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Earphones Mid Price Review

Moondrop Star!eld
Review – 2000 Light
Years From Home
! January 26, 2020 # Jürgen Kraus " 0 Comments

Pros — Well-executed Harman target tuning;

excellent imaging; sound improved over the
Kanas Pro Edition (KPE); beautiful design and
build.

Cons — Upper-midrange forward not for the

most sensitive ears; treble a bit shy.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Moondrop Star!eld appears to be the

slight variation of their KXXS "agship at a
more a#ordable price. It features a warm
low end, a neutralish midrange, and a
conservative, slightly cautious top-end
resulting in a warm to neutral overall
sound close to the Harman target curve.

INTRODUCTION

Moondrop have become a household name

recently, for example through their
successful and popular Kanas, Kanas Pro
Edition (KPE), and most recently through
their KXXS. These single-dynamic-driver
earphones settled in the sub-$200 segment.
In the budget area, the company pleased the
critics with their excellent Moondrop
Crescent that was discontinued way too
early. Moondrop also revived the premium
earbud with their “Liebesleid” model (after a
beautiful violin piece by Vienna violinist Fritz
Kreisler, if you ever wondered). Moondrop’s
signature build appears to be high-quality
metal shells with smooth, polished !nishes.
As I had mentioned (KPE review) before,
Moondrop is also distinct from other
companies in the relatively small world of
Chi-Fi in that they are not located in
Shenzhen, Guangdong province, but in
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a place better
known for its spicy food than for its high
tech. But wait…

SPECIFICATIONS

Model: Star!eld
Driver Unit: CNT carbon nano tube
diaphragm-10 mm dual cavity dynamic
driver
Sensitivity: 122 dB/Vrms (@1kHz)
Impedance: 32Ω ± 15 %(@1 kHz)
Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 36 kHz(free-
!eld 1/4 inch MIC, -3dB)
E#ective frequency response: 20 Hz – 20
kHz
Cable: 24 AWG Litz 4N OFC cable
Pin: 2pin 0.78mm
Tested at: $109
Link: Aliepress Moondrop O!cial Store

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

I received the Moondrop Star!eld not in the

retail box but in a plastic bag with the
content shown in the photo: two sets of
S/M/L silicone tips, cable, and the earpieces.

The quality metal earpieces are identical in

shape with those of the Moondrop KXXS and
KPE, and the beautiful powder coating makes
them a work of art: the surfaces sparkle
under light. The 24 AWG Litz 4N OFC cable
may have been chosen for optimal sound
but it is a bit sti# and does not feature a chin
slider.

The large earpieces !t me well and are

reasonably comfortable. Isolation is what
you make out of it, and it was good in my
case using the largest included silicone
eartips. I used low-impedance sources such
as my iPhone SE with or without the
Audioquest Dragon"y amp/dac. The Star!eld
are easy to drive.

Photographed: The Moondrop

Starfield
The Starfield is a mid-price single-dynamic-
driver earphone from Chengdu, Sichuan, China,
that retails at $109.

Audio Reviews 0

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

My tonal preference and testing practice

Striking is that the bass has been dialled

down compared the the KPE (I don’t know
the KXXS), but it nevertheless digs deep
enough (I would not want more). The low
end is not the fastest but also not the
slowest, it is nicely textured, well rounded,
and not overbearing. There is a light mid-
bass hump that can make the low end
slightly boomy and that can bleed into the
lower mids. This may add warmth but also
minor congestion in some tracks.

Frequency response of the Moondrop Starfield.

The midrange is very close to that of the KPE

which appears to be Moondrop’s signature:
neutral, clear and clean, dry, and crisp…but
since the bass is less prominent than in the
KPE, the vocals are not perceived as
attenuated; they are actually nicely
sculptured and reasonably dense. The upper
midrange is (once again) a tad forward,
which, on the one hand, energizes the vocals
department, but, at higher volumes, it also
may add minor harshness that can be
fatiguing to some over longer listening
periods. This is a common occurrence also
present in such popular models as the JVC
HA-FDX1 and the Blon BL-03. But at lower
volumes, this upper midrange yields a
pleasant, holographic (“cavernous”) listening
sensation in the Moondrop Star!eld.

Frequency responses of the Starfield and KPE,

both close to the Harman target response.

The lower treble is taken back quite a bit and

is ino#ensive, so that cymbals migrate into
the background. It rises sharply to a broader
spike at around 15 kHz to add sparkle and
fake resolution. A safe approach.

