Moondrop Chu II review

Replaceable cables(!) look tangled to start. Join is a plastic stamp. Cable seems considered and good quality. Plug is a cheap right‐angle, but gold‐plated. Strain reliefs look for show only, and none to earphones. Eartips are rubber something and needed pinch and twist onto the nozzles—not easy—then sit shallow. The housings are small but relatively heavy—they are designed to be worn with the cable over the ear, so the cable is pre‐bent. L/R; no mark on the cable, so you’ll need to guess/test, and back/forward plug insertion not clear however, once that’s done one earphone has a full lotus symbol, the other only a leaf, so no problem in use. The earphones are zinc alloy, the nozzles brass, explaining the weight. Over‐ear placement is, as always, secure and annoying to fit. No EQ; there was a Moondrop Chu II DSP for a while—‐this replaced with a model JIU—and a replacement Digital Signal Processing cable is available. But this earphone claims simple‐replaceable nozzle filters (!) Likely robust, but not perhaps durable—the paint could chip, cheap detachable cables not convincing, and all feels precious. Can’t see anyone complaining about wearing these—for what they are, good‐looking.

About average for volume. Range is average. Timing seems lazy, but balanced, which makes it average overall. Swells maintain composure but seem compressed. Some peakiness in horns, and a scrape in the top of mid strings, seems to show on top of percussion also. A rise in low frequencies seems nicely sloped. Frequency range is average. Replay is clean, with no echo. Details are not outstanding, but balance and cleanliness lets them through. A colorless performance, but even across the frequencies. Scale is average, positioning is there, can wander a little.

Good voice earphones. The balance and string section replay means these are for orchestra, soundtracks have detail. Minimal performances sound open and clear. Light and slow for rock, not dynamic, but dig the instruments. Same but works better for pop. EQ said the Chu II needs more deep low notes and something needs squashing in the high notes—when applied gave outstanding performance, but it’s good anyway.