If i buy a $70-$80 TWS, i expect decent materials and features, not only a good driver inside a cheap build with low quality components 😕 Thanks for the honest review!!
@@Ricky_RSC the sound quality and tuning options in the moondrop software (specifically the 5128 tuning option) alone make it worth all of these "problems"
LDAC isn't disabled. You also have to update the app after the firmware update. There's a new tab for codec settings, allowing you to enable/disable both LDAC and LC3.
I sold my Golden Ages to get a Liberty 4 NC. Sound quality wise the L4NC cannot compete with the atrocious boomy V shaped tuning out of the box compared to Golden Ages. But gets decent when I crank the 100hz and 200hz way down, and 12.8k way up with EQ but still not on par with Golden Ages though. Other than the SQ issues, I kept the L4NC just because of way better ANC, mic, battery, and app.
No way the L4NC has better sound quality. At this price point (50-100 bucks) I don't think anything can beat Moondrop GA in sound quality. GA has crystal clear mid, lots of details and the bass is quite punchy (but not thumpy though, which personally is a plus to me since it doesn't make me feel fatigued during long session). Overall I think it's about 80% the quality of the Aria2. The thing is, we are talking about TWS here - sacrificing audio quality for convenience is the trend nowadays. The quality is already not that good compared to wired IEMs or headphones, may as well lose some more quality for absolute bonker user experience. Great ANC, great battery time, great microphone, maybe a great build quality as well for flexing purpose lol. So yes, I agree with your opinion against getting the GA. I just don't agree with the reasoning. By the way, L4NC is not really a great choice for general daily use. At this price I'd suggest the Galaxy Buds FE: great mic, insane ANC for this price (wind-proof as well) and low latency game mode. Shit battery though, 30 minutes less than GA in fact, but 5.5 hours should be enough for commuting.
After testing the Golden Age demo unit last week, I found its sound quality, ANC, and transparency mode to be very similar to the Space Travel. If you already own Space Travel, Golden Age wouldn't be a significant upgrade.
How could that be though? I've heard this a lot from many reviews. From my personal experience with planars (KZ PR1 and Hifiman Sundara), planars simply sounds distinctly different to BB/BA's just by the virtue of them being planars alone. One of the key points of planars are low distortion and very fast attack. They have a certain character, mainly on the bass (hence, the "planar bass" term) and very clean treble. Can you elaborate more, or are you talking about the tuning here?
There's a reason why I didn't mention 'planar' so much is because it's hard for me to find significant difference compared to space travel, maybe just the fact that they have to reduce the budget so significantly that this happened? Who knows Yes the details are slightly better, but at the same time the tuning is much different, and the price is just much more expensive, I kinda share the feeling of velliam tbh
@@silentKeys20 I agree, planar drivers have a really unique type of bass. Sounds punchy, but not thumpy (therefore is less tiring on the ears); feels very clean and clear, with precise impact on specific parts of the song (again, making it enjoyable while not too fatiguing). It's definitely not the "insanely fun" kind of feeling, but enough for me to tap my finger to vibe along. Folks who are more used to traditional budget TWS may not like this kind of bass. Personally I feel that the GA sounds very close to the Aria2.
I'm more of a bass guy so probably wouldn't pick these as my main go to tws. I would request you to review the QCY line up since they punch above their weight and the offerings are quite good imo but would love to see your take on these tws. ✌️✌️
welp then. thx for the reviews, this really calmed my urge to upgrade from soundpeats engine 4. keep doing comparison with your old ones! really appreciate it!
my Moondrop Nekocake feels iffy less than a year after purchase. Right side sometimes doesnt charge, and i need to manually turn it on often time than not. I like Moondrop's IEMs, but I adon't think I will buy their TWS or other product again!
Yeah dude, but honestly Nekocake just bad at first batch Now the problem is decreased But uh,.. yeah their product still have a lot problem with QC, even some people said it just bad as Kz Quality Control last year
Bought Engine 4 after watching your video, and happy to report that I love it so much.. I never use my EW200 anymore, that I like so much before.. 😄😄😄.. For engine 4, I always use treble eq on tws app and put a bit more eq on phone, and all is well... Thanks for the recommendation..
I feel like the spacetravel have an amazing price to performance ratio while these ones are not good in this. Maybe if they would cost around 40 to 50$€ i would consider them.
If you like moondrop signature sound , yes it's worth it. But if you want all rounder with better build quality, the competition is tight, especially from edifier, earfun, etc
How does it compare to the Truthear Hexa just from the sound signature? Hexa is my favorite IEM and is interested with the Golden Ages because its FR graph is similar to the Hexa's(similar price too). I personally don't care about ANC and transparency since I'd only ever use them indoors, so if they sound close, it's good enough for me.
