Moondrop - DUSK

I bought the dusk, and half the reviews I come across absolutely glaze the dusk, and the other half just tear it apart? Why is it so polarizing

I mean I’m just going to run them on 3.5 mm. I’m just worried if I’m getting the best performance out of a near endgame set

Yeah atp I’m probably going to stick with the dusk for now because mega5 is €150+ more expensive where I live. Dusk might be endgame unless I can get my hands on the V16 divinity. I still don’t really know if it’s worth it compare to the tea pro

Appreciate the effort! Personally I kinda checked out after getting my hexas, as the only upgrade I found worthwhile is the dusks 3, but can't afford to spend that much on iems

Just my opinion but I found the Hype 4 too harsh on the treble and sibilant. Dusk was quite safe and neutral, I instead went with the Mangird Tea Pro.

I've bought and tested things like Blessing 3 dusk and Tea Pro and returned it. Hell I've even returned iem that I used for a year and got my money back lol

The mangrid Tea pro, the Dusk has a weird treble issue that had to be corrected with a DSP cable, dont get me wrong, its still an awesome IEM and a class leader, but it all depends on how you like your treble, just to ruin your day, the other options around that price range that you should be looking for would be the Hype 4, the Aful P5+2, the simgot ET142 and the new kiwi ears planar.

Next expensive set of IEMs I have are the Truthear Hexa, which might be an upgrade for some, but also a downgrade for others since the Hexa have less bass. The Wan'er 2 are amazing, but I own both a set of Moondrop x Crinacle Dusks as well as a set of Softears Volume S, which both are much better than the Wan'er, or at least they are to my ears. It just depends on your preference. But generally speaking, sets that are significantly more expensive will most likely be better than the Wan'ers

I instantly thought the Volume S was too shouty, but I still tried to gaslight myself into liking them. In the end I returned them and that was a good decision. Also the first set of Dusks that I got, the left side had this horrible rattle so I had to exchange those too, but in the end I got a set that was fine and I really enjoyed it

I haven't heard the Tea Pro, but I have herd the Volume S. I don't recommend them and I actually returned them. Way to shouty for me and they didn't actually sound as warm as others described. I'm still in love with my Dusk though

I'm new to this IEM topic and bought myself a Moondrop Dusk. These are the best buds my ears have ever heard. With Equalizer APO without DSP, the sound is simply amazing. My stuff is CX31993+MAX97220 without DSP cable (because 3.5 is more convenient for me than type-c and I use EQ Apo)

Have you tried the Moondrop x Crinacle Dusk? Theyve been my first iem after headphones that I've tried that I've really enjoyed and still been using them for gaming, music, and movies on my pc. Been interested in trying either the softears volume s or xenns top pro. Could you help compare the two?

Can't get better than Dusk at that price, u don't even need to use DAC with the dsp cable

**Quick (and important) question before the review:** Is absolute volume, regardless of comfort, the most important thing for hearing loss? I've been listening to these things LOUD, but nothing about it is uncomfortable. Just checking before I make myself go deaf. Anyways... Always been an audio enthusiast, but never tried IEMs. Many headphones, bookshelf speakers, floorstanding speakers, DAC+AMPs, receivers, etc. A friend recommended the Tea Pros for gaming. After some research I jumped straight to the Top Pros. I'm a fan of the more neutral sound that most were saying they provided. Not gonna lie, not a fan for my gaming needs, but music... my god. I'm actually upset at how much time I've lost NOT listening with these things. **For gaming:** IMO a competitive fps gamer benefits from solutions with as little sub-bass as possible. Even if it's well controlled, it's simply a distraction from the treble sound cues you need to be listening for. The Top Pros have fantastic bass control, but just being there at all rules it out for me. Sennheiser sub-bass falloff is perfect for this, and I quickly went back to my HD 58X for games. **For music:** Incredible resolution and separation. I'm noticing details I didn't know existed in songs I've been listening to for years. Like, I'm sure I always *heard* them, but these made me *notice* them. Imaging is good, but I didn't quite feel like the synth was traveling *around me* in Resynthesis 3D by Max Cooper. Even headphones with a narrow soundstage like HD 6XX seemed to accomplish this illusion better. The frequency response and tonality are perfect to my tastes. The bass and sub-bass are noticeably present but tightly controlled. Vocals come forward and treble is detailed without being too sharp or crunchy. I was so pleased with the sound of these that I immediately turned around and bought the MxC Dusk just to find out if I was exploring a whole new world. But tbh they were a letdown in comparison. They sound good, just not the signature I'm after. I've stuck the Dusk onto some TWS to use when I wont be paying close attention. The part I'm most blown away by, and this might just be an IEM thing, is how loud and full I can listen to these without discomfort. I can absolutely LOSE myself in my favorite songs. Am I gonna rock myself to deaf? Anyone else tried the Top Pros who thinks another IEM does this sound dramatically better? I'm content to believe I picked the right one first, but I understand there's a whole world out there.

