HIFI Diary: Moondrop Nice Buds Earbuds Sound Quality Review

I. Preface

Thanks to an anonymous group member for sending these in for review. We hope you can contact the BLOG owner =W=. The flat-head earbuds market has been stagnant for a long time without any sensational new products. Moondrop, as a major anime/game culture brand, quietly released a flat-head model in November. Its low price is truly a pleasant surprise. Taking advantage of this opportunity from the group member, we’re quickly bringing you this simple review.

II. Preparation for the Review

The earphones being reviewed are the Moondrop Nice Buds flat-head earbuds. The comparison earphones are all well-known entry-level flat-head models. The earphones were plugged directly into the BLOG owner’s monitoring terminal, the Tascam X8. This is a very straightforward setup, mainly considering the low price of these two earphones, making high-end sources unnecessary. Playback was via QQ Music using WASAPI, focusing on simplicity and ease of use =W=.

III. Assessment Tracks/Scoring Method

The track selection is based on the BLOG owner’s usual listening preferences, which are about 70% Japanese music and 30% large-scale classical music. Therefore, the selection leans heavily towards Japanese music. The scoring criteria are derived from a simplified version of Liu Hansheng’s “Twenty Essentials for Audio,” with a maximum score of 10, though generally, the highest score given is 9. A score of 8 indicates a clear advantage in the scoring category, 7 signifies excellence, 6 means it can be normally appreciated, 5 means it can be normally listened to, and scores below 5 are not commented on. For a more detailed evaluation plan, please refer to here.

IV. Testing Begins

Project	NICEHCK Small	Moondrop Nice Buds	Qian 25 10th Anniversary
Integrity	6.5/10	6.5/10	6.5/10
High frequency	6.5/10	6.5/10	5.5/10
Medium frequency	6/10	6/10	6.5/10
Low frequency	5.5/10	6/10	6.5/10
Analysis	6.5/10	7/10	7/10
Sound field	6/10	5/10	5/10
Dynamic	5.5/10	5/10	6/10
Total score	6.1/10	6/10	6.1/10

1、Song: Suite from the Ballet Swan Lake op.20 1.Scene, Album: the best of CLASSICAL MUSIC

Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is not only the musical soul of the entire ballet but also one of the most deeply resonant melodies in the history of classical music. In 1875, Tchaikovsky accepted a commission from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to compose the music for the ballet Swan Lake. At that time, ballet music was generally seen as subordinate to the dance, with functionality outweighing artistry. However, Tchaikovsky approached it with the rigor and emotional richness of symphonic composition, intending to elevate ballet music to an unprecedented artistic height. Unfortunately, the premiere of Swan Lake in 1877 was not successful. Reasons included the ballet dancers’ technique, clumsy choreography, and the orchestra’s struggle with the music being “too symphonic,” all contributing to the performance’s failure. This was a heavy blow to Tchaikovsky, who felt his painstaking work had been ruined. It wasn’t until 1895, after Tchaikovsky’s death, that renowned choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov re-staged Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. They deeply understood the drama and depth of Tchaikovsky’s music and created timeless choreography. This performance was a huge success, making Swan Lake synonymous with ballet, and Tchaikovsky’s music was recognized as an immortal masterpiece.

To allow this outstanding music to be performed independently in concerts, Tchaikovsky himself selected the most brilliant sections, compiling them into the Swan Lake Suite (Op. 20a). “Scene” is the opening piece of the suite and the core musical motif of the entire work. The piece depicts the classic moment when Prince Siegfried first sees Princess Odette, transformed into a swan by a curse, at the lake. The moonlit lake shimmers, a flock of swans glides gracefully past, and the noblest one (Odette) captures the Prince’s full attention. The music perfectly captures this moment filled with mystery, sorrow, and beauty. The piece begins with low string tremolos, like a chill in the deep forest night, full of the unknown and unease. Immediately after, the harp’s crisp arpeggios scatter like moonlight on the lake, instantly breaking the silence, bringing a touch of magic and poetry. The oboe plays that timeless main melody. This melody is extremely beautiful, but its underlying tone is one of deep sorrow. It’s not like a human cry, but a restrained, noble sadness, as if the swan is silently lamenting its unfortunate fate under the moon. You feel a loneliness and beauty that strikes directly at the heart. As the French horns and the entire orchestra join in, the main melody builds to a grand climax. The music here is no longer a personal outpouring but an epic, fateful cry. The emotional tension reaches its peak, as if one can see the Prince and the Swan Princess, small and struggling before destiny, filled with tragic power. Finally, the music gradually subsides, returning to the mysterious atmosphere of the beginning, leaving endless reverie and a faint trace of melancholy, as if the swan’s figure disappears into the distant lake surface, everything returns to calm, but that sorrow is already deeply imprinted in the listener’s heart.