Monitor preset reduces a lot of bass, which is probably why you didn't feel any significant difference between GA and ST. Bass is much better in the GA in my opinion, though not in a "fun" kind of way - more like pleasant and vibey. I agree that GA is very niche in this price range. At the ST's price bracket, everything is equally shitty so the ST's phenomenal mid easily gets it to the top under $30. Not the $80 GA though. Most general users don't care about or can't even feel the extra quality, but the ANC and especially the microphone will be criticized to death. If you absolutely value audio quality, get wired IEMs. If you absolutely value convenience (for general daily use), get something like a pair of Galaxy Buds. GA is for those who want a wireless IEM without having to buy an IEM and a BT adapter. And for that purpose I'd say it's pretty good, about 80% the quality of the Aria 2. Moondrop just loves to sacrifice almost everything for sound quality. May as well remove the shitty mic and transparency mode and save that money for something, like a better ANC or build quality (for flexing purpose). If I buy the GA, I want to conveniently (wirelessly) listen to some great music and nothing else. I will gladly take off my buds to take a call using the phone's built-in mic. Same for talking to other people - it's more polite too. Still, I bought the GA for 63 bucks. At this price I will forget about the mic, as if it's not there. I will forgive Moondrop for recycling the ST's shells. At least the box art is fabulous 🤣
Hey Kenneth (or anyone reading this), i'm very confused on which TWS i should buy (since there's so many to choose from!) that offers excellent microphone quality, preferably under $100. I was thinking to buy this moondrop pair but judging by the video, they seems to be very underwhelming, huh?
Oh yeah, i wanted to know How long does the battery last? I mean the TWS itself (like how many years assuming it never fall or get damaged) My friend has Nekocake, now it broken one of the buds won't charge, it's happened after less than one year used Meanwhile mine still at good condition I've seen dude using Haylou GT1 and take about 3 years to get battery broken, Also here my other Question, about battery on TWS, is there way to replace it? Or the only thing we can do is buy the same thing again?
They really screwed up with this one. It could have been good. I kinda regret buying this one as the LDAC is so finicky and you can't use one earbud at a time when enabled. Man....
@@Yaqins I don't know about that. Sony's WF seem to work just fine and they are TWS. I meant just using one bud at a time, if you use one bud and leave the other in the case it stays on and the battery drains on both sides.
There's actually one I've tested that can do both LDAC and multipoint, which is the OPPO Enco X2 But yeah my experience with LDAC hasn't been so bad, it's just I hardly can justify the extra battery drain for some percentage of sound improvement if there's any, and you tell me we can't use one earbud at a time... Goodness
@@namedkenn Yeah once you turn LDAC on I can't seem to use them one at a time. I've tested it myself as I use them for both work and gym (3 hours of battery is dreadful). It's such a shame too as Iike the design. Luckily I still have my Space Travel and honestly, they're a lot less hassle than the Golden Ages.
Hello Kenneth, I been enjoying your video recently but somehow it doesn't seem like you will be reviewing that one earbuds that got me interested - the nothing ear (a). Now you rare reviewing a $70 Moondrop, would I see the nothing here at such a similar price point?
If i buy a $70-$80 TWS, i expect decent materials and features, not only a good driver inside a cheap build with low quality components 😕 Thanks for the honest review!!
Just save up and get a nice anc headphone imo
Well said! There's so much to expect at this price range that Moondrop just falls short of, so yeah it's a nuh uh this time
@@Ricky_RSC the sound quality and tuning options in the moondrop software (specifically the 5128 tuning option) alone make it worth all of these "problems"
@@namedkennwell I guessed moondrop really dropped us with some disappointments...too much
LDAC isn't disabled. You also have to update the app after the firmware update. There's a new tab for codec settings, allowing you to enable/disable both LDAC and LC3.
That's great to hear! Thanks for this it's really unfortunate that there's no notification whatsoever about the app update (esp since it's sideloaded)
Hi, where is the tab for the codec settings??😶
@@Darkoholic Update the app.
Start the app.
Choose your Golden Ages at the device selection screen.
Head to Setting > Codec Setting.
The app isn’t available in iOS so Apple users lose out on this.
I reviewed them this month as well, was not happy with what MoonDrop provided for $70. Nice balanced take Kenneth 🙌🏻
Yeah well it's more niche than ever, and ANC is really unacceptable at this price point, thanks by the way I'll check yours out too 😁
Personally, at that price range I would highly suggest getting Soundcore Liberty 4NC. Better sound quality and more superior ANC.
