I will admit I’m quite a fan of Moondrop’s IEMs. I love the OG Aria, the Kato and I still consider the Variations my favorite ~$500 IEM. When the Blessing 2 came out, I didn’t like it at all. It sounded fairly bright and metallic to me. Whether that was an issue with tip choice back then or something else, I simply choose to skip reviewing it. The B2 and B2 Dusk had quite the fan following so when I saw a tinner nozzle B3 with a Double DD design, I was fairly excited and very interested in checking it out. The B3 is using a double dynamic driver and four balanced armatures. It comes in $319.
Quick shoutout to Shenzhenaudio for sending me the Blessing 3 to check out and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers or dealers, it never affects the rating of my reviews.
Looks and fit
The shell is close if not the exact same size as the Moondrop Variations. I like the new thinner nozzles and it allows for a comfy deep fitment for my specific inner ear shape. The IEMs are fairly light so they don’t cause me any non sound related fatigue from longer sessions. The shells look nice and the faceplate design looks good. I don’t like the mirror finish and my unit already looks scratched up from minimal use. The double DD enclosure is blue and looks a little weird and doesn't match but I like color in my IEMs so I prefer the added blue color haha I’m fine with the overall design though.
Isolation and sound leakage
The shells do a good job of keeping sound out even with the vented design. Still not as good as some other vented IEMs but I would say it will keep most sound out in loud environments. The B3 does leak a little sound from the vents so in a quiet area at louder volumes, everyone will hear your music.
Packaging and accessories
The packaging is a little bigger than needed for the B3 so you get a bigger box and inside on the left sits the B3 IEMs. The right side has the case which holds the tips and cables. Warranty cards sit under that. This feels like a fairly baron unboxing experience since you only get one set of tips. The case looks like the old style grey case but with a different design. Overall a lacking experience compared to Moondrop’s other products. I would have preferred a smaller box overall.
Sound(overall)
These final impressions were done off the Eversolo DAC-Z8 connected to the SMSL SP400. These impressions are what the Blessing 3 sounded like to my ears. This was also using the Spinfit W1 tips. I went with the W1 since they provided the best seal and comfort. Things like ear tip selection and DAC/amp selection will produce different results and impressions vs what my ears hear on my specific gear.
The tuning is brighter sounding to my ears. The sub-bass performance isn’t bad and I would call it average(at best) when it comes to slam and impact. It does sound really fast for a set of DD drivers so it lacks the nice low end decay that gives a good rumble. The mid bass is somewhat weak however and it causes the bass to feel like it’s missing something overall in terms of weight. The mids are mostly neutral but instruments sound a little lean at times. They do sound accurate though and pull in good details. Vocals are decent here and I find the B3 pulls in good details but I do think female vocals can sound a little artificial at times. The upper mids are borderlining sibilant to me. Not bad though, just doesn’t help the overall thin sound. Treble is kinda the weird part. It’s bright but it doesn’t sound overly metallic or splashy. The decay is fairly fast so everything sounds sharp and detailed. I would say the top end treble is the highlight here. It does resolution well enough and I think in combo with the staging it has, will wow some listeners. I really don’t like this tuning overall. It’s average sounding in presentation due to the thinner and lean sound. It just feels like the tuning lacks life to the sound.
The Fix????
So what is the fix for this fairly lifeless tuning? Well the first thing I could think of is a re-tune. Which might already be in the books given how popular the B2 Dusk was. If I had to guess the fix, I would say make the sound tube or “guide” from the double DD enclosure bigger/thicker. They went through all this effort to make a neat enclosure to house two DD drivers and they have the tiniest little sound tube going from the nozzle to the driver enclosure. I would guess simply allowing more sound to leave the sound tube would provide more bass which was the weakest part of the tuning to my ears. I however could be wrong and maybe they purposely made the sound tube thin for a reason.
Soundstage/Imaging
Besides the detail retrieval, I would say the staging in combination with the imaging are the other highlights of the B3. The staging is average in depth and width but the imaging is spot on and things like left and right panning is top notch. I can also pinpoint instruments and little sounds out in the background that I normally only hear on higher end ~$1k IEMs. I’m very much impressed with the imaging given the average staging.
Sensitivity/Drivability
The B3 isn’t super hard to drive so it will run fine off everything. It does seem to scale a little more depending on the source gear. I don’t think it needs lots of power however. I’m getting extremely good single ended performance from the 125mW Hiby R6 P2 DAP and equally good performance from the 3W SMSL SP400. It’s also not sensitive which meant I had no noise issues when trying the B3 with a balanced cable.