Tchaikovsky completely changed the status of ballet music. He proved that ballet music could possess symphonic structure, depth, and independent artistic value. After Swan Lake, works like Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet continued this “symphonic” creative concept. The main melody of Swan Lake has transcended the realm of classical music, evoking associations with elegance, romance, tragedy, and beauty. It has become a common artistic language. This piece, especially the oboe solo within it, has become a touchstone for measuring a performer’s musical expressiveness. It requires the performer not only to have superb technique but also deep musical understanding and emotional expressiveness.

First tested was classical music. After all, flat-head earbuds have been dominated by NICEHCK for so many years. By the NICEHCK Small generation, classical music has entered the listening range. Among flat-head earbuds below $3, this was originally an area where the Small stood alone, and the Qian 25 failed to make achievements here. From the first sound, it was clear the Moondrop Nice Buds couldn’t compete in this arena. The overly small soundstage and dynamics make these earbuds almost lose the ability to represent the space of a concert hall; the positions of various instruments are crowded in the center. The opening harp and oboe have almost no positional information, and when the tutti plays, it completely squeezes out the spatial information, which is quite regrettable. Even more regrettable is that in the playback of J. Strauss II – Magic Bullets Fast Polka, Op. 326, the Nice Buds’ weak dynamic capability makes the moment the musket fires sound soft and powerless, ompletely killing the competition. Conversely, when playing the violin multi-piece《風の循環～Wind Tour》, the Nice Buds, relying on good detail, high-frequency extension, and transparency, achieved a good listening experience. Therefore, the BLOG owner ultimately believes that when playing classical music, the Moondrop Nice Buds perform well with string instruments, and their performance with small ensembles and chamber music is also commendable. However, for large-scale classical works, they are completely unlistenable.

2、Song: β受体阻滞剂与星辰 (Beta-Blockers and Stars) (Human Voice Original Version), Singer: 芊年 (Qian Nian), Album: β受体阻滞剂与星辰 (Beta-Blockers and Stars)

“β受体阻滞剂与星辰” (Beta-Blockers and Stars) is a fan-made song inspired by the 2011 Gamespot “Best Story Award” winning game To The Moon, with core themes revolving around memory, forgetting, love, and redemption. The game tells the story of a pair of doctors who, by modifying the memories of an elderly man named Johnny on his deathbed, help him fulfill his childhood dream of “going to the moon.” In the plot, “beta-blockers” are drugs used to help Johnny erase painful memories, but they also cause him to forget his precious bond with his beloved River.

This song takes this as its starting point, using musical language to reconstruct the emotional tension of the game. Every line of the lyrics corresponds directly to important plot points in the game. For example, the opening line “一转眼逃过多少年我还嵌在这空房间” (In the blink of an eye, how many years have I escaped? I’m still stuck in this empty room) directly points to Johnny’s loneliness and confusion within the memory gap. The melody is permeated with a faint sadness and melancholy, perfectly matching the sorrowful atmosphere that runs through To The Moon. It is widely regarded as a classic among fan-made songs.

This work was created and arranged by musician Kevinz. It was first submitted to Bilibili on February 23, 2017, as a VOCALOID Chinese original song, featuring the virtual singer Luo Tianyi (洛天依) as the main vocal and Yan He (言和) on harmony. On July 14, 2017, Kevinz collaborated with singer Qian Nian (芊年) to re-record this song as the human voice original version. Qian Nian’s performance gives the song a more real, more earthy emotional depth, forming a sharp contrast with the VOCALOID version and providing listeners with a different aesthetic experience.