I sold my Golden Ages to get a Liberty 4 NC. Sound quality wise the L4NC cannot compete with the atrocious boomy V shaped tuning out of the box compared to Golden Ages. But gets decent when I crank the 100hz and 200hz way down, and 12.8k way up with EQ but still not on par with Golden Ages though. Other than the SQ issues, I kept the L4NC just because of way better ANC, mic, battery, and app.
Thank you for your info, i've seen some people said the same thing compared it with Liberty 4NC
I completely agree to be honest
No way the L4NC has better sound quality. At this price point (50-100 bucks) I don't think anything can beat Moondrop GA in sound quality. GA has crystal clear mid, lots of details and the bass is quite punchy (but not thumpy though, which personally is a plus to me since it doesn't make me feel fatigued during long session). Overall I think it's about 80% the quality of the Aria2.
The thing is, we are talking about TWS here - sacrificing audio quality for convenience is the trend nowadays. The quality is already not that good compared to wired IEMs or headphones, may as well lose some more quality for absolute bonker user experience. Great ANC, great battery time, great microphone, maybe a great build quality as well for flexing purpose lol.
So yes, I agree with your opinion against getting the GA. I just don't agree with the reasoning.
By the way, L4NC is not really a great choice for general daily use. At this price I'd suggest the Galaxy Buds FE: great mic, insane ANC for this price (wind-proof as well) and low latency game mode. Shit battery though, 30 minutes less than GA in fact, but 5.5 hours should be enough for commuting.
Always wondered about the "selamat pagi" intro, do you always record your videos in the morning or? 😆
Kenneth makes one the best audio reviews in the entire YT ❤
Haha it’s an honor!
After testing the Golden Age demo unit last week, I found its sound quality, ANC, and transparency mode to be very similar to the Space Travel. If you already own Space Travel, Golden Age wouldn't be a significant upgrade.
How could that be though? I've heard this a lot from many reviews. From my personal experience with planars (KZ PR1 and Hifiman Sundara), planars simply sounds distinctly different to BB/BA's just by the virtue of them being planars alone. One of the key points of planars are low distortion and very fast attack. They have a certain character, mainly on the bass (hence, the "planar bass" term) and very clean treble. Can you elaborate more, or are you talking about the tuning here?
There's a reason why I didn't mention 'planar' so much is because it's hard for me to find significant difference compared to space travel, maybe just the fact that they have to reduce the budget so significantly that this happened? Who knows
Yes the details are slightly better, but at the same time the tuning is much different, and the price is just much more expensive, I kinda share the feeling of velliam tbh
@@silentKeys20 I agree, planar drivers have a really unique type of bass. Sounds punchy, but not thumpy (therefore is less tiring on the ears); feels very clean and clear, with precise impact on specific parts of the song (again, making it enjoyable while not too fatiguing). It's definitely not the "insanely fun" kind of feeling, but enough for me to tap my finger to vibe along. Folks who are more used to traditional budget TWS may not like this kind of bass.
Personally I feel that the GA sounds very close to the Aria2.
I'm more of a bass guy so probably wouldn't pick these as my main go to tws.
I would request you to review the QCY line up since they punch above their weight and the offerings are quite good imo but would love to see your take on these tws. ✌️✌️
Which one do you recommend? Also compared to space travel level too!
welp then. thx for the reviews, this really calmed my urge to upgrade from soundpeats engine 4. keep doing comparison with your old ones! really appreciate it!
Happy to help! 😁 and yeah I always say it's fine to stick with older buds , they're still great and newer ones will come all the time
my Moondrop Nekocake feels iffy less than a year after purchase. Right side sometimes doesnt charge, and i need to manually turn it on often time than not. I like Moondrop's IEMs, but I adon't think I will buy their TWS or other product again!
Yeah dude, but honestly Nekocake just bad at first batch
Now the problem is decreased
But uh,.. yeah their product still have a lot problem with QC, even some people said it just bad as Kz Quality Control last year
Bought Engine 4 after watching your video, and happy to report that I love it so much.. I never use my EW200 anymore, that I like so much before.. 😄😄😄..
For engine 4, I always use treble eq on tws app and put a bit more eq on phone, and all is well...
Thanks for the recommendation..
I feel like the spacetravel have an amazing price to performance ratio while these ones are not good in this.
Maybe if they would cost around 40 to 50$€ i would consider them.
Absolutely
Hi Kenneth, just purchased my Golden Ages and is it just me or the app doesn't seem to work at all?
