[vapman]

   
Here comes the "if you can't afford $3..." comments.
 
There's other value phones around $8 shipped.  No one says they cost $1 if they paid $1 + $7 shipping. Here and there someone might quote a price without shipping, but it's not on every page. 

  not that I'm complaining and just out of curiosity, which countries are getting $3 shipping independent of how many are ordered? I checked a bunch of countries and they all scale up ~$1 per Monk.

 
When I bought my biggest order of 6 monks, it still weights just a couple ounces. They're really light you know. So for the majority of countries you're going to get the base rate. I've mailed Monks to people before and with packaging they weigh in at under a single ounce each. 6 monks was probably barely 6oz so $3 is reasonable for shipping.
 
If you bought 1000 maybe you'd pay a little more for shipping.
 
Nobody takes shipping prices into account when talking about the retail value of an item so the argument seems pointless. Either use Aliexpress standard shipping and wait an extra few weeks to save your $3 or buy so many Monks that the $3 shipping charge dissolves into barely anything per unit.

 

[EISENbricher]

Here comes the "if you can't afford $3..." comments.

There's other value phones around $8 shipped.  No one says they cost $1 if they paid $1 + $7 shipping. Here and there someone might quote a price without shipping, but it's not on every page.  

They're still apparently a great deal.  I'm just adding a little reality since it's said so often and is inaccurate hype.

Saying they're available for $5 shipped in China isn't a legitimate reason for people who paid $8 to say they paid $5 like they routinely do.  It may be some fun hype here and there, and that's cool.  I wouldn't have said anything if it didn't seemingly happen on every page, going on 152 pages now.

You missed waynes' point though. It's available in some countries for free ePacket shipping. Not only in China. Not living in one of those countries doesn't mean that you should flak them.

EDIT: seller even has explained why the price is $5 for Monk, taking shipping into consideration. Have you gone through it?

 

[waynes world]

 
Here comes the "if you can't afford $3..." comments.
 
There's other value phones around $8 shipped.  No one says they cost $1 if they paid $1 + $7 shipping. Here and there someone might quote a price without shipping, but it's not on every page.  
 
They're still apparently a great deal.  I'm just adding a little reality since it's said so often and is inaccurate hype.
 
Saying they're available for $5 shipped in China isn't a legitimate reason for people who paid $8 to say they paid $5 like they routinely do.  It may be some fun hype here and there, and that's cool.  I wouldn't have said anything if it didn't seemingly happen on every page, going on 152 pages now.

 
I can buy them for $5 with free shipping. Or I can pay a bit more for better shipping. So where is this "inaccurate hype"?
 
Can you not buy them for $5 with free shipping where you are at?
 
Btw, if you can't afford $3... 

 

[Saoshyant]

I can see both sides of the argument, and if I mention the price, I'll try to remember to say something along the lines of $5 plus shipping.

 

[EISENbricher]

  I can see both sides of the argument, and if I mention the price, I'll try to remember to say something along the lines of $5 plus shipping.

Already there
 
 

 

[ozkan]

Already there

 

I paid $22 for 3 Monks for HongKong registered mail.

 

[Lorspeaker]

In headfi discussion ..delivery charges arent lumped w cost of item comparisons ,
Cept for the ridiculous $5monk

 

[Lorspeaker]

 
put on your monks n let it sizzle

 

[haiku]

 
 
put on your monks n let it sizzle

OK, so who´ll vote for doing a Monk Fanclub BBQ?  I´ll bring the wine!

 

[mc0ne]

Dear Head-Fi'ers,
 
as promised a comparison review of the following budget earbuds, all purchased from AE:
 
VE Monk ~ 8$ incl. shipping (gets a little cheaper with higher quantities)
 
Edifier H180 ~6,50$ incl. shipping
 
Mrice E100 Earbells ~ 10$ incl. shipping
 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/46113602/Monk-H180-E100.jpg (am not allowed to embed pictures so far, therefore an external picture
 
Edit: The first tested Monk unit had a major right-channel imbalance and the following review was based on that unit. After checking the other three Monks, a retest has been done with a balanced unit and all changes/additions in the initial posting and review have been written in brown-red colour like this edit .
 
