Interesting new Moondrop product- DSP equipped IEM cable

[Jimbob54]

Cant argue with any of his assessment including the functionality side of things . Got a couple of FreeDSP today and its a decent cable, even better that it has a DAC attached, but the DSP side is a bit lacking for the reasons he states.

Better software would help.

Get them for convenience of not needing a dongle but not as a replacement for proper EQ for eg via uapp on Android.

The chin slider bobble that stops BELOW the inline mic/ controller is a particularly annoying oversight.

As others have said, the app is poor. Single biggest oversight there, no toggle for EQ on/off. Instead one either hopes "normal" from the presets is essentially "off" OR set up a zeroed "flat" profile in PEQ and apply that- not exactly clear though.

On the plus side- these work well with the Truthear Zero- the connectors have that block before the 2 pins that slot well into the Zero recessed socket making a flush connection.

Might not be the cleanest DAC output ever but sounds fine to me - plenty loud enough with 20db of headroom to spare on the Zeros.

 

[MCH]

Sorry if it has been discussed.

My multimeter tells me that none of the 4 pins of the freedsp are connected, nor is any connected to the USB shell.
Does this mean that I cannot grab a freedsp, cut the cables and add a regular trs (3 pin) socket? I guess the answer is "no you can't" but wanted to confirm. Thanks.

(The reason behind is that the headphones I wanted to use the dongle with have either fixed cables or different connectors - and the adaptors don't come cheap)

 

[staticV3]

@MCH yes you can snip off the cable and solder your own 3.5mm headphone jack to it to turn the Free DSP into a dongle with EQ.

 

[Jimbob54]

Sorry if it has been discussed.

My multimeter tells me that none of the 4 pins of the freedsp are connected, nor is any connected to the USB shell.
Does this mean that I cannot grab a freedsp, cut the cables and add a regular trs (3 pin) socket? I guess the answer is "no you can't" but wanted to confirm. Thanks.

(The reason behind is that the headphones I wanted to use the dongle with have either fixed cables or different connectors - and the adaptors don't come cheap)

I'd say the poor software /limitations of the Free DSP would make that an interesting but likely unsatisfactory hack.

(max plus 3 gain on any peak filter being the biggest drawback, poor interface a minor gripe)

 

[MCH]

@MCH yes you can snip off the cable and solder your own 3.5mm headphone jack to it to turn the Free DSP into a dongle with EQ.

Really? Even shorting the two return lines? Cool, I wasn't expecting it to be viable. I trust you but before doing the surgery I will check that it works shorting those pins. Thanks!

I'd say the poor software /limitations of the Free DSP would make that an interesting but likely unsatisfactory hack.

(max plus 3 gain on any peak filter being the biggest drawback, poor interface a minor gripe)

I already own one, nothing to lose. My problem is that as is I can only use it with headphones that I don't really want to EQ, so a bit useless

 

[alumnicesar]

is there a non dsp moondrop cable, i think the cable is sexy

 

[staticV3]

Really? Even shorting the two return lines? Cool, I wasn't expecting it to be viable. I trust you but before doing the surgery I will check that it works shorting those pins. Thanks!

Ah, sorry. I did not read carefully enough.

The FreeDSP is advertised with differential output and indeed I can confirm that with my multimeter. At full volume, each pin of the 2pin connector outputs about 0.5V for 1.0V differential output.

That means that you cannot easily modify the FreeDSP for use with regular 3.5mm TRS headphones.

You could use 2.5mm TRRS, 3.5mm TRRS (3.5Pro), or 4.4mm Pentaconn.
However, you would also have to modify your headphones accordingly.

 

[MCH]

Ah, sorry. I did not read carefully enough.

The FreeDSP is advertised with differential output and indeed I can confirm that with my multimeter. At full volume, each pin of the 2pin connector outputs about 0.5V for 1.0V differential output.

That means that you cannot easily modify the FreeDSP for use with regular 3.5mm TRS headphones.

You could use 2.5mm TRRS, 3.5mm TRRS (3.5Pro), or 4.4mm Pentaconn.
However, you would also have to modify your headphones accordingly.

Ah ok. In that case I will just buy the adaptors.

 

[staticV3]

Ah ok. In that case I will just buy the adaptors.

FYI, the Moondrop CDSP has single-ended output and could be modified into a 3.5mm TRS dongle.

 

[ooheadsoo]

I believe the current Moondrops DSP enabled IEM's were not great - the reviews I read mentioned they were very "noisy" but this might be a great device for the new USB-C enabled iPhone.

I have the Moondrop Jiu and do not have any noise issues.

 

[Jeromeof]

I have the Moondrop Jiu and do not have any noise issues.

I believe initial IEM they used DSP on the Moondrop Quarks had noise issues but the Jiu does not.

I have subsequently bought the FreeDSP cable and as a piece of hardware I really like it - but its software / DSP configuration is appalling. I did contact Moondrop and they said they were working on enhancing the software so hopefully in the new year we will get something that can be easily used to configure these DSP based cables (and IEM's)

 

[DanielB_Canada]

Hi everyone. I'm interested in this thread because I own a Tanchjim ONE-DSP (which I use with Android phone+Tanchjim app) and not long after I got it, I started to have issues with the stock USB-C cable and/or control button. Some days it has bouts of phantom button presses which endlessly advance the playlist without me touching it (or turn the volume down all the way down depending on the phone's headphone button setting), other days the button behaves but if I turn my head, the right earpiece cuts out or clicks like a loose internal connection in the mic button piece, and some days I luck out and there are no issues (but that's rare). I contacted Tanchjim about it and they directed me to the retailer, who is offering to refund me or to ship out a complete replacement ONE-DSP. I gather from this that Tanchjim doesn't yet have standalone replacement DSP cables available, and as such I began to look to see what else was available.

