Moondrop Quarks Review – Neutral On A Budget

Pros — Perhaps the cheapest neutrally-tuned earphones
– Small shell is lightweight and comfortable
– Midrange clarity

Cons — Moondrop Quarks have fragile plastic shell
– Lack of sub-bass rumble
– Dry timbre
– Poor technicalities in general

INTRODUCTION

Moondrop has been teasing about a pair of single-dynamic ultra-budget earphones for the while. So it is fair to say that there has been quite some anticipation building up to the Quarks. As it stands, Moondrop Quarks are their cheapest earphones and also the cheapest earphones to offer a neutral-ish tuning.

Given the cheap price of admission it’s hard to not get impressed by the Quarks, at least on paper. Reality can be sobering, though, so let’s see if the Quarks can keep up with the competition.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. ShenzhenAudio was kind enough to send me the Quarks for evaluation.

Source used: Hidizs AP80 Pro

Price, while reviewed: $13 (no mic version). Can be bought from Shenzhen Audio or Moondrop Offical Store.

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES

Not much to talk about here, really. The packaging is kinda unique for Moondrop though as it is bereft of any anime artwork. Other than that – the tips are not good and the carrying pouch is meh. I’d highly advise getting third party tips.
1/5

BUILD QUALITY

The Moondrop Quarks do look quite decent from afar, esp the transparent shell and color-coded back-plates give a nice visual touch. Sadly, up-close the illusion evaporates. The plastic is decidedly cheap with a shoddy finish, the cable is springy, and the innards lack the polish of higher-tier earphones. But hey, we are talking about the price of a decent lunch. Understandable omissions.

One curious omission was that of vent, since there are no visible vents on the Quarks. Moondrop calls this a fully-enclosed structure and it will be interesting to see how that affects the sound.
3/5

COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT

Due to the light-weight nature and bullet-type shell, the Moondrop Quarks fit rather easily. However, there is some pressure build-up in the ear-canals due to lack of back-vent but it was not much of a problem for me. Your mileage may vary.
4/5

SOURCE AND EARTIPS

For a budget device, the Quarks required surprising amount of power and the driver seems rather inefficient with a sensitivity around the 97-98dB/mW region. This means that you will require a source with above-average output power to drive them properly. I think most modern dongles will suffice even though Apple dongle, out of phones, will likely fall short.

As for eartips, I found the stock tips to be a poor fit for me and opted for Final E-type tips with a size smaller than I usually use to help with the deeper fit.

DRIVER SETUP

Moondrop Quarks utilizes a 6mm micro-dynamic driver with a PET diaphragm. Nothing to write home about, really, though I am not expecting such at this price point.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

The general sound signature of the Moondrop Quarks can be described as “Neutral” with a dry midrange and somewhat rolled-off treble.

When it comes to the bass, the Quarks aren’t a good performer even with the best of seals. The bass lacks texture and rumble and thus sounds rather one-note. Deep sub-bass is reduced to a generic hum and as a result you don’t notice the subtleties in fast-flowing basslines.

The midrange appears to be the bread-and-butter of this kind of tuning and the Quarks mostly delivers on the “clarity” front. The upper-mids are prominent followed by a recession in the lower-mids and this leads to a sense of “cleanliness” in the midrange. However, due to the driver limitation the entire midrange ends up sounding dry and lifeless. The tonality of the midrange is correct, but it lacks engagement.

As for the treble, it is rolled off post 6/7KHz. This results in muted cymbal hits and a sense of compression in the high registers. Staging is hampered as a side-effect and you get a very in-your-head presentation. Imaging is also mostly left/right with no distinction between ordinal and cardinal directions. Overall timbre is dry though not as artificial as the cheap BA drivers in this range. Overall resolution is middling as well owing to the textureless bass and rolled-off treble. Dynamics are disappointing too due to the lack of perceivable end-to-end extension.

A very middling display, overall, only redeemed by the tuning choice (neutral midrange) which is rarely found in the budget range.

Bass: 3/5
Mids: 4/5
Highs: 2.5/5
Soundstage: 2.5/5
Imaging: 3/5
Dynamics: 2.5/5

FREQUENCY RESPONSE GRAPH

SELECT COMPARISONS

vs Moondrop Spaceship

The Moondrop Spaceship is priced slightly higher ($20) and has been the cheapest single-dynamic offering in Moondrop’s lineup before Quarks.

In terms of build quality, I’ll give the edge to Spaceship due to its metal housing. Comfort is similar between these. However, the sound is where things get interesting and both tend to target a neutral signature. In my opinion, Moondrop Spaceship executes the neutral signature better with superior technicalities and more natural timbre. The driver on the Spaceship is seemingly superior to that of the Quarks as well.

Both of these IEMs are bass-lite but the Spaceship bass has more texture (with a tip change of course). Midrange isn’t as dry on the Spaceship and has better male vocal rendition. Treble also has more sparkle and definition on the Spaceship. Soundstage is slightly wider and imaging is more precise on the Spaceship.

The biggest issue with the Spaceship, however, is how power hungry it can get. You’ll need a good source to power them fully and that’s a contradiction given most people aiming for budget IEMs will pair them with budget sources. Either way, in terms of sound alone, the Spaceship is better than the Quarks and well worth the extra $7.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

I hoped the Moondrop Quarks would be a stand-out due to the initial fanfare, but alas. In fact, it’s the tuning target alone that acts as the saving grace for the Quarks since it is mediocre in terms of everything else e.g. build quality, bass performance, timbre etc.

If you want a budget IEM with neutral tuning, the Moondrop Quarks can be worth looking into, though be prepared for third-party eartips. Even then, Moondrop Quarks doesn’t quite become the budget miracle I hoped it would be. So it becomes just another option instead of being something more.

MY VERDICT

3.5/5

Decent, and that’s about it.

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