Package
 
The Edifier H180 has a plastic package with one pair of foams,
The Mrice Earbells come in a quality paper box with an additional thick plastic bag and two pairs of foams, one donut, one full.
The Monk comes in a thin plastic bag which is enveloped by a plastic air-bag and has the same amount and type of foams with it as the earbells.
 
Rating: E100 > H180 >= Monk (depending on your priorities)
 
Build quality
 
Please look at the image above in parallel
 
Monk: Solid plug, thick and robust cable, plastic but robust mat finished housing. All in all for the price noone can complain
H180: Compared to Monk smaller and thinner plug, but also gold plated. Cable is ~30% thinner and the rubber coating is softer, while the Monk's a little sturdier. The housing is glossy, a little longer and a little less thick than the Monk. The metal logo adds some quality-feeling.
E100: The plug is similiar to the H180, but has a triangle shape. The same goes for the cable itself, which changes its attributes, making it more sturdy but also less flexible. Its thickness can only be guessed, but it seems equal to the Monk or a little thicker even. The housing has an earbell form, is glossy and made of thinner plastic.
 
Rating: Monk >= E100 >= H180 (the differences are not big and the overall quality is very good for their prices)
 
Production consistency
 
Monk: My first received unit is working, but there is a huge channel imbalance, the right earbud is way louder. The other 3 Monk units are much better, two of them perfecty balanced, one is again louder on the right channel, but only very slightly and this is only noticed in the low-end frequency spectrum.
H180: The one unit that came is nicely balanced on both channels and no observed flaws.
E100: The same goes for the earbells, both channels are nicely balanced. As an addition, there is a certificate with a time-stamp for the date of its quality-check before shipping.
 
Rating: E100 > H180 > Monk (Do not know the stats, but 3 out of 4 Monks were +- fine, only one had major imbalances) 
 
Fit
 
Monk: Without the foam, the earbud fits quite well into my ears. With foams it gets a little too big, but also a little more secure.
H180: Fit without foams are comparable to the Monk with less pressure due to being a little less thick. Haven't tried with foams, but guess a similiar situation to the Monk.
E100: Interesting and a little loose and insecure fit. It does not come as close to the ear canal as the others. But very comfortable overall.
 
Rating: No direct rating here, as preferences are too different and anatomies aswell. Would say, that the earbells have the least secure fit and therefore the other two may have an advantage here.
 
Sound quality
 
For some probably the only important factor Lets start with the..
 
LOWs
 
Monk-unbalanced: A frequency-response check shows, that we can start hearing things in a quiet manner at around 45 Hz, getting louder and louder up until 180 Hz. It even continues to get louder afterwards. This means, deep male voices like that of Barry White loose charisma. The voice of the first barber in the 3D barber shop demo on youtube also sounds thin and cut in some way. Only very loud and punchy basses from the music side can be noted subtly if the environment is quiet and one listens very attentively, otherwise the deeper end is either not present, or you only hear a flat "tabtabtab". The good side, whatever is heard doesnt distort. Not so deep male voices or instruments and sounds are well though.
 
H180: The frequency response check under the same circumstances shows that at around 30 Hz you start hearing a deep mighty humming and it continues to get louder until 120 Hz, but a lot less intensly. Continuing with the higher frequencies, it doesn't continue to get as loud as the unbalanced Monk, which means the lower ends are much louder and hearable without the necessity to crank up the volume and get too loud mids and highs. In practice this makes a huge difference, Barry White's voice is delicously charismatic with full spectrum, the same goes for the first barber in the barber shop demo. Deep continuous sounds can be heard, making the overall sound experience more complete. The lows also have quite a nice punch and heft, still in practice some very deep frequencies are not reproduced like with the Superlux HF681 Evo headphones.
 
E100: What to say, I was surprised to hear unbalanced Monk-level reproduction here. At around 40 Hz you start hearing something, but it continues to get louder for quite a while. In practice the bass response is very similiar to the unbalanced Monk's and lacking the charisma and missing the tonal coverage of the music. Other than that, I also could hear bad distortions with music, that really beats into the bass like with some of Nelly Furtado's songs. The intereting thing is, distortion only happens with some types of deep hits, not with all and all in all was more rare than a usual happening. A good thing to note is, the E100 does respond much better to equalizing to enhance the bass, than the unbalanced Monks. But even then it cannot come close to the H180, which plays in a different league.
 
