Moondrop Space Travel 2

On Crinacle's B&K 5128 the stock Reference tuning is close to a diffuse-field shape with a modest bass lift: about +4.8 dB of shelf, a +10.2 dB ear-gain peak near 3 kHz, and an 8-16 kHz average of -5.5 dB relative to 500 Hz.

⚠ vs. listeners — The measured curve is mild enough to license both readings — there is nothing wrong in it, and nothing emphatic either, so whether it lands as tasteful or as inert depends almost entirely on what the listener wanted from a $30 earbud.

Crinacle's 5128 puts the bass shelf at about +4.8 dB (20-80 Hz over 200-500 Hz) against +7.4 dB for the original Space Travel's Reference preset on the same rig. SoundGuys independently measures the bass below its preference curve and recommends the app's Bass+ preset, a +3 dB shelf under 200 Hz, to bring it back in line.

⚠ vs. listeners — Two benches agree the low end is light, so 'bass-light' is the measured reading — but the split is not really about quantity. The camp that hears enough bass is praising the gradual slope and absence of bloat, and several of its members listen with Bass+ on by default, which closes most of the gap.

On the 5128 the top end drops away above 6 kHz to a trough of about -6.9 dB at 10 kHz, with an 8-16 kHz average of -5.5 dB relative to 500 Hz. The original Space Travel measured +0.8 dB and +2.0 dB in the same places — roughly 7.5 dB more air than the model that replaced it.

⚠ vs. listeners — Both benches make the upper treble measurably recessed, which contradicts the 'airy and extended' descriptions outright. The most likely reading is that the camp calling it extended is responding to the clean 4-6 kHz region and the absence of any peak, not to energy above 8 kHz — where there is very little. What everyone agrees on is the consequence: nothing here is ever sibilant or fatiguing.

SoundGuys measures the midrange following its preference curve apart from a dip near 400 Hz; on the 5128 the ear-gain peak reaches about +10.2 dB over the 500 Hz level near 3 kHz, a little under the original's +13.4 dB.

SoundGuys' MDAQS panel model returns Timbre 4.8 of 5 but Distortion 2.4 and Immersiveness 3.7, for an overall 4.2 — a strong tonal score sitting next to the lowest sub-score in the set.

SoundGuys scores comfort 7.3 while its own reader pool scores it 5.4 — the widest reviewer-versus-owner gap in that review, and consistent with a fit that suits some ear shapes and not others. The oval nozzle and shallow insertion are widely credited with holding a seal through chewing and talking; a pressure-relief vent means no driver flex.

SoundGuys measures an average 71% reduction in perceived outside loudness and scores active cancelling 7.1, while noting most IEMs it tests isolate better passively; the frequency response is unchanged with ANC on or off. Wind is the documented failure case — gusts are amplified rather than reduced.

⚠ vs. listeners — A single 71% figure cannot settle this because the camps are not measuring the same thing: sources holding it against Apple, Bose and Sony call it useless, sources holding it against other $30 buds call it fine, and both are right about their own comparison. The passive seal is the part nobody defends.

The generational question has an objective side: on one rig, the sequel measures a lighter bass shelf and roughly 7.5 dB less energy above 8 kHz than the model it replaces, which is why the 'get the original instead' argument keeps recurring.