension Ring
Impedance: 16 Ω
Sensitivity: 112 dB/V (94 dB/mw)
Frequency Range: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Cable/Connector: Silver Plated 4N-Litz OFC/0.78 mm 2-pin
Tested at: $40
Purchase Link: Moondrop Official Store

The post Photographed & Measured: Moondrop SSP “Super Spaceship Pulse” appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — Boosted upper midrange may be offensive to some; not as dynamic and zippy with a phone as expected from the specs; not the deepest soundstage.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Moondrop SSR are a close-to diffuse-field-neutral tuned earphone that sonically excel by their non-sterile/non over-analytical balanced and fluid signature mainly fuelled by an outstanding dry and articulate, well-dosed low-end. The very small shells provide for excellent comfort and fit.

Review of the slightly differently tuned Spaceship SSP (released in Q4 2020) here.

INTRODUCTION

The Moondrop team from my favourite Chinese city of Chengdu, Sichuan, have impressed us lately with a series of affordable dynamic-driver earphones in the budget to mid-tier segment. The $190 Kanas Pro Edition “KPE” placed the company in the league of the big dynamic-driver players – and their budget spinoff, the $30 Crescent, flew underneath everybody’s radar – and disappeared as fast as they had come out of the woodwork. Both earphones graphed almost identically approaching the Harman Target curve.

I personally found the KPE not fluid enough for my taste, particularly in the transition from a strong, warm bass to a neutral midrange, the latter being part of Moondrop’s “house sound” for single DDs (audioreviews.org is still working on qualifying for reviewing Moondrop’s upscale multi-driver offerings) – and I blasphemcially preferred (and still love) the Crescent, which to me were a premium earphone in disguise. You find tons of in-house reviews of these Moondrop single DDs in our “earphone index” (you better bookmark it, tons of interesting reads in there), we did alone three different ones for the KPE.

The KPE received an overhaul in the $190 KXXS and its $109 Starfield spinoff, which started Moondrop’s new tuning trend – away from Harman and towards diffuse- field neutral (a signature mastered by Etymotic research). In other words, both models received a less bassy signature, Moondrop literally “flattened the curve” (please excuse this innuendo).

I much prefer this new approach and, to my delight, the Moondrop SSR were tuned along these lines. To give you the three most interesting points about the SSR imo, they are:

1. Superb low end
2. Fluid, homogenous, natural, never sterile presentation
3. Excellent ergonomics

OK, some may still find the upper midrange “too harsh” but we will discuss this in detail below.

SPECIFICATIONS

Driver Unit: Beryllium-coated dome+PU suspension Ring Coil: 0.035mm – CCAW (Daikoku)
Impedance: 16 Ω @ 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 115 dB/V (97 mW/dB)
Frequency range: 20 – 20000 Hz
Cable/Connectors: 0.78 mm – 2 pin
Tested at: $39.99
Moondrop Company Page: https://www.moondroplab.com/
Purchase Link: Moondrop Official Store

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

As you remember, I am not a fan of window dressing and therefore of boxes etc., I tacitly accuse luxury companies overpricing their stuff based on presentation…BUT…yes, but…Moondrop present even their budget offerings with tasteful, eyecatching yet subtle and therefore appealing Japanese anime. I did an unboxing video, if you are really keen on seeing it…

In the box itself is the usual: the two shells, three pairs of silicone eartips (S/M/L), a baggie, cable, and the paperwork. The shells are small…really small (big bonus!)…with long nozzles – and they go deep into my ears, which results in an ok, but not fantastic seal, however great fit and comfort. As we speak, I have been listening to them for hours.

The earpieces are made of metal and don’t feature the classic Moondrop KPE/KXXS-type chrome coating but rather a grey, industrial powder coating I know from IKEA office furniture. There are two vents and bassheads will be eager to find out how to tape them off in order to alter the sound for the bassier…I advise against it. Overall a very pragmatic industrial design in both shape and appearance. Build is very good.

In contrast to the $20 Moondrop Spaceship, the SSR’s cable is detachable – hurrah – although I don’t see a reason to detach it at all. It is a silver-plated 4N-Liz OFC cable with the classic round cross-section that appeals through its pearly white colour and its pliability. It features that classic puck-like Moondrop splitter but lacks a chin slider. Well, next time…

Overall, the haptic of the package is very good. One big bonus is that everything works right out of the box. No upgrade cable is needed and the largest tips fit my gigantic ear canals just fine. As to the source, hey, that’s a tricky one. I used iPhone and Mac, both sources connected to the ifi hip dac, and the iPhone also by itself. The iPhone is a neutral source and the hip dac is a warm source – and the sonic result with the SSR was totally different with either. Read on…

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

My tonal preference and testing practice

My test tracks explained

To give you the “helicopter view” first: the Moondrop SSR are, as said, a neutrally tuned earphone that is never overly analytical or sterile and therefore never boring to some listeners, such as, for example the original Tinaudio/Tin Hifi T2. Moondrop stroke a balance between analytical and “musical/fun” and delight us with a liquid and balanced sonic presentation.

When using a warm source such as the ifi hip dac or ifi Nano BL, the signature can be quite warm – not what you expect from that graph. But, using my iPhone on its own, you get a less coloured sound.

So, what does the Moondrop SSR sound like? Actually, pretty good.

Independent of source, the star of the presentation is the low end. Simply fabulous how Moondrop dosed driver quantity and quality (speed is relatively fast for dynamic). While sub-bass extension doesn’t break any records, the bass articulation and dryness are very appealing to my ears. The low end is completely linear – no mid-bass hump pounding against my eardrums.

The bass is marginally “underfed” so that my ears, while crying for instant satisfaction and more, more, more…they don’t quite get it – which makes for a non fatiguing and appealing Sisyphus experience. An analogy would be Jimmy Page’s rhythm guitar (the dude from Led Zeppelin)…it is never as raunchy and predictable and uber-satisfying as – let’s say – Green Day sonic one-trick pony. And you know which of the two made it bigger! As said, this low end is relatively new for Moondrop and it even undercuts the Starfield’s.

The articulate bass also has its effect on the lower mids as they don’t get painted over by it. The lower midrange features Moondrop’s house sound in that it is not the richest and densest. Combined with the bass, this keeps the vocals in the foreground (as much as the driver quality allows it), but they are never too intimate – and it provides for clarity and cleanliness in the midrange.

OK, the upper midrange is still elevated for the Western gusto but the resulting “shoutiness” is desired by the Asian markets – so I was told. This attenuates the vocals a bit and sharpens them by adding that famous “extra energy”. And that’s where the source comes in: my ears are really sensitive in he 2-4 kHz range, but the warm ifi hipdac/Nano BL dac/amp source iron this kink largely out. No problem.

When listening with my phone, the upper midrange is still not fatiguing at moderate volumes (it is getting closer, though), however sensitive listeners can opt for the mod described below. On the good side, the upper midrange adds transparency when listening at low to moderate volumes.