Monk-balanced: To my suprise, the low end does very much profit from two channels producing bass, especially in presence and also perceived loudness of the bass, resulting in a better frequency response test aswell, Although still not having the reach and heft of the H180, presence of the produced bass has become similiar to it and by this being noticably better than the E100. As this also effects EQing to some degree, the rating has been adapted accordingly.
 
Rating: H180 > Monk-balanced > Monk-unbalanced >= E100 
 
MIDs
 
Monk-unbalanced: Detailed, clear, charismatic, spacious. Female voices are amazing. Nothing disturbs, no complains. Scales really nice with the source in regards to details without ever getting fatiguing.
 
Monk-balanced: no perceived difference in the mids to Monk-unbalanced, therefore both = Monk
 
H180: Very detailed (more than the Monk), clear, engaging and intense, but less spacious than the Monks. In the beginning the mids sound slightly pressed and a little fatuguing. Over the days this got a lot better, still the smoothness of the Monks are not reached.
 
E100: Detailed (similiar to slightly more than the Monks), clear, bright (Monk is the darkest, H180 in the mids, E100 brightest), balanced. Very good instrument seperation and presentation. It is spacecious, but in a different way, hard to describe. Sounds bigger vertically. Voices are somewhat higher up in the brain and more distant, while the surrounding sound effects are more dominant, partly to the degree of distracting from the voice. But depending upon the music type, the mids can sound amazing. No distorsions and the degree of fatuguing is well balanced, while the Monks are best, followed by the E100 and with most potential of fatigue with the H180.
 
Rating: H180 > E100 > Monk (detail) // Monk >= E100 > H180 (spaciousness and smoothness)
 
HIGHs
 
Monk-unbalanced: Frequency response shows fluctuating loudness in the highs, after 15 kHz you have a strong roll off. Listening to the Monks, the highs are detailed, sparkling, smooth, clear and sound really superb. They may be slightly intense for some.
 
Monk-balanced: no perceived difference in the highs to Monk-unbalanced, therefore both = Monk
 
H180: Very close and similiar to the Monks with a tiny tad less sparkle. Frequency-response is more stable though until 15 kHz, but then the same roll off. All in all very good highs aswell.
 
E100: Similiar to the Monks, some fluctuation on volume, but closer to the H180. The sound is clear, smooth, detailed. Not as sparkly as the Monk, but more present with greater detail seperation. The roll off is subjectively a little earlier in music, while it only gets quieter according to the frequency response test. Roll off is similiar at 15 kHz.
 
Rating: Monk >= H180 = E100 (all pretty similiar)
 
OTHER
 
Some subjective notes in regards to sound.
 
Monk-unbalanced: The Monk without any comparison to others, sounds fun, engaging and very much enjoyable. The lower end is missing, but especially for the price, you can live with it. The non-fatuguing and always smooth sound signature makes it easy to pair with all of my three sources (Ativ S smartphone, S2 Tablet and Xonar D1 PC soundcard). Equalizing and different sources can change the sound of the Monk very much, but you cannot recover the missing low frequencies, only intensify the upper bass very slightly by foams and some EQing.
 
Monk-balanced: Both channels balanced result in better low end frequency response, especiall yin regards to presence and also some loudness, increasing the perceived completeness of a song. Still the full charisma of some male voices cannot be recovered, but it is more enjoyable in this regard than the unbalanced test unit.
 
H180: At first the H180 sounded a little pressed and did not pair well with the Ativ S. But after some time this problem decreased and the ears also adapted, revealing the most detailed sound among all. The H180 is also louder than the other two at the same volume-output. The bass response is best and with this grants the overall fullest sound. There is not much room for equalizing in the bass though, it seems that it has been tweaked very much already.
 