I wasn't all that enamoured about the stock ONE-DSP cable due to the mic's placement when the IEMs are worn in the over-the-ear fashion — it would be better about 3 inches further down the cable — or the fact that it's only got a 1-button control. So, having found this thread via Google and read through it, it seems my best option would be to take a refund and use the money towards a Moondrop FREE DSP cable.

I wonder though, how different would the Tanchjim's DSP cable+PEQ settings sound to the Moondrop CDSP+Link PEQ when an approximation of the Tanchjim PEQ settings is used. Would the CDSP be a downgrade due to the app's frequency limitations?

I thank everyone preceding me in this thread who's shared their thoughts on the Moondrop DSP cables and particularly to those who have tried one of curiosity and shared their findings. Before I go, a thought for discussion: Is a 'top 5' sub-$30(US) IEM + a $30 Moondrop Free cable with customized PEQ settings likely be a better setup than any of the current 'top 5' sub-$60 non-DSP IEMs, stock?

 

[MCH]

I remember @staticV3 used to pull up data of dongle power consumption, that I cannot find right now, but anyways, I reminded I have one of those USB multimeter and this is what I found if someone is curious:

No sound playing: 35-40 mW
Regular/low volume music playing, as I would use it (w/7hz zero): 40-50mW
Max vol music playing: 80-100 mW. 100mW was the max reading I saw.
Music was 44/16.
Quite ok compared to the 370mW my x-fi amp draws in the same conditions.

I am not aware of any standard method to measure power consumption, but I tried 1kHz tone from YouTube but I found very different results when measuring from the laptop (88mV) vs phone (70mW) so I guess something is wrong there.

 

[CedarX]

I remember @staticV3 used to pull up data of dongle power consumption, that I cannot find right now, but anyways, I reminded I have one of those USB multimeter and this is what I found if someone is curious:

No sound playing: 35-40 mW
Regular/low volume music playing, as I would use it (w/7hz zero): 40-50mW
Max vol music playing: 80-100 mW. 100mW was the max reading I saw.
Music was 44/16.
Quite ok compared to the 370mW my x-fi amp draws in the same conditions.

I am not aware of any standard method to measure power consumption, but I tried 1kHz tone from YouTube but I found very different results when measuring from the laptop (88mV) vs phone (70mW) so I guess something is wrong there.

As your results show, IEMs (generally) require very little power. At these levels, it is possible that the power required by the USB bridge to maintain communications with the host becomes non-negligible. A difference in polling intervals between PC and phone could explain the results... I don't know of a simple way to evaluate this in details.

 

[MCH]

Wow,
Generated two 1kHz tones (44.1/16 and 192/24) in Audacity and played them with the phone. 200mW!
Thought I would burn the zeros, that was loud, even not wearing the headphones.

 

[MCH]

Wow,
Generated two 1kHz tones (44.1/16 and 192/24) in Audacity and played them with the phone. 200mW!
Thought I would burn the zeros, that was loud, even not wearing the headphones.

Same tones in HD600 80mW. And volume is quite enough for me. For sure it won't be enough for many

 

[Jimbob54]

New thread for the May IEM/ cable https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...y-iem-with-usb-c-dsp-cable.50461/post-1811829

 

[CedarX]

“Adaptive connectors”: that’s would be a cool addition to the FreeDSP—if not too expensive: https://elementechnology.com/blogs/news/eletech-versa-adaptive-connectors

 

[sushi2020]

I am strongly interested in FreeDSP, but the inconvenience of the app discourages me from purchasing it.

Moondrop should release the source code on GitHub and get help from engineers around the world.

 

[JimmyKing]

I am strongly interested in FreeDSP, but the inconvenience of the app discourages me from purchasing it.

Moondrop should release the source code on GitHub and get help from engineers around the world.

Totally agree. I suspect that their audio engineers are creating the app rather than any experienced developers. Open sourcing it would accelerate development & free them of the burden.

Anyhow, I got one and quite like it.

The app is admittedly garbage & the QR code in the tin takes you to the beta repository where everything has significant issues. However, as of writing if you download the 2.0 app from the Moondrop website, you will at least get something functional. It may ask you for all your permissions but you can disable location & nearby devices.

The EQ involved a bit of a learning curve for me, but I got there & don't think that the limitations are a big deal. Aim to be both reductive and minimal with your EQ and you can get good results. I applied -2db @ 2500Hz with a Q-factor of 1 for my KATOs & it greatly tamed their shouty/metallic nature, giving the impression of increased warmth & bass, without loosing much beyond fatigue.

The DAC also appears to be good - I can't discern any noise floor & it sounds better than my phone's 3.5mm output. It also doesn't produce much heat, seemingly being very efficient & low on battery drain. So there are other positives here too

The only other downside besides the app is the microphone. It is very quiet, making it pretty useless tbh... Also, why is there a chin slider when it can't pass by the microphone? Bizarre design choice there...

Possibly a rushed product, but there is some goodness nevertheless. I can only hope that they opensource the app.