1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,879 Moonrop makes some of the most revered IM in the audio game, but they've 2 00:00:05,359 --> 00:00:11,519 struggled to make their headphones really sing. But maybe, just maybe, 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:16,720 they'll do that with this bad boy, the Moonrop Skyland. And it comes in this 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:19,920 over-the-top kind of noisy case. And here it says Quasil Lap outed, which 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:24,160 apparently means something nice from Guliver's Travels. It also says caution. 6 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:29,920 And while this case looks all metal, it is, I can assure you, mostly plastic. 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:33,200 And inside of it, our headphones. Ooh, 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,719 the Skylands right away. Very, very 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,399 heavy. But before we get there, let's take a look at what else is in the box. 10 00:00:36,239 --> 00:00:43,600 The QC card and the headset comes with a few cables. The cable terminates in a 11 00:00:40,239 --> 00:00:45,200 4.4 mm balanced output, which gives you 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,000 an indication of the kind of people that they're marketing this to, but the side 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:52,079 that does connect to the headphones are just 3.5 mm jacks, which means that you 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:57,039 can easily swap out cables should you so desire. You also get two adapters 15 00:00:53,920 --> 00:01:01,760 included in the box, a balanced XLR and 16 00:00:57,039 --> 00:01:03,680 a/4in jack. So 3.5 mm fanboys, uh, see 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:07,439 you later. You get nothing. Like, it's so annoying. I just don't have the 18 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:10,799 option by default to plug these into most of the devices that I own. And 19 00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:14,720 anyways, balance connections are kind of dumb for headphones. But if you're 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:19,600 somebody who maybe has a nice powerful amp, then I guess you can um use this. 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:24,320 Balance connections are for increased signal integrity, which matters over 22 00:01:21,119 --> 00:01:26,159 very long distances, not the like four, 23 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:29,600 five ft that this is. And also, if you care about signal integrity, why'd you 24 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,799 make it flat? that has worse shielding. But this is all a minor unimportant 25 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:37,040 crash out for something that doesn't matter. What does matter is the 26 00:01:35,439 --> 00:01:42,320 headphones. They're heavy and worrisomely not rigid 27 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:44,240 and bouncy. The headband itself is 28 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:48,240 carbon fiber, but this little headband support, it's 3D printed. We've seen 29 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:53,759 similar designs like this on headphone modifications. We actually did a video 30 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:56,479 uh with DankPods on LT where we used a 31 00:01:53,759 --> 00:02:00,960 very similar type of mesh with a flexible polymer to uh create a headband 32 00:01:59,439 --> 00:02:04,159 for some 3D printed headphones. It's interesting to see it in this scenario. 33 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:09,520 Uh we'll see how it feels when I put them on. But let's talk about the rest of the headphone. Outside of that, you 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:14,000 have a aluminum alloy construction pretty much everywhere else. The ear 35 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:19,599 pads are going to be made of lambkin leather. Yeah, innocent baby sheep 36 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:22,080 leather. And the drivers are planer magnetic. If you don't know what that 37 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:27,120 means, you can check out a previous video we've done with like the Moon Drop Venus where we will explain that in more 38 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:32,560 detail. Basically, it's a speaker in a different form. Instead of having like a cone and a magnet at the side, the whole 39 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:37,360 driver itself is magnetic and it moves like this. What that means for you is up 40 00:02:35,599 --> 00:02:40,480 for debate. Often times people will say that these will have better bass 41 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:44,720 reproduction and they have the ability to move more sound. Some people say that 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:48,000 they have a punchier, more rapid and responsive quality. But what I do like 43 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:53,280 about planer magnetics is that I think they look pretty neat. And let's take the ear cups off which are look at that 44 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:57,440 magnetic though. This is some uh it's not very smooth. Kind of got cheese 45 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:02,560 grater vibes. But that'll let us take a look at the driver. So these are not the 46 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:06,480 drivers. This is housing for magnets I believe. But the actual vibrating part 47 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:09,280 is this silver part. You see these thin little lines? Basically have a bunch of 48 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:13,599 wires going through a thin membrane and then magnets on either side will push it 49 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,400 back and forth to make sound. marketing departments have to work really hard to 50 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:20,800 sell a headphone, especially when there's not smart features. And they 51 00:03:18,239 --> 00:03:24,959 have some pretty uh funny claims about their uh drivers. For example, they 52 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:31,200 refer to their 500 nanome thick drivers as nanocale ultra thin diaphragms. But 53 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:36,720 calling 500 nanome nanocale is like calling a foot and a half millimeter 54 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:39,040 scale. It's not even close. They have a 55 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:43,040 low defraction smooth structural woven metal protective grill that should help 56 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:46,959 with resonances at certain frequencies compared to a venting that I've never 57 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:51,920 seen on another headphone. It's this they that's an aluminum alloy storage 58 00:03:48,959 --> 00:03:56,640 case. This