Venture Electronics (VE) Monk+/Monk Plus

I tuned mine this way for listening to classical music and it has made them come alive. Absolutely spectacular.
The difference eq makes for gaming is sensational. I hopped into a game of Battlefield 3, applied the above eq and just listened for a moment in awe of the immersion they created. imaging could be better, especially depth (there is none really to speak of), however what can you expect given the crazy low price!
I think they may even better better than my TIN T2 (at 5 times the price) and better in some respects (soundstage and gaming immersion) than my Audio Technica A900!
edit: I also purchased '12 Pair (24 pieces) Foam Earpad Replacement Sponge Covers for Earbuds/Earplugs/Earphone (Grey) ' for them which helped their comfort!

price to performance: amazing
looks: the smoked (semi-transparent) MX500 stock shell they use is very nice, feels sturdy
cable: not the highest quality, but it will do
To note: I listened with the black foams.
sound: I advocate the use of EQ!
Since I like a linear / neutral frequency response, I found these very boxy (way too much 100-250Hz), the sub-frequencies are hidden, the highs and high mids are recessed and low and high mids have some irregularities.
So I played around with EQ looking at innerfidelity's and my own measurements, just listening to music.
You could achieve similar sound with less bands but it's what I used.
Together with the HRTF plugin I use (hear) this EQing makes them very useable, but without HRTF it might make them too bright so you'll have to experiment.
Also, the punch / transient response, once EQ'd, is very, very nice!
The thing I seemingly can't get out of these is detail in the high frequencies. If I push the highs beyond balance, they start to sound tiring. But eh, what even can you expect more out of these?

I was on a search to find a good sounding cheap dynamic headphones for my collection. I tried KZ ZS3 and didn't like it because when i wear them it gets all muffled and can't fix that problem. I tried two pairs and second pair also didn't sound good as they say about them on the reviews. Then couple of weeks back i read about MONK PLUS and decided to order them off the eBay. Today i received them and i am listening to them while i type this review. It sounds amazing on everything i throw at them with my ultra cheap setup. My search for cheap perfect sounding dynamic headphones ends here.

If you're looking for similar set of headphones then look no further, buy a pair of VE MONK PLUS and you'll see what i am talking about here. I really wish they were IEM so i would have been much comfortable to wear.



Unlike many of you i am not a audiophile, just a cheap little enthusiast in music and how they sound. I only have a very cheap system powered by a laptop, A matisse clone tube preamp with russian tubes and a super cheap class D headphone amplifier which i bought over eBay. I can imagine how they might sound in a decent system and how good their other highest end tier products will sound on good dacs and amps etc.