Waiting for someone to make a mini-Z1R with today’s tech.
x2 10mm DD isobaric, 10mm planar for mids & a small 5mm DD treble.
Imagine the cleanliness and thickness.
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Ahahahhahaha rofl
Thank you thank you 
Still waiting to hear back from them if the tuning and config I want is doable
I’ll keep everyone updated 
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im waiting for ANY Z1R copy lol. We havent even gotten the DD woofer + BA full range + DD tweeter setup that the Z1R uses…
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Note taken. LOL.
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Moondrop Crinacle DUSK Review:
So, DUSK… it’s good. It’s well balanced, nothing special, above mid, but… it’s a bit overhyped, and definitely not the new benchmark because there are a lot of better options, and there’s also a lot of issues with the DSP and the APP.
And yes, Moondrop QC is back baby!
To start off I’m going to be reviewing the stock tuning of the Dusk separately from the DSP settings because the DSP is just EQ, so for that I’ll be EQing other IEMs and comparing it to the DSP settings since that makes more sense, stock vs stock, EQ vs EQ. Now, even though I’m not a fan of Crin’s sales and marketing tactics I will always review the IEM and its sound as it is, if it’s good it’s good, if it’s bad it’s bad, and I think the DUSK overall sounds nice. It’s in offensive, smooth with a slight treble emphasis, well-balanced for the most part, nothing really jumps out, but there’s nothing really attention grabbing about it either - no huge issues with it sound wise outside the APP.
It’s just - you know - good, above average - it’s literally Drake. The Dusk works pretty well for kpop & jpop stuff or genres with a lot of uppermids emphasis because the Dusk helps tame those genres as the mixing and production in the vocals can be too sharp at times with jpop and kpop, so the tamer uppermids on the Dusk helps the tracks sound smoother, and less shouty. However, because the uppermids is not fully extended, the trade off is you also end up missing information when it comes to vocal details. Singers feel softer, the vocals are vanilla, inoffensive, not sparkly, lacking that last bit of extension and detail in the end transients of voices, it’s harder to hear the nuances in the end notes and breaths, and just overall not very immersive or powerful; it still sounds nice - not congested, but it’s just not as open and extended as something like the Studio 4 or even the Nova.
Scaling and Treble
This puts the Dusk in a bit of a weird spot because at mid volume the treble and bass is good, the low-end does its job, good texture, no bass bleed, but you do miss out on the vocal details, however, when you try to crank them up the treble then gets too spicy. So either you live with softer vocals but well-balanced treble, or you crank them up for more audible vocals but then the treble gets spicy - especially since there are a lot of unit variance that has a big 16K peak, which is going to hurt. Outside of that the treble extension itself is solid, there’s not much planar timbre, there’s a good amount of detail in the cymbals, although it does get sizzly at times, but good for the most part. It’s not going to be the most natural sounding, but it’s not the end of the world, it’s nice for jpop and kpop, although, the real problem arises when you take a look at the competition
Comparisons
For example, the Nova as an all-rounder is a better version of the Dusk for 2x less the price. Now, the treble isn’t as detailed on the Nova, but it’s smoother and it’s still fully extended and you actually get the uppermids and the final extension to the vocals. Or, if you want a little more treble than the Nova then you also have the Chopin at $200… and then you also have the Cincotres for $100 cheaper that does the same thing but more engaging in the low-end, and less sharp.
There’s also the Hype 4 which imho, is literally just a better version of the Dusk, similar sound, but more well-rounded, way better low-end texture, not as sharp in the treble, scales better, and it looks better too. Point is, I can keep going, there’s also the Quintet which does the same thing but for $140 cheaper, so, the main issue is if you’re paying for a sound that’s not special, and there’s already many IEMs that does the same thing, then why spend an extra $100 or $200 more for the Dusk when you can just get the Nova, Chopin, Quintet, Cincotres, like what is the selling point of the Dusk? It has to be the DSP then right? But then there’s also too many issues with the DSP for it to be a selling point, and imo it’s more of a gimmick since it’s literally EQ - they are literally selling you EQ.
DSP and APP Issues
It seems like to me because Moondrop and Crin knew the sound is not that special, a good all-rounder, they had to find something else, something shiny to pull you in, and they did exactly that with the whole DSP stuff… And the funny thing is - it doesn’t even work well.
First of all, the APP is straight up bad, it crashed a lot of times and I can’t even listen to it without it crashing at least once every few hours, which defeats the whole purpose of having and using it as a selling point. Also, the settings straight up doesn’t work if you have an iphone (or Desktop), which means you’ll need an Android first, change the settings there, save it, and then you can listen to it on your iPhone. So if you only have one phone, like most people do, and it’s an iPhone, then you miss out on the EQ, which defeats the whole point of having it as a selling point if it doesn’t work. And there’s also a small noise floor which is more noticeable during podcasts or youtube videos, but not a deal breaker.
