Introduction

The budget-friendly in-ear monitors market has never been more competitive than it is now. We have some truly excellent sets out at $50 and under, to where it is getting hard for products to even justify a $70-100 price purely out of tuning. Indeed, the last few weeks saw the debut of sets that cost $20 or less which show that you can truly get well-tuned IEMs without needing to compromise much! Truthear with HOLA comes to mind immediately and then FiiO also tried with its JD3 and JD3 Black Edition. These latter two sets happen to be bullet-style IEMs with smaller shells that insert into the ear canal for great isolation while still being comfortable so clearly this is a lucrative, albeit niche, market for others to be involved in.


MOONDROP is an audio brand that has made a mark for itself in the IEM market at various price points. We've extensively covered the brand's offerings, including several high notes and some low ones, and I was even impressed by its debut in the over-ear headphone market too. We are not looking at a $600 product today however, and not even 1/10th the cost at that! The recently released MOONDROP Quarks DSP is an update to the Quarks IEMs that arguably first triggered this whole race to the bottom, and goes with a Type-C connector that easily plugs into your phone or laptop without the need for an external DAC/amp. Indeed, the use of an integrated source means MOONDROP also uses digital signal processing—hence the DSP in the name—to have preset digital filters for a tonality that is much harder to achieve with just audio engineering at this price point. There's even more here to help sweeten the deal and yet the question remains as to whether the Quarks DSP actually sounds good or not. Thanks to HiFiGo for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp as we aim to answer this today in this article which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging is on the simpler side for the MOONDROP Quarks DSP, which isn't surprising given the more value-oriented offering it aims to be. For once we don't get female artwork on the product box for a set of MOONDROP IEMs, with the company choosing to go with just a simple render to showcase the elementary particles that the Quarks DSP takes its name from. On the back is a factory frequency response that I continue to urge all manufacturers to follow in addition to product specifications. The box opens up from the side to... well never mind there's that female artwork after all. At least this is functional in the form of a wearing guide for those new to IEMs, and underneath we find the Quarks DSP shells placed in a layer of cardboard for added protection on their way to you. The rest of the accessories are placed separately in the bottom layer.


MOONDROP adds in more paperwork in the form of some usage and maintenance tips and a warranty/QC card itself. We also get a soft drawstring-style carry pouch to help store and carry the IEMs in. Rounding off the unboxing experience are the provided silicone ear tips in sizes S/M/L. These are generic single-flange tips that are worth trying out certainly, although you may wish to consider aftermarket tips if you do not get a decent fit and/or seal with them.

Closer Look

The MOONDROP Quarks DSP has a permanently attached cable similar to the MOONDROP Chu we saw before, and now I am reminded that it was really the Chu that kickstarted the excellent value-for-money train when it comes to inexpensive IEMs coming out of China. The Quarks DSP differs from the earlier Quarks in using a Type-C digital connector headed to the source and there is a DAC underneath the branded plastic housing to convert the digital audio signal to analog in addition to adding in EQ filters to affect the frequency response of the set. There is very little information otherwise provided about the cable, so I can only speculate that underneath the basic silicone sleeving is pure copper conductor alone. We then see a similar circular splitter without any cable cinch as on a few other inexpensive MOONDROP IEM cables and then comes a bonus feature in the form on an in-line microphone with tactile volume controls on the split wire headed to the right channel itself. Both channels terminate on the underside of the IEM shells where L/R marking comes in the form of the black/red Quarks symbol seen on the back.


To say the Quarks DSP is tiny relative to other IEMs would be an understatement—these are certainly the smallest IEMs I've reviewed to date. MOONDROP has gone with polycarbonate housing that has two pieces glued together, with a cutout at the bottom for the cable itself. The shells get a clear finish which provides a closer look at the dynamic driver used inside. These are clearly bullet-style IEMs which fit straight into the ear canal rather than having the cable go over and around the ears and thus the lack of a cable cinch isn't as big a deal as the lack of a shirt clip to minimize microphonics from the IEM and microphone cable in use. The face plate here is simply the back with the design we saw earlier and the nozzle is a narrower section that measured under 5 mm to not be a dealbreaker for those with smaller ear canals either. There is a metal mesh placed towards the end here so any contaminants are less likely to enter the acoustic chamber. Installing the provided ear tips is simple enough given the hard stop provided where the nozzle meets the wider shells, as seen above, and using the QUARKS DSP is as simple as plugging the Type-C connector into the equivalent port on a compatible phone or computer. Those on iOS will require a USB OTG adapter, at least for now while we still have iPhones and iPads using the Apple Lightning connector. My phone immediately recognized the Quarks DPS as earphones ready to go and here we see also how the cable ends up being the brightest part of this combo.