NOTE: some analysts find the upper midrange too hot such as co-blogger KopiOKaya, Crinacle, and Antdroid/audio discourse. Others, such as the Contraptionist don’t seem to mind. Handle with care!

The treble is rolled off a bit similar to but not as dramatically as in the Starfield. Trebleheads, don’t worry, the upper midrange helps you out sufficiently.

Technicalities? Yup, can’t complain either. The soundstage is rather wide but not so deep. It is not outright flat in the third dimension such as in an Etymotic earphone, but it is not as deep as in the Starfield because of its “lighter” low end. What sets the SSR apart from (much) more expensive models is the tallness of the soundstage, its ceiling could be a bit higher. Despite the dimensional stage limitations the spatial cues and three dimensionality are quite good. It could also bea bit vivid overall, it is playing rather polite in terms of dynamics.

As you would expect, timbre/natural sound reproduction is very good. That’s where the SSR can challenge more expensive earphones.

The other technicalities such as detail resolution/instrument separation and layering are also quite good but, as always, they don’t touch more expensive multi-drivers.

MODDING THE MOONDROP SSR

Many users complain about the strong 3 kHz peak. Our site offers instructions how to remove it by taping the nozzle filter over by 80-90% with 3M micropore tape. I tested it and it did not work in this case. The 3 kHz remained. Sigh!

My second attempt was to leave the upper midrange alone and increase the bass so that the low end created a sonic balance to the upper midrange. This was done by taping off the front vent with Scotch tape and the result is indicated by the red graph. The closed front vent essentially only raises the back end of the curve. I find the resulting “red” bass response a bit too strong. You can move the graph in any position between red and blue by poking small holes into the tape covering the front vent. It takes a bit of patience, but hey…

MOONDROP SSR COMPARED

Since there are presently so many new single-dynamic-driver budget iems on the market, the choices are not easy – and comparisons are important – but read them all in all the other reviews, please, I am only a one-man guy. For purposes of comparison, I listened with my iPhone SE and the Audioquest Dragonfly Black. The reason why I used the Dragonfly is twofold: it strikes a balance between neutral and warm and I know it sonically very well. All of the models that will be mentioned in the following have been reviewed by us. You find the list HERE.

Let’s first have an in-house look at the $109 Moondrop Starfield and the $20 Moondrop Spaceship. Though it may be a bit unfair to start with the much more expensive Starfield. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Starfield have more stage presence, more lower midrange (vocals) and depth in their imaging, the SSR are somewhat flatter, but wider, and less dynamic.

The Starfield have more rumble in the bass, but the SSR have the better transition from the upper bass into the lower midrange. In fact they have the best transition in all the comparisons. The low end is where the SSR shines, that’s where the model’s main progress lies – and where the Starfield is somewhat congested in comparison. The Starfield is also easier to drive. Overall, the Starfield plays in a higher league and simply has “more substance”. It is like a car with bigger tires on a highway.

The Moondrop Spaceship also have more rumble in the bass and are slightly less fluid and balanced than the SSR – and they are somewhat sibilant. Although the graphs of the two look almost identical from the lower midrange up, the SSR sail a bit smoother through the midrange, albeit the differences are not earth shattering. The SSR have the better ergonomics and a detachable cable.

In summary, the Spaceship are as good as they were 2 months ago and the diminishing return within Moondrop starts right there.

The $99 Tin Hifi T4, similar to the Moondrop Starfield, also play a league above the SSR: everything in the T4 is a bit bigger, the image is more intimate and there is more rumble in the bass. Nevertheless do the SSR score on the bass/midrange transition and therefore their fluidity again. Where the T4 lose ground is their iffy fit and their rubbery, MMCX-connected cable.

The <$30 KBEAR KB4 are punchier, more dynamic and with more depth than the SSR – and more sibilance. They are more on the fun side but stay behind in terms of tonal accuracy and homogeneity. I would chose the SSR for the living room and the KB04 for the city bus.

The perennial favourite of 2019, the $30-40 Blon BL-03 are difficult to compare, as mine are heavily modified with 3M-micropore tape, pure copper upgrade cable ($$) and “Azla SednaEarfit Light” silicone tips ($). The Blon BL-03 don’t work right out of the box and the have fit issues because of their short nozzles. The Moondrop SSR don’t have any of these challenges and no additional investment is necessary to enjoy them.

The Blon BL-03 cannot be topped in terms of timbre, they have a stronger, rumblier but also less tight low-end compared to the Moondrop SSR, they are more three-dimensional in their imaging and more lively in their dynamics. The Moondrop SSR are more homogeneous, less gritty, and dynamically more on the flat side in comparison.

And no, I don’t have the Blon BL-05 and Tin Hifi T2 Plus yet.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?

The above comparisons bring out the strengths and weaknesses of the Moondrop SSR. We have heard over and over again that the SSR excel in their low and and their fluidity, but they are prone to shoutiness (at higher volumes).

One of Moondrop’s tuning characteristic is that boosted upper midrange, desired by the Asian markets however not so much by the – admittedly – smaller western ones. Maybe Moondrop will address this for the western customers in the future. I heard a bassier version of the SSR will be released soon, the Moondrop SSP, which may actually take care of this issue. Let’s hope…

The other issues are a relatively shallow stage and a dynamic flatness, however that’s probably the limitations of the driver and an artifact of the tuning…meaning…you change one end and it automatically affects the other. But hey, we should not forget this is a budget model and Moondrop offers plenty of alternatives in upper-scale dynamic driver earphones.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

I know, I wrote a lot in this review – much more than usual. The reason for this is that the Moondrop SSR imply inspire me by their fluid sonic presentation – and let’s not forget their handling. Once again, it is as simple as that: good quality + good sound + good value = great fun.

And you know what? I’d take the SSR over the KPE any day of the week. Moondrop are certainly on their way with their tunings as well as their design to conquer a bigger segment of the western market – and to move away from just being another Chi-Fi player.

By the way, these little rascals are still in my ears as we speak.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Contact us!

You find an INDEX of all our earphone reviews HERE.

DISCLAIMER

The review unit was sent to me from Moondrop upon my request. Thank you very much.

Get the Moondrop SSR from Moondrop Official Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About our measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

If you think this or any of our other reviews saved you money, please feel free to support us via PayPal. We urgently need equipment for our YouTube videos.

The post Moondrop SSR “Super Spaceship Reference” Earphone Review (1) – Walking On The Moon appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Cons — Small soundstage, hard to drive, short nozzles, non-detachable cable.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A well-tuned and mature sounding single-dynamic-driver earphone with small shells and very short nozzles that does not rival more expensive earphones because of its rather small soundstage typical for its class.

