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Moondrop Para 2 Planar Headphone Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
I listened to the Hifiman Ananda Nano once. It sounded horrible and distorted like crazy. Read Amir's review shortly thereafter, which explained/confirmed what I was hearing. Build quality was plasticky/cheap and comfort was mediocre. The Ananda Nano is no competition for the Para II. Neither in terms of build quality, nor sound quality.
Is picking a budget dac/amp for these kind of a nightmare? I've been looking for my first planar headphones and stumbled to this thread. I really don't understand the amp maths well, because I only used iems previously. I have a fosi ds2 which the other user confirmed isn't enough. How do I pick an amp for these? Looks like they're super current dependant due to super low resistance, and a balanced connection would only make that bottleneck worse apparently. I see no peak current specifications on popular budget dac amps, just as I don't see any amps rated for such low resistance. Could someone more knowledgeable help me out here? Would a fosi k7 or similarly priced dac amps work, fiio k11? Topping dx 5 is two times more expensive than that for me.
I would like to play with eq in the bass, so headroom is really needed
I would like to play with eq in the bass, so headroom is really needed
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Apart from my Topping A30 Pro and DX5 II I sometimes run these via a JCally JM20 Max dongle. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure that it's more than adequate. Will try tomorrow and report back.
Just some napkin math for you. The sensitivity of these hesdphones is low 80s per milliwatt in the bass. if you want peaks of 114db in the bass you will need more than a watt. 2 watts at 16 ohms is the same current as 1 watt at 8 ohms. So any amp that can do 2 or more watts at 16 ohms is the minimum required for the 114db levels Amir tests at.
Thank you. Continuing the cost-cutting spirit, say I buy a topping l30||, a 3.5 to rca cable and rig it to my ds2. Would that work?That would cost me a bit more than a third of the dx5(which is really cool admittedly, just that I don't need its features and the combined price with the para gets me out of the comfort zone)
solderdude
Grand Contributor
L30-II will do fine.
I have a set of Arya V2's from 2020 and I love them.
I bought the Para 2's and got them several weeks ago. I gave them about 75-85 hours. I am going to list them for sale tomorrow. Doesn't work for me. Sounds great with clean, clear music on a clear, clean amp.
But outside of that, they do not work for me. I guess EQ'ing them would certainly change the sound, but I am not a fan of EQ. So, if a headphone Needs EQ, I just tend to move them on.
PS: My old Arya's are looking a bit ratty and so I ordered a new headstrap and new ear pads from HiFiman.
PPS: I rently bought the Gold Planar GL2000's, used. Not a fan initially, but they have really grown on me.
I've replaced HE1000SE with Para 2. Used both with PEQ. Para 2 suits me better in all aspects.
Anyone here tried fiio ft1 pads on these btw? These look curiously susvara-like(or skyland-like for moondrop) on 5128 in higher frequencies and resolve seems to mirror that sentiiment, so it's not completely about appeasing the fixture hrtf. Mine are on the way, but don't know if it's worth it to pad roll if I'm already going to eq. For me it looks like it could mellow out that 8-9khz peak people are describing, which also shows up on measurements
The measurement with the pads seems to look like they'd need bass but like nothing else, maybe a sneaky high treble downshelf
Measurements sourced from u/atyne_mar , god bless him
The measurement with the pads seems to look like they'd need bass but like nothing else, maybe a sneaky high treble downshelf
Measurements sourced from u/atyne_mar , god bless him
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Also para og's might be a very similar driver functionally. Super review and unheard labs tested them with the same pads. Very unfortunate that it lacks a frame of reference of another measuring system. No one measured the two on 5128 as far as I'm aware. It's so much cheaper for me, but I still lack confirmation that it'll work as well
P.S. sorry for over editing, kept discovering new stuff
P.S. sorry for over editing, kept discovering new stuff
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I tried both the FT1 and FT1 Pro pads (i own both) and while those pads are really nice with the higher clamp force and lower weight of those headphones, I preferred the openness of larger diameter pads like the stock ones and the brainwavz XL velour with the Para 2.
To be honest I think pad rolling is completely overrated with these headphones. The main effect seems to be changing the 1khz and 2khz peaks and dips, yet I preferred Amir's EQ settings unchanged with every new pad I tried, even though you should theoretically reduce the DB numbers on those settings when doing so.
Here's something fun I discovered. I saw Amir link this song as an example of a bass test for speakers in the thread about harmonic distortion audibility in headphones:
I gave it a listen and was dismayed to hear rattling in my left ear. After fiddling with pressing the headphone tighter against my head amd then taking the earpad off to check for hair, I am happy to report that it was not the driver distorting, but the metal ring that magnetically attaches the earpads rattling! If you are listening to music with VERY deep bass at a loud volume and hear weird noises, try reseating the earpad and it will resolve itself.
Jazigo
Active Member
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- Feb 9, 2025
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Hi everyone! I have been circling these headphones for a while now.
Have anyone here tried to EQ these completely with a sine sweep? By that I mean to EQ until a sinesweep with this tool: https://owliophile.com sounds completely clean from 20hz to 20khz?
I find some sets easier than other and some I just can't figure out.
Have anyone here tried to EQ these completely with a sine sweep? By that I mean to EQ until a sinesweep with this tool: https://owliophile.com sounds completely clean from 20hz to 20khz?
I find some sets easier than other and some I just can't figure out.
I just ran a sweep from that website with Amir's EQ on (caveat: not stock earpads) and I think i heard a peak at ~2khz but that's where one of Amir's filters is and I already validated that filter's gain for myself in music listening tests, lowering it never sounded better. If you do it use it for yourself, try to focus on if there's a peak at ~11800hz. That's one of the peaks in Amir's measurements, and when I was comparing Amir's EQ and Maiky76's EQ with listening tests, the filter Maiky76 included there was the only one I combined with Amir's.
Jazigo
Active Member
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Oh wow! Then you are super lucky to have the same profile as the testbench here. I must usually bring down 1500hz a little bit and reduce 7khz a ton! and boost 9kz half a ton. That is just in general for my ears. Then afterwards comes all the nitty gritty details, which is usually very unique for each set.
Not the best IMHO.
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I would instead recommend either of the Yaxi TH900 pads, the Alcantara or Leather depending on your tuning preferences, Alcantara is a bit warmer (less midrange/treble) to my ears. Resolve measured the leather ones, they are somewhat flat and close to the B&K 5128 preference curve they use.
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