The Kadenz is another single-dynamic driver in-earphone from Moondrop that follows closely to the sound signature and stylings of their popular and well-received single-DD line that includes the Kanas, KXXS, Starfield, Aria, and the like. The Kadenz has an MSRP of $219.99 USD and can be found at APOS Audio (https://apos.audio/products/moondrop-kadenz-flagship-10mm-iems).
This review unit was loaned out by APOS Audio, and will be returned to them following this.
Moondrop sticks pretty closely to their house sound signature in this product, but it does differ in certain technicality areas and with a nice set of accessories that makes it distinguished from the previous iterations.
The Kadenz has an intricate metal shell that features many facets and faces to it. It is slightly on the heavier side, but it is still comfortable to wear.
The included cable is a 2-wire, white-colored cable that terminates in 2-pin connectors. The cable includes modular jacks that can be alternated between 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced stereo jacks. The overall cable feels nice. It does not tangle and is only slightly stiff, but very easy to use. The hardware for the connectors, jack and splitters are all chrome-metal, and makes this look like a nice overall cable.
Moondrop also includes a faux-leather black case. It is round with a zipper top with an inside mesh pocket that can hold accessories. It is very compact but can carry extra tips and the included removable filters.
Sound Impressions
The Moondrop Kadenz has a very well-balanced sound signature that works as an all-arounder for music. It closely follows my preference frequency response target, and is slightly bassier than the Moondrop VSDF house signature. The general sound has a fairly neutral sound from bass through the mids, but it does have a slight focus on the treble range that makes some things sparkle.
.png)
The Kadenz does improve upon the previous Moondrop products though. I placed a graph below of the Moondrop Aria 2, which is one of my favorite single-DD IEMs from them. You can see that the graphs show a very similar sound signature but the Kadenz has some technicalities that make it really stand out on previous Moondrop IEMs from my listening time.
I found the dynamics to be elevated from generation to generation. The original Kanas/Kanas Pro had a very nice sound signature but was overtly smoothed over and lacking punch and dynamics. With each annual release, Moondrop seemed to have improved it, and this latest Kadenz really makes it noticeable.
.png)
.png){kind=link}
There was more punch in kick drums, and the overall perceived depth of sound was quite good. I enjoyed this one quite a bit with a variety of jazz music where these technical areas are very important to me.
The area where I could see some people may not enjoy is the treble can have a little too much sparkle and fowardness at times. It's not bright to the point where it is fatiguing and piercing, but it is definitely present. This helps with the dynamics in my opinion, and helps with the airy nature of the sound signature, but in some tracks, it may be tilted a little high.
There are two additional filters that Moondrop included that can help tune it to specific ear shapes, so this is worth exploring if you own one.
Final Thoughts
Generally speaking, I really liked my time with the Kadenz. It is very well-tuned and its newly found technical performance really improves upon the other Moondrop products in this price-range. It seems like a big step forward in this area and makes package a complete one.
--
View the product ratings on
Antdroid's IEM Ranking List and/or Antdroid's Headphone Ranking List
Hi , since Aria and Kadenz are in different price and sound quality this review is irrelevant . Kadenz should be directly compared to Kato and that's what the most folks waiting for , no doubt .
ReplyDelete