[Ithilstone]

Well to sum it up i think BIE even though those supposed to be only down payment for new IEMs are actually worth 20usd on its own. It would be easy to recommend the to almost anyone looking for IEMs on a budget. And in my personal opinion those are actually worth way more and VE is selling them at bargain price.

 

[nofacemonster]

I just got BIE and noticed a tiny little pin hole in the back of each monitor. Does it mean it is semi-open back?

 

[peter123]

I just got BIE and noticed a tiny little pin hole in the back of each monitor. Does it mean it is semi-open back?

It means that it has a vent, most (all?) dynamic drivers has it.

 

[nofacemonster]

It means that it has a vent, most (all?) dynamic drivers has it.

 

[nofacemonster]

I received V.E Bonus IE few days back also known as BIE. I was very excited to receive it since it was not something I could easily obtain by simply placing an online order also I was dying to own an IEM made by Venture electronics because I love the V.E Monk Plus and its sound signature. Now I know what some of you all are thinking right now…. “Why the Hell didn’t you buy Biggies and Smalls…?”; Well folks, answer to that question is, it was slightly over my budget. Yep 60$ something is still super expensive for folks like me when it comes to exchanging rates of $ to local currency, Otherwise I would have bought them for sure before BIE.

It came quicker than I expected. The last couple of days I have been doing some serious listening with BIE and now I can do a first impression kind of a review. Please note that I am not an audio professional or an audiophile, I don’t have knowledge nor money to do be one of them but I sure do love some good music and sound and I believe that I have a good enough hearing to tell what’s good and what’s not so here goes. The Mythical V.E BIE!!!

Equipment I used ( and will be using…)

FX Audio DAC-X6 with Jumper mod and 2A Power supply
Little Dot MK 2 full tube amplifier with Russian power tubes and GE Pre tubes. (My mistress lol!)
HP Notebook (Pretty old but love the hot pink color)
V.E Odyssey (Original)
UGREEN micro USB to OTG dongle
Xiaomi Redmi 5 AI Dual cam phone
LEPY headphone / Speaker amplifier (Plugged to my LG tv for Movies, Class – D amp super cheap)

Comparison examples
KZ ZS1, KZ ZS5, KZ ATR, VE. MONK PLUS, (Earbuds and IEMS)

Tracks I used

“My love” by Kovacs (SD FLAC)
“Midnight Blue” by Kenny Burrell (Full album, Flac, SD)
“Stardust” by John Coltrane (Full album, Flac, SD)
“Night lights” by Gerry Mulligan (Full album, Flac, SD)
“Hotel California Live! (1994)” by Eagles ( K2HD FLAC )
“Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix (Re-mastered & Original Flac)
“Still loving you” by Scorpions (Flac, SD)
“Geek U.S.A” by smashing pumpkins ( Re-mastered HD flac)
“Essentials II – Wicked Game” by Karen Souza (Full album, Flac, SD)
“Come away with me” – Norah Jones (Full album, Flac, SD)
“Women – The Best Jazz Vocals” by Various Artists (Full album, Flac, SD)


· All listening was done with stock tips and stock BIE.

The first session (contains what I think rather than direct comparisons or a review)

I have used my HP Notebook as the source connected to V.E Odyssey and then to BIE. This was my first listening session and I was surprised by the amount of BASS it delivers. It is a completely amazing BASS. I rather call it the “LORD BASS” instead of “BIE”. The low end was simply impressive, the most bass crazy IEM I own is KZ ZS1 (which I call LORD BASS) and BIE is right there with it. The amount of Bass that coming from these IEM’s is unbelievable but unlike in KZ ZS1, it does not blur or overshadow any other frequencies nor lacks detail. I guess this is the best part of “BIE”… The visceral amount of BASS that it provides will sure to satisfy any kind of music. So there goes the BASS department, it is top notch according to my understanding.

Next comes the Mids and Highs, I am not much of a High’s guy so don’t just take my word, listen to others and most of all listen to it by yourself. Here’s how I felt about Mids and Highs. Mids are not super-forward nor backward either, to me it is placed perfectly with a hint of warmth. The female vocals are an intimate and absolute joy to listen to. The highs are very good as well but never harsh at all. That’s what matters to me, it retains the details but excellent for fatigue-free long listening sessions.

Overall the whole sound signature is non-fatiguing and bassy with a hint of warmth and excellent for super long listening sessions.

