The Monk was included as one of the accessories when I received the review sample of the Duke from Venture Electronics (VE) a while back. I would like thank VE and Lee for including the Monk in my package. The Monk is available from Aliexpress:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Venture-Electronic-VE-MONK-earbud-earphone/32417311324.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.1.yF6d7o&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_9,searchweb201527_4_71_72_73_61_74_75,searchweb201560_9
I’m not in any way affiliated with Venture Electronics.
Short introduction of Venture Electronics:
VE is a small and pretty new company, only three years old.
They’re located in mainland China and have fast become very popular in audiophile circles due to their line of earbuds (Monk, Asura and Zen) which offers excellent value for money.
The Monk is the first earbud I’ve heard from them so let’s find out how it performs.
About me:
I’m a 43 year old music and sound lover that changed my focus from speakers to headphones and IEM’s about five years ago. At that time I realized that it wasn’t realistic for me to have all the different setups that I wanted and still house a family of four children and a wife so my interest turned first to full sized headphones and later also IEM’s.
My preferences are towards full sized open headphones and I believe that also says something about what kind of sound signature I prefer (large soundstage in all directions, balanced and organic sound).
My music preferences are pretty much all over the place (only excluding classical music, jazz and really heavy metal). My all-time favorite band is Depeche Mode although I also listen to a lot of grunge/indie, singer/songwriter/acoustical stuff as well as the typical top 40 music.
I do not use EQ, ever.
I’m a sucker for value for money on most things in life Head-Fi related stuff is no exception.
Built and accessories:
The VE Monk is a single dynamic driver earbud featuring a 15.4 mm driver.
The cable is pretty good. It doesn’t look or feel like anything special but in use I find it to be excellent with very little tangling, low on microphonics, soft and flexible. The plug is straight and although I usually prefer L-shaped plugs it feels very solid. Left/right marking is easily visible. The chin slider is also in place just the way I like it.
The build is all plastic but still seems very solid.
Since these were an accessory themselves there were no retail package nor other accessories included with my pair.
The Monk is quite easy to drive and works fine even with my weak (in power) Sony Z3 Compact phone. Isolation is pretty much none existent, after all it is an earbud. As a matter of fact I find the lack of isolation also to be a great strength in certain situations.
The specs:
Housing
| Plastic
|
Driver Unit
| Dynamic 15.4mm
|
Frequenzy range
| 18Hz-22.5KHz
|
Sensitivity
| 112 dB
|
Impedance
| 32 Ohms
|
Cable lenght
| 1.2m
|
Ergonomics:
I’ve got to be honest and say that I’ve not used earbuds in more than 20 years. I’m certainly not going to claim that I’m an expert on them. As a matter of fact it was never my intention to review neither this nor any other earbuds but my experience with the Monk is so good that I really wanted to share it with others.
I’ve lived with the impression that the fit of earbuds are not for me for the last 15-20 years. After receiving the Monk as a part of the Duke package I was really surprised how easy they are to fit and how well they stay in my ears. They’re also extremely comfortable and are certainly lighter on the ears than pretty much every IEM that I’ve tried.
I do notice quite a difference in the sound by the way the Monk sits in my ear so it might be worth playing around a bit to find the sweet spot for your preference.
Sound:
I’ve used these on and off for the last couple of weeks and they’ve played for well over 100 hours.
I’ve used them with my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact phone, the CEntrance DACport Slim as well as the SHOZY Lancea paired with Venture Electronics own amplifier the RunAbout (separate review will come soon).
Demo list:
Mark Knopfler – Sailing to Philadelphia
Røyksopp (Feat.Susanne Sundfør) – Save Me
Ane Brun – These Days
Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana
Metallica – Die Die My Darling
The Peter Malick Group – Immigrant
Eva Cassidy – Songbird
Thomas Dybdahl – A Lovestory
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
Celldweller – Unshakeable
Jack Johnson – Better Together
Seinabo Sey – Younger (Kygo remix)
Dire Straits- So Far Away
Passenger – Let Her Go
Lupe Fiasco - Deliver
Morrissey – Earth Is the Loneliest Planet
I’d like to start this section with a funny story. When I first received the Duke and unpacked it the included earbud caught my attention. I’ve been seeing all this comments in here about the Monk, Asura and Zen from VE but never really paid any closer attention to it. I didn’t even know which of the ones that was in my package so curiosity got the best of me and I went straight to the earbuds before even trying the Duke. Two hours later I was still listening to the Monk’s with my jaw planted on the floor, I simply could not believe what I was hearing. I started to dig around and pretty fast realized that the Zen was white and that the Monk was $5 so I concluded that I had probably gotten the Asura. After contacting Lee I learned that it was actually the $5 Monk that I had in my possession, $5! Seriously come on.
OK, let’s get down to the description of what they sound like.
The overall sound signature is very well balanced, natural and entertaining. I don’t find the Monk to be neither dark nor particularly bright sounding. It shares a lot of the characteristics that I usually associate with open full size headphones. People knowing me also know that I’m a sucker for open cans.
The lows lack some extension in the sub-bass region not going as deep as I’d like. Apart from this the quality of the bass is very good. Mid- and upper-bass is clean and clear with absolutely no bleed into the midrange. The bass quantity is enough to keep them from sounding thin and both male voices and guitars sound full and natural with them.
The midrange is well in balance with the rest of the frequencies. In total the vocal reproduction on both male and female artist is very good though. Although the mids are not particular forward I still think it’s the greatest asset of the Monk. It’s rally liquid and smooth making for a very enjoyable and easy listening.
The treble is full and smooth bit may lack some extension in the top end for my liking. This is certainly not enough to be a dealbreaker and I'm judging them pretty hard here given the price. There's no sibilance whatsoever with them.
Soundstage in all directions is larger than what one can expect from the average IEM but smaller than you’d expect from a full size open headphone. Clarity, micro details and separation is also quite good.
Comparison:
As already mentioned I find the overall signature of the Monk to be closer to that of full sized headphones than IEM’s. Still it cannot, naturally, keep up on all accounts to full size cans either. Especially deep bass extension and impact suffers from the driver being much smaller.
Given the differences in design with IEM’s and headphones and my lack of experience with other earbuds I see no reason to try to make any comparisons with the Monk.
Summary:
The VE Monk has indeed been a revelation for me. Not only have I learned to really appreciate earbuds from them but it also brings a smile on my face again and again.
I travel quite a lot in my line of work but never bother to bring any full sized cans along on my trips (except for the QC25 on longer flights) but on a recent trip I brought along the Monk and man was it nice to get that change from the IEM’s I’ve been wearing all day when I came to the hotel room. I don’t complain that the sound is seriously good and a great option to bring a long full sized gear as well.
Yes, sometimes I wish for a bit deeper sub-bass with more impact and some more sparkle and extension in the top end then I remember its $5 and the smile is back on my face. This certainly has to be one of the best value for money ever in the world of head-fi.
It really, really makes me looking forward to the soon to be released Zen 2.0.
the sound is addictive, this bud is so convenient that
i left all my big cans in the storeroom .