Closer Examination

The MOONDROP x Crinacle DUSK comes with two cables in the form of an analog cable and a digital one. The analog cable is the exact same as what came with the MOONDROP Blessing 3, and so I am re-using those older photos here in the interest of my time. This is a 3.5 mm single-ended cable with the connector housing getting a brushed silver finish to the metal. The cable uses a co-axial arrangement of high-purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper enclosed by a layer of silver-plated copper in two strands, and the entire cable with the rest of the hardware continues the all-silver color scheme—the splitter has the MOONDROP logo etched on. The cable is fairly pliable and not microphonic in use to where it's plenty usable, although it does seem to occasionally kink up if you try to rotate it in a manner it does not like. On the plus side, the cable cinch does the job well and holds the split two channels in place as needed. We then get a transparent sheath over the individual strands leading to pre-formed ear hooks. The cable terminates in 0.78 mm 2-pin plugs that get L/R markings on the housing to help identify the left and right channels, although it's unnecessarily difficult considering the clear markings on the see-through connector housings. The various metal plugs are gold-plated for oxidation resistance.


The digital cable is a custom version of the MOONDROP Free DSP cable made specifically for the new DUSK. This has an integrated DAC—presumably a Realtek DAC if the MOONDROP Click cable is anything to go by—and thus we have a digital USB source connector in the form of USB Type-C. It supports UAC 2.0 so you should be able to use this on, say, an older iPhone model with adapters too. The cable is otherwise plug-and-play with desktops, laptops, and Android devices. The housing has DUSK SP (DSP, get it?) on it and then we see a 4-strand, 72-core Litz structure using oxygen-free copper and silver-plated copper conductors. The color scheme is silver and gunmetal gray and the actual cable feels more premium to use than the analog cable if I say so myself. The splitter and cable cinch are low in profile and work as expected, although of course this cable actually goes for a TRRS signal on the analog side so we have an in-line microphone with volume controls to where the cable cinch gets blocked before it can do its job. The microphone quality works in a pinch but won't replace my ModMic USB ever. Here too we see pre-formed ear hooks leading to 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors, although it's more functional in terms of making it trivial to identify the left and right channels by comparison thanks to the use of black and red rings, respectively.


The MOONDROP Blessing 3 is the base for the DUSK, and thus we see very similar shells used here. These are made by Heygears, a 3D printing design and manufacturing company that uses DLP (digital light processing) 3D printing of various different resins to get the same detailed prints that SLA printing offers but at a much faster rate, enabling true mass volume production. The MOONDROP x Crinacle DUSK shells are made of a transparent resin which is then polished to allow for a nice look at the components inside. The shells have an ergonomic shape on the inside to better fit in the human ear but are on the larger side of average.


The faceplates are some of the more expensive such implementations in IEMs today, with MOONDROP going for forged carbon fiber that is then CNC machined into the shape you see here. This consists of several individual layers of carbon fiber thus and has a certain rugged look while still looking and feeling premium. I will say that some sets I have seen online do not seem to have been burred or glued to be perfectly in line with the shells, thus they jut out slightly at the top or bottom and this could be a sharp point of contact to the end user. No such issues here though so take that for what you will. There are small openings in each side for the vent hole with one also having "DUSK" etched on the surface for branding. A look from the side shows the barely recessed 2-pin connectors, meaning the digital cable will end up protruding out the shells in the absence of more room here. The faceplate is also thicker than on the Blessing 3 as a result of more space needed in the shells to accommodate the different drivers used here, so it is more of a cap that also goes over and around the side. The good news is the shells themselves are no different from before, so if the Blessing 3 fit your ears fine then so will the new DUSK. Note also the acoustic tubes leading from the three driver types leading to the nozzle itself which is "only" 5.7 mm in size compared to the monstrous 6.4-6.5 mm short and barely-angled nozzles on some older MOONDROP sets. The nozzle can easily accept the provided ear tips as seen above and has three openings, none of which have any dampers installed here.


Do try the various sizes of the stock ear tips provided and note that your ears are unlikely to be symmetrical. As such, the same size ear tips may not always work out for both ear canals. Tip-rolling is also recommended in case you do not get a decent seal with the stock tips. The next step is to connect the cable by carefully identifying the matching channels and orienting the ear hooks around your ear when connecting the IEMs. Doing so is simple, as you just push the 2-pin connectors in place, and they remain there via a friction fit. Seen above is the MOONDROP x Crinacle DUSK with both the analog and digital cables provided, the latter of which helps use these IEMs directly with a phone without needing a separate source.


That photo above was also a teaser of what the digital cable can do. MOONDROP has a mobile app called MOONDROP Link, whose latest version is currently only available on Android but in beta testing for iOS. It's also not on the Google Play Store because it has some dubious permission requirements, but thankfully it does not seem to really do anything more than you would think. Installing the APK—I was on v1.0.46c-240401 at the time of testing—and plugging in the cable prompts you to connect the app to the cable and give it permission to access all files on your device. I wonder why it's not on the Play Store! Anyway assuming you've decided to still go ahead and do this, there is a non-zero chance the app will have been in Chinese as a default language so note the position of the language option in the settings menu above. The app is necessary to change between the five pre-configured EQ profiles which remains stored on the DAC in the cable thereafter. There is also a PEQ function in the app, but the five profiles don't load there so you will have to create your own rather than being able to edit the existing profiles. Oh, there's also the part where the PEQ customization has a lot of hard limits, including the ability to only go from +3 to -12 dB in the absence of a preamp setting, not being able to access the upper treble frequencies, and the Q factor also not liking you going above/below certain values. The app isn't the most stable either so there is a good chance you will have a frustrating time with it should you wish to do a lot with the cable. I had the Free DSP cable in last year so I already knew what to do and not, and I will credit MOONDROP for improving the functionality and stability slowly but steadily over time. In fact, I actually had no issues changing between the five EQ profiles here! Those on iOS will have to find an Android device to change the profiles, so this is a case of some lost functionality there.

The good news is you do not have to use the app since the (arguably) best EQ profile is already loaded on the cable. So you can just plug it in and call it a day.