Earbuds Round-Up
Jan 1, 2018 at 1:44 AM Post #26,596 of 74,626
OK Got it, thanks again.

Wow, I have done it, the sub bass go deep more layering on the first listen, first done on DIY copper cable attached to the DIY 40mm drivers JVC HA-MX10 bought from Aliex. This first before moving to the earbuds in case I made mistakes. Ordering more balance plugs,SPC cables and recable them. Going balance soon, guys. Thanks a lot, Mr. Baldock for the know how.
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 2:02 AM Post #26,597 of 74,626
Wow, I have done it, the sub bass go deep more layering on the first listen, first done on DIY copper cable attached to the DIY 40mm drivers JVC HA-MX10 bought from Aliex. This first before moving to the earbuds in case I made mistakes. Ordering more balance plugs,SPC cables and recable them. Going balance soon, guys. Thanks a lot, Mr. Baldock for the know how.

One thing to consider, if the F1 is distorting or noisy, is to solder some gain-reducing 11K - 12KOhm resistors between pins 1 & 2 and 6 & 7 of the op-amp (not the DRV134 differential drivers).
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 2:14 AM Post #26,599 of 74,626
Jan 1, 2018 at 2:49 AM Post #26,600 of 74,626
It's more likely to be an issue with lower impedance earbuds (especially if they're quite sensitive).
There's a thread, with discussions about the F1 - https://www.head-fi.org/threads/walnut-f1.858439/
I have the Walnut F1 for 2 months stock unit using either Walnut V2.0 or Zishan V2.0 as source, I bought it to drive high ohms cans, don't have those issues so far. Use it on K's budget K300 and the EB200 which I received last week,they sound good thru it, no issues so far. I have a VE Asura 2.0s 2.5mm balance coming in, I wonder whether the F1 will drive it without the issues. Do you have the Asura?
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 6:45 AM Post #26,602 of 74,626
Today I will be giving my impressions on the Monk Lite along with comparisons with the Monk+. First of all is the gold/black 40 ohm version.


gold/black 40 ohm Monk Lite and darth black Monk+

They have the same laid-back presentation of the Monk+ but they are tuned differently. Whereas the Monk+ has a warm tonality, the Lite is more neutral sounding, leaning towards a bright signature.

There is less bass than the Monk+ and possibly better quality, less bloom. The Monk+ has a warm midrange, the Lite in comparison will sound thinner with less body and weight, having said that, the Lite has better clarity and the mids will sound more clean and clear. Treble is brighter and more crisp on the Lite, while the Monk+ is on the smoother side but I do think the Lite's treble is also more refined, however I did experience some piercing treble on one of my recordings, having only listened to a fraction of my music library, there is the possibility that it can happen again.

Soundstage is quite decent with a good sense of space showing good instrument separation, it passed some of my test tracks showing no heavy congestion. Not the most detailed, you may have a harder time picking out details, they are still there but a bit more subdued. The size of the soundstage is similar between the two, but the Monk+ has better instrument separation and resolution is a bit higher.


silver/white 120 ohm Monk Lite

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the above opinions are based on the 40 ohm version, the silver/white 120 ohm version that I have, to my ears the only significant changes I can hear compared to the 40 is that they have a little more mid-bass, maybe an extra 2-3dB, they are a tad warmer sounding and have a bit less treble. Perhaps for the treble sensitive, the 120 may be the better option. If you listen to a lot of female vocals, then the 40 will most likely have the edge due to the fact that its upper mids are brighter.

My impressions are based on using the Monk+ thin foams, the included foams that come with the Lite and those in the Ex Pack Lite are slightly thicker than the Monk+ thin foams. They will add a bit of warmth but you also lose a bit in clarity so you need to weigh up the pros and cons.

In terms of SQ, the Monk Lite is not going to set the world alight and for sure they won't replace your better sounding earbuds, however the SQ is acceptable in this price segment and I think they are quite suitable for casual listening, for critical listening you should look elsewhere.