INTRODUCTION

Tanchjim entered my radar recently with their mid-tier to premium single dynamic-driver model “Oxygen”. Allegedly tuned by Zhula Hulong (like the Blon BL-03 budget star), some experienced “Super Best Audio Friends” added it to their “Best of” list rivalling crowd pleasers such as the JVC HA-FDX1 or the Moondrop KXXS/KPE. Whereas the Oxygen retail at a proud $280, the Cora target the budget segment at $49.99. Much has been said about them in discussions, not many reviews exist, but what was reported was mainly positive. My money is usually on the midrange, which is frequently subdued in budget models, but apparently not in the Tanchjim Cora. That’s what I wanted to find out.

SPECIFICATIONS

Brand: TANCHJIM
Model: Cora
Driver: carbon diaphragm
Impedance: 16 Ω
Sensitivity: 103 dB/mW
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 40 kHz
THD:＜0.2%
Cable: silver-plated, OFC, non-detachable
Plug：3.5 mm gold-plated straight plug
6 pairs of silicone eartips
Pouch
Tested at: $49.90

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

The unboxing experience is rather spartan: earpieces with fixed cable, lots of tips, and a velvety storage bag. The value must be obviously in the sound. The drivers are tightly packed into tiny plastic shells with an aluminum faceplate. The shells are build well, feel smooth and attractive between my fingers. They fit well into the concha, BUT the nozzles are very short. Too short for many ears in western males, a design characteristic also observed in the Tanchjim Oxygen and Blon BL-03. Because of this near incompatibility between the Cora’s shells and my teutonic ears, none of the included tips worked. I finally achieved seal with the third-party long-stemmed Azla SednaEarfit and the Sony EP-EX11 tips from ebay but always had the feeling I had to push the earpieces deeper into my ear canals. The non-detachable cable is “high purity silver-plated OFC”, quality that works well.

Other than that, comfort is good, the tiny shells do not stick out of the ears so that the Tanchjim Cora can be used in bed for falling asleep. Handy. Isolation is soso for me, you may get better results with your smaller ears. The Cora are hard to drive…they take quite a bit of juice. They principally work with my iPhone 5S but benefit from amping by the Audioquest Dragonfly. It is a bit odd that a budget earphone has to rely to some extent on (expensive) and battery-draining amping.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

My tonal preference and testing practice

The Tanchjim Cora is good, quite good. But it is not punching above its weight as some perceive it. The Cora has a near-Harman-Kardon-target curve tuning with a bit of excess bass to add this “fun” element. It offers a balanced tonality without anything aggressive, harsh, or piercing but it sometimes deserves a bit more bite. The imaging is inoffensive and playing towards what some may call “consumer taste”…a safe middle-of-the-road approach with the natural DD timbre. And while the tonality is homogeneous, slightly warm, and clean, the Cora’s soundstage is small in all directions – and it can be crowded; I’d like some more depth. Similarly, the technicalities such as note definition, separation, and layering are just good for the price. The image could be more dynamic and may show more pizaz with amplification…but that’s not the point for a budget iem: to be run with expensive extra equipment. A phone should do.

In all these aspects, the Tanchjim Cora cannot compete with the discontinued $30 Moondrop Crescent, let alone the $79 KBEAR Diamond. But it easily outclasses the identically priced Dunu DM-380 because of its larger note weight, particularly in the midrange. The Dunu DM-380 is a bass-heavy single DD with a sawtooth upper midrange that produces an overly thin and mildly aggressive midrange. The Cora is more homogenous sounding. But the Dunu DM-380 fit me much better.

Where the Tanchjim Cora scores is with its natural sound reproduction: oboe and waldhorn sound very realistic. But now forward to the beginning. The bass may be a bit above neutral, its extension is soso, but it is by no means strong and it is not the fastest. The low end adds that warm and rich signature that characterizes the Tanchjim Cora. The midrange is ok for the class but could handle a bit more note weight in comparison to the slightly more expensive competition. On the good site, the treacherous Chi-Fi emphasis in the 2-4 kHz area is missing. Vocals are good in richness but not the ultimate. The lower treble is rather modest with cymbals slightly backward as seen in the Moondrop Starfield, for example. Nothing splashy or plasticky in the hi hat and cymbals.

I summary, the Tanchjim Cora is a safe choice that may please the beginner but somewhat bore the expert.

For $30 more you get the much more substantial sounding, better accessorized, but also bulkier KBEAR Diamond. At the same price, you get the well-fitting, strongly V-shaped and in the midrange thinner and harsher sounding Dunu DM-380 with its strong bass. At $10 less there is the popular Blon BL-03 that also needs fitting adjustments to unlock their sound (which appears to be different for everybody depending on their personal modifications).

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Tanchjim Cora are solid earphones all around. Their main benefit over the competition is their small size and weight, but western users may be plagued with fit issues, and may have to find workarounds. In Asia, they are marketed to teenagers and women (“Cora”: nomen est omen). Their sound is organic and fun. At $49.90, their value is ok but not outstanding as ever cheaper competition is entering the market. If there has ever been a hype, it has been superseded by time.

Keep on listening!

You find an INDEX of all our earphone reviews HERE.

DISCLAIMER

The review unit was supplied by Wooeasy Earphones store, although they don’t even carry it. Very nice! Thank you very much. You find the Wooeasy Earphones Store here.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

FURTHER READING

Jürgen’s JVC HA-FDX1 review

Moondrop KPE review by Biodegraded

KPE review by Loomis

KPE review by Jürgen

Moondrop Starfield review by Jürgen

The post Tanchjim Cora Review – Boys And Girls appeared first on Music For The Masses.

All Our Earphone-related Articles: here

ALL OUR REVIEWS (headphones, earphones, dacs/amps, daps, bluetooth, clean power & USB, microphones, cables/adapters, eartips, earpads, noise insulation): here

Models labelled with “*” are on our Wall of Excellence.

April additions: TRN BAX PRO ,Creative Aurvana Ace 2, CCA Rhapsody.

March additions: TRN Conch, Simgot EA1000.

February additions: Truthear X Crinacle Zero Red, Oladance OWS Sports, Simgot EA500, Sennheiser IE 600.