Stock cable
The stock cable looks a lot like the original B2 cable. I figured they would use a slightly thicker cable like the one on their Kato. The cable is thinner and while it’s comfy and doesn’t pick up microphonics, it looks and feels cheap. I think this cable will do fine however but I would say grab a different cable if you don’t like the looks or feel. I’m actually using the stock Kato cable on mine for everyday use.
IEM comparisons
Letshuoer S12
The S12 and B3 have a similar brighter tuning. The S12 is about half the price these days over the B3. The S12 has better bass performance overall vs the B3. Bass impact is about the same but the S12 doesn’t lack mid bass so it sounds a little more balanced. The mids are about the same on both IEMs but I find vocals sound more detailed and sound more natural on the S12. The upper mids are strong on both and the treble is about the same brightness. The S12 is a little splashier sounding though while the B3 is more refined and controlled. The detail retrieval is better on the B3 and so is the staging and imaging. I think that is where the biggest difference shows in price. The S12 is better tuned to my ears but the B3 does outperform it in terms of technical performance.
Dunu Vulkan
The B3 and Vulkan both have a leaner tuning but I find the B3 does sound better than the Vulkan overall. The bass hits just a tad bit stronger on the Vulkan but both lack decent mid bass performance. The Mids and vocals on the Vulkan are a little rough sounding and the B3 does well as keeping a detailed and fast sounding set of mids and vocals. Both have an upper mid sharpness but the Vulkan is more uncontrolled and I don’t like the upper mids on it at all. The treble is better sounding on the B3 as well and simply pulls in better details. I know some people like the Vulkan but to my ears the B3 is a much better option.
Moondrop Variations
The Variations are not only older but more expensive than the B3. Do the variations sound any better given that $200 price increase? If you can get the Variations to fit your ears, Absolutely! The B3 isn’t bad but when A/B comparing, the Variations fill in the lack of overall bass the B3 is missing. Though a little stronger than some may like. The mids are more natural though slightly more relaxed in detail on the Variations over the B3. The Vocals are way more detailed on the Variations and lack the artificial sound the B3 has. The upper mids and treble are sharper on the B3 and I do find it seems to pull in details about the same as the Variations. Both have a slightly different upper end tuning flavor so that will be personal preference. The staging is wider on the Variations but B3 does better when it comes to imaging. Though not by much. The Variations continue to be one of my favorite IEMs for a good reason. It’s really well tuned and fun sounding without being a bass heavy mushy IEM. If you don’t want a lean sounding IEM and prefer a “fun” sounding IEM that is competitive, the Variations are worth the extra $200.
Amping Combinations
Hiby R6 Pro II DAP
The newer R6 P2 does well at staying neutral and accurate but bringing out the best in most IEMs. The B3 performed about the same as my desktop stack. This is a testament to how well they designed and implemented their DAC/amp setup on the R6 P2. Which is also why I’m skipping sound impressions here. I do think something like the R6 P2 or even the Hiby R6 III works well given the system wide EQ. I do think the B3 would benefit from EQ. I just simply don't do EQ stuff myself and since I don’t find interest in it, I’ll let the reviewers who’re well versed in proper EQ handle that.
Eversolo DAC-Z8/SMSL SP400
This is the first review to use my updated desktop stack. The B3 performed very well on my desktop stack but it did sound lean off it as I mentioned in my sound impressions section. I don’t think the B3 scales all that much and I didn’t notice a big enough difference between the cheaper dongles to a ~$1k desktop stack. Which will be great for those who don’t have the best source gear.
Overall thoughts
I haven’t been that impressed with Moondrop’s releases since the Variations and Kato. Which is a bummer since the Variations continue to be one of my favorite IEMs to this day. I think the B3 is detailed enough that most people will like it and it might be a good candidate for EQ. I don’t think it’s really doing anything unique or special. I also think they really dropped the ball here and left a lot of tuning potential with that double DD setup on the table. I think the B3 has potential for a re-tune and I recommend they put some effort into making better use of that double DD setup for bass performance. Especially since I think with some better low end performance, the B3 can be something special.
So! Do I recommend the B3? If you liked the B2 tuning, yes. If you’re new to IEMs and want a good first time experience with detail retrieval, also a yes. If you have some experience with IEMs and don’t like EQ, probably not. Especially if you don’t like thin or leaner sounding IEMs. For me, this was very much a “what happened?” kind of moment. It’s so close to being good that I’m quite bummed about this release. While the last few Moondrop IEM releases have been all passes for me personally, I have high confidence that Moondrop will make some better(super subjective) stuff in the future. Thanks for reading!!!
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