Despite the fullness of the bass, the treble extension and airiness make the stage feel open and spacious. It is slightly elongated, so it has a bit more depth than width. The soundstage is above average in size and laced with airiness. It’s like gazing up at a starry night sky, where the stars cheerfully sparkle but are never glaring or fatiguing. It then deftly avoids any sibilance or overt brightness but comes back at 14hKz to add sparkle and air.Ĭasting the audiophile jargon aside, the Starfield’s treble is crisp, sweet and airy. The lower treble accent adds clarity to the midrange and presence to vocals and definition to percussion. This is an uncommon treble tuning that is seen more often in high-end IEMs but it’s executed masterfully by the Starfield. After that, there’s a dip until about 14kHz, where it peaks and falls off again. The lower treble sits roughly in line with the bass before dipping and evening out until around 9kHz. They’re not overly silky or rich but are nicely detailed, textured and emotive. Vocals stand out clearly from the music despite having a neutral stage position. Instrument and vocal timbre are excellent, as is the instrument separation and clarity. Midrange note size feels just right too: lean enough to be nimble yet full enough to sound musical. The amount of warmth carried over from the bass is right in the Goldilocks zone, giving the mids a natural density without any significant bass bleed. Starfield’s midrange is clear and articulated. The Starfield reproduces the bass in all its thick glory but the midrange instruments are still clearly audible and lift out clearly from the bass. In Whale Fall’s “The Madrean” there is a bass guitar with really long, lingering notes, plus a thick, heavy kick drum. Note size and decay are done really well, as the CNT driver is able to deliver significant weight without any signs of bloat. The transition from sub-bass to mid-bass is very linear, giving the Starfield plenty of low-end grunt and at the same time letting it fall off early enough in the lower mids to keep them clean and uncongested.īass extension is impressive and sub-bass notes can reach low, creating a satisfying rumble in my dainty ears. Leading edges are well-defined and there is good texture throughout with underlying warmth. BassĪlthough Starfield’s bass is moderate in level, it still carries authority and impact. Clarity is good, as is the detail retrieval and overall resolution. The tonality is a touch on the warm side with a slight emphasis on the bass and upper midrange. It has a balanced signature with the bass, mids and treble all playing together fairly evenly. In fact, the Starfield sounds remarkably similar to the Moondrop KXXS (more on this later). In terms of general presentation, Moondrop hasn’t strayed far from their Harman-ish house sound. Gear used for testing: – Shanling M5s – iBasso DX120 – FiiO M6 Although it looks great and handles well, the cable is prone to tangling and lacks a chin slider. The cable terminates in a right-angled 3.5mm plug. The Y-split is a black aluminium disc with the Moondrop logo printed on one side. At the top are transparent plastic 2-pin housings and flexible, heat-shrink ear guides. It’s a 4-wire braided style cable in a rich blue that matches the colour of the earphones. Starfield comes with a 24AWG Litz structure 4N purity OFC cable. These are ideal for commuting, noisy public transport and just about anywhere. With these in your ears, you won’t hear most things going on around you. I’ve had them in my ears for hours at a time and never felt any discomfort whatsoever. Starfield’s shells have a smooth finish all over and at least for my ears, are extremely comfortable. The 2-pin sockets are recessed for increased stability and security. This isn’t really an issue except with some third-party tips that have a larger or looser core which might come loose. One complaint I had with the KXXS was the lack of a ridge on the nozzles and sadly it’s the same with the Starfield too. There are two vents on the housings, one near the base of the nozzle and another towards the rear of the inner shell. The left earpiece has a gold image of a star on the faceplate while the right side has ‘Starfield’ printed on it. Faceted faceplates, similar to the ones on the KXXS are simple but attractive ( In fact, the housings are identical in shape and size to the KXXS). The shells are a metallic dark blue colour with a star-like sparkling finish. Build Quality and DesignĪt the heart of the Moondrop Starfield is a single 10mm Carbon Nanotube (CNT) driver, enclosed in a metal housing. If you want to see what’s in the package, I’m sure a little digging around online will yield results. I received an early review unit without any packaging so can’t complete this section.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |