Moondrop Para 2 Planar Headphone Review

[A Surfer]

I always attempt to have parcels sent via postal service and not with a courier. Courier's always apply the full duty and taxes of course. Postal service I believe are only able to audit some inbound packages so you don't always get hit with duty and taxes. That has been my experience as a Canadian. Not sure if that applies elsewhere.

 

[Shane D]

Agreed. With Shenzhen, my experience is that they under declare the value and so you don't get hit with taxes.

 

[shades]

I've had the Para 2 for about two weeks now. I purchased them in China on Xianyu (Used Marketplace) for $220 USD, which I believe is an absolute steal for how good these are.

ShenzhenAudio is selling them for $399 USD.
You can also get them on AliExpress from BrightAudio for the 11.11 sale. They will be $399 USD, and AliExpress usually has coupons that can also be applied on top of it. I believe duties are pre-paid or included with the price you get on AliExpress for anyone who may be worried about that. Out of the door I think you'd be somewhere in the low $400s USD. I still think a steal for this price.

Now to how I feel about them.

The design is definitely eye catching. I had them at CanJam Dallas and was asked about what they were every time I took them out.

Weight was one of my biggest concerns, but the headband and strap design that Moondrop uses actually works very well. They feel a lot lighter on your head than when you first pick them up. I actually ordered a Capra strap for these before receiving them, but I don't even think I need to put it on.

Out of the box, the Para 2 sound great. I definitely noticed the lack of bass that Amir and plenty of others have mentioned, but the tuning on these stock was enjoyable. The "clarity" on these is superb. I also want to add, you listen to what you like. The bass response on these may be perfect for somebody else.
Adding a bass shelf transforms them for me.

I'm listening on a FiiO K11 R2R in NOS and these can handle an insane amounts of EQ. I was able to get over 12+dB sub-bass boost with no issues. You can actually go higher, but will start sacrificing soundstage and some other variables, but the driver can handle crazy numbers without distortion. I always end up grinning ear-to-ear when I use that EQ. I currently am listening to these with a +6dB bass shelf and absolutely love them. Great out of box, but EQ'd is even better.

Pad Rolling for those who may be interested are made easy on these too. The pads are held/attached in by circular magnetic plates that you just pull off from the headphones. You remove the plate from the pads and just insert them into another one, then just place them back onto the headphones. I rolled through a few different sets of pads. I tried Yaxi Comfort (Alcantara / Leather), Brainwavz XL Hybrid, and FT1 Pro. I ended up settling on ZMF Universe Perforated Suede pads. I preferred these over the stock pads, but the stock ones (Cosmos pads) are also very comfortable.

The low impedance on these makes them pretty hard to drive depending on your setup. They have an unusually high current requirement (my understanding on this is very amateur, so please correct me if i'm wrong!)

I give these a great.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

The low impedance on these makes them pretty hard to drive depending on your setup. They have an unusually high current requirement (my understanding on this is very amateur, so please correct me if i'm wrong!)

Well yes and no.
Yes they are very low impedance so it puts some strain on the amplifier, but on the other hand their sensitivity is not that low.
With any decent amp there is nothing to be afraid of.

I briefly used it with fosi ds2, even though portable usb powered sources often struggle to deliver current, I had no trouble driving para to decent everyday listening levels.

 

[shades]

Well yes and no.
Yes they are very low impedance so it puts some strain on the amplifier, but on the other hand their sensitivity is not that low.
With any decent amp there is nothing to be afraid of.

I briefly used it with fosi ds2, even though portable usb powered sources often struggle to deliver current, I had no trouble driving para to decent everyday listening levels.

I see! I tried these on a Hifiman EF600 & EF500 and I had to pretty much max it out. They got loud, but if I messed with any sort of -dB preamp, it wouldn't be loud enough. May have just been something with those amps then.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I see! I tried these on a Hifiman EF600 & EF500 and I had to pretty much max it out. They got loud, but if I messed with any sort of -dB preamp, it wouldn't be loud enough. May have just been something with those amps then.

Were you using negative gain? Because of eq bass shelf?
If so maybe you ran out of gain not specifically power - if there was no clipping.

Also there is possibility that you are listening much louder then I do.
My everyday listening levels are pretty quiet only grom time to time I like to rock it much much louder.

 

[shades]

Were you using negative gain? Because of eq bass shelf?
If so maybe you ran out of gain not specifically power - if there was no clipping.

Also there is possibility that you are listening much louder then I do.
My everyday listening levels are pretty quiet only grom time to time I like to rock it much much louder.

I was running them stock at the time, so no negative pre-amp or anything. I tried both gain modes and NOS/OS too. It was at CanJam at the Hifiman booth.
I wanted to find something that could power it better than the K11 R2R, and the EF500 was at the top of my list. I was so surprised by the volume level that I'm thinking there may have been something wrong with the two units I tried. Of course, my ears may also just be absolutely destroyed.