Reviews in Alphabetical Order:

1. 7Hz Timeless (1) (Alberto Pittaluga)
2. 7Hz Timeless (2) (Durwood)
3. 7Hz Timeless (3) (Loomis Johnson)
4. Acefast T8 (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
5. Acoustic Effect TRY-01 (Baskingshark)
6. AFUL Performer 5 (Jürgen Kraus)
7. Akoustyx R-220 (Jürgen Kraus)
8. Akoustyx S6 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
9. Akoustyx S6 (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
10. AME Custom Argent Hybrid Electrostatic (Jürgen Kraus)
11. Anew X-One (Jürgen Kraus)
12. Anker Soundcore Liberty Pro 2 (Loomis Johnson)
13. Astrotec AM850 MK2 (Jürgen Kraus)
14. Astrotec Vesna (Jürgen Kraus)
15. Audbos/Tenzh P4 Pro (Loomis Johnson)
16. Audiosense DT200 (1) (Baskingshark)
17. Audiosense DT200 (2) (KopiOkaya)
18. Aune Jasper (1) (Loomis Johnson)
19. Aune Jasper (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
20. AXS Audio Professional Wireless Earbuds (Loomis Johnson)
21. BCD X10 (Loomis Johnson)
22. Beyerdynamic Soul Byrd (Jürgen Kraus)
23. BGVP DM9 (Durwood)
24. Beats Powerbeats Pro TWS (Loomis Johnson)
25. Blon A8 Prometheus (1) (Loomis Johnson)
26. Blon A8 Prometheus (2) (Durwood)
27. Blon Bl-01 (1) (Baskingshark)
28. Blon BL-01 (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
29. Blon BL-03* (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
30. Blon BL-03* (2) (Loomis Johnson)
31. Blon BL-05 (1) (Baskingshark)
32. BLON BL-05 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
33. Blon BL-05s (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
34. Blon BL-05s (2) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
35. Blon BL-05s (3) (Baskingshark)
36. Blon BL-Max (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
37. Blon Mini (Baskingshark)
38. Brainwavz Delta (Jürgen Kraus)
39. Brainwavz Koel (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
40. BQEYZ Autumn (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
41. BQEYZ Autumn (2) (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
42. BQEYZ KC2 (Jürgen Kraus)
43. BQEYZ Spring 1 (1) (Durwood)
44. BQEYZ Spring 1 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
45. BQEYZ Spring 1 (3) (Jürgen Kraus)
46. BQEYZ Spring 2 (1) (Durwood)
47. BQEYZ Spring 2 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
48. BQEYZ Summer (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
49. BQEYZ Summer (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
50. BQEYZ Topaz (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
51. Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 (Loomis Johnson)
52. Campfire Audio Ara (Alberto Pittaluga)
53. Cambridge Audio SE1 (Loomis Johnson)
54. Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 (Alberto Pittaluga)
55. Campfire Audio Honeydew (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
56. Campfire Audio Satsuma (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
57. Cat Ear Mia (1) (Loomis Johnson)
58. Cat Ear Mia (2) (Durwood)
59. Cat Ear Mia (3) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
60. Cayin Fantasy (Jürgen Kraus)
61. CCA C10 (Slater)
62. CCA C10 (Loomis Johnson)
63. CCA C10 Pro (1) (Durwood)
64. CCA C10 Pro (2) (Baskinghark)
65. CCA CA16 (1) (Durwood)
66. CCA CA16 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
67. CCA CKX (Durwood)
68. CCA CRA+ (Durwood)
69. CCA CX4 Wireless (Loomis Johnson)
70. CCA Duo (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
71. CCA Duo (2) (Durwood)
72. CCA Lyra (1) (Durwood)
73. CCA Lyra (2) (Loomis Johnson)
74. CCA Rhapsody (Jürgen Kraus)
75. CCZ Plume (Baskingshark)
76. Celest Pandamon (Jürgen Kraus)
77. Cozoy Hera C103 (Jürgen Kraus)
78. Creative Aurvana Ace 2 (Durwood)
79. CVJ CS8 (Baskingshark)
80. ddHiFi Janus1 (E2020A) (Jürgen Kraus)
81. ddHiFi Janus2 (E2020B) (Jürgen Kraus)
82. ddHiFi Janus3 (E2023) Jürgen Kraus
83. Donner Dobuds One (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
84. Drop Grell TWS1X (Darin Hawbaker)
85. Drop Grell TWS1X (2) Loomis Johnson
86. Drop + JVC HA-FDX1* (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
87. Drop + JVC HA FDX1* (2) (Loomis Johnson)
88. Dunu DM-380 (Jürgen Kraus)
89. Dunu DM-480 (Baskingshark)
90. Dunu Falcon Pro (Alberto Pittaluga)
91. Dunu Kima (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
92. Dunu Luna (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
93. Dunu Luna (2) (Baskinghark)
94. Dunu Studio SA6* (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
95. Dunu Talos (Jürgen Kraus)
96. Dunu Vulkan (Jürgen Kraus)
97. Dunu Zen* (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
98. Dunu Zen* (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
99. DZAT DR-25 (Jürgen Kraus)
100. Earstudio HE100 (Jürgen Kraus)
101. Earsonics AERØ (Jürgen Kraus)
102. Earsonics ONYX (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
103. Einsear T2 (Loomis Johnson)
104. Elevoc Clear (Loomis Johnson)
105. Etymotic E2XR (Loomis Johnson)
106. EZAudio D4 (Jürgen Kraus)
107. FAAEAL Datura Pro (Baskingshark)
108. FIIL CC2 (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
109. FIIL T1XS TWS (Loomis Johnson)
110. FiiO FA1 (Loomis Johnson)
111. FiiO FD1 (Jürgen Kraus)
112. FiiO FH1s (Jürgen Kraus)
113. Fiitii HiFi Air 2 (Durwood)