The soundstage is tall, reasonably deep, but

about average in width in my
perception….controlled by the low end.
Separation is very good for a DD. The other
technicalities such as instrument separation
and spatial cues are towards the higher end
of what you expect from a single DD. Timbre
is spot on. My bickering aside, the Moondrop
Star!eld’s imaging is outstanding.

REVERSIBLE MOD

Here a simple variation for listeners who are

sensitive to the 2-4 kHz “Chi-Fi peak” area:
taping the nozzles over with 3M micropore
surgical tape by 90% tones down the upper
midrange and, less so, the 15 kHz treble
peak. This results in a fuller, warmer, non-
fatiguing but also less energetic midrange —
a boomier, softer bass perception — and in
my desire for a tad more lower treble. The
sonic di#erences modded/unmodded are
more substantial than the graphs indicate.
This mod is easily reversible, you just rip the
tape o# again. Moondrop would please
Western listeners more by not sticking
religiously to the Harman target curve but
rather rely on their ears.

Taping 90% of the nozzle with micropore tape

mainly decreases the upper midrange.

This nozzle is only taped off by 60-70% with

micropore tape in this photo. You need to tape it
off by 90% to get the result shown in the above
graph.

COMPARISONS

The contenders in this class should be the

Tin Hi! T4, the KBEAR Diamond, and the
Blon BL-03. I don’t know the T4 but it
apparently has unreliable MMCX connectors
like the T2, and, allegedly, di#erent batches
sound di#erent. The KBEAR Diamond is
actually not too dissimilar to the Moondrop
Star!eld: average soundstage, a slightly more
emphasized but also faster low end,
ino#ensive treble, and a warmer midrange
with a slightly larger note weight (without
emphasis on the upper midrange).
Technically, both play in the same league imo
and it comes down to taste which one to
choose. The Diamond may be safer but also
less exciting for some, and the Star!eld may
be more interesting. The Blon BL-03 appear
to sound di#erent for everybody, and the
sound of my “pimped” version has to be
viewed with a grain of salt. To me, my Blon
BL-03 sound more open than the other two,
with a larger soundstage, and they have the
driest bass of the bunch. And they also o#er
a forward upper midrange that some remove
by adding micropore tape on the nozzles as
described here.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

Moondrop never seem to disappoint. With

the Star!eld, the company has released
another beautifully built and very good
sounding single DD model between their
KXXS DD "agship and their Starship budget
model. While I had some reservations with
the KPE (mainly because of its price), the
value of the Star!eld is great as it does not
o#er less than the $189 KPE (and
presumably the KXXS). It will therefore
attract many fans. I personally like the
Star!eld a lot…it is just in my category of
what I would buy. In the big picture, the
earphone a!cionado is spoilt for choice in
the $100 segment right now. The Star!eld is
another piece in Moondrop’s puzzle of
becoming a recognized brand beyond Chi-Fi.
Well done!

Keep on listening!

MY VERDICT

Our rating scheme

You "nd an INDEX of all our

earphone reviews HERE.

DISCLAIMER

I thank Moondrop in Chengdu for supplying

the review unit upon my request.

Product Link: MOONDROP O!cial

Store

Manufacturer’s Website: Moondrop

Co.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You "nd an INDEX of our most

relevant technical articles
HERE.

FURTHER
READING
The Moondrop Star!eld
Photographed

KopiOkaya On The Upper Midrange

And Chi-Fi Tuning

Reducing And Increasing Treble

Materials Needed For Reversible

Modding

Jürgen’s Moondrop KPE Review

Jürgen’s Moondrop Crescent Review

Jürgen’s KBEAR Diamond Review

Jürgen’s Blon BL-03 Review

Jürgen’s Drop JVC HA-FDX1 Review

Photographed: NiceHCK NX7 Pro

Jürgen Kraus
He has been known as “Otto Motor”
to Head-Fiers, as “Dr.
Schweinsgruber” to
audiobudget.com users and
Youtubers, and as “Brause” to Super Best Audio
Friends and the Headphone Community. - For the
purpose of confusion, he decided to pose under his
real name Jürgen Kraus (“JK”) from now on. - This is a
hobby. In “real” life, Jürgen is a professional geologist
operating his own petroleum-exploration consulting
company Franconia Geoscience Ltd. (see ad in the
footer) based in Calgary, Canada. He holds German
and Canadian passports. Jürgen had a classical
music education from childhood through high
school in Germany and he has been following
popular music developments since the late 1970s.
His understanding of arts and crafts was in"uenced
by Bauhaus pragmatism: “less is more” and “form
follows function”.

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