Наушники — Moondrop ILLUSTRIOUS

Moondrop of China released the ILLUSTRIOUS in-ear monitor at USD 899 as the successor to the Illumination. It relies on one dynamic driver per side rather than a multi-driver hybrid arrangement, and Moondrop tuned it towards a diffuse field HRTF target for reference listening and professional work.

Key specs that matter

Moondrop fits a patented 11 mm dynamic unit with a composite diaphragm that pairs an LCP dome with a TAC diamond coating. Moondrop specifies impedance of 25 ohms plus or minus 15 percent and sensitivity of 124 dB per Vrms, both measured at 1 kHz. Total harmonic distortion is below 0.03 percent at 1 kHz and 94 dB. The extended frequency response runs from 10 Hz to 50,000 Hz, while the effective response quoted by the maker is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

Engineering and use context

Compared with the Illumination, Moondrop upgraded both the diaphragm and the magnetic circuit materials. The artificial diamond layer on the LCP dome is intended to raise stiffness and internal damping of the moving surface. The magnetic circuit is large in volume and built from high-efficiency magnetic conductive material, and the driver is held in its own copper alloy support, independent of the shell. A redesigned front cavity structure sits ahead of the driver, and the cavity parts are gold-plated brass. Moondrop machines the outer shells precisely by CNC from titanium alloy. Tuning measurements were taken on a B&K 4128C head and torso simulator. The cable attaches with 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors, and the supplied lead comes with interchangeable termination plugs, one 3.5 mm single-ended and one 4.4 mm balanced.

Pairing

Its efficiency lets the ILLUSTRIOUS reach listening levels from phones, portable players and small USB DAC adapters. The pair of termination plugs covers sources with either single-ended or balanced sockets without buying another cable, and the 2-pin sockets take third-party leads too. The same 2-pin connection is used on the DARK SABER, so leads can be shared between the two Moondrop models.

Alternatives

The Moondrop DARK SABER combines two 10 mm dynamic drivers and eight balanced armatures in each earpiece.