[Review] Monoprice 8614 Graphic Tablet

Think about a graphics tablet, and the first thing you think about, is a Wacom. Wacom is currently the leading manufacturer of graphics tablets for personal and industrial use, with over 85% of the world market share (about the same percentage as the number of Windows users in the world), making it almost a virtual monopoly. This gives very little space for other brands (which uses AAA batteries instead of the battery-less design of Wacom) to compete (for example UC-Logic, Hanvon and Genius).

Now let us bring our attention to the company Monoprice. To many online shoppers, the name Monoprice would be familiar. To TV owners and videophiles, they are known to carry cheap yet high quality HDMI and optical cables. To audiophiles, the Monoprice 8320 and 8323 are known to offer great sound for a budget price. However, few people are aware that Monoprice actually offers their own line up of graphics tablets, from the small yet powerful 4” x 3” to the mammoth 12” x 9” graphics tablet.

Today’s review is going to cover the Monoprice 10” x 6.25” graphics tablet. There are two versions of it, one with hot keys (Monoprice 6814) and one without (6251). This review will cover the one with hot keys. At the same time I will cover the Monoprice stylus you can buy separately in the website.

The Monoprice 6814 comes in a pretty large box with a handle. The box is approximately the size of what you get in the Wacom Bamboo Fun or Wacom Intuos5 Small. The box looks pretty professional, though not packaged at the level of the Intuos5 or even the Bamboo Fun.

Inside the box, you will find the Monprice 6814 (which almost fills the box), a graphics stylus, an AAA battery, a pen stand with nib remover, the instruction manual, the driver CD and a pack of replacement nibs. Pretty basic, but all the essentials are inside.

The Monoprice 6814 itself is pretty large, with dimensions close to a 14.1 inch laptop, but much slimmer. The tablet is mostly plastic at the top, and metal at the bottom. The design of this tablet is definitely less attractive than the Bamboo but not that it matters anyway. The active surface area is pretty large, about 1.5 times the size of an average manga or translated light novel. 8 buttons run down the side which allows for various functions such as zooming, copying and pasting. On top are also various hot cells which can be configured to run your desired programs. All this makes this graphics tablet great for daily use.

The stylus is pretty long at more than 6 inches long. It does not have an eraser at the top, and it runs on an AAA battery, which makes it heavier than the Wacom stylus, which is battery-free. The design, while looking like the one used by the Wacom, does feel pretty cheap. However, despite the cheap looks, this stylus looks durable and should be able to withstand the daily rigours of digital painting.

The pen holder is pretty nicely designed. The pen stands upright (pretty much like fountain pens) when not in use. There is a good weight to it, which prevents it from toppling over easily. At the bottom, there is a nib remover which allows you to change nibs when it wears out.

Before plugging in the tablet, the instructions in the box warns you to install the graphics tablet driver first. Installing the driver is pretty straightforward, and after restarting, the process is completed and you are ready to go.

The Monoprice 6814 uses a UC-logic digitizer, which are active digitizers. This means that the stylus runs on batteries and the batteries need to be replaced when they go flat. However, throughout the weeks that I have heavily utilized the stylus, I do not see the need to change the battery yet and it seems the battery will not run out very soon.

Specifications wise, the Monoprice 6814 is approximately in between that of the Bamboo Fun and the Intuos5. It has 1024 pressure levels, which is the same as that of the Bamboo Fun. It also has a reporting rate of 200RPS, which is on par with the Intuos5. Below shows a comparison between the largest tablets of the series and the Monoprice 6814 (along with the 12” x 9” Monoprice 6815)

 From the above table it can be seen that the Monoprice tablet slots in between the Intuos5 and Bamboo Fun in terms of specifications. However, the price difference between the Bamboo Fun and 6814 is great at more than 3 times the price.

Now we will move on to the most important part of the tablet, the performance. Is it an Intuos5 beater? Nope, but it does well in certain areas and may even exceed the Bamboo Fun in certain aspects.

The first program that it is tested on is the industry standard of photo editing, Photoshop. A few days of testing shows that it functions really well in Photoshop. Pressure sensitivity is accurate and pressure opacity works. The degree of accuracy of pressure sensitivity is not as refined as say, the Intuos5, but it is more than enough for hobbyists, and definitely as good as the Bamboo Fun. There is no eraser on the stylus, but no big issue since many artists do not really care for the less accurate eraser. The Monoprice tablet actually has less jitter due to the active digitizer. While my lines do look like there are accuracy issues with the tablet, there truly isn’t. It is just my limited and mediocre drawing skills limiting the tablet. Below shows what I can do with the tablet on photoshop (lineart).