Would I recommend them? Well I would say they are not a must-buy, but I for one will keep hold of them as I prefer smaller shells for my ears due to better comfort, as opposed to the popular MX500 shell, and for $6 they are not going to put a big dent in your wallet either.
Would one be better off with the Vido?
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 7:26 AM Post #26,603 of 74,626
Fwiw, I was listening to the new graphenes this morning and thinking "Jeez, these sound good. But the old ones sound better I know - I'd better do some comparisons". I got as far as digging out my belkin splitter so that I could a/b them. But then the day got in the way, and now it's time to go drink some champagne.

Happy New Years!
giphy.gif

what equipment are u using to listen to them? maybe u are using some high quality stuff... but on "normal" sound equipment they seem to be rather average. The emx500 or R4Ys seem to work better on everyday normal sound hardware.
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 10:01 AM Post #26,607 of 74,626
I have been sidetracked for several days because of new headphones but I plan to listen much more to my newest bud... the MEMT X6. I was really enjoying it but am not really prepared to comment further yet. Also was loving the Snow Lotus , the new graphene and a couple of Edifiers (H185 and H190). Personally I have no need to look at/listen to any expensive ones. I am happy with my little collection. They are all in my profile.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jan 1, 2018 at 1:10 PM Post #26,608 of 74,626
I have the Walnut F1 for 2 months stock unit using either Walnut V2.0 or Zishan V2.0 as source, I bought it to drive high ohms cans, don't have those issues so far. Use it on K's budget K300 and the EB200 which I received last week,they sound good thru it, no issues so far. I have a VE Asura 2.0s 2.5mm balance coming in, I wonder whether the F1 will drive it without the issues. Do you have the Asura?

Yes, the VE Asura 2.0 (2.5mm TRRS) has just about the best Midrange of any of my earbuds. See the link in my sig, for all of my earbuds / earphones.
I have my F1 (w/MUSES02 op-amp) stacked with my Z2 (w/Burson V5i op-amp), and have listened to nearly all of my earbuds, using either the Balanced or Single-Ended outputs.
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 1:26 PM Post #26,609 of 74,626
My Penon BS1 Official already surpassed 100 hour burn-in. Recently I let my friend and my brother tried Penon Official 2.5 mm BL plug. Both shared the same opinion on soundstage size. Its soundstage is just out of head but not wide soundstage to be praised likes their own (or ever tried) earphones familiarity. Perhaps both and I are too familiar with something that larger and much more suitable to be called 'spacious' soundstage. I hope my impression (this and my previous comments) shall be useful for those who are interested on this buds more or less. Any reviews could be different cause there are many different factor and preference bias from one to one.
 
Jan 1, 2018 at 1:39 PM Post #26,610 of 74,626
My Penon BS1 Official already surpassed 100 hour burn-in. Recently I let my friend and my brother tried Penon Official 2.5 mm BL plug. Both shared the same opinion on soundstage size. Its soundstage is just out of head but not wide soundstage to be praised likes their own (or ever tried) earphones familiarity. Perhaps both and I are too familiar with something that larger and much more suitable to be called 'spacious' soundstage. I hope my impression (this and my previous comments) shall be useful for those who are interested on this buds more or less. Any reviews could be different cause there are many different factor and preference bias from one to one.
Depends completely on the foams used.

Because this earbud has no open back ports it’s the bass ports that provide the opening. So if you use thick heigi foam it acts like a closed sound and tighter seal. I swapped to regular donut foam (a particularly thin regular donut at that) and the stage became a little more spacious and airy. The monk thin foams in donut form which made the soundstage quiet large but personally I stuck with regular donuts with wide front opening for clarity and a small bass impact boost.

But I agree it’s less ‘large grand’ and more 3D and layered but medium in size. The separation is key though, really excellent so music is not congested.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top