Fit and Comfort

Seen above is the MOONDROP VOID placed on a mannequin head, to help show how these headphones would look on the human head. Note that the head is slightly under average sized, so account for the discrepancies accordingly. As with all headphones, getting a good fit and seal is crucial, so make sure to properly use the various pivot points, and the height adjustability of the headband and ear cups. This section is mostly a summary of the points expanded upon in more detail on the previous page and unfortunately it does not paint a pretty picture. The VOID is relatively light at ~250 g, if not slightly more, but that is not a concern either way when you realize the headband has two stress points where it meets the frame. This creates inward clamping pressure here as well as near the top of the ear cups themselves. This can result in a broken seal at the bottom of the ear pads given they are not the firmest pads to begin with, and there is also the non-zero chance of two pressure points by the sides of your head (temple region) too if you have a larger-than-average head. I kept having to fiddle around with the VOID to get a decent fit and seal but even so I could physically feel the ear pads collapsing inwards over time to where it can also affect the overall listening experience too. Forget the lack of cup swivel options here, this is an actual deal breaker and one that MOONDROP failed to address during the revisions done to the final retail version. If you happen to be lucky enough to where this is not going to be a big issue then I suppose the VOID can be fairly comfortable owing to the contoured ear pads that do try to mold themselves around your ears.Do keep in mind that the VOID is an open-back set and thus will be best used in a quiet environment without others in the vicinity.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

MOONDROP does merit props for developing the entire driver assembly by itself in addition to the proprietary injection molds that go around them and are sadly not as successful. The 50 mm dynamic driver used in the VOID has a metal-coated dome diaphragm with a flexible suspension around it that aims to deliver "superb dynamics and textures" and better treble extension as part of a smooth frequency response. This is paired with a finite element analysis-optimized internal magnet circuit using neodymium N52 magnets capable of delivering up to 1 Tesla of flux to make for highly efficient drivers with ultra-low distortion. There's a CCAW (copper-clad aluminium wire) voice coil associated with the diaphragm itself for the eventual sounds you hear and MOONDROP talks a bit also about the incorporation of HRTF preferences for the eventual tuning itself. Overall the MOONDROP VOID is relatively easy to drive with an average rated impedance of 64 Ω (at 1 kHz) and sensitivity of 110 dB/Vrms which translates to 98 dB/mW. It's not the "high-efficiency" benchmark that MOONDROP claims relative to most dynamic driver sets, but can still be paired with a portable DAC/amp or decent dongle such as the MOONDROP DAWN we will examine on the next page. As such, the relatively shorter cables aren't as big a deal here since you don't need to be tied down to more powerful and larger gear at home.

Frequency Response Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm-neutral signature emphasizing a slightly elevated bass and smooth treble range with detailed mids and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our current headphones test setup uses a set of two custom in-ear microphones for the two channels. These microphones closely adhere to the IEC711 class, but have been tweaked to be more reliable in the >10 kHz frequency range, the precise issue with my previous setup, that is otherwise still very good and will continue to be used for IEMs and earphones. Two soft silicone pinnae are installed on the sides, separated by a distance matching my head, and multiple "height" adapters have been 3D-printed for further customization, based on fit, head size and shape. Each set of microphones has an XLR output I separately adapted to 3.5 mm. I used a transparent source—the JDS Labs Element II—for measurements after confirming it was not a bottleneck in any way.

This artificial head simulator feeds the microphone lines into a reference USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/12th setting, netting a good balance of detail and signal to noise ratio. The default tuning was used for testing, and no app or program-based EQ settings were chosen, unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is measured at least thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the individual measurements for statistical accuracy.


