ZiiGaat Luna Review – 6BA Studio In-Ear Monitor
The newly launched ZiiGaat Luna is designed specifically for studio engineers and stage performers, providing accuracy and precision in professional environments. It replicates the tonal balance found in studio monitors, guaranteeing that every frequency is represented accurately.
Featuring rapid transients and a crisp, detailed sound, the Luna maintains warmth in vocals without sounding sluggish. Its exact layering and imaging capabilities render it a dependable reference tool for identifying each instrument within complex mixes.
Tech Highlights
Each side of the Luna houses six high-quality balanced armature (BA) drivers for faithful audio reproduction. Dual Sonion 39AY008 units handle powerful sub-bass, while Knowles 32873 drivers cover the midrange with natural cohesion. Two Knowles 33518 tweeters provide detailed, pristine highs. Every imported driver is hand-tested and paired to guarantee perfect channel matching and consistent performance.
Design
Luna’s shell is 3D-printed from imported, medical-grade resin, resulting in a durable yet lightweight housing. During assembly, every driver is individually tested and matched, and each unit undergoes final quality checks before polishing. The interchangeable 0.78 mm 2-pin cable is made from ultra-pure, silver-plated oxygen-free copper for noise-free transmission. Hand-poured faceplates provide a boutique aesthetic, while the detachable cable design enhances longevity and comfort customization.
Stock Cable
The included 0.78 mm 2-pin cable is made from silver-plated oxygen-free copper for noise-free transmission. Its detachable design boosts the longevity of your monitors and lets you customize your setup for comfort or style. Throughout my mixed stationary and on-the-go listening, I observed no microphonics whatsoever. The stock cable does nothing exceptional, but it executes the essentials excellently.
Comfort & Isolation
The ZiiGaat Luna has a smooth and ergonomic shell design that fits comfortably in my ears without any sharp edges or pressure points.
The comfort is very good, as I can wear the ZiiGaat Luna for hours without any fatigue or discomfort. For a vented IEM, the isolation performance of the ZiiGaat Luna is quite average, blocking out most of the ambient noise and even medium-volume conversations.
Specs
- Driver: 6BA Sonion 39AY008 + Knowles 32873 × 2 + Knowles 33518 × 2
- Sensitivity: 103dB
- THD: 0.57%
- Impedance: 26Ω
- Frequency Response: 20Hz-32kHz
- Price: $379.00
Disclaimer: The ZiiGaat Luna was kindly provided by Linsoul for review.
Inside the Box
- ZiiGaat Luna x1
- Eartips x 7 Pairs
- Cable x 1
- 3.5 mm Plug × 1
- 4.4 mm Plug × 1
- Earphone Case x 1
- Warranty Card x 1
Efficiency
The ZiiGaat Luna is easy enough to drive, thanks to its average 26Ω impedance and a sensitivity rating of 103 dB @1kHz. The earphones can be powered by most devices without the need for an external amplifier.
However, the Luna benefits from a good source that can provide a clean and powerful sound signal. I used FiiO’s new DAP, the M21, while testing.
Sound
Tuned to ZiiGaat’s in-house target, the Luna offers an 8 dB sub-bass shelf that cuts off at 250 Hz, delivering impactful lows without bleeding into the low-mids. The midrange remains flat between 250 Hz and 1 kHz for true-to-life vocals and instruments. Natural, crisp trebles add just enough detail to keep highs clear. This tonal precision makes the Luna a dependable reference for professional mixing and monitoring.
Zigaat pretty much nailed it with the Luna. The sound signature is super-easy to love, and I never find the need to employ corrective EQ.
Lows
The bass is bottomless down low, as expected from an IEM, and all of the lower registers are nicely delineated and clean. It’s apparent that the bass driver plays very cleanly and doesn’t overexert itself. The bass is impactful, and music comes through with the proper dynamics. The lower bass has a tasteful elevation that tapers off nicely and doesn’t bleed into the lower mids.
The bass of the ZiiGaat Luna is some of the best I’ve tried thus far. Not only are they dynamic, powerful, and well-extended, but they’re very well-textured as well.
That is a common thread with the ZiiGaat Luna in general; it is a very exciting-sounding IEM, with the detail retrieval one would expect in higher-end neutral IEMS.
