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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Comfort
    3. Controls
    4. Breathability
    5. Portability
    6. Case
    7. Build Quality
    8. Stability
    9. Headshots 1
    10. Headshots 2
    11. Top
    12. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Sound Profile
    2. Frequency Response Consistency
    3. Raw Frequency Response
    4. Bass Accuracy
    5. Mid Accuracy
    6. Treble Accuracy
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation
    2. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Bluetooth
    2. Non-Bluetooth Wireless
    3. Wired
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PC / PS4 Compatibility
    6. PlayStation Compatibility
    7. Xbox Compatibility
    8. Base/Dock
  10. Comments

Shure SE425 vs MOONDROP KATO

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Shure SE425
MOONDROP KATO

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1

Updated Jan 26, 2022 08:41 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated Jan 15, 2024 07:55 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Shure SE425 Picture
MOONDROP KATO Picture

Variants

  • SE425 (Clear)
  • SE425 (Silver)
  • KATO (Mirror Silver)

Our Verdict

Shure SE425

MOONDROP KATO

The MOONDROP KATO are better IEMs for neutral sound than the Shure SE425. While both headphones are comfortable and well-built, the MOONDROP let you swap out their steel nozzles for brass if you prefer. They also have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. However, the Shure can block out a bit more background noise around you.

0

Check Price

Mirror Silver
KATO
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Mirror Silver
KATO
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
 
Mirror Silver
KATO
B&H
 
Mirror Silver
KATO
BestBuy.com

Notice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our headphones test methodology.

Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Mixed Usage 

6.1
No major differences between these headphones for mixed usage. See full list of tests below.

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Shure SE425 Design Picture 2
MOONDROP KATO Design Picture 2

Type  

In-ear
In-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

No
No

Transducer  

Hybrid
Dynamic

Show text

Comfort 
 

7.5
7.5

Comfort Picture  

Shure SE425 Comfort Picture
MOONDROP KATO Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.07 lbs
0.13 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

0 lbs
0 lbs

Show text

Controls 
 

0.0
0.0

Controls Picture  

Shure SE425 Controls Picture
MOONDROP KATO Controls Picture

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
No Controls

Ease Of Use  

N/A
No Controls

Feedback  

N/A
No Controls

Call/Music Control  

No
No

Volume Control  

No
No

Microphone Control  

N/A
No

Channel Mixing 
 

N/A
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

N/A
No

Talk-Through 
 

N/A
No

Additional Controls  

N/A
No

Breathability 
 

9.0

Breathability After Picture  

Shure SE425 Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference  

1 °C

Portability 
 

8.5
8.8

Portability Picture  

Shure SE425 Portability Picture
MOONDROP KATO Portability Picture

 

2.3"
2.5" (6.3 cm)

 

2"
1.7" (4.4 cm)

 

1.5"
1.1" (2.9 cm)

Volume  

7 in³
4.91 in³ (80.40 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

N/A
No

Show text

Case 
 

8.5
7.0

Case Picture  

Shure SE425 Case Picture
MOONDROP KATO Case Picture

Type  

Hard case
Hard case

 

N/A
3.3" (8.4 cm)

 

N/A
2.7" (6.8 cm)

 

N/A
1.3" (3.4 cm)

Volume  

N/A
11.85 in³ (194.20 cm³)

Show text

Build Quality 
 

8.0
8.0

Build Quality Picture  

Shure SE425 Build Quality Picture
MOONDROP KATO Build Quality Picture

Show text

Stability 
 

7.5
8.0

Stability Picture  

Shure SE425 Stability Picture
MOONDROP KATO Stability Picture

Show text

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Shure SE425 Angled Picture
MOONDROP KATO Angled Picture

Side Picture  

Shure SE425 Side Picture
MOONDROP KATO Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Shure SE425 Front Picture
MOONDROP KATO Front Picture

Rear Picture  

Shure SE425 Rear Picture
MOONDROP KATO Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

Shure SE425 Top Picture
MOONDROP KATO Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Shure SE425 In The Box Picture
MOONDROP KATO In The Box Picture

Show text

Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool

Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool

Bass Amount 
 

-5.9 dB
-1.86 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-6.83 dB
-0.84 dB

Show text

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

9.7
8.3

Consistency L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Consistency R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

0.07 dB
0.34 dB

Show text

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool

Bass Accuracy 
 

7.3
7.8

Bass  

See details on graph tool

Bass  

See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

3.71 dB
2.79 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

10 Hz
76.61 Hz

Low-Bass 
 

-5.57 dB
-4.96 dB

Mid-Bass 
 

-1.41 dB
-2.62 dB

High-Bass 
 

4.17 dB
-0.11 dB

Show text

Mid Accuracy 
 

5.9
8.6

Mid  

See details on graph tool

Mid  

See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

5.47 dB
1.92 dB

Low-Mid 
 

5.68 dB
-1.07 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

4.14 dB
-2.87 dB

High-Mid 
 

6.33 dB
0.01 dB

Show text

Treble Accuracy 
 

5.3
8.4

Treble  

See details on graph tool

Treble  

See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

5.63 dB
2.42 dB

Low-Treble 
 

3.62 dB
-1.15 dB

Mid-Treble 
 

0.22 dB
-2.35 dB

High-Treble 
 

-15.19 dB
-5.89 dB

Show text

Peaks/Dips 
 

6.9
8.5

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details on graph tool

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

2.02 dB
1 dB

Dips 
 

1.83 dB
0.9 dB

Show text

Imaging 
 

7.5
9.2

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response  

See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.23
0.09

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

21.21
1.27

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

1.3
0.66

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

1.56
0.89

Show text

Passive Soundstage 
 

0.8
1.4

PRTF  

Shure SE425 PRTF
MOONDROP KATO PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Distance 
 

