Moondrop S8 VS A8 IEM 8BA Chi-fi Earphones | Hifigo

After two months several pictures of new launching IEM S8 from Moondrop via their Social Media accounts, the company finally announces that Moondrop S8 will go on sale officially since Nov.11st. Succeed on the previous A8 model ( A8 review) which is a great IEM with some details, Moondrop S8 comes with many improvements. Let’s take a look at the IEM first.   

Specifications	Moondrop A8	Moondrop S8
Price (USD)	US$666.66	US$699.99
Driver type	8 balanced armature	8 balanced armature
2 Knowles CI-22955 Dual Low Frequency BA Drivers	2 Sonion 37 Series Dual Low Frequency BA Drivers
4 Moondrop Custom Mid-Frequency BA Drivers	4 Moondrop optimized Custom Mid-Frequency BA Drivers
2 Moondrop Custom High-Frequency BA Drivers	2 Knowles SWFK High-Frequency BA Drivers
Impedance	32Ω	16Ω±15%@1Khz
Sensitivity	110±3dB	122dB/vrms
Socket	0.78 2pin flat(legacy westone)	0.78 2pin flat(legacy westone)
Housing	Semi- customized type with medical UV acrylic	Semi- customized type with medical UV acrylic
Cable	Universal cable with 1/8″ jack	Litz 6N OFC 1/8″jack

 

Overall the A8 sounds very very clean with great transparency and resolution. It has a very impressive sound stage and imaging together with great separation. However, S8 delivers more natural tone and sound imaging compared to the A8 model. 

Bass - Moondrop S8 vs. A8 IEM  8BA

Moondrop A8 

Knowles CI series low frequency driver，With a diaphragm area far exceeding all other BA drivers, it provides low distortion, fast, and energetic low frequency far superior to others.

Unlike the composite low-frequency balanced armature driver that is “facilitating the number of display drivers”, the large-sized independent low-frequency drive has better performance and cleaner sound. 

The configuration of two Knowles CI balanced armature drivers on one side is stronger than a single CI, far superior to the full dynamics of the composite low-frequency driver, and lower distortion.

Combined with a specially designed low-pass filtering solution, the A8 is able to demonstrate an unprecedentedly fast and full-bodied low frequency in the earphones.

Moondrop S8 

For the bass driver, selected an extra back volume version of their distinguishing vented bass receiver, so the diaphragm is more "free to move compared to typical closed balanced armature unit while still less distorted than normal vented drivers. This endues S8 to have a deep bass response, like that of a dynamic driver but faster. 

Mids - Moondrop S8 vs. A8 IEM  8BA

Moondrop A8 

4 BA used for medium frequency makes the A8's entire intermediate frequency and mid-high frequency fuller and rounder and more powerful than Blessing. The same type of ultra-high frequency Balanced armature driver as Blessing brings the same excellent ultra-high frequency performance as Blessing, and it also has the same flat response. This medium/high driver configuration makes the A8 more valued than the past products, with more thickness and flesh than in the past but still as natural as ever.

Moondrop S8 

Succeeding the persistence on distinct midrange tuning that passed down from the previous A8 model, Moondrop customizes their own mid balanced armature driver. Compliant with VDSF Target response and ultra-low distortion. Moondrop improved it with circuitry that focuses on power efficiency and natural sound. You will hear a mild-tempered vocal and mid-highperformance, more natural tone and sound imaging on S8 compared to the A8 model.

Treble - Moondrop S8 vs. A8 IEM  8BA

Moondrop A8 

Ultra-high frequency phase consistency

The frequency division scheme for Balanced armature driver accurate measurement, ensures the high consistency of the phase of the frequency bands that all drivers are responsible for, so that there is no connection problem in A8, and there will be no discordant factors in the common sound of multiple drivers.

Moondrop S8 

Treble is handled by Knowles SWFK. With its relatively low distortion and high cutoff frequency, it provides a flat, smooth and detailed treble tone under the aid of adequate circuit and become the hardware fundamentals for S8' eminent treble performance.

Common A8 vs S8 

Harman Target Response

One typical "unconformity" for multi-driver IEM is usually caused by phase inconsistency between drivers caused by underdeveloped crossover circuits, this inconsistency makes the soundstage and tone of different drivers unable to be in accord.

Moondrop claims that they aimed a new target response curve for the A8, based on the “Harman Target Response”, and “B&K4128 Diffuse Field” for modern recording and sound optimization. The idea here is to emphasize a wide sound stage and a very transparent high-frequency response. 

And we find S8' s phase measurement graph above shows high phase consistency, almost free of phase shift caused by crossover. This gives S8 the potential to give natural, lifelike soundstage without any emptiness, smooth tone without strange "spitting" sound from different drivers and avoided this common flaw among multi-driver IEMs. 

Fit 

Nowadays we see a lot of universal IEMs with semi-custom designed shells, and the Moondrop A8 and S8 are one of them.  A8 and S8 isolate the noise perfectly for a universal monitor. They almost feel like a custom IEM with their flush fit and isolation.