RedJohn456
Headphoneus Supremus
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VE Bonus IE
Official Thread
Official Thread
Introduction
By now I am sure that a great many of you have heard of Venture Electronics, an upstart company that took the audio world by storm with the VE Monk, a $5 dollar earbud that captured the hearts and imagination of audiophiles the world over. Not one to rest on their laurels, they have an ever expanding star studded line up of Earbuds, In ear monitors, headphones accessories and amplifiers as well as accessories spanning from entry level to all the way to TOTL.
They make IEMS??
Though they are best well known for their prowess with earbuds, you might be surprised to know that they are equally committed to the IEM side of things as well. Their IEM offers ranged from budget to all the way not so budget at all lol.
The Bonus IE marks their latest foray into the IEM market after their previous limited release of the Biggie and Smalls, and prior to that the Duke (truly an underrated gem for those after a detailed and ruthlessly honest headphone). Their current TOTL IEM - the Duke Custom is a limited release and not meant for mass market release but has been praised widely by those in TOTL circles.
The monk was meant to be a way for everyone to have easy access to good quality audio without having to pay an arm and a leg for it and in this regard it has been successful beyond's everyone's wildest dreams. But not everyone is able to enjoy earbuds as they are inherently larger than IEMs and are not as secure (depending on your ears).
Enter the Bonus IE - An IEM that aims to provide high quality audio in a package and form factor that is hopefully accessible to a great many people. And at a price that flies in the face of it's competitors, once again positioning themselves to disrupt the status quo.
The official website and listing can be found here
Specifications and Hardware
At the time of making this thread, hardware specifications for the Bonus IE have been hard to find. I have reached out to Venture Electronics and from my limited conversations with them this is what I have learned:
- Price - $20 USD
- Shell: Aluminum Alloy - matte finish
- Driver: 10mm Dynamic Driver (N52+)
- Cable: 99.99% OFC
- Impedance: 32 ohms (1kHz)
- Headphone Sensitivity: 115dB (1mW 1kHz)
- Frequency Range: 17 - 22 000 Hz
At first blush, I was surprised to find the shells to be a little larger than I was expecting, but nothing that would make it hard to use. The size helps accommodate the large driver that runs the whole show.
The driver magnet is characterized as being N52+. I find this to be confusing as I have never come across a driver as being described as N52+ I own the Zen 2 and according to their Taobao page, it is rated at N50. I will add that the Bonus IE is quite easy to drive and doesn't require all that much power to run so maybe that has something to do with that?
Their characterization leads me to believe that the driver they are using is different in it's structure, employing tuning that is normally reserved for higher end models. Leave it to Venture Electronics to casually bring something like this to the budget market and not even highlight it -_- What
A lot of thought appears to have gone into the design of the Bonus IE as well. Firstly, the shell is made from an aluminum alloy with a matte finish. You might be wondering, RedJohn456 you sexy beast, why did they not use a gloss finish for the shell? There is a sound reason for this design decision (hah, see what I did there?)
According to VE, when employing a gloss finish for the external surface, the internal surface of the shell has to be the same and this has a negative impact on the sound (due to surface reflections)
The Bonus IE is using the same high quality cable that can be found with the Monk Plus. Any monk plus owner will attest to the quality of those cables, from both a sonic and physical perspective.
Accessories and Packaging
The headphone comes packaged securely in a stylish denim flavored IEM carrying case along with a set of tips. They have managed to keep the costs down by cutting out lavish packaging and unnecessary accesories.
Where can you get it?
The easiest place to get it is from the official Venture Electronics Website (Veclan.com).
I will be testing the Bonus IE for the next little while and I will be updating the second post with my impressions and a link to my final review once that goes up.
Edit: Updated Sound Impressions/Review
It has been awhile since I created this thread and since then, I have continued to use the Bonus IE on daily basis. It has quietly become a staple in my collection and something that I rely on everyday.
To begin, I have done some tip rolling have settled on a set of tips that I am happy with. I am talking about the KZ whirlwind eartips. In addition to affording a better seal in my ears, I feel it allows one to experience the balanced sound that the BIE is capable of, it's true potential.
And the BIE is capable of a whole lot - even out of a cellphone. Not only is it easy to drive, but it sounds great at lower volumes. It also reasonably scales with gear - sounds great out of my desktop set ups and dedicated source gear and amps. But most of the time it is used in conjunction with my iPhone and Odyssey HD as I prefer the convenience that this portable set up affords me.
The BIE is surprisingly detailed and they are nicely discernible and separated in a mix. The individual elements don't get lost in a mix and things are easy to make out thanks to great dynamics and layering. Don't let it its price tag fool you - it has great resolution and dynamics with fantastic layering and separation.
The soundstage is believable and realistic. Audio cues are spatially represented and 3 dimensional. I enjoyed listening to a lot of orchestral pieces with the BIE (attack on titan official sound tracks) and the aforementioned characteristics made it a joy to go through my favourite game tracks. The BIE is not weak with any genre and is suited to a wide variety of music styles.
Most IEMS in this price category tend to boos treble and energy in the upper registers to give the appearance of increased detail but not the BIE. The treble is sparkly and not at all harsh and the BIE is properly detailed, without going overboard with the treble. Transparent, detailed and reigned in like a ballet dancer carefully balanced on their toes.
The BIE has a tasteful V shaped sound signature with a relatively recessed but detailed midrange with great timbre. Lush, natural and organic are words I would use to describe the BIE midrange. IT sounds wonderful with vocal pieces, instrumentals, while also rocking your eardrums with EDM tracks. The background elements are easy to follow along and they sort of hauntingly float there - something I am enjoying with a lot of dance music.
The BIE impresses no matter what I am in the mood to listen to. It just disappears and gets out of the way, allowing me to enjoy my music unhindered. And it manages to do this at a price point that leaves me scratching my head - HOW??
How does VE make a banger of an IEM and price it like this? A lot of people might look at the price tag and write it off and it doesn't help that it is named as something that comes bundled in with another product.
But I am here to tell you that is not the case. it is not a bundled in item but rather the star of the show!
The BIE has set a new standard for me - that is to say what I now expect at these price points. The competition has no excuse, they need to step up at the prices they are charging.
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