Moondrop Aria 2 Reviews and Discussion

Moondrop Aria 2
MSRP: $89.99

The unit reviewed here was provided by Shenzhen Audio
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-aria-2-in-ear-headphone

I have enjoyed Moondrop in-ears for several years now and they have been one of my favorite go-to brands. They consistently offer good tunings, as a whole, across their line-up, and are high value to performance ratios. I’ve had high hopes of Moondrop staying the course on this proven track, while continuously improving upon previous efforts, so needless to say, I was looking forward to hearing the new Aria 2.



The Aria 2 is a 10mm single dynamic that has purportedly seen improvements in the driver itself, as well as the acoustic chamber in which it resides. Moondrop claims the driver structure is patented and contains a TiN ceramic-coated dome composite they developed. As to what other improvements have been made, the Moondrop marketing material doesn’t really specify.

The housing is all metal construction (alloy casting, CNC milled) and supposedly is held together with customized screws versus the typical adhesive. The nozzle and screw on caps are gold-plated brass. The screw on nozzle cap, which is easily replaceable, contains the screen and filter (no more stick on mesh filters to lose). The underside of the body, still contains 2 vents in similar location as the previous model, but the inner-most pressure-relieving vent, nearest the nozzle has been redesigned inside a recessed area of the housing. The new housings look considerably more high-end than the previous painted Aria and Starfield. They also feel more substantial; I weighed them both on my coffee scale and the Aria 2 comes in about 3 grams heavier per side over the OG Aria.

The Aria 2 also updated upon the OG with a different case and cable. The old cable was a thinner, black cloth covered cable. I actually quite like the old cable, due to its soft pliability and low profile looks, but I know some have complained about the cloth wearing over time or causing some microphonics. The new silver colored cable is considerable thicker, reminding me of the Kato stock cable, except with a bit better ergonomics. It’s not stiff like the Kato cable but still isn’t as soft and pliable as what I prefer. On the updside, it comes with replaceable plugs, so you can choose between 3.5mm and 4.4mm. In the end, I switched it out for a lighter and more pliable XINHS cable but I’m sure many will like the Aria 2’s cable. The case is a leather-like, round zipper case. It’s a good bit more roomy than the tight fitting, smaller (too small) case of the OG.


From left to right: OG Aria, Aria 2 case, Aria 2 stock cable, Aria 2 with XINHS cable


Sound

My instant impressions upon my first listen were of a better balanced, more technical, refined evolution of the OG Aria. Bass feels tighter and better textured. The midrange seems to have more clarity and transparency and the top end is crisper, sharper and possibly more resolving. Dare I say, Aria is all grown up?

The Aria 2 goes for a mostly neutral with bass boost signature but also with a bit of warmth in the lower midrange, versus the typical lean (scooped) lower midrange of Harman-ish tuned in-ears. The bass is pretty balanced between sub and mid bass; there is satisfying impact and rumble for electronic and rap music without being heavy handed or under-represented.

Vocals are great; they are forward and engaging. Male vocals have a natural heft and weight and female vocals have proper energy and transparency. Rock guitars have welcomed body and weight, while also having very good bite and crunch.

Treble is fairly sparkly but with very good note definition. Cymbals crashes stand out but are well defined with a natural brassy-like timbre. Some hotter recordings can be a bit sharp and some sibilants can be slightly accentuated, due to this, I opted for a medium bore tip versus my typical wide bore preference.


Comparisons

Vs OG Aria
I used Ortofon silicon tips on both, as these are medium bore and fantastically comfortable.

The OG bass is softer and has less texturing; it’s more indistinct in comparison. Aria 2 has more impact and similar levels of rumble, but texturing is noticeably improved and more pronounced. Aria 2 bass is a cleaner, tighter and overall improved bass response.

OG has a bit less upper-mid ear-gain and as a result, it sounds warmer overall with a more laid back, relaxed presentation. Both male and female vocals sound a bit weightier and more intimate on OG, while female vocals on Aria 2 do have a little more energy and transparency. Aria 2 also has a more realistic bite and attack with rock guitars, while maintaining a pleasant heft and weight.

Aria 2 sounds airier and with more treble sparkle. Its treble is easily more resolving, bringing low level detail more forward. Where the OG is more intimate and little smaller overall, the Aria 2 just sound more open and is noticeable wider in staging.

Aria 2 is easily clearer, more transparent and more resolving throughout. The result is a pretty significant difference in overall resolution. There is more grit, more liveliness, better realism. Aria 2 is simply on another level versus the OG.

