Moondrop Crescent
Intro
The Moondrop Crescent was truly a hidden gem and budget king prior to its discontinuation.
Honestly, if it weren't for the fact Moondrop discontinued the Crescent, I would absolutely recommend it to everyone looking for a sub-50 IEMs, regardless of whether they're an audiophile or not.
Alas, the world we live in is cruel, and we cannot have nice things. But I digress.
Design
The Crescent has a very simple traditional bullet-style design, with a very weighty brass(?) housing. Unfortunately, the cable is not removable (though this is supposedly easy to mod, if you're into that), and is not the nicest cable I've ever seen. That being said, it's definitely sturdy, and therefore I cannot fault it for that, aside from personal gripes.
I had difficulty getting a good enough seal to keep the Crescent from falling out of my ears over time at first, though gradually as I got more used to them, for whatever reason this problem slowly disappeared. Mysterious.
Overall, I think the Crescent has a pretty nice design. It's a little heavier than I would have liked, and I would have also liked removable cables (maybe MMCX connectors), but I know for a fact that it is sturdy and durable. Therefore I will give it's design a 6/10.
Tuning
The tuning is where the Crescent really shines.
The bass is quite warm, somewhat reminiscent of the Sony MH755 and allegedly the Sony MH1C (though I cannot confirm this). With a little more emphasis on the sub-bass, the Crescent has a lot of sub-bass extension and definitely doesn't lack in that range. The mid-bass is decently pronounced, but tucked away enough to not cause bloat or bleed into the mids.
The lower mids are relatively well pronounced, in the way that they are not recessed or scooped, resulting in more of a "neutral with bass boost" kind of sound as opposed to the common slew of V-shaped tuning.
The upper mids are present, and tonally accurate, with vocals sounding very smooth and velvety, and most instruments occupying this range sound very tonally accurate.
The treble seems to not extend very far, but that's fine for a sub-50 IEM. There's definitely enough sparkle in the upper regions to make music enjoyable, but there may be a noticeable lack of "air"
Lots of people have been calling the tuning of the Crescent "Harman", but I personally don't find it to be as harsh (or "shouty") in the upper midrange as typical harman-tuned IEMs. I'd personally consider the Crescent to be "neutral with bass boost", and that's extremely appealing to me.
With such a pleasant tonality, and inoffensive tuning in the treble, and enough of a bass response to add warmth and depth to every song without it taking the spotlight, I have to give the Crescent a 6/10 tuning-wise.
Value
Unfortunately, the Moondrop Crescent is discontinued. But to keep things consistent, I'll value-rate it based on it's original price of $30 - which is a VERY good price. I'd argue that the Crescent was the best option in the price range, though arguably the bass boost isn't for everybody. Therefore, I'll give it an 8/10
Summary
The Moondrop Crescent. A gem of its time, lost to the ashes of discontinuation. You will be missed.
Score: 66