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ccm220
197
Jun 13, 2019
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I bought these at launch, listened to them for 2 weeks, wasn't blown away; Sold them, couldn't forget the sound and re-bought a cheaper pair second hand. In Short: A8's tuning (as with all Moondrop products) is based on the Harman target. The listening experience as a result is super smooth, relaxing, and imo, quite addictive. With the exception of bass heads, the music coming out of these is hard not to like. Additional impressions for those interested: Appearance & Build:
  • Default clear resin build is crystal clean and pretty much flawless; No rough edges or bubbles anywhere, definitely TOTL. In China, you can customize it like a CIEM but I wouldn't have it any other way. Pictures don't do it justice, the A8 is beautiful.
Accessories:
  • - Leather case is not premium but it's hard, durable and will keep your IEMs safe. It's pretty small though, so if you want to cable roll 6 or even 8-wire cables or something with a big Y-splitter it's probably not going to fit.
  • - Cable is from a Lyre Acoustics, a fairly reputable cable producer in China. The Pansy (That's what it's called) is one of their cheapest offerings at ~45USD. It's an 8 wire cross-braid between silver-plated copper and pure copper. All the wires are litz structured and it's nice and soft. The big catch? There are very, very few strands in each wire that's why it's so cheap and thin despite being an 8-wire litz cable. If you read headfonia's review, they recommend dumping the cable and I completely agree.
  • - Only silicone tips are included. I found them to be sufficient and required no tip rolling but your experience may vary,
Comfort and isolation:
  • - Not exactly small but fits me like a dream; Even better than the PP8. I would say it's 90% of what a CIEM feels like. By Western standards, I have smaller than average male ears so most people should be at least okay.
  • - Obviously fit dependent, but the isolation for me is top notch.
Sound:
  • - Vocals, particularly female, are gorgeous. Bass is polite and clean; Doesn't interfere with anything while treble extends just high enough before smoothing out so that there's no sibilance anywhere.
  • - Separation across the board is excellent, nothing sounds muffled or drowned out.
  • - Soundstage is nothing special but still good, particularly in width. Depth impressed me the most as I wasn't expecting the A8 to get there with it's relatively recessed bass presence.
  • - Resolution is fine. I would say it's about the same level as the BGVP DM7. (Which speaks more about the DM7's phenomenal value). It's respectable for this price range but the A8 is not going to turn-heads on detail-retrieval; Especially in the ultra-competitive Chi-fi market. Avoiding the very obscure brands, just off the top of my head, both the Fearless S10 Genie and LZ Big Dipper are more resolving to my ears.
(Edited)
Jun 13, 2019
tbjs
484
Jul 10, 2019
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ccm220The Pansy!
Jul 10, 2019
Sagacidade8
0
Jul 10, 2019
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ccm220Ever heard of the Audiosense T800?
Jul 10, 2019
ccm220
197
Jul 11, 2019
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Sagacidade8Sure, you can get it for ~950 rmb used here. I listened to it for 2 weeks before passing it on. In short, nothing spectacular. Resolution is par for a multi-BA of this price range. Soundstage is on the smaller end. Tuning is subpar imo. It's a slight U-shaped sound which I don't mind and the bass is nice and impactful similar to the Toneking T88k. However, there's too much sub-bass presence. Couple that with the fact that U-shaped mids are already recessed, and the presentation just isn't that clean. It's shame because they have 4 drivers dedicated to mids and if you listen to a track that doesn't really have a lot of bass, you'll see that the mids are quite smooth and detailed. Treble is more forward so it doesn't quite have the same problem, It's pretty well-extended but it shouldn't bother anyone unless you're very treble sensitive. Tuning is always preferential though, alot of people actually do like this kind of sub-bass so that's your call. I don't want you to think that this is a bad IEM though. For the price, it's still phenomenal value and you're probably going to happy with it. It's just that the Chi-fi market is riddled with good IEMs in this price range and I've listened to so many that this no longer impresses. If the A8 sounds like something you'd like but you can't quite spend that much, I'd recommend the BGVP DM7 or PMV Crescent. If you like strong lows, warmer sound I'd recommend the Toneking T88k for it's fuller and more resolving mids.
