Venture Electronics Monk Lite review

I don’t usually mention packaging, but this is worth a note—a zip‐press plastic bag with half the text in a Han script, fortune‐cookie oracles, and graphic cartoons. The bag is reusable, which is good. The Lites are assembled from stock parts, without large‐run integration, but show care and thought throughout—the design has reputedly changed three times. They have reasonably thick cables that are soft and rubberised—they tangle, but not badly. The plug has a soft strain relief, and the plastic housings are solid. I’d guess the Lites will be robust. They are unbelievably comfortable, if you have trouble with in‐earphones, these are worth a go for that alone. Though obviously an odd thing to have in your ears, they have reasonable style—these are the black and gold ones, and I like the retro hint.

Good loudness. Mid‐strings can sound a little muffled. Seems a bit frequency‐dependant for volumes. Outstanding volume range. Slow attack, but not lazy, same for decay. Swells are handled good. Mid/high horn frequencies are emphasised. Strange, so are high‐percussion frequencies. Frequency range is intriguing—the Lite has some high notes, but there’s high roll off—and has low notes, but muted. Low notes are controlled but have no detail, slightly better towards high notes. Detail is good on, say, string sections. Colour is outstanding everywhere. Scale is not the biggest, positioning only passable.

Only a reasonable for voice, but usable. If you can live with the volume variations and wandering focus, they deliver a canvas of color—very unusual for orchestra. Pop and rock are good, long as you can live with the midband approach. They are outstanding for acoustic and dense electrical instruments, solo or not. They lack space and depth for soundtracks, but have good atmosphere.