MoondropARIA 2 in-Ear Headphone with 0.78 2 Pin Cable

I hope this helps someone who is like me wondering what to get up to $100 or less for an IEM or headphones etc…I wanted a good iem for bass, listening to music and gaming. Headphones just never are comfortable for extended periods and bulky. I love bass and edm, so that was important, but so was gaming and hearing footsteps for FPS games and overall soundstage and quality. I started with ATH M40x Audio Technica over ear headphones… just wasn’t comfortable. sound was just decent. Then I got Truthear Crinacle Zero iem’s…. just sounded overly boosted and artificial and for gaming was barely ok ish but not good.I then thought what the heck, lets try these Moondrop Aria 2 iem’s. Boom! Mission accomplished! while im sure there can be other recommendations and other good iem’s out there let me just tell you these work and work well without an amp or DAC. just plugged into my PC 3.5 basic realtek audio jack. i like drum and bass edm and the bass is solid, great, good balanced sound, good for gaming just no complaints and completely happy. I really didnt want to spend more then $100 cause im living in a hotel rn and Im also a dj and have great equipment in storage.Anyhow this was a long ass review but if your criterion’s are similar to mine and budget too, this will be very satisfactory.Cheers

The Aria 2 is still outrageously competitive in the $80 bracket. A little bit more could get you an EM6L, but the Aria make a case for themselves. The leather case is lovely. The IEM's are gorgeous and satisfyingly hefty. They have a nice clean fit that should work with everyone's ears. The cable is very nice and has interchangeable heads. The box is art. I wish they had more tips but that's nitpicking, the included set was fine. They're low power enough to run on everything plugged into them.The whole package just feels like a very nice, premium product.As for sound? They're very musical. V shaped, so a bit bright on the treble, punchy and present bass. They're not the fastest on bass decay, but I'm nitpicking. Mids aren't too recessed, vocals are still great, and the single dynamic means they have a very cohesive, balanced sound. Energetic and fun, at the expense of some clealiness and neutrality. I wouldn't get them for someone super into classical music (big orchestral pieces? Simgot EM6L, outrageously good for that)The soundstage is average, not spacious but not claustrophobic. They handle complex pieces well with decent layering and imaging. Gaming performance is just fine. I throw them in my steam deck all the time and have a blast. If I played more competitive stuff, the EM6L would be my choice, and I do have a compelling soft spot for the detail and accuracy of the Aful MagicOne, but those are more expensive.Overall, the sound is very competent and well rounded, focusing on fun more than accuracy and crazy detail, but they're still no slouch. And the overall premium package of them and that they don't need any extra amplification at all makes them just a compellingly excellent idea for a gift. If you know someone who likes music and doesn't have a nice set of headphones, or have max budget around $80 and don't really know what you like yet, these are an outstanding gift idea. They're a part of my regular IEM collection and I've got no reason to get rid of them!

But paint peels off pretty quickly, like 2 months in for me.

the left side progressively started dying as soon as I got them. thought it was a driver issue but a couple months later and I realize they were just defective it's completely unusable. This was the case for the left side. right side still works and sounds fine. won't buy again just for the left side fix but will try getting free replacement for the left side.

Left earbud will stop receiving audio after about 3 months of use. This is my second pair, and now sadly after the return window. Wasted money. They are decent quality until this point.The ear catchers hurt my ears after about 5 hours of usage as well. They will leave a noticeable red mark on the top of your ears.

I’ve had these for a few weeks now and I have really been enjoying them. They fit well and that’s not always the case for my ears. I’m also really pleased with the quality. They feel very premium. The sound is very clear with clean and strong bass and good treble that isn’t harsh or painful.

Really nice sound and I love it until it stopped working. 5 months after the purchase the right unit became low in volume, got pretty good customer service and they sent me a new unit and I appreciated that.Now 2 more months the left unit becomes low too, I think Moondrop really did a good job on the sound, but not craftsmanship though.

My fiancé loves them for gaming, great sound quality and directional sound. Heavy feeling only issue would be keeping them clean.