Moondrop - Starfield II (Gen 2)

I wouldn't list the QKZ Hades, as it's pretty universally hated, unless you specifically mention that it's a *very* niche tuning most people don't like (even most bassheads). And even among people who like it at all, it's generally a one-genre set. I'd strike the Juzear Clear off the list because it appears to have [really bad unit variance](https://old.reddit.com/r/iems/comments/1insj4z/some_thoughts_on_the_juzear_clear_and_myer_audio/). I still recommend it for the cable if it's on sale for $20, but only if you really want that cable (it normally costs about $15-20 on its own). It's not a highly recommended IEM anyway, it just had a brief period of hype as a basshead IEM. Rarely gets mentioned nowadays. Neither of my two units are true basshead sets (and one is quite bright), so clearly some golden units went out to reviewers. The Blon BL03 ii hasn't got particularly good reviews. It seems to be that if you care about tuning, the original is better. The new one has 2-pin but it has all the ergonomic problems that plagued the original, so I don't think it should be recommended at all, with maybe a nod to the original as being a classic if people are able to pick one up cheaply. I don't think the KBear KB02 is worth recommending unless you specifically want to know what a BC driver does, in which case it's the cheapest way to get one. I got one for that reason. It sounds pretty bad. All the reviews point out the same issue - there's some weird "springy" resonances, especially noticeable with spoken word. It also makes everything sound like you're listening through a cardboard tube. It's just weird, not good. Audio Amigo and Paul Wasabii both have good reviews btw, I agree with pretty much everything they say about them. I don't see the Tin Hifi C2 mentioned on your original list or the new one. That's a 2025 version out recently. I have both and they are both excellent. Lots of reviews out there, but fewer for the 2025 version. I'm not sure if the old one is being discontinued, but it seems to be still for sale for about $20 while the new one is closer to $40. The difference between the two versions is quite subtle. The Moondrop Starfield 2 got pretty universally terrible reviews. The Juzear 41t and the Flame are the same IEM, so I'd put them on the same line - the flame just has a different faceplate. I have the 41t and it's good aside from the annoyingly bad venting, but I'm hesitant about recommending it for the reasons mentioned in my post about the Clear. Since it's a hybrid it really *should* be fully vented and I now consider this an engineering flaw rather than "just the way it is". Every other manufacturer seems to be able to vent their hybrid IEMs properly. The 7Hz Timeless probably shouldn't be on the list because it's very outdated nowadays. It's only a classic because it was the first reasonably-tuned planar, not because it's good by current standards. It was still an early and not-very-refined version of a formula that's been iterated on continually since then. The AE is better but less widely reviewed. The 2 seems to be getting good reviews but I believe it's closer to $300.

I use moondrop starfield 2

Moondrop starfield 2, a downgrade in every conceivable aspect to the first.  Truthear hexa.  Looks cheap, feels cheap,  sounds cheap. 

The Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite, Starfield IIs were pretty ok. Yea HRTF is such a strange thing, I'm a huge fan of the Speaker Harman Curve but finding IEMs that work for me has been a challenge.

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 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.

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.

A common problem with many high-end IEMs, they have almost fully sealed design - better sound isolation, and possibly allows them to have better control of acoustics/resonances, but ultimately makes most of those high-end IEMs unusable for long-term listening sessions. The best sounding IEM under 1300$ I found after listening to dozens of them is 7th Acoustic Supernova and it has the same pressure issue. Better for your ears and hearing to avoid these IEMs entirely. Also, keep in mind that all these expensive IEMs do not provide much of improvement sound-wise over these 2 IEMs that are as close to reference sound as I could find: Wan'er Studio Edition (only WHITE one) or Moondrop Starfield (unfortunately no longer produced, so hard to find). Both of these do not have any "pressure" issue. But if you still want to use the tight-sealed ones, then the only workaround I found is as follows: when you insert the IEM into your ear canal, push the silicone ear tip against one of the ear canal walls, for example push it downwards, so that upper part of the silicone tip does not seal the ear canal and still allows some air to go through while you insert the IEM. You try to insert the IEM this way as deep as possible, deeper than you would usually/comfortably put them in, when you can't insert it any deeper then stop pushing the silicone tip towards the wall, so it unfolds and seals the ear canal. You will feel slight pressure on ear drum. After that you just slightly pull the IEMs from you ears, reducing the pressure, while still keeping them in your ear and sealed. You might do it couple of times until you get to the optimal pressure, cause its hard to get it right on the first try.

Guys am I the only person thinking FT1 are simply too warm and mid-bass focused? When I listen FT1 and compare this with Moondrop Statfield then Starfield and better balanced and much more clear. 

Guys am I the only person thinking FT1 are simply too warm and mid-bass focused? When I listen FT1 and compare this with Moondrop Statfield then Starfield and better balanced and much more clear. 

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?

For outside listening i have a pair of Moondrop Starfields, for at home i have my treasured Grado SR325e

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 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.

I haven't branched out too much into IEM's but I've had a few of MoonDrops's and I absolutely LOVE how good the quality is.