Comfort wise V.E BIE does an excellent job because even though I loved the Monk PLUS my only downside in it was the pain in the ear after long listening sessions and getting a perfect fit. All those problems goes away with V.E BIE but take my word, V.E BIE is not MONK PLUS, it is close but not the exact MONK PLUS.

The soundstage is something I want to talk about since I clearly noticed a few things with it. V.E Bie doesn’t have a super wide soundstage compared to Monk Plus but then again they are two different earphones. However this is what I felt, V.E BIE has a sound-stage that is intimate just like you’re listening to the musicians in a room. You feel that they are closer to you rather than being far away. There is a one draw-back I noticed clearly with V.E Odyssey + BIE, the sound stage gets even more congested and right inside your head with V.E Odyssey while direct connection to HP Notebook or to the Phone widens the sound-stage placing musicians and instruments further away from you. Maybe this is me… I don’t know how others feel about this, but this is clearly there for me.

V.E Odyssey + BIE = Soundstage gets narrower
Direct connection to Notebook or Phone + BIE = Soundstage gets clearly wider and further away and much airier.

But in every other aspect from lows to highs, V.E Odyssey + BIE out-performs others.

Overall first impression and conclusion

I would like to say that V.E BIE is nothing but an excellent IEM for the price paid. It definitely has the addictive touch of V.E Sound signature. It has the clarity and details of my KZ ZS5 and the bass of KZ ZS1 using just one single brilliantly tuned dynamic driver. I got no complaints about it and it is an absolute steal for 20$ price tag. If you are one of those people who wanted a V.E IEM and had been waiting for one and also worshipped the venerable V.E Monk Plus, look no further, go ahead and buy the mythical V.E BIE.

Next…

I still didn’t had time to do a listening test with FX AUDIO DAC-X6 which is a solid state headphone amplifier and a DAC. Soon I’m planning to do it and I will update about how it is with V.E BIE, and finally I want to try it with my Little Dot MK2 Tube amplifier and see how things goes and see how it differs from my venerated Sennheiser HD-6XX.

 

[Aswald]

Just got my hands on these. BIE and Odyssey HD. I've been listening to them for a couple of weeks. Compared them to some other equipment I have.

These are one of the BEST iems I've ever heard. The combi between BIE and Odyssey HD is superb. Let's start with the stock firmware.

I plugged into my PC and listened to Wandering - Yosi Horikawa (AIFF format played through Audiogate 4) and was BLOWN away.

Separation and staging was very good. Transparency and imaging was 3D and precise. Stereo was exceptional. The entire soundscape was cohesively portrayed.

Tonality was very neutral and natural.

Bass is low, well extended, tight and weighty.

On first impression I couldn't find any fault despite being unfair by playing this Yosi Horikawa track. Most iem would either be bloated or congested. And this is BIE and Odyssey out of the box. To add, I'm not particularly fond of PC based music.

I have no words but all smiles.

I was able to update the Odyssey HD to the FW at 32bit 384khz with my PC on Windows 10 Pro (ver 1803) and do a direct comparison to the stock FW. I was pleasantly surprised. (As of the date of this post, the new FW does not work on iOS devices which doesn't support UAC2.0 which is required)

Things just got bumped up in the performance scale. Compared to the standard FW, the bass is more visceral and tighter. Extended. I used to feel that somehow VE has managed to cramp 2 tiny 15" woofers in the BIE. Now it feels like there's a pair of 18" in there. Transparency is pushed up a notch. It was overall more immersive for me.

The rest of the sound spectrum snapped into a more cohesive, organic and spatialized concerto of transparency, attack and realism. Tonality is well preserved and imaging more even. I remain amazed that the prominent basslines doesn't blur out the mids or highs. It sounds like there's a separate driver handling the higher frequencies but there isn't. It's a single dynamic driver iem.

The slight V shape sound I perceived previously is almost all gone. Almost. Vocals are well placed and are totally clear and intelligible. Treble are very close to ZEN level performance and is completely void of sibilance or tizz. Amazing.

I'm able to enjoy the full 32 bit 384khz output from the Audiogate 4 player.

This baby goes loud. I'm only at 40% volume and it's as loud as live/dance club levels.

