Moondrop CHU II High Performance Dynamic Driver IEMs Interchangeable Cable in-Ear Headphone

TL;DR: How are these 20 bucks? They sound great and have an incredible metal build while being light and comfortable. Buy these. WtfThe Build:How are these $20… This is the most premium headphone I've ever opened and it was $20. They're insane. They are metal. They feel substantial in your hand, but light when you put them in they are so small and the fit is incredible, unsurprising for IEMs anyways, but I have some CCZ coffee beans that fit great but are bigger so don't enter as deeply, so these definitely take the cake.They have a leather pouch which is Primo, and not what I was expecting (I didn't see any pics beforehand).The eartips are pretty standard (no foam) and do a good job blocking out the outside world, it’s no active noise canceling and I’ve used better passive, but again they’re 20 bucks.The cable is a bit thinner than other IEM’s I have, and they don't have controls or a microphone. There is a slightly more expensive version with a thicker cable and controls and a mic, although its’ USB-C? Honestly I like the cable, it's light and more out of the way, and if nothing else I’ll just use a different cable from another set of IEM’s.The Sound:They sound excellent. I do think that the mids and highs are a little darker than I'm used to, but it's nothing that I couldn't fix myself with an EQ. They’ve very detailed, I'm running them with the BTR 5 and with Wavelet on and they sound pretty crisp. They're not the most clean I've ever heard, but definitely up there, and ESPECIALLY for $20. I do wish they were treblier, but I’m being picky at that point.I listened to a FLAC of AM by the Arctic Monkeys and they sound real good.I’m not sure what else to say about the sound, it’s dark and bassy, but it's nice and smooth; it’s unlike the bass outta some headphones I’ve tried.They do get loud. I've been listening to them at 60 percent without issue, they do get too loud at about 85 percent, if you’re into that sort of thing.The Music:FLAC - AM by Arctic MonkeysFLAC - Discovery by Daft PunkFLAC - IGOR by Tyler, The CreatorSpotify - I Need to Start a Garden by Haley HeyndrickxSpotify - Locket by CrumbSpotify - Various songs by MitskiThe Conclusion:I'm definitely going to be daily driving them at least for a bit, and again just an incredible package for 20 bucks (I'm excited for the leather pouch). I’m thinking these will be a great gift for friends.The Waifu:Excellent, my wife likes pandas lol

Somehow I stumbled upon the benefits of IEM headphones on a YouTube channel, probably dankpods or something like that. I picked up these after going down a deep rabbitthole of iem reviews on reddit, headphone forums, here on amazon, and YouTube.Which brings us to the CHU II.There's not too much I can say, that hasn't already be mentioned in other reviews here. But I'll just back up what others before me have said. These look and sound like a million bucks. I like some bass in my music and these have that without much audible distortion at all. THD is listed at ≤0.5% at 94dB. I don't have a way to test that myself, but I have found these to be plenty loud (and undistorted) with my SanDisk mp3 player at 50% volume or less.Reviewers say they these have a V-shaped, Harmon tuning curve like many modern IEMs and the CHU II sounds perfect to me without touching the equalizer on my player.IEMs are a bit more high-maintenance than over ear headphones. First, you need an ear tip that seals perfectly well when the monitor is in your ear. These come with 3 different sizes and I wear medium. The inexpensive silicone (or foam) tips should be cleaned and/or replaced at regular intervals. With all headphones, maintaining good ear hygiene is important. Personally, I don't think I'll wear these more than 2 hours/day to give my ears a little break.The soft and tangle-free cable is decent. I don't have any complaints at all. I hit the right cable with a bit of red magic marker so I can quickly identify my right headphone. All manufacturers should do a bit of red paint somewhere on the right side.As a few have pointed out, these are kind of heavy which is something you might notice after wearing for 90 minutes or more. I like the small form factor a lot, but the shell could benefit from being more rounded and lighter (carbon fiber anyone?) for ergonomics. That's my suggestion to Moondrop for the next iteration of IEMs.After these blowing my mind, I ordered a pair of Linsoul Tangzu Wan’er S.G IEMs as well. On paper, they seem very similar to the CHU II, but with a lighter, resin shell (albeit a larger form-factor). I have no regrets purchasing the CHU IIs, but will have a backup pair of IEMs that are a bit lighter to add to my headphone collection.TL;DR get these solid metal IEMs and don't look back. The sound quality is as good as I've ever heard and the cable and eartips are replaceable so I imagine you can happily run these for a long time. I'm a sucker for tech bargains, and this product falls squarely in that category.

I'm not an audiophile or anything, but to me these sound pretty OK. Definitely not the best earbuds I have used in terms of sound quality but by far the best I have paid $20 for. Build quality leaves a little to be desired but its fine for the price.I tend to prefer wired earbuds for around the house and I used senheiser cx300 for a while. The sound quality on the cx300s is only marginally better than the moondrop chu II and it is over twice the price. Maybe that isn't a big problem for you but I guess I am pretty rough on my earbuds. I don't know when the last time I had a pair that lasted more than 6 months was. laying down $45+ each time for the cx300s didn't make me happy and last time I needed a replacement I figured I would try out some of the cheaper options and I had heard good things about this one.All in all its a pretty solid product but I'm not a huge fan of the around ear design and I would really prefer a braided cable. Then again, no issues with the cord getting pinched, etc. so far. I like the metal chassis but they are a bit heavy and I've had a few issues with it coming apart after I banged it on my desk etc. A few drops of super glue fixed that right up but something to keep in mind. I finally had to buy a replacement because I dropped my ipad with these plugged in and it landed right on the jack and bent it. It still kinda works but I have to jiggle it a bit to get it in the right position or the sound cuts out.Really its all about the price here. I mean $20 is $20 but I feel a lot better replacing these than some of the other earbuds I have owned and they sound... fine, which in this price bracket is an achievement.7.5/10