However the OG isn’t exactly rendered irrelevant. It’s sound is a comfy, warmer more relaxed listen. If you wanted to have music more in the background or perhaps something to sleep with, the OG demands much less attention and may be more fitting for those scenarios.





Vs Kato

Having listened to Aria 2 a lot with heavy comparison to Aria OG and Kato, it really feels like Moondrop gave the OG Aria ‘the Kato treatment’ to produce the Aria 2. It really does sound like a mini-Kato!

Bass is pretty similar at first blush, but Kato does have a bit more deep bass rumble and Aria 2 is a little bit more mid-bass focused in comparison. Kato bass is better textured overall, more nuanced with longer decays; its more satisfying with my electronic tracks; but the Aria 2’s slightly greater impact is more satisfying with my hard hitting rap tracks. These are pretty small but noticeable nuances.

Perhaps its the Kato’s longer decays, or hair less upper-mid ear-gain but male vocals have slightly more warmth and weight. There’s a bit more authority to them and bit more nuance like throat inflections, parting of lips, etc. Female vocals are very, very similar. Both have engaging energy and transparency. Aria 2 is pushed bit more forward, and Kato has a bit more control over natural sibilants, keeping them a little bit more at bay. Just like with the vocals, rock guitars are a just a hair warmer and perhaps just a hair more laid back with Kato, and conversely have little more bite and attack with Aria 2.

Both Kato and Aria 2 have pretty similar sparkle. Listening to the same busy cymbal crashes section a track, both are crisp and sharp. Whereas the Kato can be just a little steely on occasion, Aria 2 sounds a little more brassy in timbre to my ears, but it’s a pretty small difference. If you find Kato a little too crisp, you will also find Aria 2 a little crisp, they are really very similar up top.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is how they present the sonic image. Aria 2 is more upfront, more aggressive. Kato has more space, more blackness around instruments and performers. Kato’s longer decays and better layering give the feeling of a larger and deeper space. This slightly less intense and more spacious performance makes Kato a little easier to listen to over longer listening sessions.





Conclusion

Pound for pound, the Kato is still my favorite Moondrop in-ear I’ve heard; it’s just such a great value to performance ratio. However, Aria 2 has definitely closed the gap considerably and quite easily earns the nick: mini-Kato. A strong argument could be made for the new Aria 2 having the best values to performance ratio of the line-up, considering the price difference.

The Aria 2 is part of the glorious race to the bottom happening in the current in-ear market. This kind of sound for less than $100 would have been not only unheard a decade ago, but quite frankly, unthought of. Highly recommended.

 

Super Review's squiglink has measurements of Aria 2, OG Aria and Kato, so I've added them to the review at the end of the comparisons. Normally I'd use Crin's but he has yet to measure the Aria 2.

 

Is there a differential on Crin Target -vs- Harmon 2013? Curious so I can triangulate.

 

Crin’s tool doesn’t have Harman 2013 but has the over versions: 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2019v2. 2019v2 is the only one I can compare to his Crin 2023 target with the free version of his tool.

Here they are aligned at 500hz. If I’m not mistaken, the Crin 2023 is .8db per octave diffuse field tilt with no bass boost. Note: this is the ‘711’ versions of the targets, since there isn’t yet a Harman target compatible with the 5128 rig.

 

On the Super Review’s squig link, there is ‘Harman Adjusted’. I’m not sure what that means, but here that is compared to Crin 2023 and the Aria 2 measurements on Mark’s 711 clone rig:

 

I recently received the May as well from Shenzhen Audio. Unfortunately I won't be able to test the app as it's only for Android. I have seen Goldensound's video review of the FreeDSP cable and indeed the app looks a good bit quirky from his review. It's a great idea though and hopefully they can refine it and also support iOS with it at some point (if Qudelix can figure it out, surely others can).

Supposedly the default DSP setting on the cable is supposed to be the same as using a normal 3.5mm IEM cable (at least that's what I gather from Super Review's measurements). However using the Aria 2 stock cable (same cable minus the DSP and dac/amp) along with the Apple dongle sounded better to me than the stock DSP cable setting. I thought the default DSP sounded a bit too soft and laid back up top. The regular cable with Apple dongle sounds more dynamic and lively, as well is more incisive. At this point I would not put it at the same level as Aria 2 but these are just very initial impressions. I'll need to spend more time after the holidays. At any rate, it does seem promising.