Venture Electronics Zen 2.0 Review

 
 
 
Introduction & test notes
 
I am just a simple music loving person. I don't consider myself to have golden ears or whatsoever but do like my music detailed as possible under a jobless student's budget. My music preference is varied, but I do not fancy modern pop.

I am not a bar & graphs person, try to keep my reviews as simple as possible.

This is my first five star review and my second review coming from Venture Electronics products. I was given an opportunity to review the Zen 2.0 by Lee. This review is my honest opinions on the Zen and I gain nothing from it. I am in no way affiliated with Venture Electronics.

 
Always remember that your experiences might be different because this is a very subjective matter and depends on numerous factors, eg. ear anatomy.

 
Gears used:

I have used Fiio’s portable DAC/AMP Q1 for this review. It was set on High gain, with hardware bassboost disabled. Aimp v4 was the player of choice on both PC & Android, EQ was disabled.
Laptop>Fiio Q1> Zen 2.0
Android device>Usb OTG> Fiio Q1> Zen 2.0
Ipod touch 4th gen> lod> Q1> Zen 2.0
    
 
About Product:
This is the second iteration of VE’s flagship earbud lineup. The Zen comes in a few variants; Standard edition( the one I am reviewing 148$), Balanced edition with terminations of your choice (178$) and the decked out Black edition equipped with  Cardas AWG 26.5 cable and Oyaide straight 3.5mm connector (358$).*
 

*Prices at the time of review
 
 
 
Product Specifications(From their website www.veclan.com)

1. Plug Type:L Bending
2. Impedance:320ohm
3. Connectors:3.5mm
4. Frequency Response Range:8-25000 Hz
5. Package:Yes
6. Line Length:1.2m
7. Sensitivity:120±5dB

 
Now let’s dive into the good stuff

 
Build:
The housings are made of dark-grey transparent plastic with vents on the sides.

 
 
The internals can be seen through the housing and this gives the earbuds an unique look. Cables continue the transparent trend of the shells, see-through rubber coat showcases the braided red cables on the standard edition.

 
 
 
Cable itself is well made with very low microphonics
 

 
 
There are no chin sliders , the Y-split being a rectangular black rubber block.
     
 
 
 
The connector plug is the same ones found in the VE Duke IEM, which is very reliable with proper strain relief.
 

The connector here is a L-bend 3.5mm gold plated jack.

My biggest gripe will be the L/R markings which is very hard to see/feel when you’re hurrying.
 
Overall the build feels very sturdy and you can make it last a long long time if you’re just a little careful.


Comfort:
I last used earbuds in 2012, it was a cheap creative bud with rubber rings, it was okay. But the Zen is all plastic, with no rubber/soft materials on the sides. Due to my ear anatomy, I felt discomfort wearing the buds for more than 30 minutes at stretch. You can use the supplied foam/ear hooks for better comfort out of the box, but it alters the sonic signature(more on that later).  But after a months use my ears have adjusted to the chronic irritation and I feel very comfortable wearing them. Zen’s are lightweight and you will barely notice them in your ears.
 
Isolation:
You can compare the Zen with open back headphones. So, they leak out sound and sound/noise from the outside gets in. This might be a blessing and a curse depending on your situation. This brings me to write a small segment on daily usage scenarios which I think should help the readers.
 
Everyday usage:
Commute: I used the Ipod>Q1 combo for portable use when travelling.  Even though it noise gets in, you can cancel out most of it by listening at higher volumes. People speaking beside you will become less prominent, but you will be able to hear the horns/sirens of vehicles. That means you can use the zens on a busy street knowing that you won't get hit by that car which was honking from miles away. The music mixing in with the ambient noises will give your life that “background music” you always saw in movies. But the person sitting next to you will clearly hear your music tastes and will silently judge you.
 
Movies & Gaming: Excellent soundstage and separation means you can hear all those details in your movies in perfect L/R channels. You will be able to easily distinguish footsteps from nearby enemies amongst the chaos of your average FPS games, but don’t blame VE when you get kicked out of a server for knowing exactly where your enemies were hiding behind a wall (Yes, this happened).  
 
General Impressions: I handed it to a friend, he was awestruck with the sound it offered. After a 10 minute listening session all he could say was “ This sure doesn't look like a TOTL earbud, but man that SQ!
I gave it to my father and he was really impressed with the ZEN. After hearing the price he said with a smile that the cost is justifiable for something of this size producing such sound.


