Moondrop Venus Headphones Review - Tough competition!

[@marcfly810]

I have owned the following Hifiman headphones, He-500 He-400i, Ananda, Arya, sold them and only kept the He-400i for value for money and as a reference monitor. I also tried the Monoprice M1060-M1060C and the Goldplanar GL2000. I have just completed the correct cable-amp pairing and the Moondroop Venus are spectacular: the precision in spatial placement is impressive, natural, fast and transparent. I can hear details that other headphones dream of. They have a sound halfway between a planar and an electrostatic without the defects of both. They have no brightness compared to what was found with the Arya and a bass that is too colorful and not very precise. In my opinion they are perfectly tuned. Too bad about the side grills which seem designed for cutting thin slices of vegetables, otherwise very comfortable to wear. I would give up all desktop amplifiers to be able to make planar headphones sound worthy. Even though the Venus has a sensitivity of around 100 db I found it less efficient than the Hifiman he-400i which has a rating of 93 db, and both need a robust amplifier with a good current output to be driven correctly. I wouldn't buy Hifiman again and I'm sorry I wasted so much money in the past. My personal setup: Mac+class A solid state amp + silver RCA signal cables + Wireworld occ copper power cable + occ copper balanced headphone cables. My ranking: 1st Venus, 2nd GL2000, 3rd Arya, 4th Ananda, 5th He-400i, 6th M1060C, 7th M1060. for spatial reconstruction and price it would perhaps be right to place the M1060C in 3rd place.

[@PassionforSound]

Glad you're enjoying the Venus. Thanks for sharing your experiences

[@dreamstormPL]

This is true. Venus is spectacular and can fight with flagships. When you upgrade your gear a bit more and use amplifier which has 10W or more GL2000 will beat Venus. Both of them scale crazy with equipment. You are one of few people I guess which heard what's Venus capable of.

[@RetroPlus]

The design reminds me of apple, it's very beautiful but also quite utilitarian at the same time with all those visible machine screws

[@PassionforSound]

Interesting! It's not quite as nice to touch or as refined as Apple products, but I definitely get where you're coming from

[@CaveyMoth]

Grr! I hate those exposed screws on the headband. It makes the headphones look unfinished. A magnetically attached vanity cover would really help. You could even have your waifu etched onto them.

[@PassionforSound]

I quite like them, but I also like the idea of a simple magnetic cover so people can choose.

[@adeadcrab]

not for me sorry

[@PassionforSound]

No apologies needed 🙂

[@bigjalapeno5347]

Nice review, still surprised it's selling at that price.

[@PassionforSound]

Yes. I've just unboxed the Para and it seems to be eating the Venus's lunch with its design and general sound. Sadly, not sure it's doing it better so much as cheaper.

[@fuad000100]

I'm so happy to have found this channel!! Currently, I'm binge-watching all your review videos.

[@frederf69]

been watching this guy for a year or 2 & i must say he is one of the better reviewers ✌😎👍

[@PassionforSound]

So glad you like the content, Fuad. Welcome! And thanks, Fred!

[@Hetsu..]

I would be very curious to see you try this with the ef400, it seems likea good pairing and the pre amp of ef400 is better then the actual headphone amp.

[@PassionforSound]

The EF400 would probably be a good match with the Venus. Not sure the Venus would be my first choice still, but they would work well together

[@arthurhaywood2184]

I listened to the Venus about a month ago at the insistence of my local dealer. Very nice! I was impressed with the bass performance. There’s definitely a little touch of air missing in the treble. The only major negatives for me was the weight and the design/location of the inputs. If was looking for something in their price range, I would have considered a purchase. For whatever reason, Hifiman & Audeze stuff just don’t do it for me.

[@PassionforSound]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Arthur! That's fair enough that you're not into the alternatives. The Venus are definitely a nice headphone, they're just in a tough segment.

