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SomeTechNoob
466
Aug 11, 2016
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Impressions after 2 weeks: These are a nice set of earbuds in this price range. I don't think you'll be able to find anything else in this price range that has the clarity that these buds have. To be clear, something like my SHP9500 will still beat these in every category, hands down. That's not really a fair comparison, but I don't quite see how people are comparing these to something like the HD 558/598s either. I've done some a/b with Apple Earpods. Earpods have a generally bassier profile, and sound a bit smoother. Monk+ has a surprisingly punchy upper bass for earbuds, which is very fun to listen to. Highs and treble can be a bit thin and harsh in my opinion, which makes many female vocalists in my music collection hard to listen to for extended periods. For me, the treble is so hot sometimes that I will have to take breaks or switch to a different set of earbuds/headphones if I want to comfortably continue listening. I found this surprising since I've had no trouble with cans from the likes of Beyerdynamics. I think it has gotten better after a period of burn-in, but it could also be that my ears are adapting.
I have not yet opened up my second pair of Monk+ to see if burn-in has actually helped. I think I'll wait a bit longer before I do that.
As for comfort, I will have to give the edge to the Earpods. Without foams, the Monk+ is a bit scratchy where the black plastic meets the red shell. I've settled on one layer of foam on my Monk+. They can still fit in relatively comfortably in my ear, and they get rid of the edges of the earbud shell. They also help tame some of the harshness in the treble. I have not had any issues with physical comfort, surprisingly. My ears do not normally like earbuds, especially the original apple earbuds.
I've tried many freebie earbuds and these will blow those out of the water. IMHO they're slightly above the Earpods. So if you're looking for earbuds specifically, these are pretty good for the price point. However, if you're fine with IEMs, I'd take my Xiaomi Piston Colorful Editions over these. You lose a small amount of clarity and have a bassier profile, but the treble isn't ear-piercingly hot and they're built better overall. They're only 5-6 bucks with free shipping on gearbest too, so the price is actually a bit cheaper too.
Hoped this helped in some way.
Aug 11, 2016
_zegna
94
Aug 16, 2016
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SomeTechNoobi find the monks have more meat on the bones...but he earpods have more details..esp if you can fit them well i use earskinz for the earpods which are great.
Aug 16, 2016
ridhuankim
669
Sep 1, 2016
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_zegnaHi, Thanks for sharing the info about earskinz. I went to their site and ES1 are out of stock which is a pity. They had ES2, is that what you are using? Without the ES2, does the monk snug fit in your ear? I have small ears and wondering if adding the ES2 would make it bigger and harder to fit.
Edit: Oops. I got it completely wrong... result of surfing the web after midnight. So, you are using apple earpods with the earskinz.
Sep 1, 2016
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