As a fan work, the song’s melody is heavily adapted from the game’s original soundtrack. Its unique artistic value is more concentrated in the literary and philosophical exploration of its lyrics. The lyrics not only discuss the modern proposition of “memory and existence” but also contain a layer of profound theological metaphor within the story framework: humans, using technology (beta-blockers), play the role of “God,” attempting to achieve a secular form of “redemption” by erasing memories.

However, this artificial intervention precisely highlights the tension between the sacred and the secular. The memory ambiguity depicted by the lyrics “解离的视线” (dissociated gaze) and “逶迤的感知” (winding perception) is an indictment of the failure of the artificial “miracle” – technology can alter the trajectory of memory but cannot sever the invisible marks emotions carve deep into the soul, eternal like the stars. It seems to ask: when humans steal divine authority to correct the past, what we get, is it liberation, or another form of exile?

The song ultimately provides no answer, instead placing the listener within this paradoxical sadness and hope. It thus transcends simple homage,升华 (sublimating) into a meditation on human finitude and transcendence: those emotional connections that cannot be erased by technology are perhaps the very proof of our existence in the world and our longing to reach for the stars.

This is the BLOG owner’s own treasure song. A song with no technique – after all, one cannot avoid breathing – yet filled with “tech and intense stuff”, it unexpectedly moves people deeply. Choosing this song is very deliberate. The vocal presentation of the Moondrop Nice Buds is completely different from the NICEHCK Small and Qian 25 10th Anniversary. The Nice Buds take a bright, brisk, youthful, and slightly sophisticated (小资) path, while the other two follow the old path of being substantial and flavorful. The types of vocals suited by these three earphones are distinctly different. Moondrop continues its old trade: it must handle sweet ACG female vocals. Meanwhile, NICEHCK and Qian 25 follow the path of “tears of regret” – how can listening to songs not make you cry? Therefore, the song “β受体阻滞剂与星辰” (Beta-Blockers and Stars) chosen by the BLOG owner happens to be a song right in the middle of these two styles. Whichever earphone is used, the sound is acceptable, comfortable to listen to, and allows one to feel the emotion and information conveyed by the singer, yet the styles are completely different, and it’s difficult to say which earphone is better or more suitable. So, everyone can listen for themselves. If the vocals you usually listen to are sweeter than this song, then choose the Nice Buds; otherwise, choose the other two.

V. Summary

This flat-head review comes almost a year after the last one. These three popular flat-head models each have their own characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. The bass of the Moondrop Nice Buds sits between the NICEHCK Small and the Qian 25 10th Anniversary. The quantity is not high, but the texture and thickness are acceptable, much better than the completely crippled NICEHCK Small, but the quantity is noticeably less than the Qian 25 10th Anniversary. The midrange of the Moondrop Nice Buds takes a slender, youthful, sweet path, completely different from the NICEHCK and Qian’s emphasis on substantial vocals. It’s clearly more suitable for listening to popular young female vocals as expected of a major brand, but very unsuitable for listening to soulful male or mature female vocals. As for the highs, the Moondrop Nice Buds are basically consistent with the NICEHCK Small; both have relatively clean, penetrating highs, which are much more comfortable than the darker highs of the Qian 25. The complete weaknesses lie in soundstage and dynamics, which can basically be considered crippled. Listening to large-scale classical works is asking for punishment. Considering that the NICEHCK Small and Qian 25 10th Anniversary have been competing fiercely for so long, classical music is actually somewhat listenable on them now. Therefore, the Moondrop Nice Buds are at a comprehensive disadvantage in this aspect.

So the result is very clear. If you need an earphone that can listen to anything halfway decently, then the NICEHCK Small is still the best choice. If you want to listen to substantial male/female vocals and focus on flavor, then the Qian 25 is still the best choice in this price range. And if you are a seasoned fan who likes listening to the voices of young idols and youthful girl groups, then the Moondrop Nice Buds very precisely cover this range, making them the current unrivaled choice at this price point.