The second program I tried on is Paint Tool SAI, which the preferred program for manga fan artists (like me). Paint Tool SAI is light in weight and consumes fewer resources, making drawing a much smoother experience. Pressure works perfect on SAI, and drawing is a breeze. Jitter is almost non-existent and accuracy is spot on due to the higher resolution.

(Pardon my poor artwork)

Artweaver is a free painting program with some pretty neat photo editing features. There is a paid one (which should cost about the same or slightly more than Paint Tool SAI), but the free one is so packed with features it is enough for most artists. The tablet works very well on ArtWeaver. Pressure sensitivity is very accurate and reactive, making it good for line work and colour work.

GIMP (2.8.2) has issues with the graphics tablet, unfortunately. Actually, GIMP 2.8.2 has issues with ALL other brands except Wacom (what kind of favourtism is this GIMP). Many Monoprice, Genius and UC Logic users are having issues with GIMP 2.8.2. I went back to version 2.6 of GIMP and it does work, and very well indeed. Pressure sensitivity is good, accuracy is very good as well. In the past, there are issues with dual monitors in GIMP, but the issues have been fixed with a new updated driver (provided in the CD). For those who are using anything other than Wacom, either switch back to 2.6 or pressure GIMP to fix the tablet issue.

I tried the tablet with myPaint but it does not work as well. Apparently, it supports Wacom tablets properly only. On the Monoprice, there is no pressure sensitivity, and when the program is run the second time, it shows issues that look similar to the one in GIMP 2.8.2.

On the other hand, it works really well on the freeware program Pixia/Pirenha. While Pirenha does have is own issues like poor refresh rate (due to the not-so-good coding) the pressure sensitivity works very well, and it makes it great for drawing lineart and such.

Pardon my noob artwork, but below shows what the monoprice can do.

There is an alternative stylus sold in Monoprice that costs about 8USD before shipping. If you need a spare or do not like the stylus, you should buy this one. It comes with a battery, replacement nibs and nib remover. While it is slightly shorter than the one bundled with the Monoprice tablet, it is slightly heavier. The buttons are recessed and flush nicely with the grip of the tablet. In my opinion, I like the weight distribution of the alternative tablet better, and therefore I use it more often than the stock tablet provided.

All in all, this pen is a step up from the provided one (and even the Wacom in my opinion) in terms of looks, feel and build quality. Though the build quality of battery compartment feels questionable, but does not matter since one does not open it often. I believe that if you do not like the stock stylus, you can actually love this one.

Battery life for both stylus is rated at 4 weeks. I have used this tablet for about 2 months (mostly doing fanart and browsing) and I have yet to replace the battery. Yes, for Wacoms you do not need to think about replacing batteries, but in my opinion, with this long battery life, I don't think it is a big issue as long as jitter is well controlled.

At below 100 after shipping, it is cheaper than the cheapest Wacom in the line up, the Wacom Bamboo Pen (which costs about 135SGD MSRP). Being larger (size is considered large if it was in the Wacom lineup), more accurate and having less jitter, it is a great performer for a sub-100 tablet. While there are some issues with certain programs (GIMP 2.8 and myPaint), it will not stop me from recommending the Monoprice tablet over the Wacom Bamboo Pen as the tablet for beginners, hobbyists and probably even professionals as well.

[Review] Monoprice 8320

In the high end audio world, well known names Shure, Westone and Ultimate Ears come to mind. What about in the consumer world? Probably Sony, Beats and other major electronic brands. Well what happens when a online retailer of cheap HDMI cables come into play? Monoprice is well known throughout the web for its cheap HDMI cables that perform as well as more expensive ones. From selling cables, they started selling stuff such as graphic tablets, monitors and even electric guitars. While best known for their cables, their inexpensive 8320 in-ear earphone sent shockwaves throughout budget audiophile world. Does it stand up to the hype though? The following will answer your doubts.

It costs 13SGD which is actually pretty cheap for an over the ear design. Packaging is practically nonexistent. It only comes in a plastic bag. Same goes for the accessories, with only 1 pair of tips supplied (though now it comes with 3 pairs of different sizes).

Design is pretty rough I guess. It looks large and probably unappealing to many. Large shiny chrome plastic housing with metal plate at the back. To top it off, it comes with a cloth covered cable and a pretty nice y-split.

