If I didnāt buy the timeless yet, I would for sure go for the S12. I may get a chance to test drive one in the near future.
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OG B2 canāt handle busy tracks well, at least from the kpop music library side of it. If given to a korean drama OST library, the B2 excels on that due to how intimate it can be on the vocals in the mids.
What the Variations excels at from my end, is the imaging and resolution of the vocals around your ears due to how many vocalists in a kpop group song. Itās also able to handle bright songs very well. Kpop library-wise and regarding vocals, the strength here is not the vocals in the mids but the resolution of the vocals around you. (Ex. āColoring Bookā by Oh My Girl)
I canāt speak for live music since I donāt listen to them but the mid-bass and some live band instruments does take a back seat in some of the tracks that I listen to. (Ex. āWhy So Lonelyā by Wonder Girls)
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Hey, i have the Variations an find them over all really good, but iām missing just a bit warmth in the mids/upper bass. Im new to the EQ-Game and since yesterday i have the qudelix 5kā¦ thought its a easy way to start.
This is what i tried, sounds warmer. But i donāt know if this is the best way to do it?
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Hi iāve been lurking the whole thread and yet couldnāt make up my mind about if i should buy them or not
My only iem of reference is the aria, wich i like a lot but tend to EQ a bit of bass boost on bass demanding songs (not every song tho)
These are examples of those kind of songs that iām referreing to: TULE - Lost - YouTube
Jay Hardway - Electric Elephants (Official Music Video) - YouTube
Can you guys help me decide if the variations is good for me or if i would feel the lack of mid bass just too flat? Also does the variations respond well to EQ?
i mainly listen to edm, house, dubstep, pop, dance; thanks a bunch
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In case you want to buy it, you just missed the sale on hifigo.
It is all a matter of preference and I personally havenāt heared the Variations. But I think I can still give a point of reference:
- I owned the Aria. I wasnāt too impressed by it, but still like it overall better than my previous IEM the CCA C12.
- After that I bought the Blessing 2 and was severly disappointed. It was technically much better, but sounded very boring and was severly lacking treble extension.
- I played a lot with EQ and can say the Blessing 2 handled EQ much better than other (more expensive) IEMs I tried to eq. I would assume same goes for the Variations.
- I ended up mostly tuning the Blessing 2 towards the Frequency Response of the Variations and the EQed Blessing 2 is still one of the best IEMs I have heared (but again: preference). I for one enjoyed scoping out the midbass, but I am probably a minority with that preference. It was great for EDM
Ever since I am on the fence about buying the Variations as well 
Should you buy them? I guess it depends on what you want to achieve. If you just want fun bass, you can get the CCA CRA. It is a great set and costs 15$ā¦ a lot of fun to be had with that set. If you donāt mind spending that moneyā¦ sure, get the Variations. It will definitely be better on a technical level - no contest. But in my experience technicalities arenāt as super important as general tonality and the Variations is probably not 500$ better than the CRA (depending on how you value things)
EDIT: No matter if you buy the Variations or notā¦ you should probably buy the CRA is what I am trying to say 
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Hey, thanks for the answer, i forgot to mention, i already have some not-high technical headphones with emphasis on basses wich i use for fun, what i am looking for is some high detail iem wich wouldnāt feel lacking of something with my music library.
Yet again, thanks for the quick response 
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Moondrop released a new low-cost headphone / IEM without removable cables named the āChuā.
I thought of you immediately - I recall youāre a Loona fan.
Must buy for the name alone!
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You know me well but Iām good for now hahaha. Maybe Iāll get it when I need it for more casual use or as a 2nd set for office use. Thanks for thinking of me!
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Hello, Iām fairly new to hifiguides in general. My previous iems are blon 01, blon 03, kz dq6, moondrop spaceship, and kz edx pro. Sources: as of now cx31993 and oem alc5686 4.4mm dongle. After trying some budget iems, I realized that thereās no significant upgrade to budget stuffs, I could try to go around 300 usd, but I prefer one time big time purchase. I mainly use earbuds(diy) because thereās something in the mids of the buds that I canāt get with my previous iems. Iāve been eying moondrop variations for my purchase. Iāve listed some reasons not to buy it. Iām hoping that you could help to test some tracks links if the reasons will affect my listening experience.
Reasons not to buy it:
Fit
Thin mids?
Mid bass lacking?
Can be shouty?
Male vocals sound shallow?
It has around the same size as kz dq6? Itās good if it is around the same size, dq6 have a good fit for me.
ps. I could probably get moondrop variations for around 432 USD brand new.
Test tracks/playlists(youtube):
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Forgot to add, which is a better option
Straight to moondrop variations+current dongles or blessing 2 dusk+(fiio btr5 or qudelix 5k)?
I canāt speak to whether you should get the Variations vs. your current IEMs. All I can say is they are amazing to my ears - basically end game as I am already over and above diminishing returns.
Re: Variations vs. Blessing + dongles. They both sound the same.
The only differences are that Qudelix 5K has EQ and both 5K and BTR5 have better volume control vs. dongle.
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Thanks for the response. Please share some playlist /songs that you mostly enjoy with variations so I can test it if will align with my preferences.
Youāll be happier with Variations + current dongles. It sounds hella great with my Sony NW-A55 and thatās the least powered DAP.
EDIT: Supposed to reply to @Maki_Zenin , my bad!
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Thanks for the reply. Now Iāve got less reasons not to buy it haha. Itās size is the only challenger for now. But I wish that moondrop would update the variations like moondrop chu update from spaceship.
Tips will definitely help with the fitting. My ears arenāt that big but it fits nicely with mine and I was able to wear it at ease for more than 3 hours. Iām still using the spinfits CP145 (M) today and is still comfortable!
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I donāt think a good dongle vs BTR5/Qudelix will make a significant sonic difference either way. The main benefit of these is the Bluetooth option, and the PEQ on the Qudelix 5K.
I have both IEMs and both are great. Personally, I find the Dusk a better all-round tuning than the Variations. The Variations is very good, but itās a more opinionated tuning, the Dusk is safer with more stuff. And the Variations is also $200 more, itās not $200 better, IMO. So Iād say just get the Dusk. But if you do get the Variations, itās also very good.
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Thanks, my only issue with dusk is I donāt have the payment option to buy it directly from shenzenaudio but if someone resells their unit it might be a good option. For the Q5K Iām also thinking of the portability + peq so if ever I want to change the sound of the dusk it will be easy.
Anyone can share a photo side of moondrop variations/blessing 2 dusk with the kz dq6(Iāve seen a post that says that the size of variations/b2d is around the size of kz dq6) so Iāll have an idea for the fitting and size.
+1 for Q5K. I got it for the PEQ and am very happy the ability to EQ on the go
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