N/A
N/A

Openness 
 

3.8
4.5

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

0
1.6

Show text

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0

Virtual Soundstage  

MOONDROP KATO Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No

Speaker Modeling 
 

No

Room Ambience 
 

No

Head Tracking 
 

No

Virtual Surround 
 

No App

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

5.2
8.0

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

2.186
0.265

WHD @ 100 
 

0.548
0.092

Show text

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

No Firmware

Power 
 

Passive

Connection 
 

Wired

Codec 
 

PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz

EQ 
 

No EQ

ANC 
 

No ANC

Tip/Pad 
 

Silicone (medium)

Microphone 
 

No Microphone

Show text

Isolation

Noise Isolation 
 

6.0
5.4

Noise Isolation  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Isolation Audio 
 

Overall Attenuation 
 

-18.74 dB
-14.61 dB

Noise Cancelling  

No
No

Bass 
 

2.62 dB
-0.72 dB

Mid 
 

-12.57 dB
-15.56 dB

Treble 
 

-47.46 dB
-29.03 dB

Show text

Leakage 
 

10
8.6

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

16.4 dB
29.99 dB

Show text

Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

N/A
No

In-Line 
 

N/A
No

Boom 
 

N/A
No

Detachable Boom 
 

N/A
No

Mic  

No
No

Recording Quality 
 

0.0
0.0

Microphone Frequency Response  

Shure SE425 Microphone Frequency Response
MOONDROP KATO Microphone Frequency Response

Recorded Speech 
 

N/A
N/A

LFE 
 

N/A
N/A

FR Std. Dev. 
 

N/A
N/A

HFE 
 

N/A
N/A

Weighted THD 
 

N/A
N/A

Gain 
 

N/A
N/A

Noise Handling 
 

0.0
0.0

SpNR  

Shure SE425 SpNR
MOONDROP KATO SpNR

SpNR 
 

N/A
N/A

Noise Gate 
 

No

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

N/A

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

N/A
N/A

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

N/A

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

N/A
N/A
Active Features

Battery 
 

0.0
0.0

Battery Type 
 

N/A
No Battery

Continuous Battery Life 
 

N/A
N/A

Additional Charges 
 

N/A
N/A

Total Battery Life 
 

N/A
N/A

Charge Time 
 

N/A
N/A

Power-Saving Feature 
 

N/A
No

Audio While Charging 
 

N/A
No

Passive Playback 
 

N/A
Passive Headphone

Charging Port  

N/A
None

App Support 
 

0.0
0.0

App Picture  

Shure SE425 App Picture
MOONDROP KATO App Picture

App Name  

N/A
No App

iOS  

N/A
No

Android  

N/A
No

macOS  

N/A
No

Windows  

N/A
No

Equalizer 
 

N/A
No

ANC Control 
 

N/A
No

Mic Control  

N/A
No

Room Effects 
 

N/A
No

Playback Control 
 

N/A
No

Button Mapping  

N/A
No

Surround Sound  

N/A

Surround Support 
 

No
Connectivity

Bluetooth 
 

0.0
0.0

Bluetooth Version 
 

N/A
No Bluetooth

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

N/A
No

NFC Pairing 
 

N/A
No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (SBC) 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (aptX) 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (aptX HD) 
 

N/A

PC Latency (aptX-LL) 
 

N/A
N/A

iOS Latency 
 

N/A

Android Latency 
 

N/A

Non-Bluetooth Wireless 
 

0.0
0.0

Non-BT Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

Non-BT Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

Wired 
 

9.5
9.5

Cable Picture  

Shure SE425 Cable Picture
MOONDROP KATO Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

Yes
Yes

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Detachable  

Yes
Yes

Length  

5 ft
4.20 ft (1.28 m)

Connection 
 

1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS

Wired Latency 
 

0 ms

Analog/USB Audio Latency 
 

0 ms

Show text

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

Audio Only

Wired USB 
 

No

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

Show text

PC / PS4 Compatibility 
 

PC / PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PC / PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

Show text

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

Show text

Base/Dock 
 

0.0
0.0

Type 
 

N/A
No Base/Dock

USB Input 
 

N/A
No

Line In 
 

N/A
No

Line Out 
 

N/A
No

Optical Input 
 

N/A
No

RCA Input 
 

N/A
No

Dock Charging 
 

N/A
No

Power Supply 
 

N/A
No Base/Dock

Check Price

Mirror Silver
KATO
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Mirror Silver
KATO
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
 
Mirror Silver
KATO
B&H
 
Mirror Silver
KATO
BestBuy.com

Shure SE425

MOONDROP KATO

Comments

  1. Comparison

Shure SE425 vs MOONDROP KATO: Main Discussion

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