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Dang, looks like more expensive Starfield with better cable, new tips and swappable nozzles that apparently don’t even change much in terms of tuning.
Seems like O2 or Dusk would be a better “upgrade”.
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Not surprising considering it is a successor to the KXXS and to the Starfields as well since the Starfields are after all a cheaper KXXS. I think I am going to skip on this one for now (or not if there’s no budget to get the Teas or my Starfields broke.) and get the Mangird Teas instead.
Alright, I decided to do a round up of impressions so far of the KATO for those who are interested in it, especially since the pre-order bonus upgrade cable in a few days. None of these are cherry picked, these are literally all that I could find so far. If I missed any, let me know and I’ll add it here.
Super* Review First Look and Graph: Moondrop KATO - First look and GRAPH - YouTube
Gizaudio First Impressions (and brief Hana 2021 comparison): MOONDROP KATO + TANCHJIM PRISM - First Impressions - YouTube
Some random dude on youtube who got their hands on the KATO early (I didn’t get much out of this one): KATO’s Here! Brief Impression! - YouTube
The first complete head-fi review we have so far: Moondrop Kato new single dynamic driver IEm - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
Head-Fi’s Otto Motor’s Quick notes on the KATO: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-4020#post-16579577
Head-Fi’s Animagus’ Quick OOTB impressions: Moondrop in-ear monitors Impressions Thread | Page 676 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
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Oh my god, now I am even contemplating after seeing one of these reviews on the KATOs. On what they are seeing it is indeed an improvement from the Stafields and I love the Starfields in terms of how they sound.
Also it’s not much of a help when the KATOs are cheaper than the ones that I am saving up for and it will be a while for me to get the Teas, but not the KATOs since those are more easier to get for the price, compared to the Teas.
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I v ended up buying both oxygen and kato 
I mean the mate color 
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I also bought the Kato. Getting that extra K cable with 4.4mm balanced termination!
Never had a Moondrop before, they have a particular house sound apparently, I’m excited to hear it.
I need a well tuned DD and I think this will be it.
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The Mate one ?
Mirror/Silver version!
I don’t like the matte version, looks like a prototype.
Well, let’s agree to disagree then. I like the matte looks industrial rather than a prototype 
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So i’m the only one here that like the mate color or what 
New review, is heavily praised.
My hype for Kato is steadily increasing.
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I prefer Matte as well, shiny silver can be cool but it can be a turn off when it is covered by fingerprints all the time, basically a turn off to me. Matte is the way to go, for I don’t have to worry about polishing my IEMs all day lol.
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Same, maybe I will give myself an excuse to get a pair for myself like after my Starfields broke or something. Moondrop has been good to me so far, though the only thing that is my slight annoyance on them would be the stock tips and stock cables but it is reasonable enough when you get the Arias since those are budget options.
Oh an another slight complaint I have would be that my Starfields and Arias as I said, have paint chipping off, and I just hope it does not happen to the KATOs once I have the opportunity and money to get them.
Will be shipped early next month.
(but my LZ A4 Pro just got shipped today)
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My DQ6 is on the deposit storage right now, probably in 2-3 days I will get it. Hopefully your rec will make my metal songs slam 
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Prediction:
Kato more agreeable tuning, more organic, smoother.
Oxygen better technicalities, slightly more detail. Larger stage.
We’ll see!
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Teas are tuned very different, from what I understand they’re very good at everything except female vocals. They are probably the most natural sounding hybrid if other ppls opinions are anything to go by, but they look like they lack a bit of bite for the things like guitar, electric guitar, etc. on the graphs. I’ve seen some people call them “not exciting enough”, but I’m still really interested in how these sound, the FR graph looks like it would be a really comfortable listen.
KATO is tuned more like the oxygen/Hana/starfield/aria/etc so you kinda know what you’re getting with that. The tweaks to the tuning is small but it fixes the issues the starfield had, such as having a bit too much vocal presence (which I actually kinda liked so might be a con for me tbh), and not enough having enough treble.
I feel like the matte version is probably cheaper to produce so moondrop was probably happy to throw that option in.
I made a small discord poll in crinacle’s server to see who liked matte or polished more. Everyone voted for matte, looks like most ppl like the matte version more. I love how both look so I’d probably take either.
Thanks, I’ll add this to my post. Also really looking forward to your oxygen to Kato comparison since you’ve ordered both.
I expect the oxygen to still win tbh, but I do think the gap will be narrow. I think the Hana 2021 makes more sense for comparison, which is also very good.
Idk about more agreeable tuning (I’ve never heard the oxygen before afterall) but I agree with the rest of the points.
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Tea’s female vocals are TOTL. That’s the reason it’s my favourite set. Not it’s bass or treble.
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