Moondrop Space Travel's Review - Solid Budget Performer

 

General/Packaging/Comfort/Build

Moondrop is no stranger when it comes to the audio community. Most of their releases are hits rather than misses, being priced affordably, does not mean they skimp on the sound quality. Let’s take a look and see if it’s holding up against other similarly priced TWS.

The packaging is pretty straight forward, nothing to expect at this price point.

A transparent  box consists of the IEM, eartips. The whole earbud is made out of plastic and there are no sharp edges or any protrusion that causes discomfort. Despite it’s fully plastic,it doesn’t look cheap and it’s light, I've worn them for several hours during my meeting and there’s no discomfort throughout the period. The charging case’s design is very appealing in my opinion, the transparent look does make it look premium. In terms of ergonomics when attempting to remove the TWS from the charging case, it does take a little bit of effort when your finger is dry.

Specifications

• Bluetooth version: 5.3

• Supported protocols: A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP/SBC/AAC

• Charging port: Type-C

• Working distance: 10m (barrier-free open environment)

• Support system: Bluetooth devices and mobile phones

• Earphone charging time: About 1 Hour

• Charging time of charging case: about 1.5 Hours

• Earphone battery capacity: 3.7V/37mAh

• Battery capacity of charging case: 3.7V/380mAh

• Battery life of earphone: About 4 Hours

• Battery life of charging case: About 12 Hours

Connection Test and Latency

• Placing my phone on my dining table in my living room, i walked to my balcony with a thick wall in between and there’s no disconnection nor any distortion, connection remained rock solid stable

• As for gaming, the delay is very noticeable, but then again, this TWS is not meant/marketed for gamers in mind.

• Watching Netflix with it on my iPad, there isn’t any delay as well,the audio and video is pretty much in sync. No noticeable delay

Battery Life Test

• I would say the battery life is not bad nor exceptional, good enough to last you through the day if you are a heavy user, as the case hold an additional of 12 hours approximately

• Single usage is more or less the same as claimed by Moondrop which is 4 hours +- depending on your volume level, during the time of testing, i am playing it at about 40% of volume level which is loud enough to me 

ANC Test

If i were to rate the ANC performance, In comparison with AirPod Pro, i’m giving the AirPod Pro a 8/10 and Space Travel at 5/10. This is to be expected as the ANC performance for Space Travel is definitely not on par with the high tiered TWS that offers a better ANC performance.

This is to be expected and I am not nitpicking especially at this asking price. The ANC does work, however it doesn’t cancel out most of the noise, EG, my mechanical keyboard typing sound, Keys jingling sound. It does cancel out the road noise when i am driving. When I'm out in a busy restaurant, it’s not dead silent, but it does cancel out some noise in order for me to listen to the music at average listening volume without having to crank up the volume.

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 (Reference Preset)

Space Travel’s default tuning is more on the “fun” side of the spectrum. Slightly elevated low and high without recessing the vocal. You can change the tuning of Space Travel  by downloading the LINK app from Apple’s app store if you are using iOS or Google Playstore if you’re using Android. Sort of like an EQ

*This evaluation is done using the Reference preset via the Moondrop LINK App

Bass

• Sub bass rumble can be felt and heard during EDM track such as Ping Pong by Armin

• Bass quantity and quality is good enough (You can always change to a different preset if you feel like having more “Boom”)

• Bass response is neither fast nor slow to a point where it got too boomy

• Typical Harman kind of bass response when using the Reference Preset

Mids

• The mid range is not too forward nor recessed

• Vocal positioning is slightly recessed for male and a little bit forward for female

• Male vocal is slightly thin sounding where as female vocal sounds a little bit more full

• Good enough detail at this spectrum of frequency

Treble

• Treble is smooth and non sibilant nor fatiguing

• Good enough detail retrieval

• Average resolution

• Good amount of air and presence for the asking price

Soundstage and Imaging

• Soundstage is pretty much in your head, not too narrow or wide

• Imaging is alright as the instruments can be pinpointed correctly 

Comparison with NekoCake

• In terms of sound, NekoCake sounds a little bit more cooler compared to Space Travel, it is slightly warmer to my ears, hence i perceived it as having slightly more body compared to NekoCake

• NekoCake is a little forward sounding and have smaller soundstage compared to Space Travel

• The rest of the features doesn’t change much in terms of ANC performance and Transparency mode, bluetooth version is currently 5.3 on the Space Travel while NekoCake is 5.0

Final Thoughts

Throughout the week that i’ve been using Space Travel, I find them to be very comfortable overall and soundwise, they offer a good price performance ratio, the stock eartips offer a good enough seal for me, Overall I find them to offer a balanced performance with a good price performance ratio considering the specifications of the earbuds. At this asking price, It is very easy to recommend it to anyone who is looking for a budget TWS right now. I see no reason why I shouldn't recommend it.

An easy 4.5/5 judging from the value and performance it offers.

*I received the unit in exchange for my honest opinion from ShenZhenAudio. The link attached is not affiliated and i don’t earn a single cent even if you decide to purchase it

Moondrop SpaceTravel - Non affiliated