Jul 11, 2019
sleepy21
1
Jul 15, 2019
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ccm220Got the t88k and enjoyed it a lot myself. T800's coming tomorrow so I'll make a comparison between them. I did enjoy the kanas pro a lot too, should I pick up a pair of moondrop blessing? Regards.
Jul 15, 2019
ccm220
197
Jul 15, 2019
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sleepy21My favorite moondrops are the Chaconne/Liebesleid. If Earphones aren't your thing, the Blessing is my biggest recommendation. I don't consider it a direct upgrade to the KPE though. The bass is similar with the Blessing being a tad faster but the Blessing doesn't quite share the classic Moondrop easy-to-like qualities in the mids and highs as the KPE. It's still Harman target based but it's balanced armature qualities are very apparent; Similar to the Reference which came came out during the same time. The Blessing's mids and highs are more detailed and extended but not as smooth/musical. The A8 on the hand, falls more in between the two.
Jul 15, 2019
sleepy21
1
Jul 15, 2019
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ccm220Thank for the recommendation. Blessing sounds like a better value than A8. Just picked up the cowon P2 dap and my t88k sounds a bit too warm with it, so I'm thinking thr blessing's gonna pair well with it. On the other hand, there're Fiio FH7, Fearless audio iems and such. Chi-fi iem market is truly ultra-competitive.
Jul 15, 2019
ccm220
197
Jul 15, 2019
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sleepy21I would say it is. The reason why I initially sold my A8 was that having listened to the Blessing, it wasn't the upgrade I wanted and I felt it was too expensive at retail. Indeed, the Chi-fi market is ultra-competitive. Since coming here I've made it a goal to try as many brands as possible and honestly, what is actively being sold on the international market only scrapes the surface of what is available.
Jul 15, 2019
sleepy21
1
Jul 15, 2019
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ccm220One last question: because you're very knowledgeable about chi-fi iems, what is your take on the best chifi-iem and the highest value one? There're so many of them in the market right now, that I can't seem to keep track on them. Thank you.
Jul 15, 2019
sleepy21
1
Jul 15, 2019
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sleepy21now i even have to decide between moondrop blessing and pmv crescent lol. Feel like × gonna waste some more money until I can find the ideal one.
(Edited)
Jul 15, 2019
ccm220
197
Jul 15, 2019
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sleepy21You put me on the spot with this one, lol. I'll do my best but genre makes a big difference when talking about TOTL. Also going to ignore counterfeits and mods. Best: UM Mason V3. Safe and neutral tuning but so complete in every aspect of sound and user experience. The only thing stopping me from buying a custom pair is my similarly tuned A18t. Runner-up: Kakashi Valkyrie (卡卡西 女武神 - You won't find it in English). Kakashi is a well-known DIYer in the community. His official brand roughly translates as "True Sound Reproduction" but most people just refer to his alias. The Valkyrie is his newest 14-driver IEM, retailing for $2000 USD without cable. It is not quite as capable in all genres as the Mason V3 but it is phenomenal for modern music. Honorable mentions (no order): Dressage DS 14T^3, BGVP V12, Fearless ACME10, QDC Anole VX, Victory Melody x44. This will probably change as Chi-fi makers are coming out in droves with E-stat monitors but the 2 that I've heard (NF JD24 and Softears Cerberus) weren't anything to write home about for their asking price. Value to me is always price-relative. Discussing absolute value is pointless because you cannot beat something like the KZ ATR; Everything more expensive than it would be in diminishing returns. That being said, if I were to recommend one reasonably priced monitor that checks all the boxes for me it would be the LZ A6. It's strong on all technical levels, very well built, fits great and supports user tuning; If only it looked a bit better.
Jul 15, 2019
sleepy21
1
Jul 15, 2019
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ccm220Thank for taking your times answering. Excellent write-up btw. The TOTL prices are totalling out of my budget, also personally I find the sub $500 chi-fi iems do offer excellent value, so I guess I'm gonna stick with them for awhile. Once again, appreciate for the advices.
Jul 15, 2019
ccm220
197
Sep 20, 2019
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WordsandMusicYup that's the one.
Sep 20, 2019
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