I had to blink a few times when I first saw the MOONDROP DASH being announced in June, and then FiiO decided it wanted a piece of the pie when it teased its own HiFi keyboard a day later using worse renders. The next few months were interesting with a mix of various factors leading to many products being delayed, and then the DASH was again "launched" in Oct with a giveaway attached to it. Yet it was nowhere to be seen for purchase and MOONDROP kept changing its mind on whether it would do a group-buy and also how best to have retail sales conducted. It's previous foray into the keyboard world was with MOONDROP-branded switches that sold exclusively on Drop and, as of the date I write this review, this appears to be the way the DASH will also follow. The good thing is the final retail pricing is lower than it would have been without Drop being involved. I heard numbers ranging from $299 for an initial group-buy to $399 thereafter at one point, and now the $299 number feels like a bargain when you consider that the MoonRiver 2 DAC/amp itself sells for $189. But then you realize that this means most customers outside the USA are not going to have a local vendor and the final cost will be way higher once you account for customs fees, shipping, and sales taxes as applicable. The primary audience for the MOONDROP DASH is arguably still North American, however. My keyboard and audio reviews are viewed relatively far more from the USA compared to my cooling/networking/general storage reviews that have a more even global viewership split. Perhaps it's not as big a deal then, so let's move on to the actual product.

The MOONDROP DASH—which is also referred to as the DASH75—is innovative in a few different ways. It takes courage for an audio company that's barely existed long enough to make a mark for itself with IEMs, to come out with switches and a whole keyboard thereafter. I will say that I'd still trust an audio company to make a keyboard more so than I'd trust a keyboard company to come out with an audio product. No offense to the various keyboard brands out there but it takes more engineering to get a DAC/amp and headphone/IEM executed correctly. Now imagine the challenges in combining the two fields to have a keyboard with an integrated DAC/amp and there's a reason why the DASH is the first of its kind. MOONDROP has also had a dodgy last few releases ranging from acceptable to poor, so I was somewhat worried if it was stretched too thin going in so many different directions beyond the IEMs it's famous for.

I urge you to read the entire review to know more about the various strengths and weaknesses of this ensembles of three PCBs that come together to make the MOONDROP DASH what it is. Indeed, the inclusion of a very good DAC/amp with both single-ended and balanced outputs that can drive the vast majority of headphones and earphones makes for a space-efficient product when you also consider the 75% form factor employed by the keyboard side. You also get two spare USB ports to where this can be a strong base for your work desk while saving plenty of room. The keyboard side of things is extremely positive when it comes to the PCB being top-mounted, the use of custom switches and keycaps that work well together, as well as foam and tape mods in additional to screw-in PCB-mounted stabilizers which are also lubed quite nicely, to where I can honestly say even the most demanding keyboard enthusiast, should they be accepting of the aesthetics of the keyboard, will be satisfied with the typing feel and sound alike.

That said, this is not a perfect product. The retro aesthetics can be divisive, as is the chassis design. The keyboard itself is barebones and is saved by open-source firmware with QMK/VIA compatibility, but it can be an entry barrier to the average audiophile who's simply looking at a good keyboard with software support. There are no LEDs to be found, except the indicator LED on the DAC/amp hilariously enough, so it's not for someone wanting a light show on their desk either. Then there's the part where the keyboard does not have dedicated volume controls despite there being as many as four options MOONDROP could have taken—replace Print Screen with a volume wheel, re-program two keys for volume +/-, provide physical access to the actual volume control buttons still present on the MoonRiver 2 DAC/amp PCB, or have firmware for the MoonRiver 2 to allow the MOONDROP Link mobile app to control it for gain/LED/volume control. Even so, the average user will end up using the Windows volume slider, and that's just unnecessary here. It can be a potential deal breaker for many, even more so than the cost and limited retail availability of the product. MOONDROP could have also made the keyboard modular to fit the MoonRiver 2, as discussed on page four. It's a good thing then that the base keyboard experience itself is very good and bests several standalone keyboards for the money even considering what hardcore keyboard enthusiasts care about. The MOONDRIVER 2 DAC/amp is a bonus on top to where I am happy to recommend the MOONDROP DASH—especially with the various optimizations that happened between the time I got this engineering sample and the time it went on sale. I will update this review with more photos and further thoughts as and when I get the updated parts, but I wanted to get this review out in time for interested customers to be able to purchase this innovative keyboard.

Update: December 15. 2022—MOONDROP has sent over the finalized accessories and the PCBs, so this review has been updated and marked accordingly. If anything, I am even happier with the DASH keyboard that will ship to customers to where even the keyboard side of things now feels worthy of the $300 price tag and the integrated MoonRiver 2 with headphone outputs further tilts things in favor of making this a must-have keyboard for anyone in the market for a space-efficient typing and audio solution. As such, I have also decided to bump things up to award MOONDROP an Editor's Choice award now.