Another big flaw is that the DPS settings don’t work with a lot of external dacs and amps. This was the same case as the MAY, and they have yet to fix this, which again defeats the whole purpose of having the DSP if you can’t use it. The Dusk itself is also bottlenecked by the amp on your phone, the difference is noticeable even going from my iPhone 14 Pro to my Laptop (M1 Mac) without any external sources. The DUSK sounds to me more closed in on my iphone, more in your head, less separated, but when I switch to my Laptop it’s more open, and sounds clearer, so in order to get the full sound I would definitely recommend using an external source… but then the issue is when you do, a lot of them just don’t work with the DSP settings lol. So then what are you actually paying for? The brand? The waifu on the box? Like at this point, why not just buy something cheaper like the Nova, and just use EQ?
B3/NOVA EQ vs DUSK
Now, I don’t normally include EQ in my reviews, but since the DUSK is literally asking you to EQ it with the DSP APP (and Crin said we shouldn’t pay for tuning right), it’s only fair that I EQ other IEMs to the Dusk as well to see how they do… and starting off with the Blessing 3… the Blessing 3 actually sounds better because it doesn’t have a channel imbalance. The treble on my B3 unit at least is smoother, less brittle, and lighter/ more splashy. Same with the Nova - with EQ it’s very close, pretty much the same - No, the 1 extra driver difference isn’t going to change the overall sound, especially if the Micro-Planars aren’t as well implemented… Crin said they used the new drivers to smooth out the 6K, but surprise surprise, you can indeed EQ down the 6K - it’s almost if it’s not a driver bottleneck, but just a tuning preference! Wow!
DUSK DSP TUNINGS
But as for the other DSP options my favourite would be the stock analog, and then the bass+ as that one is pretty fun as well… until the app crashes and you can’t hear anything. Stock USB is ok, it’s a warm tuning, more low-end but it needs more uppermids because the vocals are even harder to pick out now. My least favourite setting would be the diffuse field tilt - the scoop is in a super awkward place, probably worse than the Variation’s scoop, and Harman is just you know, Harman. Stock and bass+ aside, the rest are just kinda mid.
WORTH IT?
So overall, even though the stock sound is good, it’s not special enough to justify the price - maybe for kpop and jpop? But it is overpriced imo, the app is a mess, there’s QC issues (I’m returning mine), and the fact that I can literally EQ the Nova and get pretty much the same thing for 2x less should scare moondrop - actually you don’t even need to EQ the Nova, the Nova stock is the better all-rounder in most cases aside from very energetic kpop/jpop stuff because that’s what Harman does the best, being an all-rounder.
If you already have the Blessing 3, I attached the EQ settings below and you can try them out for yourself, and depending on your unit you can either decrease or increase the 8K as the graph isn’t very accurate there because of the coupler, but they sound basically identical, and I prefer the B3 EQ more because you can actually fix the 1.2K bump.
All in all the DUSK shouldn’t be more than $200 given the current market, and the fact that the DSP and APP brings more headache than good, as well as having some pretty big limitations makes the DUSK hard to recommend. I would grab the HYPE 4, or something cheaper like the Cincotres and Nova (or wait for mine :))
Here are the final rankings:
Tonality: A+
Tech: A+
Final Rank: A+
Thanks for reading, and here’s the B3 to DUSK EQ 
B3 to DUSK EQ:
Preamp: -6.7 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 25 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.600
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 160 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 0.500
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 780 Hz Gain 0.3 dB Q 0.500
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1200 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 1.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2900 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3100 Hz Gain 0.9 dB Q 0.500
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 5100 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 0.800
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 6000 Hz Gain -3.0 dB Q 6.000
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 7800 Hz Gain -2.2 dB Q 2.000
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 13000 Hz Gain -7.4 dB Q 2.000
Filter 11: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain 9.8 dB Q 1.100
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Youtube comments never disappont 
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Haha, I have nothing against collabs and, in fact, support the people putting the work in… but, are we about to see the anti-collab people turn on you, Jay?
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Turnabout is fair play, but unless he shills it, it’s just haters hating. Some people will always hate on collabs and I’m sure some people have a bone to pick regardless. Opinions on the internet are just that, opinions on the internet.
Edit: Pretty sure Jay has already been blacklisted by some companies for not giving glowing reviews, and we already know that he doesn’t get industry support (just patrons and people who send him stuff, myself included) so that already disqualifies most accusations of shilling for support. He may be my boy, but from an objective standpoint he’s about as clean and transparent as they come.
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So many opinions being spun as facts is what’s wrong with the world these days but, yeah, definitely will keep an eye out when things start coming together!
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I don’t care if they do because I plan on making a set that breaks the market (if it goes through 
)
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trying to think of someone that’s smarter than DaVinci and a brand more exclusive than Dunu
… Can’t wait for Elysian Einstein bro!
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brand new iem concept - each IEM has its own unique tuning (for each earbud as well)!
Innovation, totally not shit qc. Makes them more collectable too
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Ziigaat Oppenheimer - Atomic Bass 
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Where did you buy the Dusk that you can return them?
I keep hearing people advise against returning things on AliExpress
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I was just thinking of that name lol, but I decided on something else 
I got mine from shenzhenaudio so we should be gucci
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