[vapman]

And for $50 you can get Music Maker MrZ Tomahawk, which is like an improved Monk in just about every area (perhaps except for size of soundstage, where Monk wins). And then there's newer ones around or over $100, such as Ostry KC98, Shozy Cygnus, Music Maker Ting etc...


For an old earbud fanatic such as me it's great to see the hype around Monk after many years of practically nothing new in the earbud world. I hope you all look up on other newer earbuds as well!

I have heard many IEM which come close but there simply isn't the same magic which keeps us using the Monk

I too am an old earbud user since the 90s and the Monk and Mrice E100 are some of my favorites.

 

[ozkan]

Finally I got my 75 ohm adapter from Bocur Audio which sounds amazing compared to the original Etymotic 75 ohm cable.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/BOCUR-AUDIO-PURE-COPPER-99-99-75OHM-ADAPTER-CABLE-FREE-SHIPPING-TO-WORLDWIDE-/331798876094?nav=SEARCH

 

[ngoshawk]

I got mine in over the weekend, been listening non-stop at work with them.

Love the sound, but they hurt my ears so much. I can't find a single orientation where the monks even feel the least bit comfortable. At the moment I have resorted to very gently placing them in my ear, if i try to create a solid seal my ear will start to throb after 30ish minutes (in every normal listening position)... 

Anyone else experiencing this? 

Yes, I do too. It's to the point, where the Monks are almost last on my list to wear, until I find a CHEAP solution for fit...I say cheap, because the whole principle of the Monks is cheap, fantastic sound...I want to keep it that way...

 

[aclovenwren]

Dont you think that using that kind of fit will reduce the soundstage?

Enviado do meu M52_Red_Note através de Tapatalk

I would say so but I don't think it dramatically changes the soundstage. I still enjoy them the same. Although I can't get a proper comparison to the full foams until I get my hands on a second pair of Monks.

  I want these! Where did you buy these covers?

I got them off eBay. Their sell them on their official site, $10 for two sets I believe. But unfortunately they don't ship to my country. 
 

  I've seen sizes 4, 5 and 7 on ebay so i'm pretty much confused and afraid on ordering the wrong size.

I have the size 5. I believe they're the size that's most common and that "fits most ears"

 

[SLCanhead]

Yes, I do too. It's to the point, where the Monks are almost last on my list to wear, until I find a CHEAP solution for fit...I say cheap, because the whole principle of the Monks is cheap, fantastic sound...I want to keep it that way...

 
 

  I got mine in over the weekend, been listening non-stop at work with them.
 
Love the sound, but they hurt my ears so much. I can't find a single orientation where the monks even feel the least bit comfortable. At the moment I have resorted to very gently placing them in my ear, if i try to create a solid seal my ear will start to throb after 30ish minutes (in every normal listening position)... 
 
Anyone else experiencing this? 

 
I have to wedge them under the outer "flap" of my ear to get the best sound. I use the donut foams. They hurt after about 15 min. I can sometimes get past the pain enough to leave them in for a while. If I just set them in my ears like a normal set of buds, they sound good but not great. I have to get them to sit right against my ear to get them to sing - but they really do sing of my iPhone 6s Plus when seated/aimed just right, in my ears. 

 

[music4mhell]

 

Yes, I do too. It's to the point, where the Monks are almost last on my list to wear, until I find a CHEAP solution for fit...I say cheap, because the whole principle of the Monks is cheap, fantastic sound...I want to keep it that way...

 
 

  I got mine in over the weekend, been listening non-stop at work with them.
 
Love the sound, but they hurt my ears so much. I can't find a single orientation where the monks even feel the least bit comfortable. At the moment I have resorted to very gently placing them in my ear, if i try to create a solid seal my ear will start to throb after 30ish minutes (in every normal listening position)... 
 
Anyone else experiencing this? 

 
I have to wedge them under the outer "flap" of my ear to get the best sound. I use the donut foams. They hurt after about 15 min. I can sometimes get past the pain enough to leave them in for a while. If I just set them in my ears like a normal set of buds, they sound good but not great. I have to get them to sit right against my ear to get them to sing - but they really do sing of my iPhone 6s Plus when seated/aimed just right, in my ears. 

Try to use a thin foam fully covered, don't use the stock red one given by VE. That's thick.
Buy any cheap ones, they are more thin and i am using on my Monk, Zen , Cygnus and enjoying

 

[kiler]

I asked how that solution was cause I'm having the same issue that others are reporting, which is they start to hurt my ears after a bit :b Other than that these are really interesting

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

  While they are great and cannot be beaten for the price, sometimes the hype can be a bit too much. Monk is basically a $30-40 earbud that is sold for $5. I think Monk is better than many other earbuds in the same price category, such as Yuin PK3 and Blox BE3 (unfortunately discontinued), and perhaps equal to or slightly better than Yuin PK2.
Well, Baldoor/Mrice Earbell E100 is also very good for the price ($10-15) and could also easily be sold for $30-40

There are other earbuds that are better in detail, instrument separation etc. However, then you have to pay at least 10 times what you pay for Monk...

The best thing about Monk is that it's a sort of "gateway drug" that will open up people's eyes to the world of earbuds.  

 

 
Thank you. The hype train around here does not stop sometimes even after it's been flung from the tracks. I understand that some people may like the Monk better than any given full sized headphone, but there's a big difference between personal preference and actual sound quality. I can understand someone preferring in-ear versus on-ear or over ear headphones, but that's different than saying the Monks are a better transducer than the HD600/HD650, HE-400S, etc.
 
