Moondrop - Aria

My first iems were the moondrop aria (the original) and I used them until they literally fell apart, there are much better iems now at better prices now but I still have a soft spot for the arias, and I still think they are the most beautiful iems ever made, I'm a sucker for black and gold.

Call me simple, but I think there hasn't been a single iem that has been able to compete with the subtle sophistication and understated elegance of the original moondrop arias (paint chipping not withstanding)

I've heard a lot of good things about the Aful P5+2 and the Kiwi Ears Astral is doing a lot of rounds as well. I don't own any 80-300 dollar iem so i cant say for certain how they are, but people i trust said good things about them so i'd take their word. I've bought the Moondrop Aria (2021) and the Moondrop DUSK based on their reviews/impressions and i have no regrets. I wrote some things about the DUSK in another comment below and im going to copy and paste from there : "Though i must say it's completely worth it as a dusk user myself. For 2 reasons : 1.) DSP, not the cable but rather the presets, you can choose to buy the Moondrop FreeDSP Mini OR just input the data into your fav eq and get the same thing, allowing you to experience manufacturer approved edits to the sound, letting you experience some nice flavours if you want to try different stuff out. 2.) most important for me, the comfort. The shell isn't the most comfortable out there i think but the lightness is uncanny for me. So many drivers, such a big shell yet oh so light. It's kind of annoying actually, after an hour i forget they are there and i must make sure to check my ears so that i dont pull on em when getting up and stuff lol For me this is IEM Endgame till i get my whole audio setup up and running with speakers and headphones. Unlike a lot of others, i love both the default AND analog tunings, different flavours for me." These are just 2 EXTRA features that i was talking about. I didnt even delve into the sound. To me, it sounds ethereal. It's quite annoying to listen to with my eyes open, because when i close my eyes, all my brain power goes into listening and i feel like i can point out most things in a really nice manner, the one example that absolutely stood out to me is the rhythm guitar of any song. They're panned left and right with different audio sources and usually they blend together but on my DUSK i can not just feel the difference but HEAR it. Though i must say i only get to hear all that with my eyes closed, with my eyes open it gets a little busy imo. It might be weird to you, and trust me it is a bit weird to me too, but ig that's the ceiling of a \~400 dollar iem and that's where more expensive stuff shine, allowing you to analyse stuff with less effort. But I'm 90% sure that the DUSK are gonna be an upgrade over your 560s in all but soundstage and tonality, I think Sennheiser's tuning and the open back nature are gonna be hard to beat. But in imaging and especially bass im sure it'll be at least on par. Honestly tho, apart from the bass, i dont see the point of using them for movies/story-driven games (they're both the same nowadays imo lmao). I think headphones would be better for that purpose. But by itself, i find little flaws with the Moondrop DUSK. But there are flaws ofc, the price being one (imo), the packaging is lackluster compared to the competition i think and most importantly, Moondrop QC is said to be shoddy. As you're using a German made Sennheiser, you should be ready for proper quality for years to come but i think iems, especially chi fi stuff, arent going to last as long. That's just how it is, you trade longevity/reliability for sound quality at a lower price. For example, there's a black paint on the DUSK near where the side and backplate of the iems meet, and my hands get a little sweaty at times and i noticed the paint coming off. So yeah, just little things like that. So if you're ok with returning it OR you're ok with being a bit more careful than usual, then the DUSK is an absolute win, despite its high price.

Depends on what you consider "worth". For me a jump from an 80 dollar Moondrop Aria to the Moondrop DUSK was worth it, if i made a smaller upgrade like to a 200 dollar one i'd have been disappointed. People have made smaller jumps, like from 50 dollar to 80 dollar iems and called it "worth it", all a personal thing honestly. If you're able to return your Tea Pro and get the Top Pro, then yeah go for it. But if you have to sell your Tea Pro to get the Top Pro, meaning you're having to pay more, then i wouldn't really suggest it. Imo not worth the hassle. Maybe also think about other iems unless you're super duper careful as the Xenns Pro iems seem to be quite frail from what i've seen. They break easily.

i dont really know what my first iems were, assuming you're counting stuff like earphones/in earphones. But something i can talk is the samsung S series freebie bud. I really liked them. And then the akg freebies were exceptional. Thick juicy sound, looked great, was comfy. My first actual iems were the Moondrop Aria. And i would not change anything. Inoffensive? Yes. Did i love it to bits? Absolutely. I don't like too much excited sounds, perhaps a little if the whole region is slightly excited like 1k-3k region but if there are random spikes in loudness in the high frequencies or upper mids i find em uncomfy. So i really prefer inoffensive "neutral" type stuff with bass boosts. I'll never be able to listen to true neutral. I need muh bass. If i would start again, i'd still choose the moondrop aria. And since now you can get the better, Moondrop May, with a usb-c dsp cable, i'd absolutely go for that. But the 20 dollar stuff like the Moondrop Chu 2 is looking really nice as well. I'd go with moondrop cus i love their sound, huge fan. But you can also look at the Tangzu waner or 7hz zero 2.

