šŸ”¶ Moondrop Aria

What to get after Aria’s? They my only pair of IEM

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Hello and welcome to hfgf :slight_smile:

To better help you, can you give us more information? Like whats your prefered sound signature, library, what source you using, etc?

Thanks for the warm welcome friend!

I really enjoy clear details in the mids not too harsh on the highs but still fun and some bass . I enjoy listening to rock, alt rock, hip/hop and rap all from amazon music and spotify.
I find that the Arias have this weird unpleasing thin or tinny sound in some songs with the high treble or something i don’t know if I’m even saying this right.

Your library sounds awfully close to BGGAR’s, so that might be an easy rec.

What is your budget? :slight_smile:

i could do somewhere in the 200 or less range

You can check this video, I don’t own any of them and my rec’s would be 300usd+.

I’ll leave @hawaiibadboy rankings here.

Altho, if you’re not in a hurry, my personal opinion is to wait for some reviews on Tripowin x HBB ā€˜Mele’, since that if it’s that good as its claimed, you’re prolly getting an Hana 2021 for 50bucks and save some. You can check his video on Mele in that channel as well.

There’s one model that is not in the video, that is Fiio FH3. I own it, don’t really like it with my library - I’ll sell it, but it’s praised a lot by a lot of people, altho personally I’d go Hana/Mele if I was going to get anything under 200 with that library. The bass in FH3 it’s his selling point, for sure, and it’s a great set, just not for my library.

Thanks for all the help :slight_smile: I’m not in a hurry so in the meantime ill binge watch some videos lol

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My rec will be Mangird Tea or Oxygen if you can save up a little bit more. Teas are warm balanced and Oxygen are harman tuned like the Arias.

Still, do some research and wait for some Mele impressions, they are coming out this week. Also, theres a 14 day queue now on Mele, just so you know.

Yeah speaking about the Teas, I have been seeing a lot of high praise towards them, therefore as of the moment I am curious and want to hear it on what they say about it is true. So far, my Arias are so far so good with me, probably it’s because they do sound similar to the Starfields and I love my Starfields. (I am going to miss mine’s old painting though, for it chipped and I had to respray it :frowning: )

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The Mangird Tea omg looks amazing…the Mele looks great so will just keep saving up for now. I’m loving Aria’s rn too.

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Teas are my favourite IEM. Don’t let the price fool you.

I’m saving up for Mest Mk2, I’m selling my collection, I’m keeping Teas out of them all, lol.

If you wanna keep the Harman-Target FR and Single DD, then the natural progression is Hana 2021 then Oxygen. If HBB claims that Mele is very similar or even better than Hana 2021, you might get an upgrade for 50 bucks. Oxygen is still king DD on that FR, I’m afraid.

Teas are balanced warm, sub-bass boosted. Delicate treble (kinda cold to some, but tuned this way to have perfection without sharpness), brilliant mids. There’s a good reason they are praised, and why they are S tier on HBB rankings for 300 usd. This gets even more real when you have a library like him, but also for other genres.

I’m getting Mele in 2 days probably, I’ll let you guys know.

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Welcome nel,

I am also a classic rock and prog rock guy, so I tend to like the BGGAR target. Almost everyone will say the obvious Mangird Tea, but they are about $300. I still think for the money, those are well worth it. You will find that your Aria will shock you occasionally

I ordered a pair of his new Mele, which are the Tripowin x HBB Mele. They are only $50, and we don’t know much about them yet, but they are tuned for his tastes. I ordered a pair with the extra 2.5mm jelly cable.

I would put these in my tier below those

In the middle price wise would be the ThieAudio L3 or Legacy 3. These are about $120, and I have listened to a pair of these for a week ( did a mail swap with a friend ), and really enjoyed them, enough that I have considered buying a pair, but I am trying to not ā€œcollectā€ IEMs.

The Tanchjim Hana at about $180 is another good set and gets used as a comparison point, there are two version the old and new. The newer one is better, and the reviews are pretty clear on that.

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Moondrop IEMs are on sale right now on Amazon 10% off

The Aria is only $72, but the whole line are on sale.

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Just got the Aria and it sounds amazing. My previous IEMs were Blon BL-03 and I thought they sounded just alright but nothing special. The Arias are a revelation though. Not as good as my HD-6XX paired with my RebelAmp (though that’s a high bar to clear), but crisp and clear in a way those aren’t and the fact that I can get this kind of sound quality while I’m walking around with my phone with nothing but an Apple dongle is game-changing.

One question: I’d love it if these had a microphone so I could answer calls on them. I know MoonDrop sells the MKI cable with a mic, but I’m not clear on whether that’s compatible with the Arias? Anyone know? Anyone have a suggestion on a higher-quality cable I might prefer instead?

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I have had too many disappointments with Moondrop cables to recommend them, but any 2pin with a mic should be compatible. Just kinda depends what you want in a cable (besides the mic).

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I mean, any cable that’s decent quality will do–not stiff, not going to fall apart easily. I’m a simple man with simple needs.

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Normally I like Xinhs cables, on Ali. I don’t think they do mic ones though.

Tripowin makes mic cables, I think Yinyoo does as well. Honestly I haven’t really ever wanted a cable with a mic so I haven’t gone searching that much, those are just a couple I remember there being an option for when getting a non mic one.

@Rikudou_Goku has some good cheap(er) cables in the google doc in his profile. You could check if any of those have a mic variant.

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That was my impression with the Aria as well. They don’t sound like $80 IEMs.

My solution for the microphone with my IEMs has been the Fiio BTR5. Basically it is a Bluetooth ( or USB ) DAC/Amp, that has a few neat tricks, including a microphone. The amp is nice, it has a 2.5mm balanced output, 3.5mm output, EQ, and is overkill for what you want, but it is amazing.

I use it for work and it lets me connect to both my phone and my work computer at the same time. Due to the Bluetooth, I just put the BTR5 in my pocket and I can get up and walk around, get coffee, etc. I can take calls, and it will even pause my music on the PC when I do.

I have heard people say the app for Fiio Control is horrible on iPhone, but on Android it ran great, and you really only use it to do setup things, or mess with the EQ.

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Just in case you haven’t found it yet:

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That looks perfect, thanks!