Build quality is expected of a 13 dollar product. While seemingly well built there are some rough edges here and there. But really, there is nothing much to complain about for a product of this price when it comes to build quality.

Isolation is mediocre because of the large housings and short nozzle (pretty much the same problem faced by the Soundmagic PL-30), which results in difficulty in deep insertion depth. Also, being a vented dynamic does not help, either. Comfort is an issue as well due to the large size of housings, but I believe one can get used to it with time. Stock tips are not very good for me in terms of fit, however I ended up using Soundmagic foam tips, which provide me the best isolation and fit so far (there are cheap foam tips on ebay as well).

Well now comes the sound quality, where most of the hype is focused on. Does it measure up to the hype received? To me, it is a yes.

Despite it being called "enhanced bass" in the product page, I would really hesitate to call it bass-heavy. It really isn't bass heavy at all. The quantity just slightly greater than the BA200, and quality of about the level of GR99. The bass to me is pretty tight and punchy, which is pretty surprising considering sets of this price are usually bass heavy. The bass just feels much more refined than other earphones at its price range, or probably 2 to 3 times its price.

The mids on the 8320 are pretty interesting as well. They are surprisingly clean for a set of this price, in fact slightly cleaner than the GR99. They offer great clarity and detail for its asking price, and probably 3 times beyond. The mids are not recessed at all, it feels in line with the bass. I think it would be slightly "vocal centric", though not as "vocal centric" as say the BA200.

Treble is impressive as well. For a 13 dollar product, it carries decent resolution matching or sometimes even outperforming other sets around and beyond its price range. It is laid back and has little sparkles, but doesn't make the 8320 sound dark at all. It is also smooth enough for extended periods of listening.

Presentation is quite unique for a 13 dollar earphone. At this price range, most earphones feel "constrained" and have little air between the instruments. However, the 8320 has this spacious, airy feeling that I would attribute to earbuds. However, while having good width, the depth isn't really good, which leads to poorer imaging. Unlike the BA200, which almost escapes stereo separation altogether, the 8320 seems to be less competent in centering the voice of the vocalist. However that doesn't mean it is bad altogether. Rather it can be said that while great in terms of space and airiness, the 8320 just matches or slightly exceeds other budget sets when it comes to imaging.

All in all, I believe the 8320 deserves its hype for being one of the most bang for buck earphones one can buy for cheap. While the above review does seem to point out some of its faults, the faults are nonetheless minor and this shows how great the 8320 is for its asking price. While shipping it alone would be pretty expensive, hitching on to a mass order would make it much cheaper in terms of shipping. All in all, while it might have some fit issues, the really cheap price and competent sound makes for a great purchase. Whether you like it or not, it hardly burns your wallet at all so one can purchase with little, if any, regret.

[Review] TDK BA200

TDK is known for making cassette tapes, CDs and videotapes. In 2007, Imation acquired the recording business, which TDK is well known for. The TDK we are referring to now is TDK Life on Record, which is actually part of Imation (along with Memorex). While in the past they produce budget earphones to cater to the general crowd, in recent years they reworked their strategy and entered the high end audio market. The TDK BA200 is born as a result. Can the BA200 stand up to its competitors?

Packaging is elegant in black, showcasing the BA200 inside. Not as luxurious as the Dunu Ares but definitely enough for a product of its price range.

Accessories are pretty average for a product in this price range. 2 pairs of bi-flanges, 2 pairs of Comply tips, 1 eartip cleaner, replacement filters, shirt clip, 6.35mm adapter, and a soft pouch. Some people may desire more tips though.

The BA200 has an over the ear design, much like the Westone Truefit series. The over-the-ear design in the BA200 allows for a more ergonomic and comfortable fit. It has flat cables, which is supposed to be less tangle prone, though to me how easy the earphone tangles depends on how one stores it. The only issue to some people is the large y-splitter, which is supposed to contain the impedance stabilizer. The impedance stabilizer is said to help the BA200 to sound at its best regardless of source, though I have no truely effective way to evaluate its usefulness.

Build quality is decent for the price range. The shells are well built. However the flat cables might feel thin to some, and at the same time, the BA200 seems to have little, if any strain relief due to the design of the cable.

The BA200 is pretty comfortable, enough for me to sleep with it for extended periods of time. Some people might find issues due to the flat cable looping over the ear, but personally I do not see an issue. Isolation is very good on the BA200, enough to bring it on the plane without much issue.