The Monks sound very good for what they are, but no, they do not best good full sized cans in anything except comfort (and even there YMMV as I can wear my HD600 all day without issue, whereas the Monk I'm always fiddling with). Let's definitely celebrate a quality cheap earbud, but let's not go overboard and proclaim it to be the best buy in all of audio.

 

[vapman]

  The Monks sound very good for what they are, but no, they do not best good full sized cans in anything except comfort (and even there YMMV as I can wear my HD600 all day without issue, whereas the Monk I'm always fiddling with). Let's definitely celebrate a quality cheap earbud, but let's not go overboard and proclaim it to be the best buy in all of audio.

A friend who has and loves his HD600 A/B'd them against the Monk with me using several different amps. I recall us preferring the Monk every time, with every genre. The HD600 might have won in overall precision but the Monk took it away without much of a battle for the rest of what we tried out, a whole range of genres.
 
Also keep in mind he knew nothing of the Monk before I brought them over, let alone how much they cost, he thought I brought over some $200 earbuds.
 
Saying nothing about the quality of the transducer, there aren't any other earbuds or IEMs I've tried, budget or otherwise, which provide the same balance of the Monk which is so pleasing, which is why I own several of them.

 

[haiku]

 

[Danneq]

  A friend who has and loves his HD600 A/B'd them against the Monk with me using several different amps. I recall us preferring the Monk every time, with every genre. The HD600 might have won in overall precision but the Monk took it away without much of a battle for the rest of what we tried out, a whole range of genres.
 
Also keep in mind he knew nothing of the Monk before I brought them over, let alone how much they cost, he thought I brought over some $200 earbuds.
 
Saying nothing about the quality of the transducer, there aren't any other earbuds or IEMs I've tried, budget or otherwise, which provide the same balance of the Monk which is so pleasing, which is why I own several of them.

Well, you haven't tried Music Maker MrZ Tomahawk earbuds (silly name, I know - Music maker is the maker, though)... Going from Monk to Tomahawk is like removing a thick blanket from a speaker. But Tomahawk is $50, so you get better value from Monk.

Monk definitely is the best bang for the buck earbud ever. But far from the best one...

 

[vapman]

 
Well, you haven't tried Music Maker MrZ Tomahawk earbuds (silly name, I know - Music maker is the maker, though)... Going from Monk to Tomahawk is like removing a thick blanket from a speaker. But Tomahawk is $50, so you get better value from Monk.

Monk definitely is the best bang for the buck earbud ever. But far from the best one...

I think I saw you mention those Tomahawks before. I love earbuds so if they're that much better for $50 i might take the plunge

 
 
are they tricky to seat in your ear for a good seal?

 

[ozkan]

Thank you. The hype train around here does not stop sometimes even after it's been flung from the tracks. I understand that some people may like the Monk better than any given full sized headphone, but there's a big difference between personal preference and actual sound quality. I can understand someone preferring in-ear versus on-ear or over ear headphones, but that's different than saying the Monks are a better transducer than the HD600/HD650, HE-400S, etc.

The Monks sound very good for what they are, but no, they do not best good full sized cans in anything except comfort (and even there YMMV as I can wear my HD600 all day without issue, whereas the Monk I'm always fiddling with). Let's definitely celebrate a quality cheap earbud, but let's not go overboard and proclaim it to be the best buy in all of audio.

A friend who has and loves his HD600 A/B'd them against the Monk with me using several different amps. I recall us preferring the Monk every time, with every genre. The HD600 might have won in overall precision but the Monk took it away without much of a battle for the rest of what we tried out, a whole range of genres.

Also keep in mind he knew nothing of the Monk before I brought them over, let alone how much they cost, he thought I brought over some $200 earbuds.

Saying nothing about the quality of the transducer, there aren't any other earbuds or IEMs I've tried, budget or otherwise, which provide the same balance of the Monk which is so pleasing, which is why I own several of them.

You should try the Monk with 75 ohm converter cable and see how wonderful it can be for your sake.

 

[Danneq]

 
I think I saw you mention those Tomahawks before. I love earbuds so if they're that much better for $50 i might take the plunge

 
 
are they tricky to seat in your ear for a good seal?

They have a very similar sound to the Monks, with a slightly smaller soundstage but better bass, detail and instrument separation.

I have noticed that Monk do improve with better equipment. Tomahawk sounds like it is at it's peak from the go and doesn't scale as much as Monk.

In my ears they have a slightly better fit than Monk since the housing is designed by the maker and not the generic Sennheiser MX400 housing that VE (and some other) earbud makers use.

Today I brought my Monks, Tomahawks and Blox TM7 to work. TM7 is the old flagship of Blox (released around 2012 and quickly sold out and then was discontinued). Going from Monk to Tomahawk there's an improvment in most areas. Then I changed from Tomahawk to TM7 and the Tomahawks sounded crude and unrefined.
TM7 has got almost subwoofer like bass, very good detail and a generally very smoth and pleasant sound that's slightly laid back. Still there's sparkle in the treble.

It's sad that TM7 was discontinued so fast, but Blox only make their earbuds in very limited editions.

Anyway, my anecdote has got a point and that is that Tomahawk isn't an end game earbud. There are better ones, but they cost more. Lately many new earbuds have been released: Music Maker Ting (big brother of Tomahawk, with a more neutral sound), Ostry KC08 and Shozy Cygnus. And let's not forget VE earbuds Zen 2 and Asura 2!

But Monk will never be beaten when it comes to price/performance. It could sell for $40 and still be a top earbud in that price range...

 

[vapman]

The Monk's ability to scale is one of its most impressive features IMO. I'll definitely still check out the tomahawk, but it's crazy how the Monk just gets better every time you make your source better. It's so much fun to use with the Mojo!