Moondrop Crescent Review – Brassed Off!
Pros — Great build; perfect timbre; cohesive sound.
Cons — Hard to drive; heavy earpieces.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Moondrop Crescent is a sturdily built, (Harman Target) neutral tuned single dynamic-driver earphone with a warm, full, homogeneous, organic sound that rivals its Kanas Pro sibling at 1/6 of the price. You find more photos of the Moondrop Crescent HERE.
INTRODUCTION
I took a lot of flak by fanboys recently for my review of the Moondrop Kanas Pro [HERE]…”fanboys” means people who already owned the product. My main criticism was an unbalanced tonality from a misfit between an overly boosted bass and a thin midrange…which does not contradict the review of our own Biodegraded [HERE]. But isn’t the basic idea of a review to critically assess the pros and cons of a product rather than feeding a confirmation bias? Doesn’t the attentive reader benefit from taking in as many informed opinions as possible? “Sunshine reviews” consisting merely of descriptions laced with interchangeable commonplaces and buying recommendations may help the manufacturer/distributor/seller (and the reviewers by keeping their gravy trains going) but they are not informative and therefore useless for the critical reader/potential buyer. Let’s see what we can do with the Moondrop Crescent, another earphone from Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
SPECIFICATIONS
Model Number: Moondrop Crescent
Material: Brass
Driver: dynamic
Sensitivty: 98 dB
Impedance: 32 ohm
Frequency Response: 16-30000 Hz
Cable Length: 1.2m
Plug Type: straight
Color: Gold
Tested at: $29.99
Product Link: Miss Audio Store
PHYSICAL THINGS
Included are the earphone with the attached cable, felt storage bag, shirt clip, three pairs of silicone eartips, and the usual paperwork. Build quality is stellar. The rounded piston-shaped brassy metal earpieces are heavy, the cable is soft, rubbery, and a bit springy. Fit and comfort are what you expect from this shape (with a bit of weight added). Isolation depends on the tips used, the largest included ones worked well for me. Just like the Kanas Pro, the Crescents are hard to drive. They work with a phone but better with my Audioquest DragonFly amp/dac.
TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES
JK’s tonal preference and testing practice
A word on the Harman Kardon neutral curve: I don’t consider it as neutral or even optimal. It is the idea of a single person, Sean Olive, it changes from time to time and is therefore not universally valid. But the curve is a useful reference marker.
The Crescents are warm and rich sounding earphones coming from their low end: the lower bass is slightly boosted (could be a bit less for my taste). Extension in the sub-bass is good but the low end could be more controlled and textured. OK, I have to remind myself, this is a $30 earphone. The whole midrange could be a bit thicker but remains warm (and not neutral as in the Kanas Pro). Male and female voices sound amazingly relaxed and natural but are also a bit back. The upper midrange remains calm, almost smooth, there is no annoying Chifi peak in the 2-4 kHz region. Extension towards the top end is good and without unwanted surprises, but the treble could resolve better (cymbals tend to smear). The timbre is spot on – exquisite – and that’s where the value is in the Crescents imo. Soundstage is of standard width (bassy tracks shrink it) but is reasonably deep and high in my perception. The other technicalities such as detail resolution are not of premium quality but quite acceptable. Considering the Crescents’ low price I may borrow the hollow standard phrase that they provide a refined and mature, non-fatiguing listen (as opposed to sounding tinny or plastic-like with weird treble peaks, not unheard of in this price category).
In comparison, the Senfer DT6 [review] have a less natural timbre but a more forward midrange and they are easier to drive. The Kanas Pro [review 1 | review 2] have a better resolution than the Crescents but they sound less homogeneous. Both earphones aim for the Harman target in their frequency responses. The Crescents are darker than the Kanas Pro, their bass fits better in the mix making for a more balanced tonality. The identical sounding Paiaudio DR2 [review] / Hill Audio Altair•RA [review] are much bassier resulting in a more pronounced V-shape.
VALUE
Yes! There are certainly $$$ earphones out there that don’t have the Crescents’ tonal accuracy.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The Moondrop Crescent could be a poor man’s Campfire in terms of haptic and build (I have never listened to a Campfire). To me they sound like a premium earphone in need of a bit (but not much) of refinement. The Crescents are yet another example of a price/quality mismatch (relative to the diminished return earphones). I prefer them over the $180 Moondrop Kanas Pro, not because they are “better” but because they are more homogenous and more comfortable. And they cost much less. The Crescents are good, enjoyable earphones independent of price.
