[2021 Update] Venture Electronics (VE) Monk V2, Monk Plus & Monk Go: a $5 earbud that taking the world by storm!!!

[haiku]

  If I only knew what its frequency curve looks like! I just don't like bright headphones, no matter how great they are otherwise.

I see that you own hd 600. If you like them I think you´ll love the monks, too. Since I own the monks my hd 600 are just sitting here collecting dust.....

 

[bilboda]

Monks are not bright. I would call them warm, engaging and lively. Sensitive to placement like any earbud or iem, I found the sweet spot with the foam covers on and positioned til the bass was full and the sound made me smile. I think I scared 2 dog walkers and their dogs as we passed on a narrow side walk. Wasn't later til I realized I was grinning. I suppose you could make them bright if you seat them wrong and then turn the volume up. You'd get poor bass and a lot of highs. Just don't do that...

 

[Danneq]

  Monks are not bright. I would call them warm, engaging and lively. Sensitive to placement like any earbud or iem, I found the sweet spot with the foam covers on and positioned til the bass was full and the sound made me smile. I think I scared 2 dog walkers and their dogs as we passed on a narrow side walk. Wasn't later til I realized I was grinning. I suppose you could make them bright if you seat them wrong and then turn the volume up. You'd get poor bass and a lot of highs. Just don't do that...

But Blox uses the exact same housing and most of their earbuds have better balance between lows, mids and highs. This without any special care with how you place them in your ears...
After changing from donut to full foams the highs are slightly less sharp on my pair of Monks. With some EQing of bass they also become more balanced with more fullness in the lower end.

 

[bilboda]

I can't imagine an earbud that does not change depending on how it sits in the ear. One may have the perfect fit when just dropping a Monk in and no amount of shifting it gives an improvement but that would be sheer luck. I'd experiment with fit myself, pulling pressing, changing angles, raising an lowering to see how the sound changes and when it's right, you'll know it. I get plenty of bass but I haven't tried hiphop or any thing that booms down low.

 

[Lorspeaker]

monks aint bright on all my setups

 

[Danneq]

I agree that positioning can make a big difference with some earbuds. Earbell E100 is one example. But I have never personally experienced that with earbuds that use the old Sennheiser MX400 type housings (Monk, Blox and many more smaller Chinese makers).

 

[qu4ntumrush]

Hi, my Koss Porta Pros broke (a wire was pulled out of the left earpiece) and I am looking for a similarly cheap, very comfortable/unobtrusive pair of earbuds or on-ear, non-pleather headphones. While the Monks look suitable for my needs I was wondering why AE standard shipping is the only option into acquiring them. Why are faster shipping options like ePacket not available when numerous reviews on AE's page have used it before? I've only bought one thing from China before and the wait is miserable. I love my V-Moda M80s for serious music listening but it's overkill for podcasts and they're usually not comfortable for 1+ hour. Are there any similar earbuds that ship within the US (just want something in the tier of Porta Pros) for <$50? 

 

[waynes world]

Hi, my Koss Porta Pros broke (a wire was pulled out of the left earpiece) and I am looking for a similarly cheap, very comfortable/unobtrusive pair of earbuds or on-ear, non-pleather headphones. While the Monks look suitable for my needs I was wondering why AE standard shipping is the only option into acquiring them. Why are faster shipping options like ePacket not available when numerous reviews on AE's page have used it before? I've only bought one thing from China before and the wait is miserable. I love my V-Moda M80s for serious music listening but it's overkill for podcasts and they're usually not comfortable for 1+ hour. Are there any similar earbuds that ship within the US (just want something in the tier of Porta Pros) for <$50? 

Get the monks. When you order but before you pay, send an order message to Lee about epacket. He'll then adjust the shipping price.

 

[golov17]

Hi, my Koss Porta Pros broke (a wire was pulled out of the left earpiece) and I am looking for a similarly cheap, very comfortable/unobtrusive pair of earbuds or on-ear, non-pleather headphones. While the Monks look suitable for my needs I was wondering why AE standard shipping is the only option into acquiring them. Why are faster shipping options like ePacket not available when numerous reviews on AE's page have used it before? I've only bought one thing from China before and the wait is miserable. I love my V-Moda M80s for serious music listening but it's overkill for podcasts and they're usually not comfortable for 1+ hour. Are there any similar earbuds that ship within the US (just want something in the tier of Porta Pros) for <$50? 

try ksc75

 

[waynes world]

try ksc75

 
+1 to the ksc75'sl. He could even put the ksc75 drivers into the portapro headband and end up with an arguably better headphone.
 
But, still get the Monks as well!

 

[lixoke]

  Hi, my Koss Porta Pros broke (a wire was pulled out of the left earpiece) and I am looking for a similarly cheap, very comfortable/unobtrusive pair of earbuds or on-ear, non-pleather headphones. While the Monks look suitable for my needs I was wondering why AE standard shipping is the only option into acquiring them. Why are faster shipping options like ePacket not available when numerous reviews on AE's page have used it before? I've only bought one thing from China before and the wait is miserable. I love my V-Moda M80s for serious music listening but it's overkill for podcasts and they're usually not comfortable for 1+ hour. Are there any similar earbuds that ship within the US (just want something in the tier of Porta Pros) for <$50? 

 
Just order a pair and use a pair of apple earbuds or something in the mean time? 

 

[music4mhell]

  Hi, my Koss Porta Pros broke (a wire was pulled out of the left earpiece) and I am looking for a similarly cheap, very comfortable/unobtrusive pair of earbuds or on-ear, non-pleather headphones. While the Monks look suitable for my needs I was wondering why AE standard shipping is the only option into acquiring them. Why are faster shipping options like ePacket not available when numerous reviews on AE's page have used it before? I've only bought one thing from China before and the wait is miserable. I love my V-Moda M80s for serious music listening but it's overkill for podcasts and they're usually not comfortable for 1+ hour. Are there any similar earbuds that ship within the US (just want something in the tier of Porta Pros) for <$50? 

It's because the Price of Monk is $5, No1 will spend $20+ on shipping for $5 product.
But if you send a mail to Lee and paypal him the extra Shipping charge, he will send via any courier you want.
 
He is really flexible, i hope you know his mail id !

 

[qu4ntumrush]

Thanks for the information, dunno why it isn't clearer on his page. Just to make sure before I order, how big of a deal is the lack of coverage? Is the chance of losing them closer to 1/100 or 1/10?

 

[lixoke]

 
I see that you own hd 600. If you like them I think you´ll love the monks, too. Since I own the monks my hd 600 are just sitting here collecting dust.....

 
Come on, they can't be that good. What specifically about the monk made you switch?

 

[peter123]

Thanks for the information, dunno why it isn't clearer on his page. Just to make sure before I order, how big of a deal is the lack of coverage? Is the chance of losing them closer to 1/100 or 1/10?

1/100 and if you don't receive them you'll get a refund by opening a dispute on Aliexpress.