How a new brand of audio products is making waves among prospective audiophiles as an entry point to the community.
By TAN CHI SIANG, ZENDEN
Mr Lim Yeo Di is a long-time audiophile who hopes to share his passion for audio products with others.
Photo Credits: Tan Chi Siang, Zenden
Mike Tay, 18, was introduced to the audiophile community in 2021 when his friend, Lim Yeo Di, 18, recommended a brand of earbuds which cost under $100. Mr Tay is one of many examples where Chinese company, MoonDrop opened the gates to the local audiophile community.
The MoonDrop brand started in 2015, gaining its breakthrough with the release of the MoonDrop Aria in March 2021. It specialises in quality earphones, what audiophiles refer to as “in-ear monitors”, or IEMs in short.
Mr Lim, who has been in the community for more than three years, watched MoonDrop’s rise in popularity and could clearly remember first stumbling upon a “raving review”, of their early IEMs on the Internet. Mr Lim says, “every single time I've heard the MoonDrop brand, it seems that the comments have been overwhelmingly positive”.
MoonDrop earbuds are seen by those in the community as the go-to entry-level brand. “What MoonDrop has done is given a better deal,” says Mr Lim.
“In the past, the audiophile community was pretty small, or at least, it wasn't big enough that you would see people just walking around with IEMs. But now, I would say for the last month, I've seen at least six people with them,” says Mr Lim.
Thanks to Moondrop, the audiophile community has quickly grown. The audiophile community is a tight knit one. They focus on supporting each other through forums, “R/Singapore”, and Telegram chats, “Audiophiles Singapore”. Their major Facebook groups, “Audiophiles Singapore” and “Audiophiles Club Singapore”, boasts 1,200 and 2,800 followers respectively.
“I really don't regret joining the audiophile community”, says Mr Tay, who has only been part of this community for “less than a year”. Mr Tay remarks that even though his MoonDrop Chus could not compare to higher-end IEMs, he feels that “the community is a very friendly community that always welcomes newcomers, and they treat them pretty well, pretty nicely”.
Prospective audiophiles may view the audiophile community as quiet or introverted, but many audiophiles are open to conversations and always open to help.
Mr Lim shared his experience with audiophiles at Effect Audio, a company manufacturing cables for audiophiles. Mr Lim says: “[Effect Audio was] inviting if you want something, or you need something changed, they'll gladly do it for you.”
However, many view the audiophile community as being male dominated, Mr Tay agrees, stating that, “if a single gender dominates a certain hobby, the other gender will not feel really all that interested or feel intimidated to kind of step in”. Mr Lim brings up a different point, “it's not really by exclusion that there aren't as many [women in the audiophile community], it’s just by what they like and what they don't like”. In fact, Mr Lim brings up prominent female audiophiles such as Jana Darko. Nevertheless, both Mr Lim and Mr Tay agree that MoonDrop opening the gates to the audiophile community can reach out to more women, therefore “more viewpoints [would be put] to the table”.
HearRecords, an audio and vinyl record store popular among audiophiles.
Photo Credits: Tan Chi Siang, Zenden
As MoonDrop bolsters the thriving audiophile community, stores such as SAM audio and HearRecords benefit. Mr Nick Tan Joon Leong, 51, Owner of HearRecords, says this of his customers: “You have to be a certain proportion of these three elements. The first one, you’re a music lover. Second one, you’re an audiophile. Third one, you’re a stamp collector. It depends on some of the customers, let's say maybe they have a little bit more percentage of audiophile, then it helps.”
“To me, there's no such thing called audiophile, you're only buying into a concept of one.” Mr Tan, who has been an audiophile for over 30 years, comments on the lines of what is defined as an audiophile being increasingly blurred.
“One of the biggest problems, at least for twenty years when I say audiophile community, we lack young blood,” says Mr Tan. ”So you ask me how is MoonDrop, I'm saying it’s great. For your generation let’s say you might start with MoonDrop, who knows what you’ll end up with.”
MoonDrop has allowed a new generation of audiophiles to take shape, from Mr Lim to Mr Tay and more. Mr Tan says: “There’s a bright future with new blood coming in.”
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