Moondrop - Starfield (Gen 1)

I can not stand the Harman tuning even though this tuning is very popular with many people. My tuning preference is very similar to the HBB tuning. I prefer the HBB tuning's 8 dB rise for the simulated pinna gain in the upper midrange since the Harman tuning's 10 to 11 dB rise for the simulated pinna gain in the upper midrange is too sibilant for me. I also don't like how the Harman tuning decreases the lower midrange. Right now my two favorite IEMs under $300 are the Aful Performer 7 and the Dunu DaVinci. The Performer 7 simply is an improved version of the Performer 5 across the board. I still love my Performer 5 IEMs. At first I didn't like the DaVinci's powerful sub bass relative to the mid bass, but I found some eartips which fixed this issue such that the sub bass is in balance with the mid bass. I have some other favorite IEMs at lower price points. I was very surprised by how much I like the Kima 2 which Dunu sent to me. I knew that the Kima 2 uses single dynamic drivers, yet when I listened to the Kima 2 I could have sworn that there must also be BA drivers in the mix since the macro and micro details are very well defined. For example, the Kima 2 performs much better than the Thieaudio Legacy 2. It also dawned on me that the Kima 2 is tuned very similarly to the original Moondrop Starfield which was my first IEM, yet the Kima 2's technical performance is so much nicer to listen to in comparison to the OG Starfield. There always a very slight veil to the sound when I listened to the OG Starfield, and the Kima 2 totally rips any veil away. On the budget side, I really like the Simgot EW200 after I easily added some self adhesive mesh filters to shift the overall tuning from Harman to HBB. The transition after adding the mesh filters was splendid. The thing is that after adding the mesh filters to adjust the tuning, I was able to really appreciate the quality of the EW200's dynamic drivers. I hope that the above helps you with your research.

My first IEM was the Moondrop Starfield which I purchased in early March 2022 as an early birthday present for myself. I really liked that IEM. I still occasionally listen to the Starfield out of nostalgia since this IEM caused me to switch away from headphones. The Starfield sounds very slightly veiled in comparison to most of today's budget IEMs. The budget IEM wars which started in late 2022 has resulted in the variety of really nice budget IEMs which are available to today's consumers.

You asked for recommended upgrades from people who actually have any of these four IEMs. So here I go for the Starfield... Your Starfield IEMs do not have any chipped paint. You must have bought them in 2022 after it was announced that the paint chipping issue was fixed. I purchased two sets of the Starfield in March and April 2022. My set which I heavily used for several months still looks mint and has zero paint chipping issues. I sent my other set of Starfields, still factory sealed in the box, to Audio Amigo a few months ago for him to use in his review of the Dunu Kima 2 since the Kima 2 and the original Starfield have very similar overall frequency response curves. I can not stand the sibilance in the Starfield II and I can not say that the Starfield II is a nice upgrade (for me) for the original Starfield. I can say that the Kima 2 is a nice upgrade to the original Starfield. A riot of fun is that the Kima 2 is priced the same as the discontinued original Starfield. I remember the moment when I first listened to the Kima 2 and two thoughts immediately popped into my head. My first thought was that there must be at least one or two balanced armature drivers in the Kima 2 which must be delivering the very clean and crisp macro and micro details, Even the micro details sound clean and not fuzzy. Yet nope, the Kima 2 only uses dynamic drivers. My immediate second thought about the Kima 2 sounds like the original Starfield except that the bass now is very clean with no hint of muddiness which was present in the original Starfield and that the macro and micro details are very well defined in comparison to the original Starfield. It isn't that the original Starfield IEM is a bad IEM. The original Starfield was used as a reference by several reviewers a few years ago. Yet the original Starfield had seen its day. Following are some frequency response graphs of the original Starfield and the Kima 2: [https://audioamigo.squig.link/?share=Bad\_Guy\_Target,Moondrop\_Starfield,Dunu\_Kima\_2](https://audioamigo.squig.link/?share=Bad_Guy_Target,Moondrop_Starfield,Dunu_Kima_2) [https://squig.link/?share=Dunu\_Kima\_2,Moondrop\_Starfield](https://squig.link/?share=Dunu_Kima_2,Moondrop_Starfield) The Kima 2 has a very nice and crisp leading edge attack for the bass. This makes the bass sound a bit louder than what you see in the Kima 2 graphs. You might enjoy seeing Audio Amigo's review of the Kima 2. Starting at 21.56, he spends some time comparing the Kima 2 to the original Starfield. Following is the link for his review: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8hAPR6RRYM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8hAPR6RRYM) FULL DISCLOSURE: The Kima 2 was sent to me by Dunu for me to create an unboxing review for the Kima 2. I am glad that the Kima 2 was sent to me since the apparent lack of bass in the frequency response graph prevented me from considering this IEM. Dunu allowed me to keep the Kima 2. And keeping them I am since I really like the Kima 2.