is not aluminum alloy. This might be aluminum. This is this is 59 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:58,480 plastic. A Honda. Okay. Aluminum alloy 60 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,519 design. I get that it's hard to sell a headphone based on anything other than 61 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:05,360 their sound. They also comment on their high strength structure with uh CNC 62 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,760 aluminum, but also I guess there's the carbon fiber up here, unless that's fake 63 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:12,159 carbon fiber. It feels like real carbon fiber. I'm not going to find out. And 64 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,799 they didn't say anything about comfort, which kind of worries me because uh they 65 00:04:14,239 --> 00:04:23,959 are really heavy. Apparently like half a kilogram, which is in gram scale. That's 66 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,959 gram scale. But let's try them on. 67 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:30,320 They're so loose. There's like very little clamping pressure on my head, 68 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:35,600 which might be nice for comfort, but it's like almost to the point where like I feel like it's not actually like 69 00:04:33,199 --> 00:04:39,360 sitting on my ears. Also, very open back. Uh, it doesn't sound like I'm 70 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:43,199 wearing anything. It almost sounds the exact same with these on or off. I will 71 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:46,160 say the cushions are comfortable, but that might be because there's no clamp 72 00:04:44,479 --> 00:04:51,280 force, but it's like wobbling doing this. Can you see them? Like reco, do 73 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:54,800 you see the recoil on that? I don't know why they keep jiggling and it's 74 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,000 horrendously distracting and not very comfortable. If I sit like this, which 75 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:01,759 is the best way to enjoy music is completely still. Maybe it's a a sizing 76 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,199 thing, but like that'll be the the biggest. If I go to the size where I get 77 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,720 enough clamp pressure, it's almost like pulling the head set up. This might just 78 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:11,120 not be good for my head. You might have to have a You have a big noggin bell. Do 79 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,280 you want to try them on? >> Uh, you know what? They're cool looking. I think it might be your head. I don't 80 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,560 know. Do they wiggle? >> Yeah. >> Not really. Like when I'm actively 81 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:23,039 shaking, but when I stop. >> Yeah. Okay. 82 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:27,039 I don't know. These feel pretty normal. I do have big head and I have uh like 83 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:31,120 flat ears, but I found this pretty comfortable to be honest. And there's a little bit of wiggle, but like I don't 84 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:34,240 know. I'm shaking my head. My whole head's >> for me. It was like 85 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:38,240 >> Yeah, for you it was it would bounce around. >> It was crazy. So, I mean, good news if 86 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:43,680 you're somebody who struggles to find a comfortable pair of headphones because you got such a big head. 87 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:49,840 >> It's normal big. It's big. >> It's still It's still so heavy though. 88 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,960 Like even with the wiggle, it's like 89 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:55,600 These could be the most comfortable headphones in the world, but if they don't sound good, then doesn't really 90 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,880 matter. So, let's take a listen after you listen to this message from our 91 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:02,320 sponsor. Thanks War Thunder for sponsoring today's video. It's a 92 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:06,880 comprehensive vehicle combat game where you can take control of thousands of 93 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:10,479 tanks, planes, and other vehicles. War Thunder prides themselves on their 94 00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:15,120 realistic models of realworld war machines. You can join over 95 million 95 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:19,039 other players on PC, consoles, and even mobile. Click our link and get started 96 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,759 for free today and score yourself some extra goodies. Do you see that L? 97 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:26,960 >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Jesus. >> Yeah, it's really really visible. Now 98 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:31,600 that I've plugged the cables in, I will say there is like zero cable noise in 99 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:37,360 that which is really nice cuz that's super annoying when you have a headphone and you can hear like a nothing. 100 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:41,840 Nothing. Zip. I currently have them plugged into a JDS Labs Element 3 101 00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:46,639 headphone amp. You probably don't need something quite as beefy as this to drive these. Lab said that they were 102 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:50,639 able to drive them satisfactorily off of a MacBook. But if you're somebody who 103 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:54,880 wants their music loud, then you might need to consider a headphone amp. That's 104 00:06:52,960 --> 00:07:01,360 too loud. That was too loud. I don't That was too much for me. 105 00:06:58,639 --> 00:07:04,800 Yes, you can really hear everything. First impressions, they got an 106 00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:07,919 interesting tuning. Often people like planer magnetic headphones because of 107 00:07:06,319 --> 00:07:11,919 their great bass reproduction and their ability to create thumping and loud 108 00:07:09,599 --> 00:07:16,479 bass. These are not tuned that way. In fact, I believe that these are tuned 109 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:21,680 incredibly like literally flat. You get very little subbase. The mids are not 110 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:26,240 scooped at all. You have a couple of like treble spikes, but on the whole, 111 00:07:23,759 --> 00:07:31,520 these sound pretty good. Listening to songs that have a lot of guitars or 112 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:34,240 voices in them. Uh, they really shine on this kind