go for a \~50 dollar IEM if you want to upgrade and ideally an 80-90 dollar one like the Truthear Hexa. For most people's use cases this is good enough and if you want an upgrade path after that i'd say you can choose whatever but stop at \~450 dollars. Imo it goes like this : You pay triple to quadruple the money for a game changing difference or at least an easily noticeable difference in quality I went from freebie Samsung AKG earphones to Moondrop Aria to Moondrop DUSK and i dont really want anything else. The Aria, for me, was exceptional and for the money i paid at the time there just wasnt much like it. And i had to pay SO much more for the DUSK to get the same difference in sound quality as found between the Moondrop Space Travel and the Aria. So that's how i came up with this pricing thing lol.

moondrop iems have been very relaxed/balanced/nice to listen to for me. If you want something that just does its job, the Moondrop May is for you. Not gonna wow you but is gonna sound great due to its good tuning. I had the Moondrop Aria and my friends and family all liked those, myself included. If you don't want dsp/usb-c functionality (cus you have a pc and only need 3.5mm) get the truthear zero red, cheaper.

exactly what im saying my friend. I had the Moondrop Aria and I had to spend 4.5x more to get the Moondrop x Crinacle DUSK. It was an absolutely monumental upgrade, just like the upgrade from my Space Travel 2 to the Aria was, but that's what im saying. IEMs see changes really fast and prices of good iems drop fast and all that, but it's really tough finding a proper upgrade. Like, the price difference is massive and it feels bad but the sound is so good I can kind of justify the move to the DUSK. But if i had spent 300 dollars and gotten a far less technical IEM, I'd have been felt like I was ripped off. That's why I'm saying try to either enjoy your set, look for different styles of tunings with similar technicalities or make sure to have a big jump. Your set is already an excellent one. That's the problem with buying great products, they're so good it's hard to replace them with a decent upgrade. I mean my Aria was hard to replace and your Hexa replaced my Aria for most people, it's more technical! And since you weren't wow'd by the Origin, just hold off my friend.

yap session incoming : yeah the DUSK has really good amounts of bass and so did the moondrop aria! Crin's recommendations were great for me! I also got the M40x based on his ranking and was absolutely friggin happy haha! And i DID use the Samsung x akg freebies, which were my main before the m40x and crin talked good about them as well! So yeah safe to say i trust crin's judgement haha, and super reviews praised the HECK out of the DUSK, even though it was only the analog tuning! Everyone dunked on this, saying the analog tuning sucks and stuff and i was concerned but i personally love both because the tech is great. And the one thing super review mentioned that stuck with me was bass quality, he said the bass of this is exceptional and he compares everything up to 500 dollars to this and this nearly always came out on top for him and no kidding, the bass on this, even in the analog mode with low quantity, is super high quality (for me) and quite addicting! And although he's bass shy, he's a proponent of good quality bass AND has similar tastes to me as well in terms of timbre ig, it's just that i like more bass and he likes more mids. The DUSK has been called analytical and a little sibilant by some, i didnt even think about it till i read about it lol, it's absolutely amazing for me. Whatever the case, these 2 guys just go over things in a nice manner and i trust em cus after buying their recs im thoroughly satisfied! And like, super reviews does his reviews after using them for a long time, that's quite an important factor for me, apart from crin, i dont really trust anyone who "tries" an iem out with some tests. It took me 5 days to properly get the fit down and to get used to the sound of my iems. Anyways sorry for the yap session lol And dang, wish i coulda helped you mess around with eq or something but admittedly, i hate eq'ing audio gear cus it's super hard compared to eq'ing when mixing for example, which i absolutely adore. Basically, i hate the eq process on audio gear but LOVE the end result, thanks for the duc recommendation, seems like a cool guy! hmm im talking about bass quality, yk speed/texture, those seem like they're good bass but LOTS of bass, i was also looking at the Europa but at that price i'd rather go for the Z1R, saving up for that one rn ahah, cant wait to experience dat bass yeah, it's just me, i just dont feel like spending that much money on used iems, different philosophies. Nope, the Maestro SE is at the price class of the Z1R and i'd rather go for the Sony, the complaints about fatfreq are also quite concerning to say the least but i think the sony is gonna be either more balanced or would have better staging, everyone comments on that and dang it im so interested now lol

My Moondrop Aria's (1st gen) paint has been peeling off for the last 2 years. Would you say that these are a good purchase if I'm looking to replace them?

