Review: Moondrop A8 – Otherness

Today we have another product to show you from the Far-East; the Moondrop A8.

 

Disclaimer: I received the Moondrop A8 free of charge for this review from Linsoul. The price for the A8 is around $ 669 in the market and you can buy it directly from Linsoul Store.

Intro

If you’re reading this article, you probably are familiar with the name “Moondrop”. Also, their Kanas Pro model might ring some bells here as that has been quite a popular Chi-Fi item lately. We did not get a Kanas Pro sample to review, but we have the A8 model which is currently the flagship model from the -now emerging- Chinese company.

About Moondrop

Moondrop is a very mysterious brand. I searched many times for info before writing this review. But unfortunately all I had were some links to external stores that sell their IEMs. Only when I went deeper, I discovered their Official Website. Yet, the page lacks information about the brand, and even when you switch to English the page is still mostly Chinese.

Faithful, passionate, enthusiastic. Dedicated to sound quality.

There’s also an Official Moondrop Store on Aliexpress, which contains all of their products. They also share all of the news and content on their Facebook page. So I’m afraid I don’t have any information about their past and background, but we might have some info about them in future reviews.

Moondrop A8

About A8

The Moondrop A8 is the company’s assertive Mid-Fi to Hi-Fi IEM which contains 8 Balanced Armature drivers. The setup is as follows:

  • 2 Knowles CI-22955 Dual Low Frequency BA Drivers
  • 4 Moondrop Custom Mid-Frequency BA Drivers
  • 2 Moondrop Custom High-Frequency BA Drivers

From a company which has been known for releasing budget IEMs, this was a surprising model.

Moondrop claims that they aimed a new target response curve for the A8, based on the “Harman Target Response”, and “B&K4128 Diffuse Field” for modern recording and sound optimization. The idea here is to emphasize a wide sound stage and a very transparent high frequency response.

Those are of course strong words, and we will check the sound on the second page. But first let’s take a look at the package and the IEM itself.

Package

The Moondrop A8 arrives in a very authentic box which was quite surprising for me. The box is a rectangular one and it’s made from wood. I surely like this original approach from Moondrop. You slide open the upper cap and then the originality continues. You’re welcomed with a small painting, which looks like an anime character to me. This is quite a different presentation of a product, but very unique as well.

Moondrop A8

When you take out that paper you reach the IEM and the cable, as well as 6 pairs of silicon tips. You also get a carrying bag in a light brown color. The earpieces are stored in zippered bags separately, which is thoughtful and smart in terms of transportation. Overall it doesn’t look like a supremely premium package in terms of appearance. Yet, there’s a certain otherness in this presentation which I really like. However you should be aware that all of the paperwork inside the box are written in Chinese, should that be important to you.

Design & Build Quality

This is a very straightforward yet elegant and clean-cut work from Moondrop. The IEM obviously is fully transparent with clean acrylic material. I don’t know about you, but seeing through all the drivers and technology inside the IEMs is a very cool thing for me. You can argue they could’ve chosen at least a different color or design for the face plate area, but it still looks pretty nice.

The build quality is very impressive. Moondrop claims that these are all handcrafted. Therefore, they can only build 3 sets a day at their maximum working pace. The earpieces are very clean and there’s not the slightest mistake or flawed area inside. There’s only a small glue residue on the right earpiece, on top of the bass drivers. That’s the only thing that I could find, and that’s not even obvious at first sight.

The 2-pin sockets are not recessed but they’re perfectly crafted. Usually you see a square plastic part attached to the pins inside the shell but that’s not the case with the Moondrop A8. The pins sit there solely by themselves, and the only thing you see on the outer shell are two small holes to plug the pins of your cable in. I don’t know how they managed to do this but this is certainly impressive.

Moondrop A8

Speaking of the cable, I’m not particularly impressed by it. To be honest it looks and feels like some cheap cable which comes together with budget Chi-Fi IEMs. When I think about the beautiful craftsmanship, assertive driver configuration and sound quality that this IEM has, I think it deserves a better quality cable. Especially, the design of the cable is not done in a complementary fashion. In short; the earpieces look premium, but the cable looks cheap.

Actually, the cable is a partnership product by Lyre Acoustics for Moondrop. However it’s not a special or dedicated cable I assume. You probably can find it online quite cheap. So it’s kind of a let down for this type of product for me. The same cable also comes with the Kanas Pro, which obviously is a budget IEM.

Fit

Nowadays we see a lot of universal IEMs with semi-custom designed shells, and the Moondrop A8 is one of them. Especially the inside of the shell reminds me of the FiiO FA7. So overall, I expected a good fit and isolation from the A8 and that indeed turned out to be true.

The A8 is one of the most comfortable IEMs that I’ve ever used and it’s not just that. It isolates the noise perfectly for a universal monitor. It almost feels like a custom IEM with it’s flush fit and isolation. For me the real difference that the A8 puts on the table is comfort, though. I’ve experienced this type of flush and ergonomic fit from several universal monitors, but they usually make me uncomfortable for long periods of listening. Not so with the A8.

The supplied tips work great for me but you can always opt for some other tips from your inventory. I have several types of tips as well, but I didn’t feel the need to roll them with the A8, The IEM just fits so good that you just don’t search for anything else. A wonderful job.

The review continues on PAGE 2 with sound impressions

4.6/5 - (32 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

3 Comments

  • Reply July 1, 2019

    Michael C Bruce

    Something is off with the way you describe the bass on the A8. I have had a pair now for 5 months and the bass is off the charts, huge, deep, textured. Im a basshead and I find it very satisfying. I can say for sure I had to use very tiny tips with an entirely open bore. The a8 almost fits like a custom for me.. and when i get a perfect seal, watch out. HUGE BASS

  • Reply February 19, 2020

    Pony

    Thanks for the Oriolus Mk2 comparison! It’s such a vital reference point for me since you’ve actually got me to buy them what three years back? I still love them and their mids mids mids!

    • Reply February 20, 2020

      Berkhan

      You’re welcome. Enjoy them 🙂

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