Unlike most dual drivers of the price range which use Knowles TWFK drivers, the BA200 uses Sonion drivers in a woofer-tweeter configuration with a single crossover. I don't think anyone will expect a DBA-02 like sound with such different drivers.

Bass quantity is plenty for a dual BA, with greater quantity than both the Rockit Sounds R-50 and the Fischer DBA-02, but less than the Dunu Ares. It has great texture and detail, with good speed for a BA. It doesn't have as much bass rumble as some would desire but I feel the bass does come out when it needs to be.

Mids is where the magic of the BA200 happens. They are very smooth, yet clear. They seem to be balanced in line with the treble and bass. It has a slightly warm tinge to it. The mids seem to work perfectly with all kinds of vocals, presenting them in a natural form.

Treble is laid back, smooth and inoffensive. This results in less microdetail compared to say, the DBA-02 and the R-50 but allows for a non-fatiguing listen. With no noticeable harshness and sibilance, the BA200 can be used for extended periods of time.

Soundstage is probably one of the best parts of the BA200. The soundstage has good width, depth and even height, making it spacious sounding. There is a good amount of air in between the instruments and also in between the singer. Separation is excellent at the price range, being able to make out individual instruments clearly. Imaging is excellent as well. I understand why some people compare it to the UM3x and SM3: the BA200 has the ability to escape stereo separation. It feels like the main vocalist is placed right in front of you, instruments surrounding the vocalist(s). This makes for a natural and realistic presentation which I really like.

For 229SGD, the BA200 is a really great product from TDK, one that makes me want to recommend easily along with the GR07 for people with budget under 300SGD, especially to vocal lovers. In PC shows, sometimes the price can dip as low as 139SGD, which makes it pretty much a no brainer, being one of the best and least fatiguing dual BAs around and having the ability to compete with some of the triple driver setups.

[Impressions] Choosing the fourth IEM

After 1 year of using the Dunu Ares, I have that sudden urge to get another IEM. I believe this is what everyone calls "BBB" or "Buy Buy Buy Syndrome". Unable to succumb to the syndrome and looking for an IEM for use during National Service, I decided to go on a search on a new IEM. With my initial target being the Rock-it Sounds R-50, I decided to set my budget at around 200. With SITEX and Black Friday occuring at the same time, I was keeping an eye to watch for an offer for TripleFi 10 (which I have no problems with) or the Klipsch x10 (which had a black friday deal in the end). Also, during the SITEX period, the TDK BA200 and Brainwavz B2 (aka Fischer DBA-02) fell into the budget range so they are both in consideration.

I have actually intended to test 6 IEMs, namely TDK BA200, Brainwavz B2, UE700, VSonic GR07 MKII, Shure SE215 and Rockit Sounds R-50. However, UE700 is EOL so there isn't one to test. Brainwavz B2 is not available in the shop I go to as well so I auditioned the Fischer DBA-02 MKII instead, which should be pretty similar.

The TDK BA200 is something that doesn't wow on the first listen, so I took a longer time listening to this. The first thing I noticed is how great vocals sound on these. As a vocal lover I really liked how the BA200 renders vocals. The second thing I noticed is that the bass quantity is surprisingly large for a dual BA. While it is less than the Dunu Ares that I have, it is definitely more than the DBA-02 MKII I tested later. The next thing I noticed is how smooth the treble is. With my most treble heavy tracks "Only my Railgun" and "Level 5 -judgelight-" (both by fripSide), it handles both pretty well without any noticeable sibilance or harshness. While at that time I feel it is close to my preferred signature, I decided to keep it in view in the case I find something better.

DBA-02 MKII is a lot smaller than expected. While I was expecting it to be about as large as the BA200, it is actually smaller. Listening to it, I noticed that it really puts out a lot of detail, in fact slightly more than the BA200. Bass quantity is lower than that of BA200 but typical of a dual BA. The midrange is clean, and the treble is well extended. However it comes off as being too harsh for me when it comes to the more treble heavy tracks.

Shure SE215 is pretty chunky. Bass quantity is definitely greater than the BA200, being a consumer oriented dynamic driver IEM. Mids are less forward than the BA200, and comes across as being slightly less detailed. Treble is very smooth and non-fatiguing at all. However, listening to the Shure SE215, I decided that the bass quantity is a bit too much for me.

