Recently my KZ ZSN IEMs died on me, so I was in the market for another pair of headphones at a similar price. I wanted to try something slightly different so I opted for a pair of the Moondrop CHU.
The Moondrop CHU occupies a similar place in the market as the KZ ZSNs. They're both a part of the growing and highly innovative Chinese budget hi-fi (or "chi-fi") market. For the past few years Chinese companies have been pumping out excellent headphones for bargain prices, I honestly have no idea how they do it.
I was able to buy my Moondrop CHU for £20 (though if you shop around you'll probably be able to get them a bit cheaper), the same price as the KZ ZSN, which means that it's up against some seriously tough competition even at this low price point.
In this review I aim to see what you get for your money and if it's worth it.
The unboxing experience of the Moondrop CHU Is exceptionally premium and displays exceptional attention to detail.
First, you'll see the box with the Moondrop CHU cleverly displayed through the transparent plastic.
You'll also see Moondrop's very own anime waifu, "Moondrop girl". She's exceptionally cute and honestly sells the Moondrop brand on her own. Who wouldn't want to wear headphones endorsed by an anime girl?
Inside the box you'll find the IEMs, a felt pouch, lots of ear tips and some ear hooks.
The felt case is a genius inclusion and prevents you from having to buy a separate one, I've no complaints about it's build quality and I think that it goes to show just how much though Moondrop puts into it's products (besides a few glaringly poor decisions we'll get onto later.).
You also get some spring ear tips, they come in a wide variety of sizes and are honestly so nice that you could easily spend £10 for them on their own.
Finally, you get some ear hooks. These things don't fit very well on the headphones and are a pain to get around my ears. If I were to make one complaint about the CHU this would be it, these things are diabolically poorly thought out.
The build quality of the headphones is a bit of a mixed bag.
The actual headphone bits are fine, they're made out of a sturdy feeling plastic (though some reviews have claimed they are metal I don't think this is the case) and definitely feel like they could withstand a beating.
The cable however is a different story and a far cry from the excellent KZ ZSN cable; the CHU's cable feels quite flimsy and isn't removable. It feels like it would break after a few accidental careless tugs on it and once it does break you can't replace it as the cable is stuck to the headphones themselves.
Overall, I don't really have any complaints about the CHU's build quality, but they just can't match the extra premium build quality of the KZ ZSN.
There's no other way of putting this: the Moondrop CHU is extremely excellent. They sit flush in my ears and I barely feel them when they're in my ears. They don't irritate my ears either, which some in ear headphones do.
The only problem is the aforementioned ear hooks, they can be a pain to put on. But once they're on my ears I don't feel them in, so they're not a huge problem.
The same is true for the rest of the CHU, once they're in my ears I genuinely cannot feel them in there, these are the first pair of headphones that I can say that for.
I listened to the CHUs using my Hidizs AP80 Pro (which uses the same DAC as the highly popular Fiio BTR5). This device was able to drive the CHUs with ease and produced some great sound out of them. Given these headphones low impedance the same should be true of any device you plug these into.
Overall, the sound quality of the Moondrop CHU is excellent for the price.
There's a lot of detail here and I think that most people will be extremely satisfied with the sound that these headphones produce, especially if you're coming over from lousy (though likely equally as expensive) supermarket headphones.
Now, for the sound details for nerds:
Frequency Response Graph from Sound Guys
The CHU's low end sounds great. Bass sounds very crisp and full with a slight but tasteful boost.
The mids (which is where most of the music is) are well represented on the CHU too, every detail is crisp, clear and vibrant.
The high end is where the CHU really excels, instruments like symbols really shine and are absolutely crystal clear and very fell.
Overall, the sound signature of the CHU is very pleasant, though definitely not for bass heads. I'd recommend it for people like me who like a top of top end in their headphones.
The closest competition for the CHU is as previously mentioned the KZ ZSN.
The KZ ZSN has leagues better build quality than the CHU and I believe an overall better quality of sound.
However, the CHU is leagues more comfortable, comes with a lot of nice freebies that the KZ ZSN lacks and many may enjoy the sound signature of the CHU more.
Overall, I like the CHU and find that the sound quality and build quality is more than good enough for my standards. While I overall like the ZSN better I also love what the CHU offers and think that the free carry pouch and excellent ear tips have done enough to sell me on Moondrop.
Buy the CHU if:
Avoid the CHU If:
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