114. Fiitii HifiDots (Durwood)
115. Final Audio A3000* (Alberto Pittaluga)
116. Final Audio A5000 (Alberto Pittaluga)
117. Final Audio B3 (Alberto Pittaluga)
118. Final Audio E3000* (Baskingshark)
119. Final Audio E-Series Roundup (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
120. Final Audio F7200 (Alberto Pittaluga)
121. Final Audio ZE3000 (English) (Jürgen Kraus)
122. Final Audio ZE3000 (Japanese) (Jürgen Kraus)
123. Geek Wold GK10 (1) (Baskingshark)
124. Geek Wold GK10 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
125. Gravastar Sirius Pro TWS (Alberto Pittaluga)
126. Hidizs MD4 (Durwood)
127. Hidizs MM2 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
128. Hidizs MM2 (2) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
129. Hidizs MP145 (1) (Durwood)
130. Hidizs MP145 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
131. Hidizs MS1 Rainbow (1) (Durwood)
132. Hidizs MS1 Rainbow (2) (Loomis Johnson)
133. Hidizs MS3 (1) (Durwood)
134. Hidizs MS3 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
135. Hidizs MS5 (1) (Durwood)
136. Hidizs MS5 (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
137. Hidizs MS5 (3) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
138. Hifi Walker A1 (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
139. Hill Audio Altair • RA (Jürgen Kraus)
140. Hill Audio S8 (Jürgen Kraus)
141. Hisenior B5 (Loomis Johnson)
142. Hisenior Okavango (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
143. HZ Sound Heart Mirror (1) (Baskingshark)
144. HZ Sound Heart Mirror (2) (KopiOkaya)
145. iBasso IT00 (Baskingshark)
146. iBasso IT00/Tin Hifi T2 Plus/Moondrop Starfield comparison (Durwood)
147. iBasso IT04 (Alberto Pittaluga)
148. iBasso IT07 (Alberto Pittaluga)
149. Ikko OH1 (Jürgen Kraus)
150. Ikko OH1S (1) (Alberto Pittaluga)
151. Ikko OH1S (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
152. IKKO OH5 Asgard (Alberto Pittaluga)
153. Ikko OH10* (1) (Alberto Pittaluga)
154. Ikko OH10* (2) Jürgen Kraus
155. IKKO OH2 (Jürgen Kraus)
156. Intime Miyabi (Alberto Pittaluga)
157. Intime Miyabi (Italian) (Alberto Pittaluga)
158. Intime Miyabi (Japanese) (Alberto Pittaluga)
159. Intime Sora 2 (Alberto Pittaluga)
160. Intime Sho DD (Alberto Pittaluga)
161. ISN Audio Rambo (Jürgen Kraus)
162. KBEAR Aurora (1) (Baskingshark)
163. KBEAR Aurora (2) (Durwood)
164. KBEAR Aurora (3) (Loomis Johnson)
165. KBEAR Believe (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
166. KBEAR Believe (2) (Baskingshark)
167. KBEAR Believe (3) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
168. KBEAR Believe (4) (Loomis Johnson)
169. KBEAR Diamond in Japanese (Jürgen Kraus)
170. KBEAR Diamond (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
171. KBEAR Diamond (2) (Loomis Johnson)
172. KBEAR Diamond (3) (Christophe Branchereau)
173. KBEAR Diamond modding (Biodegraded)
174. KBEAR hi7 (Jürgen Kraus)
175. KBEAR KB04 (1) (Loomis Johnson)
176. KBEAR KB04 (2) (Baskingshark)
177. KBEAR KB04 (3) (Jürgen Kraus)
178. KBEAR KS1 (Baskingshark)
179. KBEAR KS2 (1) J ürgen Kraus)
180. KBEAR KS2 (2) (Baskingshark)
181. KBEAR KS2 (3 (Loomis Johnson)
182. KBEAR Neon (1) (Baskingshark)
183. KBEAR Neon (2) (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
184. KBEAR Lark (Jürgen Kraus)
185. KBEAR Qinglong (Jürgen Kraus)
186. KBEAR Robin (Baskingshark)
187. KBEAR Rosefinch (Jürgen Kraus)
188. KBEAR TRI I3 Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
189. KBEAR TRI Starsea (1) (Kopiokaya)
190. KBEAR TRI Starsea (2) (Baskingshark)
191. Kefine Klanar (Durwood)
192. Kinboofi MK4 (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
193. Kinera BD005 Pro (Baskingshark)
194. Kinera Hodur (Alberto Piitaluga)
195. Kinera Idun 2.0 (1) (Durwood)
196. Kinera Idun 2.0 (2 (Loomis Johnson)
197. Kiwi Cadenza (Durwood)
198. Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
199. Kiwi Ears Quintet (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
200. Klipsch T5 II TWS Sport (Loomis Johnson)
201. Knowlege Zenith AS24 (Standard Version) (Jürgen Kraus)
202. Knowledge Zenith AS24 (Tunable Version) (Durwood)
203. Knowledge Zenith ASF (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
204. Knowledge Zenith ASX (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
205. Knowledge Zenith ASX (2) (Loomis Johnson)
206. Knowlege Zenith F-Fi (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
207. Knowledge Zenith ED9 (Loomis Johnson)
208. Knowledge Zenith ED16 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
209. Knowledge Zenith ED16 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
210. Knowledge Zenith EDX (Jürgen Kraus)
211. Knowledge Zenith ESX (Durwood)
212. Knowledge Zenith Ling Long (Jürgen Kraus)
213. Knowledge Zenith VXS Pro TWS (Durwood)
214. Knowledge Zenith ZEX (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
215. Knowledge Zenith ZEX (2) (Durwood)
216. Knowledge Zenith ZEX (3) (Alberto Pittaluga)
217. Knowledge Zenith ZSN (Loomis Johnson)
218. Knowledge Zenith ZSN Pro (Slater)
219. Knowledge Zenith ZSN Pro X (Jürgen Kraus)
220. Knowledge Zenith ZS4 (Loomis Johnson)
221. Knowledge Zenith ZS7 (Loomis Johnson)
222. Knowledge Zenith ZS10 (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
223. Knowledge Zenith ZS10 Pro (Loomis Johnson)