Rockit Sounds R-50 actually is very similar to the DBA-02 MKII, unsurprisingly since both use a TWFK dual BA driver. It has a less coloured signature, with slightly lower bass quantity compared to DBA-02 MKII and a crisper treble. However it also comes across as harsh to me in some tracks I listened to.

Finally I tried the VSonic GR07 MKII, which I also liked. Bass has good impact and is tight, though not as tight as a typical BA. Mids are clean and sweet and works on vocals pretty well. The treble harshness is reduced from the original GR07, coming into BA200 territory in delivering smooth treble. With myself impressed by the GR07 MKII, I end up having to make a tough choice between the BA200 and the GR07 MKII. I ended up choosing the BA200 and I did not regret it. More to come in the following review.

[Review] Dunu Ares

Chinese OEM manufacturers are excited to jump on the audio bandwagon these days. One of them is Dunu, which used to be an OEM for various large companies. They have jumped into the bandwagon once in the past, but issues and disputes within the company forced them to pull out. With their issues settled, they have once jumped into the audio bandwagon, now stronger than before.

Dunu Ares and Crius are the first products being released from Dunu. Dunu Ares is sold at 90SGD while Crius is sold at 77SGD. With stiff competition in the sub-100 audio world nowadays, can they take the heat?

 Packaging is excellent. While the Chinese words might ruin impressions for some people, the way this is packaged makes this look like a top class product.

Opening the package, you will be presented with the Dunu Ares along with the luxurious looking case. This makes it look like a truly great product, and especially so at this low price.

The accessories are really generous. 3 pairs of single flanges, 3 pairs of rounded single flanges, 1 pair of bi-flanges, 1 wallet-like hard pouch, 1 synthetic leather soft pouch and 1 cotton soft pouch. The number of pouches provided are overkill I believe but for 90SGD, the number of accessories is pretty generous.

Talking about looks, this is really eye catching. Gold plated titanium body with rings to signify the left/right channels. For some, this would instantly remind them of the Monster Turbine Pro Gold, which is a good IEM of its own right. Sure, some people may call it plagiarism, but it doesn't really matter to me. In addition, it also has a cable tie built in, which makes cable management much easier, allows the IEM to be stored easily and also prolonging its life by reducing tension on the wire.

Build quality is top notch, which could be said is kind of expected from Dunu. Solid metal housings, substantial strain reliefs, good cable, CNC machined y-splitter, right angle plug, I expect this to last really long (and it did, surviving abuse and abuse throughout 1.5 years and doesn't seem to be falling apart anytime soon).

Comfort is pretty good, though this IEM feels pretty heavy due to the metal, which gives it substantial weight. Wearing it over the ear will distribute the weight much better and also makes it very comfortable to wear. Isolation is pretty good, though the weight of the IEMs will sometimes break the seal.

Being a single balanced armature IEM, one will believe it will take on the typical characteristics of lower-end single balanced armatures: tight bass with little impact, clean, detailed mids and rolled treble (due to the difficulty of covering the entire spectrum). However, listening to this, one would realize that it takes on both balanced armature and dynamic characteristics.

Bass is tight and punchy, which is expected of a balanced armature. However, it offers good impact which is similar to dynamics of the price range. It is slightly slower than balanced armatures in general but faster than most dynamics of the price range. Bass shows signs of rolloff at lower frequencies, which results in less rumble then there should be. But again, this is to be expected for a balanced armature, which would have a harder time trying to portray the entire frequency spectrum.

Mids are clean and slightly forward. There is little bass bleed but the overall sound signature makes this a little warm. It is pretty lush, detailed and has good texture. Having this sound signature, it works very well for slower vocals but will slightly struggle with faster tracks.

Treble extends pretty well, but does roll off at the ends. It is smooth and forgiving will no sibilant characteristics. It has little sparkles, but that isn't to say treble quantity is lacking.

Soundstage is about average size, with decent width and some depth. Imaging is decent but would become slightly congested with faster and more complicated songs.

One thing to keep in mind is that it does hiss with poor sources. While I did not notice hiss with my HTC Desire Z, I noticed some hiss when songs are not playing when plugged to the PC.

Overall I would say for 90SGD, this is a pretty good buy, considering the top notch build quality and how the sound signature makes it a pretty good all rounder. However, I can see some people recommending the Crius over the Ares due to the slightly better balance and increase in detail due to a slightly more prominent treble. Overall, I believe both Ares and Crius are good buys at their price range for solid build quality and attractive looks.