Intro
I believe Moondrop is a company that needs no introduction as they’re well known for their anime style marketing and also harman-ish tuning.They have released several well known IEM that punches way above their price point in terms of performance. Which model you ask? I will leave that for you to find out. :)
*Side Note - I am not using the stock eartips, instead I am using KZ’s starline eartips as I couldn't get the stock eartip to fit snugly.
Specifications By looking at the specifications below, you might think that this little IEM is fairly easy to drive? Unfortunately, this IEM requires a lot of power in order to sound good. We will talk more on this in the later part of this in this review.
Impedance: 16 ohms @ 1kHz
Sensitivity: 112dB/Vrms @ 1kHz
Frequency Response: 20-40,000Hz
Driver: Beryllium-coated diaphragm with PU suspension ring
Cable: 0.78mm Silver-plated 4N-Litz OFC
THD: ≤1%
Packaging and Accessories
Nothing much to shout out here. The usual anime style character can be found on the box of the IEM itself. “Waifu” they call it. What you will get inside the box is the IEM itself, a fairly high quality Silver-plated 4N-Litz OFC cable, a small carrying pouch which is a bit small in my opinion, and also the standard S,M,L sized silicone tips. I have omitted to using the stock eartips as they do not fit me well. Thus I have opted for the KZ starline tips as mentioned above.
Build and Comfort
The build of the IEM itself is plastic, however it doesn’t look cheap at all. It is also very well built. The size of the IEM itself made you forget that you’re actually wearing one because it is so lightweight that you barely feel anything in your ears! I’ve had it on for several hours straight and I do not feel any discomfort from it. Thumbs up to Moondrop for designing this!
The 2 pin port on the IEM itself is very snug in my opinion. The stock cable that came attached with it was very tight to remove. I actually had to exhibit a little extra force in order to remove the cable, which is good, so that the cable doesn’t come out from the plug as it ages due to wear and tear from plugging in and out.
*SSP with KZ's Starline Eartips
Source
Tidal(MQA/HiFi) -> UD130 DAC/AMP -> Moondrop SSP
Cayin N3 Pro -> Moondrop SSP
Cayin N3 Pro -> Moondrop SSP with pure silver 4.4 balanced cable
Bass
I do not have SSR to compare with so I am not sure what SSR”s bass is like. What I can say about the low end of this SSP is the quality and quantity done right. The overall presentation of the frequency range is fairly balanced based on what I heard from my setup. Load up The Weeknd’s Starboy and you can definitely feel the rumble on the opening of the song. It’s fun to listen to and sounds about right. It doesn’t get boomy nor bloated. It is punchy for sure but this will definitely not be categorized as a basshead’s IEM.
Mids
Now the interesting part of SSP, this is where a cable swap will make some difference and open up the sound. On the stock cable, the mids in my opinion is slightly boxed-in. It is okay, not that bad, acceptable, smooth and quite detailed. I have a pure silver cable in 4.4 Bal termination lying around, I’ve decided to cable roll it and boy, it definitely put a smile on my face, everything sounded so open and I got so much more fun out of it. Now that it is on pure silver cable, the boxy feel on the mids totally diminished. Everything is just smooth. The Cruel Angel’s Thesis by Yoko Takahashi, the vocals sounded fairly intimate, and the instruments can be heard clearly in this track as there are a lot of electric guitar strums going from left to right channel and also percussions playing at the same time. All of those can be identified clearly.
Treble
The treble presentation is good. Not sibilant at all and there is a slight emphasis on the brilliance segment to give cymbals and chimes enough sparkle to make the music sound alive such as RATM’s Killing In The Name. This is a fairly busy track in my opinion and all the cymbals are heard clearly on top of the drum roll and also the electric guitar. Impressive separation and layering.
Soundstage
I find the width of the soundstage is good. You are enveloped in live recording as well as orchestral tracks. Toto’s Africa(Live), a good demonstration on the capability of rendering a wide soundstage from SSP. Swapping it to the pure silver cable that i had made an even bigger difference on the soundstage, the width is further enhanced but the depth of it remains more or less similar. Overall, it has a very clean channel to channel transition to exhibit a good sense of spatial imaging.
Driveability
Playing it straight out from a smartphone is not a good idea as this IEM does require a fair amount of power in order for it to sound good. You can get listenable level from your smartphone but you will lose its dynamic, the bass and treble and mids will be off as it is not getting enough power. Amplification is required.
FInal Thoughts
Moondrop has consistently been releasing top value, top performing products in a massive and competitive market. Moondrop SSP is definitely one of them. Will I recommend them? A big YES. At this price point, 39.9 USD, it’s fair to say you will definitely get the best bang of your buck. For people who are new in this audio hobby and already own an entry level USB Dongle DAC AMP, grab this without any second thoughts!, it is a very good choice.
Thanks for Reading and I hope my insights will help you make some decisions in purchasing this IEM. *I am by no means a pro reviewer, what I wrote is solely based on what I heard and my own interpretation of it. Audio is fairly subjective, thus what I heard that sounded good to me might not be the same to you.
Comments