Disclaimer: I would like to formally thank Moritz Audio for providing us with a unit in exchange for an impartial and honest review. On behalf of the team at the Headphone List, we thank her for her generosity and trust in THL.
Summary:
For a newcomer, the Dragon bears the hallmarks of dynamic driver IEMs: a big and bold presentation that leans into the experience rather than the analytical.
The juxtaposition between its natural but incisive midrange and well-controlled, enveloping mid-bass paints a clear and immersive stage, albeit at the expense of transient performance and exuberance in the treble region.
Pros:
+ Featherlight shells with barely any heft
+ Technically proficient dynamic driver, with a well-controlled mid-bass cliff and a life-like midrange
+ Deep and outwardly lateral staging, Z-axis width and headroom
Cons:
– Shells feel plasticky, nor do they inspire confidence in its build quality.
– Boisterous, forward-leaning bass response can overwhelm listeners with proclivities towards a more analytical tuning.
– Lack of brilliance and exuberance in the upper-treble takes out the shine in brighter instrumentation
Introduction
Moritz Audio appears to be an emerging audiophile brand hailing from the intersection where the Oriental meets the Occidental: Hong Kong. The gleaming city east of the mouth of the winding Pearl River is a well-known haven for obsessive audiophiles undeterred from parting with their hard-earned cash for the golden IEM that lays the golden sound.
As the global audiophile market reaches peak-saturation, the overabundance of in-ear goodies is plagued by a overwhelming sense of consumer ennui. There’s too many products and too little ears. Regardless, this rising tide of capitalist fatigue does little to stem the germination of aspirational brands with the steely determination of youth, ready to take the market by storm.
The Dragon is one such IEM. But, instead of inadvertently participating in the resurgent ‘hot’ war where driver-count reigns supreme, the Dragon harkens to tradition, utilising a customized beryllium-plated ultra-thin diaphragm dynamic driver. Priced at 650 USD, the Dragon can be purchased from Moritz Audio’s official store.
Technology
Customized beryllium-plated ultra-thin diaphragm dynamic driver
Powered a humble dynamic driver, the driver’s diaphragm-of-choice is materially enhanced with a beryllium coating, strengthening its rigidity under enormous pressure, reducing unwanted distortions from uncontrolled driver flutter.
Pure silver cable
Non-cable purists, turn away. For audiophiles that place stock in the ‘cables make a difference’ camp, Moritz Audio has generously included a pure-silver cable to improve the overall sonic fidelity of the Dragon IEMs.
Unboxing
The Dragon comes in a box, with an impossible-to-miss resplendent mix of colours, with a fiery dragon silhouette printed onto its glossy outer-sleeve. Inside the box, you’ll find:
- Moritz Dragon IEM
- Crushproof case with paracord strap
- Pure-silver cable with swappable terminations (3.5mm, 4.4 mm)
- S, M and L silicon tips
The included crush-proof case is a welcomed inclusion for an IEM that’s almost purely fabricated from resin. I think there’s little to criticise in the overall packaging, but at the 650 USD price point, it’s fair of consumers to expect a ‘wow factor’ from their purchase/acquisition to unboxing to consumption.
Design
The Dragon features a purple and brown padauk-like swirls or the unpredictable wavey patterns from a tie-dyeing a shirt at Coachella. The entire chassis is made from hypo-allergenic resin in the standard universal form factor that underpins almost every Chi-fi IEM in the marketplace. At certain angles, the translucent shells reveals the inner-workings of the dynamic driver, neatly tucked away at the nozzle-end, leaving behind a generous amount of negative space.
Visually, the Dragon’s aesthetic is very striking – beautiful to some, garish to others. Personally, I sit somewhere in the middle, depending on my dress code for the day. Build-wise, the thickness of the actual resin mould doesn’t feel very substantial, given it a ‘plasticky’ feel that detracts from what is actually an impressively featherlight IEM.
To cap it off, each channel features a gold-plated nozzle with a raised notch for securing your tip-of-choice in place.
In spite of its lacklustre build, the Dragon has a eye-catching appearance that is bound to turn heads.
Comfort and Ergonomics
The Dragon ticks all the right boxes in these two departments. For starters, the non-existent weight of the thinly-walled shells disappear once they’re comfortably positioned in my ears. The nozzle itself is of medium-length, and I can’t detect any issues with wearing comfort or seal. Ergonomics-wise, there is again, nothing much to nit-pick. These are one of the most pleasant listening sessions that I’ve had with a review sample.
As with noise isolation, dynamic driver IEMs aren’t the golden ideal due to their mandatory need for a vent to displace any pressure generation when worn. Thankfully, the pin-hole sized vents don’t allow much extraneous ambient noise, save for gusts of wind in outdoor settings.
Cable Quality
The stock cable itself comes sheathed in a brown outer, matching the mahogany swirls meandering across the Dragon’s faceplates. The cable is strewn from four braids of pure silver (alluded to in its accompanying marketing copy).
The cable’s sheathing is pliable, flexible and noise-free, allowing for a microphonics-free listening session, be it in sedentary or active situations. The hardware embellishing the cable comprises of sanitised metal, with pleats length-wise – akin to corrugated iron.
The termination end is swappable, using a proprietary mini 4-pin connector. The termination-of-choice forms the male end, and the receptacle on cable forms the female end. There is a raised notch and cut-out that must be aligned for the jack to sit snugly and securely.
The stock cable itself is perfectly adequate and well-designed for day-to-day use, nor does it get in the way of stowage or usage in indoor or outdoor environments.
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