As before, you can find my headphone frequency response measurements on VSG.squig.link along with all the earphone measurements. Scroll to the bottom and choose different targets there, including two from Harman Kardon developed after years of R&D. The Harman 2018 over-ear target in particular, is a reference curve many headphone makers aim for now, but I find it too bass-boosted. As such, I am opting for the Harman 2018 curve with the bass target from the Harman 2013 curve, which is what is referred to as the "Harman Combined" target. In fact, go to this specific link to see how this final version of the MOONDROP VOID compares to the two older versions I have here. It's obvious that any changes made were on the build side of things and I have outlined them separately here for those interested. The drivers are the same as is the sound signature itself and this also gives us good statistical data to say that the VOID has decent channel matching as well as minimal sample-to-sample variation! As such, my experience here is more likely to be a representative one. That said, I have to point out that I didn't have the most secure fit here but I don't believe the seal was broken at any stage. The issues mentioned at the top of this page will be a factor to how you eventually perceive the VOID on your own head around your ears, and the softer pads don't help either, as we saw with the Focal Bathys previously.

MOONDROP made a name for itself by putting out well-tuned IEMs and this continued with the planar-magnetic VENUS too. I will say that the VOID leans towards that direction to where I am happy to say it has a decent execution of the warm sound signature. Indeed, as we shall see shortly, this is a fairly typical tonality of open-back dynamic driver sets with a dip in the sub-bass and an elevated mid-bass that lends more favorably to music genres such as rock and pop more so than electronic/trance/house music. It's not the hardest hitting set here either to further negate the VOID as a recommendation for sub-bass lovers although I thought the dynamics were well done to allow discerning of bass guitar strings and appreciation of drums. Tenor vocals are also a plus point here and I did not feel the bass was bloated in regards to affecting the mids much. But male vocals overall do take a step back if you have a worse seal that results in an overly emphasized bass prior to the break-point ~150 Hz.

Instrument separation is fine but not going to win any awards and this was when I started to realize the weaknesses of the drivers themselves even outside of any fit/seal issues. Despite being quite dynamic, the micro- and macro-contrast between consecutive notes is not very good. Trailing ends of tones muffle down quite quick and this also affects the overall resolving capability of the VOID. As a triple whammy, it also makes imaging slightly hazy outside of a tight cone in the central channel. I thought the soundstage generated by the set was plenty wide enough for what you get here though, more akin to a jazz club than a concert hall. It does make music monitoring and mixing easier to help meet one of MOONDROP's marketing claims, although I'd still say a planar set with a cleaner sound and better extension on either side would be more apt here. The VOID gets decent ear gain here to where it won't be overly shouty compared to, say, a HIFIMAN set nor sound shallow in the absence of one to allow for more natural timbre and female vocals alike. The higher frequencies aren't a strong point of the VOID with the lacking detail retrieval making a strong comeback here. The 6 kHz peak is present in my ears to necessitate a tiny EQ filter so as to reduce fatigue and potential sibilance, but overall it's hard to appreciate instruments—especially string instruments and piano keys—should you be in the mood for orchestral music.


I don't have a lot of headphones in the price range the MOONDROP VOID operates in, but there are a few here which do merit discussion for comparison. The Sennheiser HD 6XX is first among them—especially given that Drop has sold them at or around the same cost of the VOID more often than not. This is hard for MOONDROP since the HD 6XX is effectively the much more expensive HD 650 itself, but it still shows what you can do with the Sennheiser set providing noticeably better build quality and detail retrieval. Indeed, the mids with the HD 6XX alone merit a purchase for most folks who simply enjoy music. The VOID provides more bass and treble extension to make it sound more V-shaped by comparison, but ultimately I'd pick the HD 6XX any day of the week. Then there's the brighter-leaning Philips Fidelio X3 which has since got a big price cut since the time of its review! It's a more premium looking and feeling set which can be harsh as a first/single set of headphones for people to use given the shouty and sibilant audio reproduction coupled with relatively weaker detail retrieval to where the Fidelio X2HR would be my pick over both the Fidelio X3 and, once again, the MOONDROP VOID. At this point I was thinking of using the HIFIMAN HE400se as another competitors but then realized the Sivga Phoenix is a more apt entry despite its higher price point. This is what the MOONDROP VOID should have targeted in both build quality, aesthetics, and sound signature. If that meant going with a higher price then so be it since right now I would rather save the money and get the Phoenix. Overall the point here is MOONDROP doesn't offer a compelling enough reason to go with the VOID right now.