 
Sound:
THE SOUND DEPENDS A LOT ON THE FIT. IF YOU THINK THEY DO NOT SOUND AS THEY SHOULD, FIDDLE WITH THE FIT, ROTATE, NUDGE THE BUDS UNTIL YOU GET THE SOUND. YOU WILL NOTICE IT VERY WELL.
I found the 5’oclock psotion cable down to provide the best sound for my ears, YMMV. I was disappointed the first few hours with the sound, then I started adjusting the body and it sounded wonderful.
It will not be over exaggeration to say that the ZEN’s sound like full sized open back cans. The amount of clarity and details it provides is truly amazing for something of this size.  The ZEN 2.0 is an example of brilliant engineering  effort. You can find reviewers claiming these to be on the levels of HD650s , I will not go that far as I have not heard it myself, but I hardly use HD598SE after listening to the Zens. It is on par or exceeds the 598s in many scenarios which is both amazing and scary.  I will be describing the sound in 5 segments.
Without FOAMS/ Other accessories:
Highs: Gone are the harsh treble of the older zen. Highs have sufficient sparkle and detail to them without being harsh. You can hear the cymbals fading into lower frequencies after a hit.
Mids: Marvelous. Warm and balanced sounding mids bring string instruments to life. Vocals seem more intimate. On Adele’s Remedy, her voice seemed to creep up on me right from behind and surpsied me every time she let out those high pitched verses.
Lows: For me this is the peak attraction point of the buds. Unbelievable will be the right word to explain the quantity of bass coming out from these puny earbuds. Detailed, tight and overall resolution of the mid bass seem to make the 148$ price tag seem more than worth it. Sub bass does roll off but it doesn’t do so in a manner that disappoints.
Soundstage & Separation: Spacious soundstage, again similar to full sized headphones. Separation is excellent in well recorded files. Mushy recordings sounded mushy, binaural recordings placed every single instrument and vocals where they should be.
Vocals: Male & Female vocals are well balanced. Sibilance was minimal.
 
FOAMS :
Full Thick FOAMS/ Doughnut FOAMS: It make the bass more prominent but leaves negative effects on everything else. Mids sound recessed with. The little extra seal and comfort is not worth the sacrifices in the resolution. Zen’s were meant to use bare.
Thin FOAMS: Soundstage took a hit, making it a bit more cramped, but retained most of the characteristics when used bare. If it is necessary the thin foam coats can be used.

 
Power requirements:
Driving 320ohms is certainly not an easy task for your cellphones. You CAN use the ZENs with mobile devices but the output will simply be underwhelming. Plug it into your favourite DAC/Amp/DAP combo and hear the eargasms happen. Amping is necessary for it to perform it’s best. So, those who already have a good setup will certainly enjoy the buds a lot. It scales great with better sources and power.
 
Conclusion
The zen’s gave me  flashes of images of the overall environment of the tracks I adore. Kings of leon’s Tonight gave me that Late night drive on a desert highway feel.  While Future Island’s Fall from grace flashed an ambience of gloom and melancholy. This it truly something special, VE  might have made the masterpiece of Earbuds (Until they work their magic again).
I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to overhaul their listening-game or just want to be surprised. A new era of earbuds has begun.

IEM Review: Venture Electronics Duke

 

Introductions & Notes:

I am just a simple music loving person. I don't consider myself to have golden ears or whatsoever but do like my music detailed as possible under a jobless student's budget. With the Dukes I can safely say that you do not need to spend thousands of $ to get  like thousand$ sound quality anymore.
Thank you brother Tamal for the review unit. I do not have all the accessories like extra tips because I just used the tips that fit and left soon after from his house. This review is my honest opinions on the Duke. I am in no way affiliated with Venture Electronics.

 


Specs: 

Housing: Aluminum alloy

Driver: Dynamic 6mm

Freq. range: 12Hz-28kHz

Sensitivity: 101 dB

Impedance: 16 Ohms

Price: 198$ from Aliexpress.

 

 

Built:

Aluminium casings with a nice finish and feel solid with little weight. The cable feels like soft touch rubber with low microphonics. The cables don't tangle much. They are well attached to the housings, at first glance I thought they might come loose but that is not the case. My only gripe is that there isn't any chin sliders. The 3.5mm connector is L-shaped and looks quite plain.

 

 

Comfort:

It is so small and lightweight you usually don't feel any heft of your ears. I am using the double flange tips and get a nice and deep fit.But I had to adjust it a few times to get a proper seal. Once you get that, it will stay in place for long periods without hurting your ear canals.

 

 

Isolation:

Isolation is excellent, this is coming from a Shure SE215 user. Blocks most of the noise that you get on Bangladeshi streets and traffic with the provided silicone double flange tips. Foam tips are recommended if one requires even more separation from their surroundings. The Havi foam tips are a perfect match, tames the highs without changing the other frequencies.