I never found the bass quantity lacking. The amount of rumble and impact should be enough for most non-bass heads. Bass hits are textured and well-articulated. Different bass hits do not come off as a bloated mess and are played back with good control.
The bass is well-controlled and textured, without any bleed or bloat. It adds minor warm coloration to the lower mid region, but not as much as other warmer.
All percussive instruments are a standout with the ZiiGaat Luna, not only because of their fun-sounding tonality but primarily because of the excellent texture level, making different drums easily identifiable from one another.
It is as if the listener is given the ability to break down the individual components of a track while simultaneously enjoying the music.
Mids
If the mids aren’t done right, then forget about the rest, is what I say. And on the ZiiGaat Luna, mids are marvelous. There’s impressive resolution and a tuning that’s not always present in other IEMs I’ve tried lately.
Strings, voices, synths, woodwind, you name it. On the ZiiGaat Luna, they all have the magic that draws me to play just one more song, even if it’s already 3 a.m. With these IEMs, mids are the star of the show.
The mids of the ZiiGaat Luna are clear and natural, with good detail and articulation. The mids are slightly recessed compared to the bass and treble, but not to the point of being veiled or distant. The mids have good timbre and tonality, which makes the vocals and instruments sound realistic and lifelike.
The slight warmth at the lower midrange gives male vocals a very bodied presentation, playing them back with a palpable sense of authority.
Despite being less forward than the rest of the frequency response range, all aspects of the mid-range have an excellent level of resolution and detail retrieval.
Instruments that sound faint in the background easily catch your attention because of the sheer detail and depth of their playback.
Even compared to other, more neutral IEMs, the detail retrieval of the ZiiGaat Luna is easily superior. This contributes to the unique combination of implementing a fun-sounding sound signature without sacrificing any detail or resolution whatsoever.
Highs
Subjectively, the treble has the right amount of sparkle and resolution. It also contributes to the very good soundstaging found on the ZiiGaat Luna. The resonant frequencies occasionally get agitated, and I can hear that some overtones get too loud. I can confidently say that the coloration of the high frequencies doesn’t cause ear fatigue or stand in the way of music enjoyment.
The treble of the ZiiGaat Luna is crisp and airy, with a good extension and sparkle. The treble is well-articulated and detailed, without any peachiness or fatigue.
It may sound repetitive at this point, but the ZiiGaat Luna’s ability to maintain a pleasing, energetic sound signature without sacrificing detail retrieval is once again a standout.
Treble detail is very good on this set of IEMs, particularly the organic-sounding decay of different cymbals and cymbal strikes. I did not experience any level of sibilance when testing the ZiiGaat Luna, but it still maintained very good detail retrieval.
In my testing, it was usually more sibilant IEMs that had the technical abilities to reach this level of detail retrieval. Thankfully, the ZiiGaat Luna is an exception to this rule.
Technicalities
The imaging of the ZiiGaat Luna is precise and coherent, with good separation and layering. The staging performance of the ZiiGaat Luna is quite average, doing so with the width that is expected with a pair of IEMs. However, the ZiiGaat Luna’s imaging performance is quite impressive.
The ZiiGaat Luna can place instruments with pinpoint accuracy, sometimes making certain instruments sound like they’re coming up close behind my ear. Paired with excellent resolving capabilities across the board, this makes each instrument in the mix easily identifiable.
Generally, I’m pretty skeptical about the technical properties of colored audio devices. Tonal colorations always bring about an effect called “tonal masking.” Peaks in the frequency response cause adjacent regions to become inaudible, and dips reverse that, making the center region hard to hear.
With the ZiiGaat Luna, I can confidently say that there is absolutely no shortage of resolution in any region of the frequency response. Although I’ve heard better treble with well-implemented electret IEM drivers, you’d pay a lot more for that.
These IEMs can also throw a pretty impressive sonic image should the recording call for it. There’s a good chance that good-quality full-size headphones will surpass them, but I’ve seen closed-backs do worse than this.
Sum-Up
The ZiiGaat Luna seems like a jack-of-all-trades IEM that can execute an exciting, energetic sound signature while maintaining an impressive level of detail retrieval and imaging.
Long story short, I am very impressed with the ZiiGaat Luna. These IEMs combine very high technical prowess with a fun tuning, but not in a way that causes listening fatigue.
If you’re looking for an option in the crowded $300-500 range, the ZiiGaat Luna seems like a no-brainer for most listeners.