Search Results
6/28/2025, 5:31:30 PM
Still no Xenns Top Pro or Monarch MK4 demo. Impressions are long this time so split into two parts:
>Moondrop Illustrious
Tested on Azla Crystals - Mid centric, there’s good body to the lower-mids but female vocals still sound mildly shouty. Also slight harshness in the “SH” and “S” of female vocals yet treble extension sounds cut off. Like the Twilight, mid-bass is tight and controlled without bleeding into the mids. But the lack of treble extension hurts resolution, and makes the Illustrious less "technical” than cheaper 1DD sets.
Tip-rolling to EBT EarrBond - using deeper insertion tips helped to remedy the harshness in female vocals. But the lack of treble air/sparkle still remained.
I’m a fan of this “flat” tuning style but Moondrop’s execution leaves more to be desired. I'd pick the Softears Twilight and Kinera ThorKing over this. 6/10.
>Moondrop Harmon
Tested on Azla Crystals - Very tizzly treble. Decent subbass unlike the illustrious but mids are really lean which paired with the boosted pinna, makes for an unpleasant contrast.
Despite being a harman set, female vocals don’t particularly sound good due to the edgy treble masking finer details in the vocals. Using narrow bore tips helped to add body back to the mids but now the treble sounds even more splashy.
I'd pick the Chopin, Supermix4 or Nova over this. Stock Harman sets are already "solved" and Moondrop is trying to reinvent the wheel here. 4/10.
>Hisenior Cano Cristales
Tested on Nicehck07s - Nice, smooth treble. Immediate improvement over the Moondrop Harmon. Super-bassy V-shape without being muddy. Boomy, thunderous bass like the Nightjar Duality, and nice, sparkly female vocals. Male vocals are acceptable.
Better midrange tonality than the Moondrop Harmon. Now bearing in mind the Cristales is a very colored set, the squig doesn’t show how intense the bass really is. It’s like the Hype 4/Tea Pro on steroids.
I would buy this. Default bass-head rec. 9.5/10.
>Moondrop Illustrious
Tested on Azla Crystals - Mid centric, there’s good body to the lower-mids but female vocals still sound mildly shouty. Also slight harshness in the “SH” and “S” of female vocals yet treble extension sounds cut off. Like the Twilight, mid-bass is tight and controlled without bleeding into the mids. But the lack of treble extension hurts resolution, and makes the Illustrious less "technical” than cheaper 1DD sets.
Tip-rolling to EBT EarrBond - using deeper insertion tips helped to remedy the harshness in female vocals. But the lack of treble air/sparkle still remained.
I’m a fan of this “flat” tuning style but Moondrop’s execution leaves more to be desired. I'd pick the Softears Twilight and Kinera ThorKing over this. 6/10.
>Moondrop Harmon
Tested on Azla Crystals - Very tizzly treble. Decent subbass unlike the illustrious but mids are really lean which paired with the boosted pinna, makes for an unpleasant contrast.
Despite being a harman set, female vocals don’t particularly sound good due to the edgy treble masking finer details in the vocals. Using narrow bore tips helped to add body back to the mids but now the treble sounds even more splashy.
I'd pick the Chopin, Supermix4 or Nova over this. Stock Harman sets are already "solved" and Moondrop is trying to reinvent the wheel here. 4/10.
>Hisenior Cano Cristales
Tested on Nicehck07s - Nice, smooth treble. Immediate improvement over the Moondrop Harmon. Super-bassy V-shape without being muddy. Boomy, thunderous bass like the Nightjar Duality, and nice, sparkly female vocals. Male vocals are acceptable.
Better midrange tonality than the Moondrop Harmon. Now bearing in mind the Cristales is a very colored set, the squig doesn’t show how intense the bass really is. It’s like the Hype 4/Tea Pro on steroids.
I would buy this. Default bass-head rec. 9.5/10.
Page 1