I have tried the mid and high range of headphones, personally owned some mid range ones, then a jaw injury made headphones painful to wear, but I needed something for FPS, Cyberpunk at the time and general music/media. So I got some cheap moondrop starfields, enjoyed, got some Fiio FD5 second hand because they were recommended for gaming, enjoyed, but they werent that big a step up. Then I used the money I saved for a high end set of headphones on IEMs, got the UM Mest MK2, kept trying headphones again but it always ended up painful, so never going back. The MEST MK2 blew my mind, and they changed sound a little with tips, so I didnt have to chase a dozen sets of IEMs I could just change tips and get a little more bass, or smooth out the treble, or just more comfort. The way I explained it to someone recently. Headphones are like watching a movie in a home cinema, great experience, some will say best way to watch a movie, you get enough detail and contrast, blacks (bass) arent perfect but great experience, immersive. Then IEMs its more like watching a movie with a 4K OLED TV, its not the expansive cinema lite experience, BUT, you get inky ass blacks, tons of detail and texture you may have missed before, and all the image is before you in one blob rather than having to sort of reach out and find those details you want. Neither is a wrong way to watch a movie, or, listen to music. Neither is "better" than the other, they just both have their charms and sometimes one suits a person more than the other.

I've spent years looking for Moondrop Starfield upgrade, so far I have listened around 40+ of the most popular and most recommended iems with prices up to 1300$. I was thinking of writing an article about all the iems I have tested and what I have learned, but I just don't have that much time to share a detailed findings unfortunately. But in short I can tell you this - if you have good hearing and appreciate the real/natural/reference sound then Moondrop Starfield iems are simply unbeatable in sub $1300. Yes, they are not perfect sounding, BUT they have not a single minor or major flaw, have good to excellent sound across the board, very comfortable to wear and their overall sound signature is very similar to the reference Genelec monitors. Yes, other more expensive iems can have a slightly more natural mids, or more detailed highs, or wider stage, or better bass, but they ALL have at least one major flaw or more often several minor and major flaws, like being big and getting hot and uncomfortable very quickly or having much worse mids or much worse highs. So overall they always lose to Starfields and often are simply unacceptable sounding without EQ. MOST common and prominent flaw of expensive iems (like the often recommended Monarch MKII/MKIII or PRESTIGE LTD) is very harsh and sibilant high frequencies. People who enjoy and recommend these iem have damaged hearing and by listening to them they damage it even more. So unless you have hardware to equalize the iems, I would recommend to avoid buying any expensive ones. Possibly there are some iems that are overall better than Moondrop Starfield in over 1300$ range and that is what I plan to investigate in the upcoming months/years when I have time to spare. The only iems that got close to be a replacement for Moondrop Starfield are 7th Acoustics Supernova. They have some minor flaws like highs being borderline harsh, slightly weak bass, poor and cheap accessories with only balanced cable, sealed design that makes it quite challenging to find the right eartips and right insertion depth. But after spending some time and money experimenting with different eartips and external DACs to get less harsh sound and not so tight fit, I found the right balance so they now sound like 10-20% better than Starfields depending on the song. But it all cost me over $1000, meaning over 10x the price of Starfields for some small (still noticeable) improvements. So unless you have $1K to waste I would recommend staying with Starfields and saving the money.

