Moondrop Sparks

Sound Analysis.

Summary – Moondrop has used a combination of dynamic driver tuning as well as inbuilt DSP to achieve Sparks’ sound signature but this a Moondrop TWS IEM after all, so it should come as no surprise that this too is tuned to their in-house VDSF target curve which takes inspiration from the Harman Target. Sparks in fact is quite in line with the Harman Target but has a smaller 5dB bass shelf. Otherwise, it has fairly linear and neutral lower midrange, forward upper-midrange with 10-11dB pinna gain, fairly smooth and neutral lower-treble and a tiny bit of sparkle in upper-treble around 16-17kHz.

Bass – Because of Sparks’ deeper insertion fit, I perceive Spark’s bass response much better than Samsung Buds+, which is also tuned to the Harman Target curve. Buds+ fit is not as snug as Sparks and even Lypertek Tevi requires ear tips like Azla Sedna or Spiral Dots for its signature to shine best. Sparks bass is precise, has quick transient response and very natural-neutral punch which presents the songs more neutrally than in the face punchy. This tuning will appeal more to audiophiles and people who like natural neutrality more than people who prefer a big bass boosted consumer tuning in their TWS.

Mids – It has very natural sounding, neutral reference-ish midrange tuning with linear lower-midrange and forward upper-midrange presentation with around 10-11dB of upper-midrange pinna gain. Now the pinna gain boost is subjective as per one’s preference and how loud one listens to music but Sparks follows the Harman Target pinna gain almost perfectly. It can come off slightly shouty to people at first who haven’t heard Harman Target style IEMs in the past but most who are accustomed to reference IEMs tuned to Harman Target or Diffuse Field will highly appreciate Sparks’ well done midrange tuning. Tonality and timbre of instruments are very good owing to this reference style tuning. Also, because of its reference-ish tuning, it doesn’t prefer any specific instrument or vocals over the other and the song is presented the way it is mixed, with Sparks not adding much from its side.

Treble – Lower-treble is balanced and smooth, quite in line with the Harman Target, without any harshness or sibilance. Upper-treble is just slightly north of neutral, adding a bit of sparkle to keep songs exciting. Detail retrieval and clarity is segment leading in TWS IEMs below $100 in my opinion. It has good extension till 20kHz without any perceivable roll-off. All in all, not much to complain about here.

Soundstage and Imaging – Soundstage is clean and is wider than deep. It is quite well done for an IEM at this price point, especially a TWS. Imaging is fairly good, with Sparks coming out strong in this department when you compare it to other TWS IEMs in the sub-$100 price segment.

Comparisons.

Samsung Buds+ – Buds+ has excellent build quality and is tuned to the Harman Target curve too, which Samsung started incorporating in their IEMs after buying Harman International in 2017. Tech wise, Buds+ have a much better touch sensor and excellent app integration which has lots of customisation option like pre-configured Equalizer, touch control customisation, Ambient Sound as well as an option to find the earbuds if you know they are around you somewhere but can’t find them. Moondrop’s app only allows touch control customisation but that too is rather limited since you can’t configure the touch to adjust volume. Buds+ are built to be small and ergonomic so that they disappear in the concha and don’t protrude outside but Sparks fits me more snugly since I have big ears and prefer a deeper insertion fit. Buds+ fit on the other hand is shallow and I keep fiddling with them as they don’t fit me as snugly and their proprietary nozzles don’t accept any 3rd party ear tips, only further limiting fit options. Buds+ have an IPX2 rating whereas IPX rating isn’t specified for Sparks. Design wise, I personally like Sparks’ design much more, be it the shells, charging case or cover. Sound wise, they are similar in a lot of ways but Buds+ has a bigger bass shelf (around 3dBs more) and are slightly harsher in treble tuning. Otherwise, they have similar lower-midrange and upper-midrange tuning but Sparks comes off more natural sounding overall in comparison. Sparks also has better upper-treble extension and refinement. Sparks’ soundstage is cleaner and slightly wider but they have similar depth. Buds+ runs for 11 hours on single charge and the charging case allows 11 more hours of run time while Sparks runs for 8 hours on a single charge but the charging case allows for 48 hours extra, which is excellent in my opinion! Overall, Buds+ will appeal to people who love a bigger bass boost and very well done app integration which allows lots of customisation but Sparks has the more natural take on Harman-Target, has a nice deep fit and a highly attractive design which isn’t as common as a Samsung Buds TWS IEM that every other guy owns.

Lypertek Tevi – Tevi has peculiar barrel shaped earpieces with a physical button for control which I quite like and prefer. Tevi has an app too which has pre-configured EQ profiles and touch control customisation. Sparks’ app on the other hand only allows touch control customisation. Fit wise, Tevi has a medium insertion fit with Spiral Dots and Azla Sedna, which is very comfortable and surprisingly good at noise isolation too whereas Sparks has a deeper insertion fit in comparison. Tevi have an excellent IPX7 rating whereas IPX rating isn’t specified for Sparks. Sound wise, Lypertek Tevi is tuned more like Etymotic Diffuse Field with a nice 10dB sub-bass shelf. It has a bigger sub-bass shelf and so the bass, especially sub-bass rumble is much more prominent in Tevi. Sparks’ bass has quicker transient response, better precision as well as resolution. Tevi has very slightly more mid-bass body. Their lower-midrange tuning is quite similar but Tevi is a bit more forward and prominent in its upper-midrange tuning around 3kHz but Sparks is a bit more forward in the 4-8kHz range. Both are quite smooth in their lower-treble tuning without any harshness or sibilance creeping in but Sparks has better upper-treble extension, a bit more upper-end ‘spark’ (lol) and resolution in the treble range. Tevi on the other hand is warmer sounding of the two. Sparks’ soundstage is cleaner and ever so slightly wider and deeper.

Conclusion.

I personally like Sparks quite a lot, more than Samsung Buds+ sound wise and probably even Lypertek Tevi, though the jury is still out on the latter since I like both but I do notice myself going for Sparks more than Tevi these days. I definitely dig Sparks’ design most out of all TWS IEMs I’ve tried. I reckon the main downers here would be the long nozzles, no mention of IPX rating and Moondrop’s TWS app being basic which only allows touch control customisation, which I personally can live with because I don’t really use EQ if I like an IEM’s stock sound signature but Moondrop definitely needs to work on the app and introduce more features quickly to satisfy the consumers who highly value these features. Besides that, Sparks is a very good first attempt at TWS by Moondrop, especially sound and design wise which one of the best in its segment and I can only imagine them trying to hit bigger and bigger with subsequent TWS models. So, if you’re in the market for a TWS IEM and value sound, good design, battery life and bluetooth connectivity most, Moondrop Sparks is a highly attractive, great sounding $89 TWS IEM which you can’t really go wrong with. I highly recommend checking it out!