224. Knowledge Zenith ZSX Terminator (Loomis Johnson)
225. Knowledge Zenith ZVX (Jürgen Kraus)
226. K’s Earphone Bell-LBs (Alberto Pittaluga)
227. K’s Earphone K300 (Alberto Pittaluga)
228. LETSHUOER Conductor (Biodegraded)
229. LETSHUOER DZ4 (Jürgen Kraus)
230. LETSHUOER EJ07M (Jürgen Kraus)
231. LETSHUOER EJ09 (Biodegraded)
232. LETSHUOER S12 vs. 7Hz Timeless (Jürgen Kraus)
233. Lker i8 (Jürgen Kraus)
234. Lypertek Tevi L3 Powerplay (Loomis Johnson)
235. LZ A2 (Jürgen Kraus)
236. LZ A7 (Baskinghark)
237. MEE Audio Pinnacle P2 (Loomis Johnson)
238. Meze 12 Classics V2 (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
239. Meze RAI Penta (Kazi Mahbbub Mutakabbir)
240. Meze RAI Solo (Jürgen Kraus)
241. Mifo S TWS (Loomis Johnson)
242. Moondrop Alice (1) (Durwood)
243. Moondrop Alice (2) Loomis Johnson
244. Moondrop Aria (1) Jürgen Kraus)
245. Moondrop Aria (2) Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
246. Moondrop Aria SE (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
247. Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk (1) Jürgen Kraus)
248. Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk (2) Biodegraded
249. Moondrop CHU (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
250. Moondrop CHU (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
251. Moondrop CHU (3) Jürgen Kraus)
252. Moondrop Crescent (Jürgen Kraus)
253. Moondrop Illumination (Jürgen Kraus)
254. Moondrop Kanas Pro (1) Biodegraded
255. Moondrop Kanas Pro (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
256. Moondrop Kanas Pro (3) Loomis Johnson
257. Moondrop KATO (Jürgen Kraus)
258. Moondrop Lan (1) (Durwood)
259. Moondrop Lan (2) (Loomis Johnson)
260. Moondrop May (Durwood)
261. Moondrop Quarks (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
262. Moondrop Spaceship (Jürgen Kraus)
263. Moondrop Space Travel (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
264. Moondrop Space Travel (2) (Loomis Johnson)
265. Moondrop SSP (Jürgen Kraus)
266. Moondrop SSR (1) Jürgen Kraus
267. Moondrop SSR (2) (Baskingshark)
268. Moondrop Starfield (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
269. Moondrop Starfield (2) Loomis Johnson
270. Moondrop Starfield (3) (Durwood)
271. Moondrop Starfield II (1) (Durwood)
272. Moondrop Starfield II (2) (Loomis Johnson)
273. Moondrop Stellaris (Jürgen Kraus)
274. Naenka LITE Pro TWS (Loomis Johnson)
275. NF Audio NM (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
276. NF Audio NM2+ (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
277. NF Audio NM2+ (2) Loomis Johnson
278. NiceHCK Bro (Jürgen Kraus)
279. NiceHCK DB1 (Jürgen Kraus)
280. NiceHCK DB3 (Jürgen Kraus)
281. NiceHCK DT600 (Jürgen Kraus)
282. NiceHCK EB2 (Jürgen Kraus)
283. NiceHCK EB2S (Jürgen Kraus)
284. NiceHCK EBX21 (Baskingshark)
285. NiceHCK EP10 (Jürgen Kraus)
286. NiceHCK EP35 (Jürgen Kraus)
287. NiceHCK F1 (Jürgen Kraus)
288. NiceHCK Lofty (Jürgen Kraus)
289. NiceHCK HK6 (Loomis Johnson)
290. NiceHCK M5 (Jürgen Kraus)
291. NiceHCK M6 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
292. NiceHCK M6 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
293. NiceHCK N3 (Loomis Johnson, Jürgen Kraus)
294. NiceHCK NX7 (1) (Loomis Johnson)
295. NiceHCK NX7 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
296. NiceHCK NX7 Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
297. NiceHCK NX7 MK3 (1) (Loomis Johnson)
298. NiceHCK NX7 MK3 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
299. NiceHCK NX7 MK4 (Jürgen Kraus)
300. NiceHCK P3 (Jürgen Kraus)
301. NiceHCK X49 (Jürgen Kraus)
302. Oladance OWS Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
303. Oladance OWS Sports (Durwood)
304. Oladance Wearable Stereo (Loomis Johnson)
305. Oneodio OpenRock Pro (Loomis Johnson)
306. Oriolus Isabellae (Jürgen Kraus)
307. Oriveti OH500 (Alberta Pittaluga)
308. Paiaudio DR2 (Jürgen Kraus)
309. Penon Fan 2 (Alberto Pittaluga)
310. PHB EM-023 (Jürgen Kraus)
311. Pioneer CH3 (Jürgen Kraus)
312. Queen of Audio Pink Lady (Jürgen Kraus)
313. Reecho Insects Awaken (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
314. RHA CL2 (Alberto Pittaluga)
315. Rose Mojito (Alberto Pittaluga)
316. Rose Technics QT9 MK2S (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
317. Rose Technics QT9 MK2S (2) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
318. Samsung Galaxy Buds Live (Loomis Johnson)
319. Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus (Loomis Johnson)
320. SeeAudio Bravery (1) (Loomis Johnson)
321. SeeAudio Bravery (2) (Baskingshark)
322. Semkarch CNT1 (Loomis Johnson)
323. Senfer DT6 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
324. Senfer DT6 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
325. Senfer UEs/NiceHCK Bro (Loomis Johnson, Jürgen Kraus)
326. Sennheiser CX 400BT (Loomis Johnson)
327. Sennheiser IE 40/400/500 PRO compared (Jürgen Kraus)
328. Sennheiser IE 40 PRO (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
329. Sennheiser IE 200* (Jürgen Kraus)
330. Sennheiser IE 300 (Jürgen Kraus)
331. Sennheiser IE 400 PRO (Jürgen Kraus)
332. Sennheiser IE 500 PRO (Jürgen Kraus, Biodegraded)
333. Sennheiser IE 600 (Jürgen Kraus)
334. Sennheiser IE 600 and IE 900 Counterfeits (Alberto Pittaluga)
