Moondrop Old Fashioned headphones review

Hello, I’m Alexander and today we are taking a closer look at Moondrop Old Fashioned headphones and also comparing it with Koss KSC75 and KPH40 Utility. 

Design & build

The Moondrop Old Fashioned come in a simple box. Inside the box there are headphones, cable, manual and a QC certificate. 

The headphone design clearly nods to the old school — on-ear design, slim foam earpads, light clamping force, mostly plastic build and almost vintage aesthetic. The main part of the headband is metal though which is good. While I love vintage designs, Old Fashioned is not my cup of tea as I’m not a fan of heavy branding.

These headphones are on-ear semi-open back headphones, which means sound will leak out and outside noise will come in. The driver size is 40mm. The impedance is 32 Ohms and the sensitivity is 109dB. Which means you can easily drive it with almost any source. 

Detachable cable is a great addition. The cable is 1.2 meters long and terminates with a 3.5mm connector. That said, it comes with caveats. The headphones use a 2-pin 0.78mm connector, but many aftermarket 2-pin cables come with ear guides and that simply won’t work with these headphones. So if you decide to go with aftermarket cable – you will need a 2-pin cable without ear guides. 

At around $25, the Moondrop Old Fashioned sits closer in price to the Koss KSC75, which typically goes for roughly $20 without mods. The KPH40 Utility is usually a bit more — around $40. So right away, Moondrop’s pricing strategy is on point.

Fit & comfort

The headphones are light and very comfortable to wear. The clamping force is gentle, and the overall fit is relaxed. The ear pads are slightly larger than Yaxi pads (60 mm vs 58 mm in diameter), and the ear pads on Old Fashioned are about 2 mm taller. On the other hand Yaxi pads use higher-quality materials and feel more premium overall. That said the ear pads on Old Fashioned are still an improvement over the original Koss ear pads.

Also compared to a modded KSC75 (the one with headband mod and Yaxi pads), the Old Fashioned has more clamping force. The KPH40 Utility sits a bit more snug. But again, fit is very subjective.

Moondrop Old Fashioned subjective sound impressions and comparisons

Before we get into the sound, I want to make it clear that all sound impressions I share on this channel are purely subjective, so take them with a grain of salt.

In terms of sound, I will also compare the Old Fashioned with the modded Koss KSC75 and KPH40 Utility, as it appears it was designed and made to compete mainly with these models.

When I got it I was expecting a bass-light tuning with a bright treble, something closer to Moondrop Chu, but with on-ear design. But the Moondrop Old Fashioned ended up sounding quite different than anticipated. The tonality leans heavily into the bright side, with weak, anemic bass, recessed lower mids, upper mids that sometimes oddly dominate over the treble and narrow soundstage. While the Old Fashioned can be somewhat forgiving, even after many hours of listening the headphones still sound thin, lack clarity, and don’t really draw me in.

The bass here is very light, so bass-heads should look elsewhere. When it comes to bass, I value quality over quantity, but hence we are in a budget territory, there is not much to be said about bass details. It has less bass than KPH40 Utility, which was expected, but Old Fashioned also has less bass than KSC75 and this was rather surprising. Besides having more bass, the KSC75 has a bit more punch, note weight and control.

The midrange feels somewhat constrained and unnatural. While the lower mids are dense, they sit in the background, and the upper mids are bright enough to overshadow them, giving the midrange a slightly artificial character. This is especially noticeable on busy musical recordings and for example on fast guitar solos. In regards to midrange, both KSC75 and KPH40 deliver a more open and natural midrange – which isn’t surprising, since much of Koss’ signature charm comes from how well their midrange sounds.

The treble on Moondrop Old Fashioned is not very linear, yet it has enough sparkle and energy not to make the overall presentation veiled or dull. In terms of air and openness, the KSC75 gives a sense of a wider soundstage, while the Old Fashioned take a different approach, with a more narrow and focused presentation. 

Conclusions

I think the Old Fashioned shows that Moondrop is moving in the right direction when it comes to budget on-ear headphones. First, the overall build is very nice for a $25 headphones. The second – headphones come with a fully detachable cable – a feature I’ve always wished Koss would include. Third, their stock ear pads are an improvement over the original Koss pads, making them more comfortable out of the box. So overall I’m very satisfied with fit and comfort.

Tuning wise, unfortunately it’s not my cup of tea and I was curious to see how they’d perform compared to my modded KSC75, though in that regard they didn’t quite match up with my expectations.

Still, if you’re looking for a retro-styled pair of headphones to add to your collection, the Moondrop Old Fashioned are very appealing, especially at their current price. Personally, I’ll stick with my modified KSC75, but it’s always exciting to see new contenders in this price range.

That’s all from me for today. If you enjoyed this review, please share it and consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. I’ll see catch you in the next one. Goodbye!