• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Moondrop Variations Alternatives

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
I recently tried a pair of Moondrop Variations, which sounded amazing but were unfortunately uncomfortable. I think that while I have average sized ear canals (I tend to use size Medium tips, at least for silicone) my outer ears may be a bit on the small side. I did confirm that I'm one of the people who likes the Harman Target, and I'm looking for IEMs that track the target well but have a different shape compared to the Variations. Right now I'm leaning towards the AKG N5005, but I'm a little worried about that 5khz peak that someone else thought sounded plastic (see this thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/n5005-sounds-so-plastic.39683/). I was wondering if anyone else had other suggestions, or whether I should just try the AKGs.

IEMs I've tried already:
  • Audeze Euclid: Not comfortable (also too big for my outer ear), sounded good in comparison to what I had at the time but probably not good enough. Also, they were borrowed and I can't afford more than $500-$600 right now.
  • Letshuoer S12: Also not comfortable, nozzle is too short so they press against my ear in order to get a good seal. Closer to the Harman Target than the Euclids, but still not close enough.
  • Moondrop Chu: Decently comfortable but simply would not stay in my ears. I preferred the sound of the S12s over them as well.
  • Truthear Zero: The most comfortable set I have found so far, although the very tip of the nozzle might be a bit too wide. I like the sound, but in comparison to the Variations these may have just a little too much mid bass.

Edit: I prefer not needing EQ, but there's a small chance I'd consider it since these will primarily be used at the PC.
 

asrUser

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
216
Just try both AKG N5005 and Truthear Hexa. Both are very good IEMs. AKG also got some filters which you can switch to change the sound.
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
Not sure why the Truthear Hexa was suggested, since going from the graphs I've seen it doesn't follow Harman at all. I just checked AKG's website and the N5005s are back on sale, so I think I'll just go ahead and try them while I can get them cheap.
 

Haruko

Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Messages
105
Likes
116
you should definitely try EQ https://github.com/xzpyth/EQ-for-IEM i have both chu and zero and without eq i can only listen to Chu (Zero is very harsh even at low level volume)
 

Matias

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
5,031
Likes
10,802
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
These are similar tuned to Variations, some say even better.



graph (7).png
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
Judging by the graph that would indeed be a good one to try. The pictures, however, look like it may be too close to the Variations in shape. It's only on linsoul as well, and if it doesn't fit I really don't want to have to pay for shipping back to china.

Just to clarify I did end up buying the AKGs, since they suddenly went on sale again and most other IEMs seem to be in the same type of pseudo-custom shape that the Variations have. I'll probably get the AKGs tomorrow, since the warehouse is apparently very close to my area, and hopefully I'll like them enough to keep them.
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
The AKGs arrived earlier today, and I've been listening to them for hours now. It's hard to say if they're better than the Variations in terms of sound, given that I returned the Variations already, but with the high boost filter (closest to Harman and the Variations according to Crinacle's measurements) they're certainly at least as good as the Truthears. I've pretty much decided that if they're more comfortable long term than the Truthears I'll keep them.

Speaking of fit, they're very weird and it took me a while to find the right combination of position and tips. Extremely shallow insertion, not that tall (which is what I was hoping), but kind of wide (from front of ear to back). I must really have small outer ears because they were pretty uncomfortable when inserted as intended. I finally figured out that they fit much better turned vertically, but the shallow insertion meant my expected set of eartips were too small. The large Spinfit cp145s they came with did somewhat fit, but the real surprise was that my medium Symbio Fs may be slightly too small. I had mostly written them off as a failed experiment because they were too big paired with every other set of IEMs I had tried them with. I eventually found a sample set of large Comply tips that had come with the Audeze Euclids mentioned in my original post, and so far they seem to be very comfortable. I'm considering ordering the large Symbio Fs, since Complys tend to disintegrate after a while.

Edit: Tried the Symbio Fs and the large Spinfits again, both sets fit after all.
 
Last edited:

asrUser

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
216
Not sure why the Truthear Hexa was suggested, since going from the graphs I've seen it doesn't follow Harman at all. I just checked AKG's website and the N5005s are back on sale, so I think I'll just go ahead and try them while I can get them cheap.
You wanted less mid-bass than Zero and here it is. Not sure why you only want Harman tuning. Just try and see for yourself. Good hybrid for 80$ is a ground breaker.
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
I wanted Harman because that's what the Variations pretty much are, and I absolutely loved the way they sounded. As for the mid-bass thing, I may have either bought an outlier for my Zero, misidentified the frequency I thought was too much (as seen in the attached graph the area between lower mids and mid-bass has a bump) or maybe even imagined a difference because I wanted to like the Variations better. I'm guessing it's a combination of all 3. Whatever the cause is, it's pretty much irrelevant now because I will probably keep the AKGs.
Zero S4 vs Variations.png

Edit: AKGs are less comfortable than the Truthears, so will also be returned.
 
Last edited:

mrbungle

Active Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2021
Messages
177
Likes
174
Location
Boston
I got the FiiO FF5 earbuds mostly out of curiosity and they are nice. I pretty much forget that I have them in. Obviously being earbuds no sub-bass, but still pleasant bass and fairly close to Harman to my ears. I prefer them over the Blessing 2 for most, especially female singer songwriter stuff. Sounds larger, closer to headphones.

Sennheiser IE600 are small and very comfortable, but quite pricey. Softears RSV, Dunu S6 and ThieAudio Oracle Mk II are other popular neutrally tuned BAs and hybrids worth checking out. Slightly more expensive than the Variations, but probably better build quality and accessories.
 
