Moondrop KATO, KXXS successor IEMs

I mean I did disclaim where the opinion came from and any opinion that was my own was just what I thought from looking at graphs (which I also disclaimed), but I see your point. Wasn’t trying to mislead anyone, just wanted to share thoughts and see what others thought. We wouldnt have had this discussion otherwise. It’s good being able to have others pitch in, share what they think, explain why they agree or disagree. I think it’s only an issue if people are trying to pass off other people’s opinions as their own, or trying to pass off what they think as fact if it’s not something that can be objectively verified. I don’t think me citing someone else’s opinion (with a disclaimer) makes it misinformation, especially since his opinion will still exist regardless of whether people disagree or agree. It’s really hard to be an “expert” in the first place with how subjective a lot of audio related things are. My point being, using an example, is that if someone were to share someone else’s opinion on an iem I’m interested in, it’s still helpful to me as long as they are transparent about where it came from and arent being misleading by doing something like giving a made up or altered opinion, etc. Again, I do see your point and what you’re saying cause it’s a really thin line away from being just an opinion and thoughts to being misinformation.

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With that being said, coming from a guy who is a rock, alternative rock and metal listener. This solidifies that I really should get it and hear it for myself.

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So in conclusion, for me I will get these when my Starfield or Aria broke. Probably anytime now, since my Starfields as of late are, let’s say, not looking good.

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Nice, you have the same progress of mine that I wanted to buy: Mangird Tea for majority of my library, DQ6 for rock/metal, LBBS for vocal/OST. I only want to own 3 pairs of earphones and that’s it, no more fancy stuffs.

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Crin measurements. Wow that is a good graph. If there was no dip at 10kHz it’d be flawless.

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The dip at 10k is a little smaller now at least, compared to the starfield, etc. All the other graphs I’ve seen seem to indicate this too. The brass nozzle looks interesting, I think the steel nozzle will be too peaky for my ears. I have the fdx1 on the way, so hopefully I’ll be able to compare the KATO and fdx1 soon, gonna keep whichever one I like more. Maybe I’ll compare them to the tea and oxygen in the future, those are the only other two I’m interested in, though I do have mild interest in the Dunu Falcon Pro as well.

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From what i know deep in 10k and peak at 13k 15k to 17k = 3d effet great imaging and wide sound stage . Its u12t style

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You’re right that they are similar in that regard.

Although the 13-17kHz peaks are far more pronounced in U12T.

U know we are talking about the u12t :zipper_mouth_face: so getting abit of it in a 170$ iem is a big thing . And u know that single dd iem have a lot of limitations . I think that kato will be a benchmark . Upgraded starfild what can we ask more then that

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Wish it was that easy, after buying the Teas. XD

So many good IEMs out there.

Looking forward to my Matte’ KATO :muscle:

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Not the best review but surprisingly pretty good for an amateur review.

Basically what I’ve gathered from this and the other impressions so far, still very similar to starfield/kxxs, but with better treble and bass. I think by this point we can all make a pretty accurate guess as to what we are getting from the KATO if the review and impressions we have so far are anything to go by. Just an improved kxxs/starfield, which is great news for those of us who really like that sound (me haha) bad news for everyone else who is tired of moondrop reusing similar tuning. At least this time they haven’t outright used almost the same tuning again like they have been for their past couple $80-$200 DD iems. It seems they’ve perfected it a bit more and changed it a bit. I really like the steel and brass nozzle idea since I see a lot of people complain about the treble being too tame (then there’s me who absolutely loves it tame).

My KATO hopefully ships soon so I can compare to the FDX1, and Ety ER2XR.

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Not trusting Timmy on this one yet cuz he’s a shiller :neutral_face:

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Well he hasn’t really hyped them up or anything. He just called it a kxxs with slightly more treble energy. In fact he said it was like 90-95% the same. He did also say the brass nozzle made it almost the same as the kxxs but slightly worse (less fast and controlled).

Idk about him being a shill, but everyone has their biases, bggr, crinacle, etc. I don’t know of any audio reviewer that hasn’t “shilled” for a specific product they liked more than others. That’s why I feel you can’t really trust them unless they have very similar taste as you, but then… that still involves you needing to buy iems to audition yourself.

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I’d trust Timmy on this one 'cos even when he’s a Moondrop shill, he’s already become so invested in Moondrop he can tell minute differences, and in that video, he kept saying that KATO is only a slight improvement over KXXS.

Very different from his normal “shillness,” so you get the idea. Seems like if you have the KXXS, you’re not missing out not buying KATO. Save money, preserve wallet for better stuff!

Go to 12:14 for the short summary on how he compares all the Moondrop IEMs in their respective focuses. He even said at the end that if you own the Aria or Starfield, you don’t need to upgrade to KATO.

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Timmy did another all-around comparison

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This makes me wonder if there’s any point in getting the KATO when I already love the starfields a lot for not having a harsh sound. The KATO sound like they will be a bit better but sacrifice a bit of the tameness the starfields have. Moondrop on aliexpress says they will ship my kato within 7 days so i still have a bit of time to cancel.

On another note I did get my FDX1 set, been listening to them for hours yesterday and today. Really good set, they blow everything I’ve owned out of the water technical ability wise, aside from the Dusk. Dusk has better soundstage, extension, a more fun tuning and separation but the timbre, tonality, balance (for critical/accurate listening) is way better on the FDX1. They’re surprisingly very resolving. I consider these the benchmark for critical/accurate listening, especially with how they’re able to do it without much coloration (mids are a bit too forward, sound is a bit too bright as well) or any of the weird BA timbre/harmonic distortion you’d have to deal with in a hybrid/ba iem (if you’re sensitive to it like me). These are now my second favorite set behind the starfields and the only reason i like the starfields more because I enjoy the easier to listen to tuning it has. I still think the B2D will be preferred over the FDX1 by most people simply cause the B2D has a more fun tuning. The regular B2 is probably a better comparison but I’ve never tried it before. I wish there was a “dusk” or “moondrop” tuned FDX1 cause I would easily take that over anything.

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I’m a bit worried that Timmy said the Oxygen just straight up beats the Kato. I had hoped they would at least be on par considering the age of Oxygen.

The oxygen sounds like pure ass in this demo though

So I’m not sure what to think at the moment.