E100: The sound stage vertically is very big and depending on the chosen music, the E100 gives you a feel of premium sound for an earbud, like a different league. But when directly compared, it gets clear, that this is mainly a result of the earbell shape and just different and not better. Due to the voices coming into the backround, the music doesn't sound as fun and enjoyable, as with the Monk or the H180. Being on the bright side, some music does profit from it and others not so. The missing bass response can be rescued a little by EQing, bringing the E100 above the unbalanced, but still below the balanced Monk.
 
Conclusion
 
Looking at the prices of the three earbuds, all of them are easly affordable, well built and sound very nice. Due to the missing low ends, both the unbalanced Monks and the E100 earbells have to bow down to the H180. The balanced Monk comes closer in presence, but with less reach and less punch.
 
With a strong bass, very detailed sound in the mids and also highs, the balanced channels, the fit comfort and neutral white (or black) colouring, the H180 still wins the game for me. Though one must be careful in regards to giving them enough burn-in time and the source may well be an important factor too.
 
The Monks sound superb with all sources. As a gift, the other two have a clear advantage with their packages, still the Monks offer fatigue free smooth listening and therefore are very much recommendable.
 
When it comes to the earbells, their design is lovely, the soundstage something different and by this giving it a higher league feel, but the missing low-ends and the insecure fit forces you to listen to them unmovingly. Still due to its packaging, date-stamped quality control and overall soundquality, I'd happily buy this one as a gift for my friends who like brighter sounding earbuds and are okay with less low end response but like more fancy designs ..
 
I was very sad not to hear the supreme bass response from the PAA-1 in any of these three, so the H180 still do lack in that department. Golov17 and others have given some input in regards to other earbuds to try, but for now I'm happy with the H180. Will give the E100 away and the Monks as gifts aswell, but keeping a good copy for myself as a spare to the H180
 
Hope the information are valuable for those, who are looking into budget earbuds
 
Happy listening to all

 

[ngoshawk]

OK, so who´ll vote for doing a Monk Fanclub BBQ?  I´ll bring the wine!

I'm in! I've got the single-malt Scotch!

 

[GNinja]

After carefully testing the monk for a week, ive decided that (to me) they are superior than my $60 iems, and the treble may be just as good as some $100 plus iems (to my ears, subjective). I've never been into earbuds before but im quite amazed.
 
Do you think there would be a similar effect with the asura/zen/tomahawk? could they be compared to more expensive iems? seeing that I like this earphones so much.

 

[EISENbricher]

  Dear Head-Fi'ers,
 
as promised a comparison review of the following budget earbuds, all purchased from AE:
 
VE Monk ~ 8$ incl. shipping (gets a little cheaper with higher quantities)
 
Edifier H180 ~6,50$ incl. shipping
 
Mrice E100 Earbells ~ 10$ incl. shipping
 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/46113602/Monk-H180-E100.jpg (am not allowed to embed pictures so far, therefore an external picture
 
Package
 
The Edifier H180 has a plastic package with one pair of foams,
The Mrice Earbells come in a quality paper box with an additional thick plastic bag and two pairs of foams, one donut, one full.
The Monk comes in a thin plastic bag which is enveloped by a plastic air-bag and has the same amount and type of foams with it as the earbells.
 
Rating: E100 > H180 >= Monk (depending on your priorities)
 
Build quality
 
Please look at the image above in parallel
 
Monk: Solid plug, thick and robust cable, plastic but robust mat finished housing. All in all for the price noone can complain
H180: Compared to Monk smaller and thinner plug, but also gold plated. Cable is ~30% thinner and the rubber coating is softer, while the Monk's a little sturdier. The housing is glossy, a little longer and a little less thick than the Monk. The metal logo adds some quality-feeling.
E100: The plug is similiar to the H180, but has a triangle shape. The same goes for the cable itself, which changes its attributes, making it more sturdy but also less flexible. Its thickness can only be guessed, but it seems equal to the Monk or a little thicker even. The housing has an earbell form, is glossy and made of thinner plastic.
 
Rating: Monk >= E100 >= H180 (the differences are not big and the overall quality is very good for their prices)
 
Production consistency
 
Monk: My first received unit is working, but there is a huge channel imbalance, the right earbud is way louder. The other Monk 3 units have not been tested so far, but I can imagine, that no tests on the production side do happen prior to shipping.
H180: The one unit that came is nicely balanced on both channels and no observed flaws.
E100: The same goes for the earbells, both channels are nicely balanced. As an addition, there is a certificate with a time-stamp for the date of its quality-check before shipping.
 
