Moondrop Starfield IEMs Carbon Nanotube Diaphragm Dynamic Earphone

Product Information

The general response in the lows is similar, with the Starfield basically being the warmer and bassier alternative to the Etymotic ER2XR (up to 5 dB difference in the very low sub-bass). Isolation is good, not excellent, but more than suitable for daily use and general commuting. They are a vented dynamic driver, so fair about the same as most other similar models. When it comes to technical performance, the iBasso area good bit ahead and more resolving, with a clearly tighter and faster bass.

I find that the flavor-of-the-month factor is a bit too strong with this one. It’s inoffensive, but it plays it too safe and becomes average in the process. It’ll likely to be one of those IEMs you fall out of love in the long run. Despite that if you’re sure that this is what you want — go right ahead and pay no heed to my cynical thoughts. The midrange is great in terms of tonality and the vocal performance is mostly excellent (unless you are fan of growling metal vocals). However, the bass is not very high quality, neither is the treble, and instruments in general sound below par. Lastly, the intimate soundstage coupled with subpar imaging renders this too… generic. But with these facts in hand, it’s wise to invest in Aria if the design doesn’t matter much to you. You see burn-in isn’t important in the sense that it won’t increase the SQ of your IEMs extensively. You’ll come to numerous opinions about this issue. However, there’s not actually any incorrect way of warming up your IEMs. You should just use them naturally and look for any sort of differences. Wrapping Up Whether it’s between fiio fh3 and starfield or moondrop aria vs starfield, iems tend to differ in some basic features.The Moondrop Starfield can be driven to a comfortable listening volume with a competent dongle. I did not notice hiss with the Meizu HiFi Pro dongle or the Apple dongle. Also, the Aria is easier to be powered than Starfield and sounds very well with a smartphone with decent DAC. To say that Moondrop has had a meteoric rise over the past two years would be quite an understatement. Also, it got a 5mm nozzle which is quite reasonable with an implanted anti-jamming nozzle filter to prevent ear dust.

Moreover, their spatial imaging is totally worth your money. I felt it’s one of the reasonable imaging you can have in this extensive range.Testing Methodology: Arta via IEC 711 coupler to Startech external sound card. Note that 7-8KHz peaks are artefacts of my measurement setup. Measurements besides channel balance are volume matched at 1K. In this case, a replacement wire that’s both strong and significantly improves the sound quality would be great. The Starfields treble has been rolled off, which reduces fatigue. With my experience, Sia’s “Chandelier (piano version)” was an absolute joy to listen to, finally. The aggression and energy the Starfields deliver is exactly the way she intended to deliver her vocals, yet they weren’t piercing in the slightest. Additionally due to the treble reproduction, as it is decently precise and detailed, I am noticing new elements in the song I never heard before, such as the natural sounds of chord changes in Dire Straits “The Man’s Too Strong”, they are subtle but so effective into the overall presentation of the song. Both of these are rather mid centric, but the biggest difference is in how the sound expands in the air, Starfield having bigger soundstage to offer more spacious rendering.

The Starfield’s include a clamshell carrying case, which is a decent size for the IEM’s themselves. It’s a nice case, could be a little bigger for the cable, but it is still a decent case nonetheless. They also include 6 pairs of ear tips that include Small, Medium and Large, spare dust filters and a tweezer (amazing) that helps you install the dust filters. Nevertheless, ultimately, I succeeded in setting up an evident point where they showed their own style. It’s somewhat common knowledge by now that you’d be splitting hairs comparing the Kanas Pro, KXXS and Starfield given that they are, more likely than not, using the same drivers. With the sonic differences only manifesting due to the slightly different tunings created by the housing and/or dampening material within the sound enclosure. You’ll be able to notice that both of them sound quite natural with a fair amount of dynamic detail.The bass tends to sound somewhat soft and the general resolution and control decrease with very fast and demanding recordings, however most of the time this is not really a problem. Overall, I would say that the Starfield are about average without any glaring faults in the technical department, and place tuning over ultimate performance. At the price point (where one rarely finds in-ears with such a smooth and even midrange and treble response) and for dynamic driver in-ears, this is absolutely okay, though, and for what they are, I personally like my Starfield without expecting the speed and technical performance of my better in-ears. The cable functions, it sounds fine, and best of all it is easily replaced. There. See? I can find good things to say.