Last edited:

markanini

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 15, 2019
Messages
1,719
Likes
1,768
Location
Scania
I wanted Harman because that's what the Variations pretty much are, and I absolutely loved the way they sounded. As for the mid-bass thing, I may have either bought an outlier for my Zero, misidentified the frequency I thought was too much (as seen in the attached graph the area between lower mids and mid-bass has a bump) or maybe even imagined a difference because I wanted to like the Variations better. I'm guessing it's a combination of all 3. Whatever the cause is, it's pretty much irrelevant now because I will probably keep the AKGs.View attachment 255300
Edit: AKGs are less comfortable than the Truthears, so will also be returned.
I may find Harman has too little midbass personally. But, that dip up to 6k has been a common FR feature in IEMs that I liked(sounds more like speakers in a room). There's no objective explanation for it AFAIK but seems to fix what would otherwise be a overly grainy characteristic.

BTW you can try Rohsa's similarity tools if you want to get automated suggestions for a replacement: https://rohsa.gitlab.io/
 
Last edited:

Blitzen

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2022
Messages
2
Likes
1
This might seem irrational but Moondrop Quarks DSP is very close to harman target (if not closer than Variations) and costs 15$. They are really small and should fit your ears with ease. You will be shocked on how good those sound.
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
Since my last post I've finally decided to experiment with EQ. Using AutoEQ with EqualizerAPO for my Letshuoer S12 was so subtle I wasn't sure it was working, so I tried my father's Ultimate Ears UE900s. That was an eye opener, and if I read this image correctly it can't even fully correct it!
Ultimate Ears UE900S EQ.png

I'm now looking for comfort above all else, provided the IEM is also fully correctable with EQ. However, since I'm no longer searching for perfect sound out of the box I'm not willing to spend as much either (not sure how expensive I'd be willing to go, but I now need a very good reason to spend more).

Edit: I found one last set to try before giving up and getting something that desperately needs EQ. See the following post.
 
Last edited:
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
I was looking at Crinacle's graph comparison tool just before I decided to try EQ, and I found something interesting. While I now am able to EQ, I think I will try the Tangzu Wu Zetian anyway. They're not perfectly Harman, but as the attached graph shows they're as close in the bass as the Letshuoer S12 and closer in the treble. The only reason I didn't buy them when I first found them is how extremely purple the faceplates are, which I eventually decided is a rather minor problem.

Letshuoer S12 vs Tangzu Zetian Wu.png


These will be my last attempt at a more traditional style of IEM, and if they don't fit maybe I'll try something like the Quarks (not the DSP version, I've heard it has some noise problems. I'll just EQ the regular ones, which will likely give me something similar anyway).
 
OP
A

Adamant11746

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
44
Likes
26
Location
Southern Californa, US
My new Tangzu Ze Tian Wu IEMs arrived a couple days ago, and I'm so glad I decided to try them! They're very comfortable (hopefully for real this time) with one exception, which is the heavy (25 grams by my measurement) and lumpy stock cable. I'm currently using the cable from my Truthear Zero IEMs, but I'd like to get them their own dedicated cable. I'm currently considering the Tripowin Zoe, which is a version of the often recommended Zonie, as well as the version of the Tripowin Zombur with no mic. I'm leaning toward the Zombur since it's cheaper and lighter, but I'm a little concerned that it might be too cheap. I'll probably order it anyway in a few days, as $10 isn't much and Amazon returns are very generous. As for sound, while they're not perfectly Harman in the bass they still sound very good. I tried EQ, and the difference was even more subtle than with the S12 (likely due to not having the peak at 2.5k like the S12). I do slightly prefer with EQ, but I'd be happy to listen without as well.

Some of you may have noticed that my new IEMs are written 3 different ways in different places. I don't really know why, but the box says Ze Tian Wu so that's probably correct.
 
Last edited:

asrUser

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
216
I was looking at Crinacle's graph comparison tool just before I decided to try EQ, and I found something interesting. While I now am able to EQ, I think I will try the Tangzu Wu Zetian anyway. They're not perfectly Harman, but as the attached graph shows they're as close in the bass as the Letshuoer S12 and closer in the treble. The only reason I didn't buy them when I first found them is how extremely purple the faceplates are, which I eventually decided is a rather minor problem.
Well, now you can also buy the Wu Zetian Heyday with a cool black faceplate. :D
 

Blorg

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2020
Messages
462
Likes
699
Even the cheapest cables are generally fine. I have no doubt the Zombur would be fine, and $10 looks like a great bargain for it, it looks solid. The only thing I'd warn though, is I doubt it is lighter, those fabric covered cables usually are NOT light at all, they are amongst the bulkiest IEM cables. I have a similar black fabric one from NiceHCK and another from FAAEAL, probably using the same black fabric cable, and they are amongst the bulkiest IEM cables I have.

Xinhs have nice cables, I have two purple ones that I think would go well. Of these, I think I prefer the full purple I have on the Zetian Wu but the silver purple is lighter and cheaper. I also have one from iVipQ which I think is some Xinhs sub-brand, it's around $10 and lighter again.

DSC03990.JPG

DSC03931.JPG
 

asrUser

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
216
@Blorg The cable on the bottom picture looks better and more qualitative than the others.
 

Blorg

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2020
Messages
462
Likes
699
@Blorg The cable on the bottom picture looks better and more qualitative than the others.
I don't necessarily find it so personally, I maybe find it a little too insubstantial, but if you are specifically looking for lighter, it's the lightest/thinnest. It's well made, works well and is comfortable. Was the cheapest when I bought it, the Xinhs silver purple is a bit cheaper now. Still cheap. If you are specifically looking for "light" I suspect the Zombur would be too much.

This is the iVipQ cable, there are three options, $12.50 for the purple. I have the silver and blue as well as the purple.

Xinhs purple silver, $10:

Solid purple, $24:
 
Top Bottom