The Moondrop Quarks is an affordable wee earphone for budding audiophiles, casual use, gaming, gifts for friends, burners, handheld gaming and all sorts of options.
I did have a razzle dazzle piece of writing that the computer ate for me so i had to start again from scratch.
The Quarks are an easy purchase at $15-$20 buckeroonies and come simply boxed. The absence of an anime girl on the box cover will come as a shock for the Moondrop fans but they will breathe a sigh of relief when they find one inside…
Moondrop official website:
I had been offered from various outlier online shops and what lot a whole assortment of various IEMs the last few years but turned most of them down due to invisible strings attached and unknown expectations, plus my own lack of spare time…at the time.
I had early been curious about the Starfield although i wasnt sold on the shell graphic itself, lately the Aria and Kato have caught my eye. But lets start from the ground floor and work our way up with the Quarks.
Head pie has a few reviews already of Moondrop earphones by well known and reputable reviewers - so have a search about for those.
Lets dive in. The Quarks. Who can complain at the price? But the question remains how do they perform generally? To a satisfying state beyond their simplicity and pricing? Also how do the react to tip rolling with kore upmarket tips and also whether they upscale when paired with a high end dap and files.
So a look at their intended uses and lets also stretch them a bit to see if they are capable of more.
Any surprises? Who knows at this point.
Price
Price
$15-$20
EZ GG!
First to tame the savage beasts demanding of facts and figures.
More information can be read here with specs
Moondrop have announced a model with a mic
Moondrop graciously included a nice earphone stand which has already been stolen by my young daughter and put in her dollhouse.
Generally unboxing audiophile pron for those visually inclined. Impressions to follow after.
Ah there is she is. ‘I see you’re a man of culture as well’…or a freekin degenerate. Same same.
Manual and warranty. Always welcome.
Annnd hereee we go!
Easily visible left and right markings. I can not count how many times identical looking earphones have been released without clear L and R markings. So annoying. I am happy to see this.
Stock tips in S,M and L. Silicone
A little carry bag. One can not expect a hard shell case for the price - but i am sure most reading this have a few lying around anyways.
Sound and vision
Further on the sound and other bits and pieces.
If you don't come looking for a unicorn at the end of the rainbow earphone, but a sensibly, generously & realistically priced and performing one, and approach with realistic expectations i do think the general listener will be pleased and with a bit of tip rolling perhaps even the grizzled audio veterans could come away being a bit surprised.
More information can be read here with specs
and smexy graphics etc: https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-quarks-earphone-closed-anterior-cavity-micro-dynamic-driver-in-ear-earbuds
Moondrop on why they developed the Quarks:
Moondrop on why they developed the Quarks:
Moondrop have announced a model with a mic
And now…
…on with the show.
Using unboxing audio pron before we get to the details
The Quarks come in a simple black box. I still think staying with the anime girl theme on the outer would have been great. Traditions!
Moondrop graciously included a nice earphone stand which has already been stolen by my young daughter and put in her dollhouse.
Easy come, easy go….
Moondrop graciously included a nice earphone stand which has already been stolen by my young daughter and put in her dollhouse.
Easy come, easy go….
Generally unboxing audiophile pron for those visually inclined. Impressions to follow after.
Ah there is she is. ‘I see you’re a man of culture as well’…or a freekin degenerate. Same same.
Stick em in following the instructions.
Then further still and pop that audiophile ear canal cherry.
Manual and warranty. Always welcome.
Annnd hereee we go!
Long ass cable to suit any use or for a handy subtle garrote when needed.
Nice see through shells showing the internals.
A fixed cable so cable rolling is out of the picture unless modded. But $20, so shaddup already and move onto tip rolling.
A fixed cable so cable rolling is out of the picture unless modded. But $20, so shaddup already and move onto tip rolling.
Easily visible left and right markings. I can not count how many times identical looking earphones have been released without clear L and R markings. So annoying. I am happy to see this.
Stock tips in S,M and L. Silicone
A little carry bag. One can not expect a hard shell case for the price - but i am sure most reading this have a few lying around anyways.