335. Sennheiser IE 900* (1) (Alberto Pittaluga)
336. Sennheiser IE 900* (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
337. Sennheiser IE 900* (Deutsch) (Jürgen Kraus)
338. Shanling ME80 (Jürgen Kraus)
339. Shanling Sono (Durwood)
340. Shuoer Tape (Loomis Johnson)
341. Shozy Form 1.1 (Biodegraded)
342. Shozy Form 1.1 vs. Form 1.4 (Jürgen Kraus)
343. Shozy Form 1.4* (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
344. Shozy Form 1.4* (2) (Durwood)
345. Shozy Form 1.4* (3) (Loomis Johnson)
346. Shozy Rouge (1) (Loomis Johnson)
347. Shozy Rouge (2) (Durwood))
348. Shozy Rouge (3 (Jürgen Kraus)
349. Simgot EA500 (Alberto Pittaluga)
350. Simgot EA1000 (Alberto Pittaluga)
351. Simgot EM2 (Jürgen Kraus)
352. Simgot EM2 (Loomis Johnson)
353. Smabat M0 (Durwood)
354. Smabat M2 Pro (1) (Baskingshark)
355. Smabat M2 Pro (M2) (Jürgen Kraus)
356. Smabat Proto 1.0 (Alberto Pittaluga)
357. Smabat ST-10 (Jürgen Kraus)
358. Smabat X1 (1) (Baskingshark)
359. Smabat X1 (2 (Jürgen Kraus)
360. Sony MH755 (Jürgen Kraus)
361. Sony IER-ZR (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
362. Sony WX-1000XM3 (Loomis Johnson)
363. Soundpeats H1 (Loomis Johnson)
364. Soundpeats Opera (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
365. Status Audio Between Pro TWS (Loomis Johnson)
366. SuperEQ Q2 Pro ANC TWS (Loomis Johnson)
367. Tanchjim Blues (Jürgen Kraus)
368. Tanchjim Cora (Jürgen Kraus)
369. Tanchjim Darling (Aberto Pittaluga)
370. Tanchjim Ola (Loomis Johnson)
371. Tanchjim Oxygen* (Alberto Pittaluga)
372. Tanchjim Tanya (1) (Baskingshark)
373. Tanchjim Tanya (2) (Alberto Pittaluga)
374. Tangzu WAN ER (Jürgen Kraus)
375. Tansio Mirai TSMR-6 (Alberto Pittaluga)
376. TempoTec IM05 (Jürgen Kraus)
377. Tennmak Dulcimer (Loomis Johnson)
378. Tforce Yuan Li (1) (Durwood)
379. Tforce Yuan Li (2) (Loomis Johnson)
380. Tinaudio T1 (Jürgen Kraus)
381. Tinaudio T2 (Jürgen Kraus)
382. TINHIFI C2 Mech Warrior (Jürgen Kraus)
383. TINHIFI C3 (1) (Durwood)
384. TINHIFI C3 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
385. TINHIFI C5 (1) (Durwood)
386. TINHIFI C5 (2) Loomis Johnson
387. TINHIFI P1 Max (Jürgen Kraus)
388. TINHIFI T2 DLC (Jürgen Kraus)
389. TINHIFI T2 EVO (Jürgen Kraus)
390. TINHIFI T2 Plus (1) Jürgen Kraus
391. TINHIFI T2 Plus (2) (Loomis Johnson)
392. TINHIFI T2 Plus (3) Durwood
393. TINHIFI T4 (1) (Durwood)
394. TINHIFI T4 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
395. TINHIFI T4 (3) (Jürgen Kraus)
396. TINHIFI T4 Plus (Jürgen Kraus)
397. TINHIFI T5 (Alberto Pittaluga)
398. TINHIFI Tin Buds 3 (Loomis Johnson)
399. Tinker TK300 (Baskingshark)
400. ToneKing Nine Tail (Loomis Johnson)
401. TOZO Golden X1 (Loomis Johnson)
402. Triaudio I3 (1) (Baskingshark)
403. Triaudio I3 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
404. Triaudio I3 Modding (KopiOkaya)
405. Triaudio I4 (1) (KopiOkaya)
406. Triaudio I4 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
407. Triaudio Meteor (KopiOkaya)
408. Tripowin X HBB Olina (KopiOkaya)
409. Tripowin Leá (Jürgen Kraus)
410. TRN BA5 (1) (Durwood)
411. TRN BA5 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
412. TRN BA5 (3) (Loomis Johnson)
413. TRN BA8 (1) (Baskingshark)
414. TRN BA8 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
415. TRN BAX PRO (Jürgen Kraus)
416. TRN Conch (Durwood)
417. TRN Kirin (Alberto Pittaluga)
418. TRN ST5 (Looomis Johnson)
419. TRN-STM (1) (Loomis Johnson)
420. TRN-STM (2) (Baskingshark)
421. TRN-STM (3) (Durwood)
422. TRN T300 (1) (Baskingshark)
423. TRN T300 (2) (Loomis Johnson)
424. TRN T300 (3) (Alberto Pittaluga)
425. TRN V80 (Jürgen Kraus)
426. TRN V90 (1) (Durwood)
427. TRN V90 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
428. TRN V90S (1) (Baskingshark)
429. TRN V90S (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
430. TRN VX (1) (Loomis Johnson)
431. TRN VX (2) (Baskingshark)
432. TRN VX (3) (Jürgen Kraus)
433. TRN-VX modding (KopiOkaya)
434. Tronsmart Apollo (Baskingshark)
435. Tronsmart Apollo Bold TWS ANC (Baskingshark)
436. Truthear Hexa (Durwood)
437. Truthear Hola (Durwood)
438. Truthear X Crinacle Zero (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
439. Truthear X Crinacle Zero Red (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
440. Truthear X Crinacle Zero Red (2) (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
441. Unique Melody 3DT (Jürgen Kraus)
442. Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 (Baskingshark)
443. Venture Electronics BIE Pro (Jürgen Kraus)
444. Venture Electronics Bonus IE (Jürgen Kraus)
445. Venture Electronics Monk Go (Jürgen Kraus)
446. Vision Ears Elysium* and VE8 (1) (Jürgen Kraus)
447. Vision Ears Elysium* and VE8 (2) (Biodegraded)
448. Vision Ears EXT (Jürgen Kraus)
449. Vision Ears Phönix (Jürgen Kraus)
450. Westone MACH 40 and MACH 60 (Kazi Muhbab Mutakabbir)
451. Whizzer BS1 (Jürgen Kraus)
452. Whizzer Kylin HE01 (1) Jürgen Kraus)
453. Whizzer Kylin HE01 (2) (Baskingshark)
454. Whizzer Kylin HE03AL (Jürgen Kraus)
455. Whizzer Kylin HE03D (1) (Durwood)
456. Whizzer Kylin HE03D (2) (Loomis Johnson)
457. Whizzer Kylin HE10 (Jürgen Kraus)
458. Yinyoo BK2 (Baskingshark)
459. Yinyoo D2B4 v2 (1) (Biodegraded)
460. Yinyoo D2B4 v2 (2) (Jürgen Kraus)
461. Yinyoo V2 (Jürgen Kraus)