Rating: E100 > H180 >> Monk (will update this rating after examining the other Monk units, either one ">" will be reduced or several will be added)
 
Fit
 
Monk: Without the foam, the earbud fits quite well into my ears. With foams it gets a little too big, but also a little more secure.
H180: Fit without foams are comparable to the Monk with less pressure due to being a little less thick. Haven't tried with foams, but guess a similiar situation to the Monk.
E100: Interesting and a little loose and insecure fit. It does not come as close to the ear canal as the others. But very comfortable overall.
 
Rating: No direct rating here, as preferences are too different and anatomies aswell. Would say, that the earbells have the least secure fit and therefore the other two may have an advantage here.
 
Sound quality
 
For some probably the only important factor Lets start with the..
 
LOWs
 
Monk: A frequency-response check shows, that we can start hearing things in a quiet manner at around 45 Hz, getting louder and louder up until 180 Hz. It even continues to get louder afterwards. This means, deep male voices like that of Berry White loose charisma. The voice of the first barber in the 3D barber shop demo on youtube also sounds thin and cut in some way. Only very loud and punchy basses from the music side can be noted subtly if the environment is quiet and one listens very attentively, otherwise the deeper end is either not present, or you only hear a flat "tabtabtab". The good side, whatever is heard doesnt distort. Not so deep male voices or instruments and sounds are well though.
 
H180: The frequency response check under the same circumstances shows that at around 30 Hz you start hearing a deep mighty humming and it continues to get louder until 120 Hz, but a lot less intensly. Continuing with the higher frequencies, it doesn't continue to get as loud as the Monk, which means the lower ends are much louder and hearable without the necessity to crank up the volume and get too loud mids and highs. In practice this makes a huge difference, Berry White's voice is delicously charismatic with full spectrum, the same goes for the first barber in the barber shop demo. Deep continuous sounds can be heard, making the overall sound experience more complete. The lows also have quite a nice punch and heft, still in practice some very deep frequencies are not reproduced like with the Superlux HF681 Evo headphones.
 
E100: What to say, I was surprised to hear Monk-level reproduction here. At around 40 Hz you start hearing something, but it continues to get louder for quite a while. In practice the bass response is very similiar to the Monk's and lacking the charisma and missing the tonal coverage of the music. Other than that, I also could hear bad distortions with music, that really beats into the bass like with some of Nelly Furtado's songs. The intereting thing is, distortion only happens with some types of deep hits, not with all and all in all was more rare than a usual happening. A good thing to note is, the E100 does respond much better to equalizing to enhance the bass, than the Monks.Bbut even then it cannot come close to the H180, which plays in a different league.
 
Rating: H180 >> Monk >=< E100 (better no distortion, but the posibility to tune the bass is also a plus)
 
MIDs
 
Monk: Detailed, clear, charismatic, spacious. Female voices are amazing. Nothing disturbs, no complains. Scales really nice with the source in regards to details without ever getting fatiguing.
 
H180: Very detailed (more than the Monk), clear, engaging and intense, but less spacious than the Monks. In the beginning the mids sound slightly pressed and a little fatuguing. Over the days this got a lot better, still the smoothness of the Monks are not reached.
 
E100: Detailed (similiar to slightly more than the Monks), clear, bright (Monk is the darkest, H180 in the mids, E100 brightest), balanced. Very good instrument seperation and presentation. It is spacecious, but in a different way, hard to describe. Sounds bigger vertically. Voices are somewhat higher up in the brain and more distant, while the surrounding sound effects are more dominant, partly to the degree of distracting from the voice. But depending upon the music type, the mids can sound amazing. No distorsions and the degree of fatuguing is well balanced, while the Monks are best, followed by the E100 and with most potential of fatigue with the H180.
 