of headphone. They sound 113 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:40,639 really, really great. But this would probably be lacking if you're somebody who preferred say like EDM or hip-hop 114 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:44,639 stuff with a lot of focus on like rumble and low-end bass. It also doesn't sound 115 00:07:42,639 --> 00:07:48,560 very good for stuff like rock and metal. There's like almost a lack of of warmth 116 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:52,720 in the sound that kind of makes things sound tiny. It lacks the kind of punch 117 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,280 that you would want from metal and rock music. To me, it also just sounds like 118 00:07:54,160 --> 00:08:00,240 something that you could probably just get away with putting a little bit of EQ 119 00:07:57,199 --> 00:08:02,639 on and it could make a big big 120 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:07,280 difference in terms of comfort. When I was wearing it, it was totally fine. I 121 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:10,560 was able to get a pretty consistent seal uh after fiddling with them for a little 122 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:14,319 bit. I would be worried about the heaviness of this headphone for 123 00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:18,160 prolonged listening sessions, but honestly, they're technically a really 124 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:22,400 good headphone, assuming that you want actual flat audio, which we know from 125 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:26,560 science that people don't usually actually prefer that. Speaking of science, let's take a look at the lab's 126 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:30,879 results. What we're looking at is a frequency response and variation graph. 127 00:08:28,479 --> 00:08:33,919 The white area is where most people will find an enjoyable sound from their 128 00:08:32,399 --> 00:08:37,839 headphone. Any headphone that falls mostly in the white area is going to be 129 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:41,839 probably good to the average listener. The red area is the variance across 130 00:08:39,839 --> 00:08:45,440 different measurements that we took on different devices. Large amounts of 131 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:48,480 variance isn't always a bad thing. That can be something that just comes down to 132 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:52,560 how they fit on the mounting rigs and how they might fit on your head. Open 133 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:55,120 backs tend to have less variance than closedback headphones. Closedback 134 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:00,160 headphones are going to be things like AirPods Max, your Sony XM6s. Those have 135 00:08:57,839 --> 00:09:03,600 a lot more variance because the seal sitting on your ear and sealing properly 136 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:08,640 is far more important to their sound response than an open back headphone. 137 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:14,800 These headphones have quite low variance and are incredibly flat, like almost 138 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:16,000 exactly a flat line across the graph. 139 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,920 Now, you might notice that average listener preference is not typically a 140 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,120 straight line. And in the bass region, these really drop off compared to 141 00:09:21,519 --> 00:09:27,279 average listener preference. And the mids are basically right in the middle 142 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,920 and will please most people. And then the treble is where it gets a little 143 00:09:28,399 --> 00:09:34,560 weird. Often people prefer a little bit less treble because we're pretty sensitive to those higher range 144 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:38,880 frequencies, but for the treble, this remains pretty much flat. Basically, 145 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:42,160 they don't really sound what most people would prefer, but I think they did a 146 00:09:40,399 --> 00:09:46,320 great job of executing on the target that they were trying to hit. They have 147 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:50,080 great reproduction overall, just good sounding headphones, and if you slap an 148 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:55,040 EQ on these, I think you'd be pretty happy until you looked at the price tag. 149 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:58,399 These are $799, which is honestly heinously expensive 150 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:05,040 for what they are. I think that the build quality is, you know, it's robust, 151 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,720 but eh not great. They're so so heavy 152 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:11,680 and they bounce on my head. I don't know. It seems like you're paying a lot to have these in a big box and uh you 153 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,640 don't get a lot in terms of features. Consider this. If you like a planer 154 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,560 magnetic driver and you want to have something that has mid to bad build 155 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:23,760 quality, you can buy the Hi-Fi Man Sudara and those are like $200. And then 156 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,480 you can take $600 of these and buy a pair of Sony XM6s for when you're on the 157 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:33,519 go. >> Treat yourself to like a massage for 600 bucks. >> These lack the premium comfort, the 158 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:38,079 ergonomic design, and the features to justify their price. And they don't 159 00:10:35,279 --> 00:10:41,120 sound so mind-bogglingly good as to exist. Like if you want a really really 160 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:45,200 great sounding headphone, you can go much cheaper and get the HD550s from 161 00:10:42,959 --> 00:10:47,920 Sennheiser. They're not planer magnetic, but they're open back. They sound great. 162 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:52,240 Comfort, obviously, >> for small heads like me. comfort. They 163 00:10:50,079 --> 00:10:55,040 clamp a little bit, but there's a robust modding community. There's aftermarket 164 00:10:53,839 --> 00:10:59,920 stuff you can do. They're more repairable. These are expensive, and in 165 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:04,320 a vacuum, they seem excellent, but in the broad scheme of the market, they 166 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:07,519 just kind of don't matter. But what does matter is that you subscribe or maybe 167 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:14,079 watch another video. How about the uh Sennheiser HD550 video I did just a 168 00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:14,079 couple months ago? those.