Sound and vision
The Moonstar Quarks are an affordable earphone whose uses are manifold for those who just want a pick up and carry, a daily burner, something lightweight for casual gaming or mobile video watching, light exercise or a lightweight solution for their older children.
Coming in at an easily digestible price one can be forgiven for a state of everlasting forgiveness when reviewing at this price point. But rest assured we will have good look but do keep in mind that although i do have the experience of $1000 iems and do have a high end benchmark that context is everything. As Moondrop also have a higher end selection of IEMs the Quarks place is firmly in the extreme entry level due to their pricing.
Do they play above their pricing? It would not be the first time for a company to introduce a taster earphone to invite people to go for a mid or higher end model.
Often a companies past experience means they learn how to cut costs without sacrificing too much of the performance. Lets get into it and see how the Quarks stack up in the sub $50/sub $100 twilight zone.
Further on the sound and other bits and pieces.
Once again it would be hard pressed and sad to complain at these earphones due to the price - and be damned with the performance.
But to be honest price regardless there has not been anything that drastically stands out to berate or try to score internet points on.
They certainly are cute. The lack of an anime girl on the outside is a shock, luckily they have one inside the box at least. But still….traditions Moondrop!!!
I like the build overall. It seems pretty robust for the short time i have had it.
I would like a removable cable. But for their design purpose a fixed cable works.
I thought of kids using Nintendo switches online with their friends and a mic would be good.
It looks like a Quarks 2 will have an inline mic. Good.
Its a simple functional build.
As mentioned before i appreciate the easy to see color coded left and right sides.
The cable itself is ok. I always like a smexy cable. Users of this iem are probably going to out it through some punishment either at the gym, running, students, kids or people using it as a daily burner earphone and shoving it into their pockets or bags, or even ‘eek!’ Rolling it tightly around their phone or player ‘yikes!’.
I thought the stock tips were acceptable, i did end up tip rolling. The stock tips seemed adequate to the job at hand - just lacking a bit of body. Tip rolling bought more dynamics in to play.
With the iBasso DX300 (yes i know a $1000 dap for $20 earphones…lol. (They scale up well).
- I enjoyed the Accoustune 08 tips. They opened up the soundstage, improved timbre and tonality and also widened the sound stage.
- i also tried Final Audio tips. They added a silkiness and control to them across the board.
I found fit and isolation very good. But i also know what tips fit me.
The Quarks have quietly quality bass, but not quantity bass. If you are looking for a boom boom bass head earphone - this is not the one for you.
Sound stage is average. Medium sized perhaps.There is not a large extension at either end, but again. Acceptable. Wide enough i think without complaint.
It can get a bit aggressive or harsh when pushed too far with volume or heavy rock music, its a small driver so it has its limits of course.
It would be nice if it went a bit deeper in the wound stage.
What i liked was that it i a fairly balanced and neutral earphone over all. As mentioned before it hs quietly quality bass over quantity.
It certainly is good value.
It has some technical aspects that come and go depending on the tracks and generally has a good clarity to the sound. Tonality is generally good.
The fit is light and great, as they are so tiny and made of lightweight material. I find them comfortable.
So the Moondrop Quarks. Do i recommend them? Do i recommend anything? Well you have read the review so you will have to decide for yourself as always even though you desire some faceless pseudo audio influencer to tell you what to do and buy. Not easy way out here.
Short and sweet of it is they are $15 - $20 or so. The sound is decent enough regardless of the price they are quite listenable. They even have room to improve with a decent dap and some tip rolling. Quite surprising little cute beasties. I might pick up a couple as gifts for my sons Fortnite gaming friends when the mic version comes out.
If you don't come looking for a unicorn at the end of the rainbow earphone, but a sensibly, generously & realistically priced and performing one, and approach with realistic expectations i do think the general listener will be pleased and with a bit of tip rolling perhaps even the grizzled audio veterans could come away being a bit surprised.
Thank you to Moondrop for sending the Quarks for review
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