 

 

Sound: My initial reaction was "How do these sound so good, despite being so tiny!!!". I am mostly accustomed to the SE215's lush mids and warm lows. The emphasis on the treble of the duke was a welcoming change to my tastes. What I was surprised most , that I did not need much time get comfortable with their sound signature. I tested on various genres through the week to get a full glimpse of it;s capabilities. A list of tracks for testing is given below:

 

Altus- Sidereal Circle
Olds Sleeper - Take your time, Sunset on you
Janez Gwizdala - Crushing
Be'lakor - Abeyance, Sun's Delusion, Fraught
Motorhead- Overkill
Protodome- Blueberry Jam!
Soilwork - Vesta
Train - Eggplant
Ludovico Einauldi - Most tracks from Time lapse album
John Petrucci - Damage Control 
Elementals- Alexandra , Sunbirth

 

The VE Duke's are a natural sounding , dynamic,bright and sensitive IEM. The separation and positions of the instrument felt so precise. They sound very revealing too, destroying low res/ badly recorded audio in an instant. If you want to enjoy them the most use well recorded high res sources ( It doesn't have be humongous DSD files, properly encoded kbps Mp3s will suffice). Sound stage was pretty good considering it's an IEM. I'll be dividing the sound into three groups:

 

Highs: Very bright and detailed. Might be too bright for some,thus a no go for bass heads, but if you like treble in your music you'll love it for sure. The drums are so full of energy and sparkle giving a "live" representation to them. Such emphasis on treble brings sibilance, especially if your music has any, you'll notice it right away! Foam tips are a mandatory to tame the highs, while retaining most of the sound. I literally had an eargasm while listening to Motorhead's Overkill on them, the drums came to life, the guitars were roaring with full might and Lemmy's vocals were still clear and audible in midst of the chaos,magnificent. Even thorough all that treble essential details can still be heard without straining too much.

 

Mids: The mids are surprisingly good. Comparing to the SE215, mids do sound cold but it is on the same level of detail or even more in some specific songs. I found both male and female vocals to come out clean though some might find the female vocals better. On Olds Sleeper's Take your time the male vocals sound right in your face, accurate and colorful. I actually prefer the mids of the Dukes to the Sennheiser 280s ( Though this comparison seems inappropriate 280s being full sized cans, but it shows just how good these are).

 

Lows: Bassheads beware, you're in for a scare! Bass is tight and clean, excellent sub-bass. Mid-bass is not prominent and never gets in the way. Protodome's Blueberry Jam! presented clear and punchy bass lines, synths had an extra sparkle to them which sounded just too good.

 
 
Conclusion:
If the price seems much I can assure you it isn't. For the level of detail, neutral sound, representation you get at the price it seems like a no brainer. Include the small size, comfort and it'll seem like something twice or even thrice it's price range. Exceptional value IEMs form Venture electronics. Great work guys.

SHURE SE215 REVIEW
 
Notes: This is my first review in the head-fi community and I'm just starting my journey as an enthusiast. So please be kind to my mistakes. Thanks!
 
 
 
Accessories: IEM and detachable cable,
                        Soft carrying pouch (Does not provide adequate protection, hard clamshell cases would be appreciated),
                        Foam and silicone tips (Each of them come in small,medium,large sizes),
                        Cleaning tool.
 
Build: Sturdy shiny plastic. These were built to last years,Specially if just a little care is taken. My pair has been thrown inside backpacks, front pockets, almost got stepped on, dropped from a few feet several times for the past 16 months and it's still running. Detachable cables are quite useful, the one's that came with it are just beginning to wear down and replacements cost about 20-25$.
 
 
 
Isolation & Comfort: Put both in the same segment because, both of them are excellent. Foam tips block more noise than silicone tips, maybe hybrid tips will help in getting isolation and treble. The IEM's very comfortable to wear. I've fallen asleep with them many times and my ears didn't hurt. The cable has slight microphonics , but I noticed them only when the cable above the Y-split brushed against cloth. The cables do become stiff after long storage periods so it is a bit hard to wear , but it relaxes soon as the cables warm up from your body heat.
 
 
Sound: This is the most essential part of the review, eh? It might vary person-wise.
               
                  Highs: Highs are recessed. Cymbals lack the "Fizz and fun factor" that you might get from something a lot more cheaper. It is highly recommended to use the silicone tips to get a bit more out of the highs. The foam tips just absorb the higher frequencies leaving it blunt. Treble isn't all that bad, but if you like treble these won't impress you.
                  Mids: Say hello to the sound signature which is known as the "Shure-house-sound". Warm, wonderful, detailed mids. Guitars and other string instruments sound amazing. In one word the SE215's "Shure" emphasizes on it's mids without being obtrusive.
                  Lows: This is where things get interesting. To some it may lack bass, others may think bass a bit of thump. To me, there was ample amounts of bass,The silicone tips also help clear out the confusion by making the bass a tad bit tighter and detailed.
                  Vocals: Both male and female vocals sound smooth,crisp and have a fullness to them that gives that "live" reproduction. I found sibilance in only a few songs and can not confirm if it is because of the way it was recorded or because of the IEMs.
 
 
 
Long story short : If you want the best isolation and comfort in this price range, go for them. 
 
 
Competition and recommendations: While comparing sound quality the Ostry KC-06 and the TTpod T1e are highly recommended for the price. SQ wise, the fiio EX1(90$ish on amazon) is one of the strongest competition the SE215 has.