If you like moondrop signature sound , yes it's worth it. But if you want all rounder with better build quality, the competition is tight, especially from edifier, earfun, etc
How does it compare to the Truthear Hexa just from the sound signature? Hexa is my favorite IEM and is interested with the Golden Ages because its FR graph is similar to the Hexa's(similar price too). I personally don't care about ANC and transparency since I'd only ever use them indoors, so if they sound close, it's good enough for me.
Monitor preset reduces a lot of bass, which is probably why you didn't feel any significant difference between GA and ST. Bass is much better in the GA in my opinion, though not in a "fun" kind of way - more like pleasant and vibey.
I agree that GA is very niche in this price range. At the ST's price bracket, everything is equally shitty so the ST's phenomenal mid easily gets it to the top under $30. Not the $80 GA though. Most general users don't care about or can't even feel the extra quality, but the ANC and especially the microphone will be criticized to death. If you absolutely value audio quality, get wired IEMs. If you absolutely value convenience (for general daily use), get something like a pair of Galaxy Buds.
GA is for those who want a wireless IEM without having to buy an IEM and a BT adapter. And for that purpose I'd say it's pretty good, about 80% the quality of the Aria 2.
Moondrop just loves to sacrifice almost everything for sound quality. May as well remove the shitty mic and transparency mode and save that money for something, like a better ANC or build quality (for flexing purpose). If I buy the GA, I want to conveniently (wirelessly) listen to some great music and nothing else. I will gladly take off my buds to take a call using the phone's built-in mic. Same for talking to other people - it's more polite too.
Still, I bought the GA for 63 bucks. At this price I will forget about the mic, as if it's not there. I will forgive Moondrop for recycling the ST's shells. At least the box art is fabulous 🤣
Is it a significant upgrade to nekocake?
Plz do review of Realme T300.
+1
I'll see what I can do!
Kenneth Tanaka, Thank you very much!
poodroo golden ages would be very good if the build quality better? 🙀
Hey Kenneth (or anyone reading this), i'm very confused on which TWS i should buy (since there's so many to choose from!) that offers excellent microphone quality, preferably under $100. I was thinking to buy this moondrop pair but judging by the video, they seems to be very underwhelming, huh?
Oh yeah, i wanted to know
How long does the battery last? I mean the TWS itself (like how many years assuming it never fall or get damaged)
My friend has Nekocake, now it broken one of the buds won't charge, it's happened after less than one year used
Meanwhile mine still at good condition
I've seen dude using Haylou GT1 and take about 3 years to get battery broken,
Also here my other Question, about battery on TWS, is there way to replace it?
Or the only thing we can do is buy the same thing again?
Is it better than galaxy buds 2?
hey can you recommend a playlist on Spotify, thanks
They really screwed up with this one. It could have been good. I kinda regret buying this one as the LDAC is so finicky and you can't use one earbud at a time when enabled. Man....
To be fair, any other TWS also cannot use the multipoint connection when using LDAC. But yea, this one is not worth it.
@@Yaqins I don't know about that. Sony's WF seem to work just fine and they are TWS. I meant just using one bud at a time, if you use one bud and leave the other in the case it stays on and the battery drains on both sides.
There's actually one I've tested that can do both LDAC and multipoint, which is the OPPO Enco X2
But yeah my experience with LDAC hasn't been so bad, it's just I hardly can justify the extra battery drain for some percentage of sound improvement if there's any, and you tell me we can't use one earbud at a time... Goodness
@@namedkenn Yeah once you turn LDAC on I can't seem to use them one at a time. I've tested it myself as I use them for both work and gym (3 hours of battery is dreadful). It's such a shame too as Iike the design.
Luckily I still have my Space Travel and honestly, they're a lot less hassle than the Golden Ages.
Hi how do I turn on lDAC? Mine is only AAC? 😢@@JunnyJai
Hello Kenneth, I been enjoying your video recently but somehow it doesn't seem like you will be reviewing that one earbuds that got me interested - the nothing ear (a). Now you rare reviewing a $70 Moondrop, would I see the nothing here at such a similar price point?
Thanks in advance! I really wanted to check out this nothing buds though 🥺
If 70 dollar is competing with other brands I think it feels like space travel quality. Might as well get redmi buds or xiaomi
Please review technics AZ80 😀
Are these the only Planar Magnetic Tws ?
No a few already came out actually, first is OPPO Enco X2 then the new Galaxy Buds 3 also use it
Is it better than tronsmart Apollo buds or redmi buds 5 pro?
I can't say for sure but I would suggest trying Liberty 4 NC out
robin mentioned
Robin didn’t come home 🥲
$70?? I PAID $90 😭
Aw where did you buy it?
@@namedkenn directly from shenzen audio
Pls review aune ar5000