I’ve never really had anything against Moondrop as a brand. I bought a pair of their ~300 RMB earphones a while back and they were fine — build quality and sound both held up. Their “anime marketing” is just a product-promotion路线, and it’s clearly worked. With the audio market getting more and more cutthroat, you have to differentiate to survive, even if that means leaning into a “trendy” style. So you see all these streetwear brands charging a premium for design and brand recognition. Moondrop charging a premium by rubbing up against ACG culture seems fine to me too — and their low-end stuff doesn’t even carry much of a premium. Instead, while keeping basic quality intact, they give you some “fashion” elements. At least they’re the best-looking option in the budget tier, right? You wear earphones out in public, so beyond sound quality, treating them as an accessory is a perfectly good approach. As for the industry “veterans” who trash Moondrop’s high-end products — in this mystical audiophile domain, high-end products are basically an IQ-tax genre anyway. Once you’re in IQ-tax territory, buying a Moondrop at least looks better on you than a HiFiMan. Recently Moondrop released two products I quite like: the Nice Buds and the Old Fashioned. Both are budget-focused with a retro flavor — one’s an earbud, one’s an over-ear.