P.S. I am surprised that no hype has developed around the Moondrop Crescent but on the 6 times as expensive Kanas Pro. There are hardly any reviews of the Crescents to be found — they are obviously not pushed by the distributors. Could it be that there is more money in the higher-priced earphones?
Keep on listening!
DISCLAIMER
This pair of the Moondrop Crescent was provided by Miss Audio Store for my critical analysis. I thank them very much for that.
Are they better than the mh755? :p
Difficult to answer. The Crescents are built much better and feel much more valuable in your hands. They have a bigger stage (taller and deeper) than the Sonys, but the Sonys have an unparalleled tonal balance. The biggest difference between the two is in the upper midrange: the Crescents are tamer here and are therefore a bit darker.Better? I'd say they are different.
Hey Otto Motor,
Great review as usual. I’ve also reviewed the Moondrop Crescent a while back and found them to be exactly as you say here: mostly accurate sounding and a bargain at the price they’re selling. In fact, I prefer them over the other hyped chi-fi’s e.g. iBasso IT01 and many of the multi-BA/hybrid ones that are selling around $100+ mark. They just sound effortless and natural. I had to change the default eartips though, using Final E-series tips improved the seal and sound even further for me.
It’s truly a mystery as to why there is not a cult-following for them. Even far inferior products have had more exposure. To add insult to injury, Moondrop is apparently cutting production of these and discontinuing them. I really hope that rumor just turns out to be unfounded (unless they’re working on a proper successor to the Crescent which would be much welcome).
The reason for cult followings/hype trains is a herd mentality as particularly shown on Head-Fi...often generated by selective promotion by the sellers and distributors. I had no luck so far attracting a review unit of the Moondrop Spaceship or Aria. No interest by the sellers....I speculate they want to sell more expensive iems with higher profit margins. For example, Linsoul has their group of reviewers and pushes a certain product simultaneously through these....they even have to hit deadlines as in the case of the Tin Hifi P3. Penon Audio has their group of assembly-line reviewers, who generate no real reviews but pure promotions (gibberish, no critical views, everything is great). My interest in the Crescent was generated by shotguneshane over at Super Best Audio Friends.What I am generally after is tonal accuracy. There may be expensive iems with lots of BAs, but a piece of classical music may just sound off. Most reviewers don't listen to classical music. Single DDs have the best tonal accuracy but unfortunately lack in detail resolution. I personally would take timbre over resolution.
Found your review blog and will read it with interest.
Thanks for reviewing the Crescent. Do you have any recommendations that sounds better than these under $100?
Also how Crescent compares to the Final E3000 and the newly released Moondrop Spaceship?
I don't know the Final E300 or the Spaceship. I recently puchased the Final Audio E1000, which are the most neutrally tuned of the E series (see ranking at crinacle.com), and probably the best of the bunch for "audiophiles". The E1000 are not as lively as the Crescent, they don't have their depth or tallness in soundstage, they sound rather flat but possibly more accurate....would be a sidegrade.As to recommendations below $100. I am a big fan of "bang for buck" and therefore always critical of expensive earphones and possible diminished returns. I personally find the single DD Sennheiser IE 40 PRO at $99 an outstanding value and an upgrade over the Crescent.
The other one I love is the $7 Sony MH755 because of its outstanding tonal balance.
The latest hype are the NiceHCK NX7...I have not heard them yet but will soon.
This note of mine was deleted from Head-Fi:
The Moondrop Crescent is a clean sounding iem that is able to provide full-bodied bass, smooth midrange and laid-back treble. There is a relaxing and moderately dark presentation which provides a fatigue-free listen. In addition, the Crescent has strong visual appeal and it comes with a rubbery cable. The Crescent is a musical, engaging iem with its immersive sound.Did I say absolutely nothing? My apologies! Here my real thoughts on the Moondrop Crescent...
Blog only, Head-Fi later this week.
This one is a winner. I just got mine and putting it through its paces with my test tracks I’m enjoying it over many harsher chi-fi competitors (KZ I’m talking to you). Unfortunately, they are no longer made and unavailable on AliExpress. I found mine on Amazon.
While they are not quite as detailed as my Toneking Nine Tails, they are very good for the $30 price point.
Your comments about the Harmon Curve lead me to wonder if all the information I’ve read about it’s history is old news to the author, or would be new.
????
Sound stunning, but mine broke after not much usage sadly. The cable came loose at the connection to the housing and due to it’s build they are basically useless. A shame as they sounded as good as my kxxs