[@legendredux1291]

are the location of the inputs really that bothering cause I am thinking of getting this or the PARA but even the para has the same problem

[@arthurhaywood2184]

@@legendredux1291 TBH, it wasn’t so much the location as it was the aesthetics. The boxy looking receptacles just look out of place with the overall design of the headphones. Still, it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for me if I was considering a planar in their price range.

[@frederf69]

its not really the elastic headband or the cheese grater grille that put me off this one; its the down shooting inputs; makes use awkward; keep catching on clothing etc. i do appreciate them using 3.5mm plugs though. having not heard these cans, i wonder how much pad swapping could help/salvage them. insightful review, thank you ✌🎧👍

[@PassionforSound]

I did try a little pad swapping and they responded quite well. Not sure you'll ever get them to the level of the competition though

[@_OpdeeMist]

Thank you mate. A nice review as always. May I say it was a lovely surprise to hear your normal voice for the review. For me, it was a lot more pleasurable and I could listen more intently. Thank you 🙏👍👍🫡

[@PassionforSound]

Glad you liked it! My new reviews are all with my normal voice now 🙂 No need for whispering while the baby sleeps these days.

[@Scrpius]

I don't know if they sound good, but they sure are beautiful.

[@PassionforSound]

I think so too 🙂

[@GadZookz]

One minor mystery is why they named something with such a stark industrial design after the Roman goddess of love. Maybe it looks like something a steampunk astronaut would use on a mission to Venus. Or maybe there is a hidden musical connection, like to Spinal Tap’s legendary album Intervenus de Milo. The truth must be out the somewhere.

[@frederf69]

yes i agree; does seem like a contradiction or inappropriate

[@GadZookz]

@@frederf69 Perhaps it is a homage to Roman armour, conceptually conjoined to the Orwellian doublespeak maxim that war is love. If anyone from Moondrop’s marketing department is about, please clarify.

[@frederf69]

@@GadZookz Mars being the god or war to some. i think G O was just another gate keeping whore. anyhow i'm not getting those Can's. you tempted?

[@PassionforSound]

Wow. We're deep down the philosophical rabbit hole now - I love it!

[@GROBAS666]

What is the song in the beginning? Thanks.

[@PassionforSound]

It's called Hello Yellow by Lupus Nocte

[@AliArghavan]

I think the main competition is Edition XS at 500$.

[@PassionforSound]

Perhaps. I don't have the XS here to compare, but it would be an interesting comparison. Both struggle with soundstage depth, but I think the XS might have a slightly better tonal response.

[@luigismilazzo]

But I never was able to find a XS tha wasn't affectet by bad vibrations of the chassis in 4 times I purchased

[@MioMate]

@@PassionforSound i would take the moondrop, just because of the cq issues hifiman has

[@fahryst]

I hate those elastic headbands, they put extra pressure on top of my head instead of distributing the weight. I still cannot stand my fidelio x3

[@PassionforSound]

Yeah, not a great design IMO

[@MRFUTURETECHNOLOGYGAMING]

passion for sound more like passion for great content While being super entertaining The modhouse Xenon Pads I can't remember which material type But one of those Xenon Pads We'll fix every problem you have You have with the moondrop Venus with the sound stage the separation and everything else I believe that the problems that you're describing are caused by the extremely thin pad and because it's not on all the way solid pad Which the seal could be compromised And it could be not thick enough allowing the space for the driver to breathe And deliver what it's technically capable of That's just my theory but let me know what you think? 😉

[@PassionforSound]

I did a quick pad-roll while I had them and it did help, but I don't have the Xenon pads and now the Venus have left my possession too. You could be onto something though.

[@MioMate]

@@PassionforSound He is right, the sound is a lot better with the modhouse pads

[@fatdoi003]

seems Moondrop is either cashing in their reputation or they should stick to iem?

[@PassionforSound]

No, I think it's an excellent headphone effort. They're just up against some very tough competition. I'll be keen to see what they do next with headphones