Also check out our HEADPHONE REVIEWS

The post 461 Reviews – A World Class Earphone Database appeared first on Music For The Masses.

This database is constantly updated – bookmark it for your future reference!

Raw Frequency Responses: Jürgen and Biodegraded (2 cm Tube Coupler; 1.5 cm Insertion Depth) 

Note: Biodegraded and Jürgen use the same rig and coupler [our measurement setup]. No correction is applied. The raw database is internally consistent and can be used for earphone comparisons.

1. Anew X-One (3 modules)
2. Acoustyx R-220
3. AME Custom Argent Hybrid Electrostatic
4. Alpex HSE-A2000
5. Alpex HSE-A2000 (modded and measured by Biodegraded)
6. B&W C5 S2
7. Beyerdynamic Byron
8. Blitzwolf BW ES1 (modded)
9. Blon BL-03
10. Boarseman CX98 (modded)
11. Boarseman KR25D
12. BQEYZ KC2
13. Brainwavz Delta
14. Brainwavz Koel 1st pair (JK) | 1st pair (Bio) | 2nd pair (JK) 
15. Brainwavz B100
16. Brainwavz B200 v1
17. Brainwavz B400  1st pair | 2nd pair | 3rd pair (all by Biodegraded)
18. Cambridge Audio SE1
19. Cozoy Hera C103
20. Drop + JVC HA-FXD1
21. Dunu DM-380
22. DZAT DR-25
23. Earstudio HE100
24. Einsear T2
25. EZAudio D4
26. Fidue A65 1st pair | 2nd pair
27. Fidue A66
28. FiiO FD1
29. FiiO FH1s
30. Final Audio E1000
31. Focal Spark
32. Focal Sphear
33. Fostex TE-02
34. Hifiman RE-400
35. Hifiman RE-400 (measured by Biodegraded)
36. HifiWalker A1 (ootb; measured by Biodegraded)
37. HifiWalker A1 (modded)
38. HifiWalker A1 (modded, measured on two different rigs)
39. Hill Audio Altair • RA narrow-bore |wide-bore | comparison
40. Hill Audio S8 (default filters)
41. Hill Audio S8 (all included filters)
42. iBasso IT01 v1 ootb |  screens removed
43. iBasso IT01 v2
44. iBasso IT01 v1 and v2
45. Ikko OH1
46. JVC HA-FM103M-B
47. KBEAR Believe
48. KBEAR Diamond
49. KBEAR hi7 (Biodegraded)
50. KBEAR hi7 (Jürgen Kraus)
51. KBEAR KS2
52. KBEAR TRI I3
53. Kinboofi MK4
54. Knowledge Zenith ASX
55. Knowledge Zenith AS10
56. Knowledge Zenith ATR (measured by Biodegraded)
57. Knowledge Zenith EDR2 (different filters: silver metal and red textile)
58. Knowledge Zenith ED3 (as is and modded)
59. Knowledge Zenith ED3M
60. Knowledge Zenith ED4 (as is and modded)
61. Knowledge Zenith EDX
62. Knowledge Zenith ZS4
63. Knowledge Zenith ZS5 (measured by Biodegraded)
64. Knowledge Zenith ZS6
65. Knowledge Zenith ZSN
66. Knowledge Zenith ZSN Pro X
67. Knowledge Zenith ZSR (measured by Biodegraded)
68. Knowledge Zenith ZS10 (measured by Biodegraded)
69. Koss KSC75 [stock/Yaxi pads] (measured by Biodegraded)
70. LG Quadbeat 3
71. Lker i8 (as is and modded)
72. Moondrop Crescent
73. Moondrop Kanas Pro
74. Moondrop Kanas Pro (measured by Biodegraded)
75. Moondrop Starfield
76. NAD HP20
77. NiceHCK Bro
78. NiceHCK DB3 (measured by Biodegraded)
79. NiceHCK DT600
80. NiceHCK EB3
81. NiceHCK EP10
82. NiceHCK EP35
83. NiceHCK M6 (default filters)
84. NiceHCK M6 (default filters; 5 different cables)
85. NiceHCK M6 (all included filters)
86. NiceHCK M6 (3rd-party “aired” filters)
87. NiceHCK M6 (default filters and third party filters)
88. NiceHCK NX7
89. NiceHCK NX7 (ootb and after 70 hrs playtime)
90. NiceHCK NX7 MK3
91. NiceHCK NX7 PRO
92. NiceHCK N3
93. NiceHCK P3
94. NiceHCK X49
95. NF Audio NM2+
96. Paiaudio DR2
97. PHB EM-023
98. Philips SHE7055WT
99. Philips TX2
100. Pioneer CH3
101. Pioneer CH3 (modded)
102. Pioneer CH3 (ootb and modded)
103. Remax RM720i
104. Remax RM 720i (ootb and modded)
105. Senfer DT6
106. Senfer UEs
107. Sennheiser IE 40 PRO
108. Sennheiser IE 400 PRO
109. Sennheiser IE 500 PRO
110. Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear
111. Shozy Form 1.1
112. Shozy Form 1.4
113. Shozy Rouge
114. Simgot EM2 narrow-bores | wide-bores | both tips
115. Sony MH1C
116. Sony MH755
117. Sony XBA-C10W
118. Soundmagic E10C
119. Tanchjim Blues
120. Tanchjim Cora
121. Tennmak Dulcimer
122. Tinaudio T1
123. Tinaudio T2
124. Tinaudio T2 (taped front vents)
125. Tin Hifi T2 Plus
126. Tin Hifi T4
127. TRN BA5
128. TRN-STM
129. TRN V80 (measured by Biodegraded)
130. TRN V90
131. TRN V90s
132. Ultimate Ears 900s (measured by Biodegraded)
133. Xiaomi Piston 3
134. Venture Electronics Bonus Edition IE
135. VJJB K4S
136. Yinyoo D2B4 (pre-mid March 2019 tuning)
137. Yinyoo D2B4 (mid-March 2019 tuning) | FR vs. output impedance (measurements by Biodegraded)
138. Yinyoo V2
139. Zero Audio Carbo Tenore

Corrected Frequency Responses: Jürgen and Biodegraded (2 cm Tube Coupler; 1.5 cm Insertion Depth) 

Note: In this series, each raw measurement is adjusted by an empirical correction that attempts to emulate measurements from an imitation B&K IEC60318-4 system as used in the Crinacle database. This corrected database is internally NOT CONSISTENT. The degree and position of the inconsistencies are NOT PREDICTABLE . The correction is work in progress and needs improvement to increase the user’s confidence level. Right now, these corrected graphs are only useful as a qualitative/semi-quantitative approach for characterizing an earphone in a review.

1. Anew X-One (3 modules)
2. Beyerdynamic Soul Byrd
3. Blon BL-03
4. Cozoy Hera C103
5. Earstudio HE100
6. FiiO FD1
7. JVC HA-FDX1
8. KBEAR Believe
9. KBEAR Diamond
10. KBEAR KS2
11. KBEAR TRI I3
12. Knowledge Zenith ASX
13. Knowledge Zenith EDX
14. Knowledge Zenith ZSN Pro X
15. Earstudio HE100
16. Moondrop Illumination
17. Moondrop Spaceship
18. Moondrop SSP
19. Moondrop SSR
20. Moondrop Starfield
21. NiceHCK NX7 MK3
22. NiceHCK NX7 PRO
23. NiceHCK X49
24. NM Audio NF2+
25. Queen of Audio Pink Lady
26. Sennheiser IE40 PRO
27. Sennheiser IE400 PRO
28. Sennheiser IE500 PRO
29. Shozy Form 1.1
30. Shozy Form 1.4
31. Shozy Rouge
32. Sony MH755
33. Tanchjim Blues
34. Tin Hifi T2 Plus
35. Tin Hifi T4
36. TRN-STM
37. TRN-VX
38. TRN V90s
39. Venture Electronics Bonus Edition IE
40. Whizzer Kylin HE01

Raw Frequency Responses: Durwood (2.5 cm Tube Coupler; 2 cm Insertion Depth)

1. BCD X10
2. BQEYZ Spring 1 (small reference tips)
3. BQEYZ Spring 1 (reference tips)
4. BQEYZ Spring 2
5. Cat Ear Mia
6. CCA CA10 Pro
7. CCA CA16
8. Hidizs MS1 Rainbow
9. KBEAR Diamond
10. Shozy Form 1.4
11. Shozy Rouge
12. Tin Hifi T4
13. TRN BA5
14. TRN STM
15. TRN V9 (small silicone stock tips)
16. TRN V90 (stock tips)

IEC711 Coupler: KopiOkaya

1. Audiosense DT200
2. Blon BL-01
3. Blon BL-03
4. Blon BL-05
5. Blon BL-05s
6. Etymotic ER2XR
7. Etymotic ER4XR
8. FiiO FD1
9. JVC HA-FDX1
10. KBEAR Believe
11. KBEAR Believe vs. Dunu Luna vs. Final Audio A8000
12. KBEAR Diamond (Beta)
13. KBEAR KS2
14. KBEAR hi7
15. KBEAR KB04
16. KBEAR Lark
17. LZ A7
18. Moondrop Kanas Pro
19. Moondrop SSR
20. Sony MH1
21. Sony MH755
22. Tin Hi T2 Plus
23. TRI I3
24. TRI I4
25. TRI Starsea
26. TRN BA5
27. TRN BA8
28. TRN M10
29. TRN ST1
30. TRN V90 (three different IEC711 couplers)
31. TRN V90s
32. Unknown 2+1 prototype (2019-10-11)

You find over 300 earphone measurements in Crinacle’s database.

Headflux also offers a large database.

The post Our Raw and Corrected Frequency Response Curves appeared first on Music For The Masses.