General/Build/Packaging
Moondrop is a brand that I believe needs no introduction. Speculation has it that people have been wanting a CHU with a detachable cable, and Moondrop gave them the LAN, detachable cable, beryllium plated driver and a very ergonomic fit. Kudos! The name LAN is not referring to the networking’s Local Area Network, instead it is named after a flower Lan Hua, which is Orchid in english.
Build quality is solid and it is not heavy, LAN is rather small and fits very well in my ear, I can easily achieve a good seal with it.
As with every Moondrop’s product, the packaging style is more or less similar, it came with a cable, storage pouch and also 3 standard grey coloured silicone tips instead of Spring Tips.
Gears used for this review
Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
iFi Gryphon
Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
iPod Touch 5th Gen
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Sound Impression
LAN is quite balanced overall in terms of tuning.. Timbre sound’s natural enough to my ears, good note weight across the frequencies, slightly better bass performance compared to the CHU, there’s small hint of the beryllium zing if you pay close attention to it, however, for most of the listeners out there, it is not a problem at all.
Bass
LAN has good bass response generally, adequate quantity and quality expected from the price, nothing more nothing less
Speed is good and able to handle speedy tracks such as Metallica’s Lux Aeterna
Texture is good but it can be better, however, for the asking price, i will give it a pass
Doesn’t bleed into the mids
Sub bass does rumble whenever the track calls for it, but it doesn’t extend very deep to the point near basshead territory
Mid bass is punchy and has average slams
Mids
Mid range is slightly recessed to my ears, just slightly
Male vocal especially sounded slightly recessed, female vocal however is slightly more forward compared to Male vocal
Upper mids gain is rather conservative and safe, doesn’t sound shouty at all
Treble
Treble is smooth and not fatiguing, some brilliance and sparkles are missing but generally, the detail retrieval capability is quite good
Extension is slightly lacking, but this is purely nit picking considering its price
The treble is not offensive overall, you can listen to it for a long period of time and also crank up the volume without feeling fatigue
Overall it’s a rather safe and balanced treble tuning
Soundstage/Imaging
Height and Width is average, doesn’t sound boxy nor too artificially wide
LAN gives good enough sense of space considering its price point
Imaging is good as instruments can be identified easily
Driveability
LAN is very easy to drive, unlike Quarks or Spaceship, you can get it to sound good even via Apple’s 3.5mm Dongle
Does benefit from more power, better control in terms of bass and slightly more open sounding
However it does scale with source, in terms of how the dac/amp affect it in terms of colorization of the sound
Final Thoughts
Will I recommend LAN? Yes if you don't fall into either two of the categories, basshead and treblehead. LAN is a balanced pair of IEM and it doesn’t really emphasis on either the bass or treble, it is just smooth across the frequencies. Fairly good price to performance ratio at 40$. Can’t fault much considering the asking price. Definitely a step up from CHU you get a much better sound from the LAN.
If you are interested in grabbing a pair, head over to the following link in getting one:
Moondrop LAN
*Received the review sample from ShenzhenAudio, however, i am in no way influenced by them in producing this review, all thoughts are of my own, big thanks to them for the support as always
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