I have been in this hobby for more than 1 year. I live in a country where products from China are quite cheaper due to low shipping fees and taxes, which are already cheaper compared to audio products from well-known brands like Sony, Sennheiser, etc. I started looking for an IEM to begin with, and Moondrop May and Truthear Hexa caught my eyes. They are beautiful and cheap, yet got tons of good reviews and recommendations. I bought both. I still remember how impressive the first listening experience was. I was shocked by the sound. I can’t comment much about it now since it was a long time ago. Before that, I often used my AirPods Pro 1 for music. I won’t say the sound quality is better, but I think overall they are different things. It was a new breeze to my ears in a good way. Maybe because I was too familiar with the V-shape sound from mainstream audio products, while these IEMs have totally different tuning and hybrid driver sound as well. I then watched tons of review videos and of course found Crin, learned about how the audio chain works — DAC, amp, dongle, DAP, etc. I won’t mention them in this thread, but I bought and sold a lot just to experience. I found Variations, which is shilled so much by Crin and other reviewers. Luckily, there was a sale deal for a brand new Variations at $300. I bought it and sold my May and Hexa. Thought it was going to be my endgame IEM. And once again, I got shocked by its sound. Due to my limited experience and hearing skills, I won’t comment much about its sound quality, but this set sounds totally different than anything else before, considering May and Hexa already brought me a new world. I was wrong thinking it would be my end game :D though I still keep it till now. I think Crin’s IEM guide, at some point, is really helpful for beginners like me who are seeking something new and can easily get overwhelmed. I stuck with Variations for a long time. It sounds great with most music genres I often listen to, especially pop, EDM, rap, but not old-school hip-hop and R&B. At some point, I gained more knowledge about IEMs and how they are tuned. I realized no IEM or tuning style can fit all. Some shine in modern pop music, some shine in classical, jazz, etc. It’s okay, but not as good as others depending on the genre. I felt I needed an IEM that has mid-bass and lower-mid boost, something that might be good for rock. I love rock music, especially hard rock and classic rock. I decided to buy Fiio FD7, a single-driver IEM which has more mid-bass than Variations. This set has everything I need for rock. It sounds perfect. It almost made me cry when listening to Led Zeppelin albums. Page’s guitar sounds straight to my heart, tbh. BUT it has a very big flaw. It got sibilance :D. Also, this was the first time I knew what sibilance is IRL lol. Cymbals sound super harsh to my ears with metal or alternative. I love it so much, but I cannot afford a set just to listen to a few old rock bands from the 70s–80s. I had a chance to trade it for Moondrop S8. After some time listening, once again this opened my world a little bit more. This set has super, super detail, wide soundstage, like standing in a field. I didn’t care about anything else and was okay with the trade. Till now, I still feel very lucky I got this chance because it’s quite hard to find Moondrop S8 since it’s discontinued, and not many people bought it at its selling price, even though it’s a very good set. Reference sound, detail, everything sounds amazing. This shit sounds engaging while being super detailed. IDK, but it sings, not just sounds. I can hear new sounds that I’ve never heard before in familiar songs I’ve replayed like 1000 times. And yeah, Moondrop S8 is my endgame IEM for the whole year indeed. I still keep Variations for pop music though. Till lately, I decided to buy something new — idk, just something new. I desired the feeling when I got shocked again by a new set of IEMs. I searched the second-hand market for some days since getting a second-hand IEM is often cheaper and I won’t lose much money if I resell it in case it doesn’t sound good to my ears. Then I saw Dusk. At first, I thought this set would sound similar to Variations at some point since Moondrop always tunes their IEMs following the same kind of Harman target with low-mid scoop. After some research, I changed my mind and gave it a chance. There are some reasons for this decision. First, it’s from Crin, whose guide really helped me. I believe in his taste, to some extent. Secondly, Dusk has a super beautiful faceplate. I don’t like full-resin with tons of colors like rainbow IEMs. Even if they sound good, I won’t buy them. They look cheap to me. Dusk sounded meh meh to me at first. I didn’t like it initially because it had too much bass for my ears — boomy, I would say. With analog tuning, I feel everything is thrown to my face: drums, guitar, vocals, cymbals ==. It’s not a comfortable feeling compared with S8 or Variations. Even the DSP tuning sounds a little bit better, but it loses some technicality, sparkle, and treble extension. Though DSP tuning is easier to listen to, it’s not the wow factor I expected or was looking for. I was really disappointed. Really. Then I gave it some days of burn-in (burn-in my brain, not the IEM). I think my brain was too familiar with the thin and clinical sound of S8 and Variations. Now I feel much better and more positive about Dusk. I can hear the bass more clearly. I mean, I can distinguish bass texture from different instruments. The bass hits hard, but in a good way — not just “thump thump” like initially. I decided to keep it and rotate them. Looking forward to seeing how my brain processes and gets familiar with all 3 IEMs :D. I wrote this just to share my experience as a beginner in this hobby and my 1-year journey recap. Of course, I want to hear your sharing about other IEMs, other companies. Still finding wow factor but in money-saving mode haha. Maybe in the next few months I’ll try to find a new set. I really appreciate and feel lucky that I got into this hobby. It’s costly, but I don’t care. I enjoy and love music. Any means that make my music listening better are worth it.

analog. I would say i felt it a little bit sibilant at first. I cannot confirm because i quit the analog at first try then switched to dsp. Then i was back to analog and didn't feel sibilant again. I do rolling eartips though. Maybe eartips help reduce 14k peak. Or maybe my brain is tricked by the plannar timbre and thought it is too harsh. Then it got familiar. Hard to say... But for sure i won't use dsp. I have a decent DAP. no way i use the DSP cable

oh you should buy a cheap pair for comparison. truthear pure is excelent option. I remember the time when i first purchased Variations (my first expensive iem) i did comparison it with moondrop may and hexa. i didnt remember how hexa sound but regardless of tuning, i noticed a big difference in technicality between variations vs may. it is day vs night but clearly audible. the contrast, soundstage, imagination everything is leveled up. but i think it is not double but 50% increase. that is why i never bother kilobucks iems. they are not worth 

regarding the dusk. i think it is a good iem. but the most problematics come from the tunning inconsistency. the analog tuning i find sibilant sometimes really depends on the songs. dsp is better but kinda lame and loose treble extension. even i want to stick wigh dsp tuning more i cannot do that. i really dont want to use the dsp cable. but input the eq value Crin published into my DAP, it doesnt sound the same.