Moondrop Para - very not bad!

Depends on how loud you would like to listen. The low impedance and low-efficiency combo can trip the thermal protection.

 

Just got hold of a used Para, and I have to say with the upgraded EP100A pads they do sound pretty damn nice. Thanks for this thread, which was one of the factors in my staying alert for an eventual deal on those.

 

Does Para have that inherent to magnetoplanar headphones metallic sheen to their tonality?

 

Okay, nobody answered, so I went to the local store to listen to Moondrop Para. My goal was to buy something else this time. The street the store is situated in was in the state of blackout, so the store was operating under limited power supply of the diesel generator. I had only brief several minutes with Para and didn't make a definitive impression.

At first, I drove Para with LG V60 phone. Stupid, yes. V60 electrical circuit will cry "mommy" while driving 8 Ohms. The source was clearly insufficient to drive Para at reasonably listenable level. At 75/75 volume level the loudness was clearly lacking. Then I asked to drive headphones from their source. They declined due to lack of power (read above). Hovewer, the store guy gave me an USB dongle with 3.5 and 4.4 bal outputs to play around. The volume level rose to the level I usually listen to normally, which is a good thing. But I still felt these cans can scale better than that.

I've injured myself badly this year and needed to undergo several surgeries, so this time I didn't pull the trigger. With this brief limited experience I was impressed. It's like AKG K702 and Beyerdynamic had a baby. The soundstage was wide and relaxed. Mids were prominent and focused. Bass was there with plenty of punch and proper separation from mids, no bleed into lower mids was spotted. No planar metallicity was spotted (again, I listened to 3 tracks overall — nothing definitive).

Hopefully in not that distant future I'll recover from surgical aftermath and will get a pair to listen to music in these in appropriate manner at home. I liked these.

 

I had been looking for Paras for a while as I wanted a modern planar with a sound signature roughly similar to the HD600 or the NB Staxes I tend to use as my daylies, with forward mids and not excessive treble. A few weeks ago I found a used one and got it, and after trying the included pads I settled on the EP-100A which bring them very close to my ideal sound.

I ended up liking them a lot, so tonight I took some measurements to validate what I'm hearing. Measurements are on a flat plate, chain is Soekris dac1221 and either a Stax T1s or Schiit Lyr+ in ss mode.

Paras with EP-100A pads vs my HD600

Paras with EP-100A pads vs one my Stax SR-Xmk3, I did not expect them to be so similar TBH; Paras have more bass of course.


I'm really happy with them of course, this is exactly what I was looking for.

 

Excellent! Could you share less smoothened plots, if that's not too much issue? And maybe CSD and distortion measurements too if that's not a bother, rather curious about how these would manifest certain features. What's your flat plate rig like, is it a firmer coupler or something a bit more lossy? Sorry, unfamiliar with yours. Thanks!

 

My rig is a custom thingy in thick wood, with a Umik-1 inside and a sheet of rubber on the headphone side to facilitate pad adhesion.



Unsmoothed graphs, I'm keeping the SR-Xmk3 for comparison.


Moondrop waterfall


Again, the stat for comparison


And finally both impulse responses. I can also share the measurement files if you want.

 

Forgot about distortion, here it is.

 

Moondrop Para First impression It's very bright, thin, sharp, very unnatural vocals, can't hear at all. But when switching Pads to EP100A, the game changed. The sound is smoother, much better than Stock Pads, but the vocals are still a bit too forward. Then I switched to Velvet Pads* and I found the real Endgame without EQ, natural tone, balanced, relaxing, smooth, flowing, no peak. For me, it's perfect, except for the weight.

Velvet* > EP100A / Mesh*(more Bass,Treble) >>> Stock
(*Ask seller to separate the ring.)

 

Your Para impressions seem to be your first post here. Please read the rules and introduce yourself.

Para is super picky about amp matching and even cable matching due to the ridiculous impedance. When underpowered, this is what it sounds like. It's still a bright headphone when properly powered, but not what I would call thin. Based on the photo, you're running this on a balanced connection from a dongle, which is presenting a 4Ω load to the amp. I would not recommend this with a dongle amp, or even most desktop amps.

Chord Mojo 2 is a good match. Rob Watts has stated that it was designed to be stable down to 8Ω and based on my testing I find that it powers the Para about as well as the Schiit Rekkr.

What's the difference between the hybrid pads included in the box and the EP100A pads? The photo looks identical to what came with my Para.

 

Para's hybrid pads = PU, micro-perforated inside face, inner hole 4.5x6
EP100A = Sheepskin, inner hole 5x6.5

 

Thank you! That's very helpful.

 

This seller can remove the Hifiman ring that is normal glued on to the earpads and leave you with a usable earpad lip? How do the Para earpads attach? I've removed the plastic ring from earpads before and it's kind of a mess. So I'm curious! Thanks.

 

Para pads attach via a metal ring you slide into the pads, the cups have magnets to hold it in place.

Edit: found a picture.

 

Yes, if you ask seller to separate the ring.


EP100A does not come with metal ring.
If you need more metal ring, you can ask Taobao Moondrop, 50CNY per pair.

 

It seems that Aliexpress sellers can't separate the rings, but Taobao can.
华海旺耳机套 (Huahaiwang earphone set)
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=666884847083
Don't forget to tell the seller to separate the rings before ordering.

I sent my headphones to someone who has a KB501X + IEC 60318-4 rig.