Hey guys, I have finished up my sub-$1k single DD shootout out between the Softears Twilight, the Moondrop Illumination, and the Dunu Zen Pro. What follows is a write-up kinda summing up my thoughts on these IEMs that @hawaiibadboy asked me to contribute after he helped me with some recs for a couple of these. First a couple of reminders: I’m not a reviewer and I’m doing this just because I hope it’ll be helpful to someone out there in a similar position and because I like talking about gear so I’m sorry if the quality isn’t what you’re used to. Also, I purchased all three of these with my own money so no worries about financial entanglements or biases. Finally, as with all things audio, YMMV. These are just one dude’s thoughts. Enjoy…
A few months back, my fiance hijacked my Oxygens which were my go to single DD before then. Rather than taking them back and engaging in the inevitable tug-of-war that would follow, I figured I would take the opportunity to get myself a truly killer single DD. I set myself a $1k ceiling and got to work.
Before coming to these final three I had tried options from Dita, Oriolus, Sennheiser, and more some of which were quite good, but none of them really grabbed and held my attention and, thus, they were all either returned, resold, or gifted away. I didn’t have a specific tuning in mind when I started this hunt. I just wanted a IEM that was coherent/cohesive, had very accurate timbre, and good technical chops. The only necessity tuning wise was that the IEM have the power and articulation in the low end to satisfy me as a professional drummer. If a transducer doesn’t have that, it ain’t for me. Which brings me to the first of these three IEMs, the Moondrop Illuminations.
The Illuminations were initially pretty impressive as they have a very rich, detailed mid range with a sweet, inoffensive treble that is never fatiguing, but still manages to provide enough extension to present good micro details and plenty of air. The upper mids to lower treble does sometimes come off as a bit shouty and out of balance, but I really only found that on tracks that tend to be a bit heavy in that area to begin with, like performances from certain female vocalists and some guitar solo laden work. However, as I kept moving through various albums and tracks the low end performance just wasn’t up to snuff. The bass is of decent quality and keeps up with most tracks as far as detail goes, but it lacks anything in the realm of authority or punch. Even neutral bass quanitites can be rendered with authoritative attack and good agility, but the Illumination’s low end just didn’t get there for me. For those of you who are fans of forward mids and sweet vocal reproduction above all else, the Moondrop Illuminations are definitely one to look at.
The next two IEMs, did not have the low end problem which ultimately made narrowing down my choices an easier task. Deciding between the remaining two IEMs would not be nearly as easy aince both do many of the same things so well and each presents a whole lot to like.
Next up, the Dunu Zen Pros. If you saw my first impressions post that I made after listening to each for the first time, the Zen Pros actually stood out the least to me. Thankfully, I try to put all IEMs through a thorough tryout before making any decisions because this impression quickly changed. The more I listened, the more I liked this IEM. The Zen Pros are very well balanced, with very accurate timbre, nice technical chops, and a sound sig I can listen to ad infinitum with no fatigue. The treble is pretty well extended, providing plenty if air, great detail, and top notch nuance and atmosphere. The mids have a slight kiss of warmth that provides plenty of grit to male vocals, bite to distorted guitar riffage, and all the sultry soul a female vocalist can muster. The bass, while being only just above neutral in quanitity, is punchy, articulate, detailed, and dynamically powerful. The timbre is dead on accurate, the detaile retrieval is very good (better than I was expecting for a single DD), separation and layering are totally without fault, and the overall balance and presentation make it very clear why the Zen Pro has become a favorite sub-$1k single DD recommendation.
So after that paragraph you’re probably thinking shouldn’t he have saved his pick for the end? I can skip the part where you say the Twilights didn’t live up, right? Actually, no. I wrote the Zen Pro impressions first because I didn’t want what I’m about to say next to overshadow this really stellar IEM. Had I never heard the Twilights, I could have ridden off into the sunset with the Zen Pros and been completely happy. But I did hear the Twilights back to back with the Zen Pros and that’s where things got interesting.
Oddly enough this whole story comes back down to the bass. See the Twilight and Zen Pros trade blows on timbre, separation, and layering with no clear winner. Their treble presentations are similarly smooth, detailed, and nuanced, toeing the line between good extension and non-fatiguing presentation brilliantly. The mids and overall presentation of the Twilights are slightly warmer than the Zen Pros, but both offer a mid range that can handle any genre you throw at them effortlessly. If I had to decide between the mids if these two IEMs, I would give it to the Twilights by a hair because for my rock heavy library they offer just a bit more grunt to harsher vocals and chugging guitars that are heavy on the distortion, but it really is a neck and neck competition here. The bass is where the Twilights pull ahead of the Zen Pros.
You see, the bass on the Zen Pros has a nice mid bass punch and enough sub bass that it accurately plays back tracks that call upon it. The Twilights, on the other hand, have a very similar mid bass punch, but they follow that up with sub bass extension rather than the slight roll off I hear in the Zen Pros. This gives the Twilights that extra bit of authority, making the low end reproduction seem at once more balanced and more effortless. The bass on the Twilights never left me wanting more while VERY occasionally I found myself wanting the Zen Pros to dig a little deeper or to have a little more sub bass to compliment their wonderful mid bass punch.
Between the two I would say that the Zen Pros are ever so slightly more detailed and that the mids also favor the upper mids just a tad and present as slightly more forward as a result. The Twilights have that sub bass rumble to compliment the mid bass punch, agility, and articulation, the mids favor the lower portion slightly, and they have a slightly more airy sounding treble. When it comes to soundstage, neither is particularly large, but both provide a nice 3d feel with good imaging and source placement. The Zen Pros come with one of the better stock accessory packages I have seen, but the Twilights also had inclusions commensurate with their pricing.
In the end, there really was just very little to decide on between the two and I did go back and forth for days having special moments with one or the other sway my opinion of the moment. Thankfully, I mentioned my decision to a friend and he is going to take the Zen Pros off my hands so I know they’ll be loved and used and I don’t have to continue contemplating keeping both. The Illuminations will be getting returned, unless my fiance decides she wants to keep them. And the Twilights will be joining what is shaping up to be a stellar and hopefully stable lineup since purchases definitely get curtailed while touring and I leave in about a week.
If anyone has any questions or comparisons they want done feel free to ask as I still have access to all three IEMs until Sunday evening or Monday depending on when dude comes by to grab the Zen Pros. I hope you guys enjoyed the write-up and that you find it useful. I had a ton of fun doing all this listening! 
Edit: Sorry for any typos as I typed this on my phone. Also sorry for the length Chris…