I ended up purchasing a DX5 II to use instead.

 

[amirm]

I believe duties are pre-paid or included with the price you get on AliExpress for anyone who may be worried about that.

Not for anyone getting it in US. Carriers now catch all of these and stick you with the bill. Or in the case of DHL, threaten you to pay the tariff plus handling charge or they will destroy the unit or send it back! FedEx and UPS deliver but then contact you to pay the tariff and again, with a bunch of other chargers.

 

[shades]

Not for anyone getting it in US. Carriers now catch all of these and stick you with the bill. Or in the case of DHL, threaten you to pay the tariff plus handling charge or they will destroy the unit or send it back! FedEx and UPS deliver but then contact you to pay the tariff and again, with a bunch of other chargers.

I've been caught with tons of import fees by all the carriers for a ton of other things, but my AliExpress packages have been making it through DDP.

They have an area where it says "Incl. Import Charges" and I haven't been hit with anything from them "yet" (knock on wood!). If anyone orders from here and gets hit, I am not responsible!

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I was running them stock at the time, so no negative pre-amp or anything. I tried both gain modes and NOS/OS too. It was at CanJam at the Hifiman booth.
I wanted to find something that could power it better than the K11 R2R, and the EF500 was at the top of my list. I was so surprised by the volume level that I'm thinking there may have been something wrong with the two units I tried. Of course, my ears may also just be absolutely destroyed.

I ended up purchasing a DX5 II to use instead.

I'm using it now with dx5ii and I'm ok with low gain and -6-7db in preamp for the bass shelf.

And only with couple of classical pieces I went to 0.0db on dx5

 

[Zekbone]

It just hit 399 on Amazon too. The seller is Shenzhen, so it probably took a day to make it from their main store to Amazon. Anyone know any advantages to purchasing on their website vs Amazon?

 

[Power Pop 23]

The balanced output jacks of the Qudelix T71 measure up to 8 volts.

Can a Qudelix T71 drive a Moondrop Para 2 headphone to uncomfortably loud levels ?

 

[kawauso]

The DX5Ⅱ has arrived. Even with the bass boosted by +10 dB and the volume turned up quite a bit, there’s no audible distortion—just smooth, satisfying low end. Now I understand why @amirm likes the Para 2 so much.

 

[Jiraya369]

The DX5Ⅱ has arrived. Even with the bass boosted by +10 dB and the volume turned up quite a bit, there’s no audible distortion—just smooth, satisfying low end. Now I understand why @amirm likes the Para 2 so much.
View attachment 489818

beautiful setup! And you're getting that with just the unbalanced cable, the balanced port has more power lol this dx5 ii is a ludicrous piece of kit!

kinda interesting seeing a japanese guy listen to indian songs lol

 

[kawauso]

beautiful setup! And you're getting that with just the unbalanced cable, the balanced port has more power lol this dx5 ii is a ludicrous piece of kit!

kinda interesting seeing a japanese guy listen to indian songs lol

Hey @Jiraya369 lol
The bass that used to distort on the DS2 sounds super clean with the DX5Ⅱ — really made me appreciate how good the Para 2 actually is. Then I boosted the lows with EQ and it turned into a skull-shaking bass monster lol Even at low volume it feels amazing!
I used to think, “No matter how good the headphones are, I’ll end up listening on speakers anyway,” but I’ve totally found a new way to enjoy headphones. If I boosted the bass this much on speakers, it’d probably make me sick lol

 

[Jiraya369]

Hey @Jiraya369 lol
The bass that used to distort on the DS2 sounds super clean with the DX5Ⅱ — really made me appreciate how good the Para 2 actually is. Then I boosted the lows with EQ and it turned into a skull-shaking bass monster lol Even at low volume it feels amazing!
I used to think, “No matter how good the headphones are, I’ll end up listening on speakers anyway,” but I’ve totally found a new way to enjoy headphones. If I boosted the bass this much on speakers, it’d probably make me sick lol
View attachment 489826

bass cannons!

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

beautiful setup! And you're getting that with just the unbalanced cable, the balanced port has more power lol this dx5 ii is a ludicrous piece of kit!

kinda interesting seeing a japanese guy listen to indian songs lol

It's actually connected to "balanced" socket with 4,4mm cable

 

[Jiraya369]

It's actually connected to "balanced" socket with 4,4mm cable

omg my bad! I thought the xlr was the only balanced port and the other one was for unbalanced signals.

 

[unmutual]

Will a Wiim Ultra be able to drive these?

 

[Bernard23]

Headphones needing serious EQ are in the category of a gourmet meal needing salt & pepper. No bueno.

Surely that depends on your HRTF, The amount of EQ to achieve your personal preference target is not the same for everyone. What requires serous EQ for you might be a light touch for me and vice versa.