Rating: H180 > E100 > Monk (detail) // Monk >= E100 > H180 (spaciousness and smoothness)
 
HIGHs
 
Monk: Frequency response shows fluctuating loudness in the highs, after 15 kHz you have a strong roll off. Listening to the Monks, the highs are detailed, sparkling, smooth, clear and sound really superb. They may be slightly intense for some.
 
H180: Very close and similiar to the Monks with a tiny tad less sparkle. Frequency-response is more stable though until 15 kHz, but then the same roll off. All in all very good highs aswell.
 
E100: Similiar to the Monks, some fluctuation on volume, but closer to the H180. The sound is clear, smooth, detailed. Not as sparkly as the Monk, but more present with greater detail seperation. The roll off is subjectively a little earlier in music, while it only gets quieter according to the frequency response test. Roll off is similiar at 15 kHz.
 
Rating: Monk >= H180 = E100 (all pretty similiar)
 
OTHER
 
Some subjective notes in regards to sound.
 
Monk: The Monk without any comparison to others, sounds fun, engaging and very much enjoyable. The lower end is missing, but especially for the price, you can live with it. The non-fatuguing and always smooth sound signature makes it easy to pair with all of my three sources (Ativ S smartphone, S2 Tablet and Xonar D1 PC soundcard). Equalizing and different sources can change the sound of the Monk very much, but you cannot recover the missing low frequencies, only intensify the upper bass very slightly by foams and some EQing.
 
H180: At first the H180 sounded a little pressed and did not pair well with the Ativ S. But after some time this problem decreased and the ears also adapted, revealing the most detailed sound among all. The H180 is also louder than the other two at the same volume-output. The bass response is best and with this grants the overall fullest sound. There is not much room for equalizing in the bass though, it seems that it has been tweaked very much already.
 
E100: The sound stage vertically is very big and depending on the chosen music, the E100 gives you a feel of premium sound for an earbud, like a different league. But when directly compared, it gets clear, that this is mainly a result of the earbell shape and just different and not better. Due to the voices coming into the backround, the music doesn't sound as fun and enjoyable, as with the Monk or the H180. Being on the bright side, some music does profit from it and others not so. The missing bass response can be rescued a little by EQing, bringing the E100 inbetween the Edifier and the Monk, but still a lot is lacking there.
 
Conclusion
 
Looking at the prices of the three earbuds, all of them are easly affordable, well built and sound very nice. Due to the missing low ends, both the Monks and the E100 earbells have to bow down to the H180.
 
With a very detailed sound in the mids and also highs, the balanced channels, the fit comfort and neutral white (or black) colouring, the H180 wins the game for me. Though one must be careful in regards to giving them enough burn-in time and the source may well be an important factor too.
 
The Monks sound superb with all sources, but the channel imbalance is too big to make it recommandable. Also as a gift, the other two have a clear advantage with their packages. If the other three units should all come out balanced, it may get my recommendation for fatigue free smooth listening.
 
When it comes to the earbells, their design is lovely, the soundstage something different and by this giving it a higher league feel, but the missing low-ends and the insecure fit forces you to listen to them unmovingly. Still due to its packaging, date-stamped quality control and overall soundquality, I'd happily buy this one as a gift for my friends.
 
I was very sad not to hear the supreme bass response from the PAA-1 in any of these three, so the H180 still do lack in that department. Golov17 and others have given some input in regards to other earbuds to try, but for now I'm happy with the H180. Will give the E100 away and the Monks as gifts aswell, but keeping a good copy for myself as a spare to the H180
 
Hope the information are valuable for those, who are looking into budget earbuds
 
Happy listening to all

I appreciate taking time for writing a detailed review, but don't tell me you assessed a defective/imbalanced pair of Monk for this review. 
 
Sorry but I'll have to completely ignore this review because of this reason. I don't even get why didn't you open the other 3 monks that you did have. It just doesn't make sense to rate a product based on some random faulty unit. 
 
Sorry if I sounded rude.

 

[To.M]

well, that is exactly what I thought after reading the above review, you really tested the imbalanced Monks having other pairs at hand??? let's clarify the situation!

 

[ozkan]

Dear Head-Fi'ers,

as promised a comparison review of the following budget earbuds, all purchased from AE:

Please take your time to make a proper comparison with a good pair of Monk.