I have the Cadenza and (had) the Space Travel (2 pairs lost while at airports, 1 pair brokey, waiting for Robin rn for both waifu and tune lol). Use(d) both semi-regular, now I'm rocking Moondrop Aria1 (discontinued) just because Cadenza tuning is a bit too safe and may be bored after a long while lol. Space Travel's bass is decent. HOWEVER, there are some songs that the Space Travel struggles (ala FF16 Find The Flame), it would buzz and a bit hissy. For those songs, I'd prefer the Cadenza. However trying out Daft Punk's Random Access Memory (both normal and drumless), both pairs work well, though I would prefer the Cadenza a weeeeeee bit more if not for wireless handy dandy. But for some rock songs (GG Strive OST lmao), Space Travel is quite pleasant, then again, both are p neck-to-neck w slightly different tuning. Then again, I would say Cadenza tune overall is a bit safe-y, comfy but may bored ypu after a long while listening. Space Travel is quite safe but more interesting (beside some weird limitation but kinda depend on the song itself), and also TWS soooooo...yeah. The ONLY issue I have with Space Travel is low volumn-ish. I'm already the lower volumn person yet must crank the bar quite high (70% or perharps more when outside). A trick is enable ANC mode to kinda isolate noises a bit but kinda useless when in a quiet room hmmm. *Space Travel is also so nice with ANC and on airplane tho* Edit: anyway I still prefer Aria if for bass among my pairs lol

Unsure if it's Aria1 or pre-Crin Blessing? The shell does look like Aria1 (I have Aria1 tho)

I got mine today. Have been using it with the apple USB C dongle. coming from Moondrop Aria, honestly I am not impressed. I feel like the Aria sounds more alive and enjoyable. I am going to give it some hours to "burn-in" and then see but so far, I feel like there is a lot of hype and everyone uses these vague words to explain/review an IEM but I at least havent felt like this has been an upgrade. idk if I am missing anything here.

I am not an audiophile, but was using hte OG Aria for a few years. then tried to see what else might be available, and read much praise about the S08 and bought it during hte holidays. I am not sure I like them any more than the Arias. yes, in some songs there is more details of instruments, but I feel like bass is slight harsh, and lacks the clean thump, if that the right word to describe it. idk, someone advised I use a dac with it, and I did order one off of Amazon, but then returned it as there wasnt a noticeable difference in sound quality. not sure if it is helpful, but just wanted to share my own experience with it. maybe there are some songs I enjoy listening to but its not for every song, and my playlist is a mix of every genre so I cant change iems in the middle of listening to music.

This is true, I have one, I believe Timmy from --gizaudio-- hangout has one too. It's based on the og moondrop arias.

Moondrop Aria Elven Maiden is pure peak

The biggest difference between my Shure/Klipsch IEMs and Moondrop/7hz (I own Chu2 and SSR and demoed Aria, Starfield and 7hz Eternal) is how bright the modern ones are. Shure (along with Westone) has a reputation for dark signatures and many people don't like them, however in their defense, the filters can be replaced (Knowles BA filters affect the sound) and they respond to EQ extremely well. Klipsch X7i is like a more "fun" Etymotic ER4 to me, it recesses the treble just about right to make it non-fatiguing while keeping the detail and relative neutrality, and does similarly with bass. Aria and Starfield sounded extremely similar (in being V-leaning) but Aria had a wider soundstage. They're basically all-rounders in my opinion, though Aria's soundstage was really outstanding, out of everything I heard it's only second to XBA-A3/Z5 (but these are hard to beat). Treble makes them sound more lively than old BA sets. 7Hz Eternal actually reminded me of Klipsch because it also seems to try and balance between neutrality and the more popular V-shape. SSR tries to achieve "true" diffuse field signature and can get fatiguing but ends up sounding very detailed, and it's impressively "fast" for a single DD. Overall they have different strengths (Shure has insane isolation and build quality and I love how drums sound on them thank to their "speed" and impact, Klipsch is a great all-rounder and smallest of them all, Moondrop SSR has amazing technicalities for how cheap it is) and I can't pick a favorite, though I mostly use Klipsch right now.

I hate to be the "well acktooaally" guy, but not IEMs/headphones are the same. Yes, gamers get confused about the meaning of soundstage when imaging, layering and separation are more important. Yes, there are diminishing returns on more expensive IEMs. Yes, Aceu would wreck anyone without sound at all. Not all IEMs are good for gaming. The Moondrop Aria is great for music, but it can't image for shit. As I've gotten more competitive in games, the more I've valued audio for prefiring and prioritising threats. Most times I get called a cheater or wall hacker is basically knowing the direction AND DISTANCE of a player. But I'm a top % player. 95% of players could hardly tell the difference between a Crinnacle Zero and Monarch MK3 in game.

It's not a knock on IEMs. Just my personal experience. idk what it is but across my Moondrop Aria, Salnotes zero and 1 month of Artti T10s, I couldn't get much footsteps or real in game indicators of enemy whereabouts in ***Warzone***. Pulled out my 3 year old HyperX out of the dust and everything was more clear. But, my God , do i hate how hot these Headphones get (even with aftermarket pads) and I have to cool them down between games by holding it towards my fan Lol. still IEMs are my go to for everything else throughout the day, I just put up with the b/s headphones for Warzone. FWIW I believe they did design the audio of the game focused at the console market, i.e. 99.9% of them are using traditional headphones). side note: Fortnite is perfectly fine on IEMs fwiw. Played several years of tourneys on IEMs without worries. I think Warzone sound engine is just terrible.

KZ Castor Pro Bass - has bass but the other end of the spectrum was a hot mess. KBear KB02 - Having the BCD trigger at any frequency makes it only usable for music. Moondrop Chu - Not having earhooks made them constantly fall out. Moondrop Aria - Straight nozzle with no lip made it so the tips always came off in my ear.