I see, and I agree with you. I think you started with a bad iem choice. I avoid iems with lots of drivers, they tend to sound loud in every frequency instead of being balanced (especially cheap chifi). My first iems were the moondrop Starfield and I can assure you they sound amazing, very clear and profound sound, good for kind of every music genre. I also have the Samsung akg that I got with my phone, they do a very good job, but nothing to do with even cheap iems. I would suggest you to check moondrop iems for a first one. I can 100% assure you, you will not be disappointed

Love switching it up with IEMs too. Found that rabbit hole a couple years ago and scooped a Moondrop Starfield, Ikko OH10, Final Audio A4000 and Fiio FH5, all with their own unique traits I enjoy. But currently looking at getting a higher end IEM and selling one or two of these. The Blessing line seems legendary at this point. I haven't heard any but there's so many dang options out there it's hard to choose.

So true. I stopped caring too much what others think of a headphone long ago lol. Reviews help to understand what's on the market and what looks intriguing to you. But I've loved pairs only to watch a Youtube reviewer I like say they are "meh". I think giving in to opinions too much can be a thief of joy. What's even more interesting to me is how much my own experience varies with the same headphone/IEM, though. The other day I used my old Starfield IEMs to game and was like "Man these things still ROCK". A couple days later was excited to use them again but was like "Huh, why aren't they doing the thing..." I think even things like mood, sleep etc can all play a role in enjoyment too.

*** NOTE: Specifically looking for feedback from people who have had/tried/appreciated the exact IEMs I have and what upgrade(s) were worthwhile to you. *** Here you see my modest collection: - Final Audio A4000 - (love it’s fit and huge soundstage) - Fiio FH5 - (love it’s big punchy bass and full sound) - Moondrop Starfield - (love it’s neutrality and natural sound) - Ikko OH10 - (bass bass bass) Curious to hear advice from anyone who also upgraded from any of these. These are all slightly older IEMs and I’ve been thinking about upgrading. Preferably, what does more or less exactly what these do, but better? I’m fully aware of diminishing returns and I’m overall happy with what I have, just in a place now where I can upgrade and want to if it’s a sizable jump. What do you love now more than these?

Honestly, for home DJ practice anything's fine. I use a pair of Moondrop Starfields, but it's something I already had and it's probably way overkill.

Moondrop Starfield, very pleasing to look at, sounded like mud to me. Felt like the details and soundstage were terrible, and the tuning was just odd, I like mids and highs, but without definition it sounded gross. Kind of ruined my entire opinion of the company...

I’d recommend checking out the Moondrop Starfield or the Etymotic ER2XR. The Starfield has a nice, spacious soundstage and great clarity, perfect for classical music. It’s comfortable for long listening, too. The Etymotic ER2XR is another solid choice with fantastic isolation, which is great for noisy airports. They sound detailed and engaging without being fatiguing. If you're open to spending a bit more, the FatFreq Supernova has an even wider soundstage and a dynamic sound that should really enhance your listening experience. Happy hunting!

I am praying for this set to be good, because Moondrop pretty much made me go deeper into the hobby after getting my first set from them, and that would be the Moondrop Starfield, and yes even to this day I still love that one and it's still so much better in terms of looks and sounds compared to the Starfield II in my opinion. Also for 99USD? I might consider it as long the tuning preference is within my range of interest and as well the thing not too gimmicky on gaming. I want Moondrop to bounce back again, because lately, I know this might be a hot take to some, they haven't been very impressive lately imo, Truthear, Dunu and Tanchjim for me has been impressive. So yeah, I want this one to be a good set for the price, for we need more healthy competition on this hobby.

Moondrop Starfield. I’ve had it for a few years now and still enjoy it a lot. That and my Fiio BTR5 together are a great combo. May upgrade one day but would like to stay close to the tuning.

For that price or even cheaper get a pair of Hexa or Aria. Durability of Sennheiser IEMs is not that good either. I have a pair of Moondrop Starfield since release and still going strong.

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.