Moondrop Aria Snow Edition Review.

Moondrop is one of the hottest brands in In-Ear Monitors right now. Recently, they released a follow-up to their highly popular Aria IEM, the Aria Snow Edition. I've heard a lot of buzz surrounding the Arias but never had a chance to test them myself. I do love Moondrop's products, so I have high hopes for the Aria. At $79, the Aria Snow Edition is very inexpensive, so I'm curious to see how they perform.

What’s in the Box

• Moondrop Aria Snow Edition IEMs\

• 3 pairs Moondrop Spring tips (S, M, L)

• 3 pairs of standard silicone tips (S, M, L)

• Carrying case

Look and Feel

The Snow Edition looks the part of its namesake. Both the housing and the inner box sport beautiful snowflake designs that walk the line between busy and minimal. In addition, the box features Moondrop's signature manga art. The IEMs themselves are quite light and comfortable and come with a variety of ear tips to bring a variety of both listening characters and comfort levels. My only complaint would be the cable, which feels slightly cheap, but is also replaceable. Overall, Moondrop's signature attention to detail comes through with the Aria Snow Edition.

Design

The Snow features a new 10mm diamond-like carbon dynamic driver. This new driver has much higher rigidity than the previous aria, allowing it to have a fast response. The acoustic structure or the housing is specifically designed to eliminate distortions and resonances from the sound, making it sound very clear. The ultra-fine CCAW voice coil provides superb signal flow throughout the components. Overall, the internals on this are surprisingly robust for an IEM in its price range.

The Moondrop Aria Snow Edition has a frequency response of 15 Hz – 50 kHz and an impedance of 32 Ohms.

Soundstage

The Snow's Soundstage provides natural width and reasonable depth. This is a relatively moderate soundstage, and you won't feel it jump out in any aspect, but it does its job very well. In terms of imaging, I can hear mixes well without too much crowding. While I prefer more width, the Aria performs very well for IEMs in its price range. In addition, the isolation is very good and the dynamics are better than expected.

Lows

The Lows on the Snows are audible, but sometimes lacking in punch and depth. Moondrop chose to go for a more natural-sounding signature on these, so it sometimes feels like the lows don't get the treatment they deserve. That being said, I was able to feel subs at times and the low mids were able to make up for it to an extent. While this sound signature may not appeal to bass heads, it didn't detract from my personal listening experience, and the tone that is there is very good for IEMs of this price range.

Mids

The mids on the Aria Snow have received some noticeable treatment, but this treatment is to its benefit. The high mids are accentuated enough to give a nice crispness to the sound, while still giving it room to deliver smooth yet engaging tones. I like how Moondrop tunes their IEMs, and this update from the original Aria is a welcome improvement. 

Highs

The treble doesn't overdo its job. The highs drop off toward the higher extremes and serve to emphasize pops and articulations more than space and airiness. I think this discrepancy serves the sound signature of the Snow incredibly well. The treble doesn't overly-impose itself but rather adds depth to the texture, which lends itself to a much more natural-sounding character overall.

Overall

Moondrop hasn't let me down yet. The Aria Snow Edition is a great budget IEM for anybody looking for a solid all-around listening experience that will treat every genre with equal importance. While it isn't perfect, it's one of the best pairs of IEMs you can get for this price. I'm excited to see how Moondrop follows this up.

You can buy the Moondrop Aria Snow Edition here