Is it scalable? Hell yeah. Throwing better quality dac/amplification shows up in its sound. I get excellent results with 3rd party dac/amp. What it doesn't need is huge power. Throwing more power at is feel like a reverse in getting more performance. It thrives on better quality dac/amp combo rather than higher power.

What is distinct about the sound of the BIE is its wide bandwidth. I felt that I could hear the full spectrum of frequencies with this iem. It's on the other end of the chain to where my Final Audio Heaven VIII resides. This BIE reminds me of the SONY's N3BP but with more grunt or the IER-Z1R but at a pittance of it's price. What I do like very much as my daily carrier iems, it doesn't compromise on sound. I get to hear a recording in it's entirety. Often times I hear things which I don't on more finely "tuned" iems. The BIE is like the unofficial "monitors" I rely on for opening up a recording. To get it to bare it's belly.

I mean, for $20? Come on. Stop pulling our ears already.....

 

[stanleycho]

Btw, did you buy the BIE on veclan.com?
I'm also thinking of buying a RA2BL.

I will be honest, the original tips with the BIE weren't to my liking and I found that the tips I had with the VE duke was perfect for bringing the midrange forward. I have expressed my disappointment to VE and they have assured me all new orders will be shipped with new more suitable tips.

 

[jlily82]

I am very close to pulling the trigger on a pair since my "work" monks are finally falling apart

 

[kazekaeru]

Has anyone compared the BIE with the Tin T2? I really like the BIE & they've been selling the T2s for $35 often, so I wanted to check if it is a worthy addition or if I should stick with my BIE.

 

[Ithilstone]

I have both - not that T2 are bad - T2 just lacks of body of music - it sounds a bit thin in comparison - It is mostly down to preferences and I know some that will prefer this kind of presentation - but for my own taste BIE is a class or 2 above.

 

[assassinloki]

Anyone know what Comply ear tips would fit here? In line mic?

 

[gazzington]

These are extremely good for the money. Non fatiguing, I can listen to them for hours. Bargain

 

[jlily82]

Went to order a set, ended up ordering 3 different pairs from VE

 

[Zelcroft]

My thoughts on the BIE:

You might know Venture Electronics (VE) as the brand behind the respected Monk Plus and the venerable Zen. While VE isn't exactly known for their IEMs, it looks like the company is looking to change that. Sure there was the Monk IEs and the Duke before it, but the Bonus IE (BIE) is something else entirely.

In typical Venture Electronics fashion, the Bonus IE is a statement piece of its own. If the Monk line of earphones were to show the world how you don't have to fork out hundreds to achieve good sound, the Bonus IE (with it's single dynamic driver) is here to tell you that more isn't always better.

DESIGN AND BUILD

The design of the BIE is a simple an straightforward one. Its cylindrical housing is comprised of metal and has a similar form factor to something like the Xiaomi Pistons. There are also what seem like air vents on the back of each of the housings. They're not too light to feel cheap, and I'd feel confident enough to just chuck these in the bag (although you should just use the carrying case it comes in).

SOUND

I'd describe the overall tonality of the BIE as clean and light. It's on the brighter side of things with a hint of being V-shaped sounding. The latter is subtle however, as they still sound very well-balanced.

There is a slight emphasis on mid-bass; a welcome one that you might've expected from VE if you were familiar with their other earphones. It's the kind of elevation that adds that extra kick to your music. It's also one that's very controlled and stays well out of the way of the other frequencies.

I previously mentioned that the BIE sounded slightly V-shaped, and while it's subtle, you do get the feeling that vocals are taking a step back. That being said, I wouldn't go as far as to say the mids are recessed. Vocals still have a full-bodied presence, it's just that the highs and especially the bass, takes precedence.

The BIE has a rolled-off treble and there's not a hint of sibilance to be heard. There's still good amounts of sparkle despite having such a smooth and relaxing sound signature. Detail retrieval and soundstage depth is above average, although it has a busier-sounding separation of instruments.

If I were to nitpick, the Bonus IE tends to sound a little too clean and even sterile after awhile for me. It had me missing the signature warmth that the VE Monk and Zen had to offer. But at a price of 20USD, I'm probably getting ahead of myself here.

Venture Electronics has done it again with the Bonus IE; providing great sound for a great price. It also goes to show that you don't necessarily need multiple drivers to achieve good sound. All it takes is precise tuning and a burning passion for good sound.


=

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Has anyone compared any KZ models to the BonusIE iem?