Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I own a pair of these, got them formyself for Christmas (brief story - Got the Shure E2c's for Christmas, wasn't terribly pleased with them, did lots of research, then went out and bought some Senn 300's and these Vibes to compare with the Shures).
At first, it was a pretty hard decision between the Sennheiser 300's and the Vibes.Both had their stronger points.The 300's had a bit stronger bass response, while still retaining nice mids and highs.Plus, it was cheaper ($70 vs $100 for the Vibes.But I understood that it would be necessary to 'burn in' the Vibes for several hours, so I left it rotating through the Vision:M's library overnight.And what you may have read is definitely true:the Vibes do need a period of time in order to 'smooth out', or maybe a better term would be to 'fill out'.
The long and short of it was, I bought the Sennheiser and the V-Moda on a Thursday evening.Friday morning, I see an ad in the paper from the retail store where I purchased the Vibes, putting them on sale for $79.As close as the Senns and the Vibes were, the Vibes were still clearly better, and now, with the sale price, they wound up only being $10 different in price.
My decision was made for me.Returned the Shures and the Senns, and have now been using the Vibes frequently for over a week.
I tell you this so that you will know that I did in fact compare some well-regarded iem's in this range, so maybe you won't have to.It is a pain to buy iem's because you cannot try them out before you purchase them.
In any case, the verdict on the Vibes is this:They are great, great headphones.Even within just a week of use I can tell a difference between their performance now and the performance out of the box.Brand new, they were a bit tinny, and seemed to struggle with bass as well.Now, however, they are rich, deep, have sparkling highs, lush mids, and offer the best soundstage of any of the others I tried.
The rundown:the #1 factor with headphones is the sound, which is as it ought to be.While it may be possible that some other iem's in the under-$100 category might techincally reproduce a more 'accurate' sound, I seriously doubt there are any out there which can produce one as enjoyable. It is simply so nice a sound, it actually makes you look forward to the next time you are able to use them.When is the last time you ever thought THAT with your stock earbuds?
Comfort:The Vibes are extremely small and light, I would say less than half the size of the Shures, and roughly equal in size to the Senns.It's difficult to judge the size of these things from merely looking at photos of them on the internet.But they are tiny little things. Let me put it this way:you should even be able to comfortably lie in bed, with your head on its side on a pillow, and listen to these phones without any discomfort.YMMV of course.The default tips installed on them out of the package are the small silicone tips, and I have been so pleased with the fit and comfort that I have not even bothered to sample any of the other sizes, or even the allegedly-softer black tips.I would rate the Vibes as the most comfortable of the 3, with the Senns #2 and the Shures far behind.
Isolation:Of the three, the Vibes give the least amount of 'sound isolation'.Don't interpret this as a bad thing, however.Unless you genuinely, seriously, honestly NEED to utterly silence the outside world when you listen to your headphones, it should not be a problem.Personally, I find that 'plugged up' feeling of the totally-isolating headphones to be extremely uncomfortable.Not painful as such, just not a comfortable feeling.The Vibes do not give you that plugged sensation at all (at least as far as I can tell), but they still isolate pretty well.Additionally, I have heard it said that the reduced isolation of the Vibes is what allows them to have such an open, airy quality to them, which in turn contributes to their having such an excellent soundstage.While I am not a propeller-head enough to know if this is completely true, I can tell you that the Vibes have a better soundstage, by far, than the Shures, and noticeably better than the Senns.
Accessories/Design:This is where V-Moda loses me a little bit.The marketing for these babies is calculated to appeal to those ultra-cool, ultra-hip California jet-setter stylistas.Fair enough.I am not one of them, but all I really care about is the sound and the comfort.So the marketing is not a negative for me, as long as the goods deliver, which they do.
The problem, if you can call it that, is that the cosmetic design has been influenced by this marketing strategy, and it has caused them to flub one thing, really very silly on their part.
The Vibes come with several different tips, both the clear silicon and the softer black rubber ones, of varying sizes.Good.
They come with something called the 'Cable Wrap', which is a notch and angled pice of silicone rubber designed to allow you to wrap excess cable around it, when you need a shorter length.Eh, whatever.Not a big deal to me.
They also come with a really silly, effite 'leather' storage bag/case, which looks like gold lame'.First of all, it's not leather, despite what they say.Second, ew.Come on V-Moda. Where else, outside of San Francisco, is anyone going to use this thing?
Lastly, the design of the headphones themselves.They are serious chrome metal buds.Nice.Slick design there.I really like the cable, with the clear exterior and some kind of interior mesh.Also cool.Plus, the cable is 'Y-shaped' and not 'J-shaped'.I know some people swear by 'J-shaped' cables, but I hate them.So, that's good too.The problem?The headphone jack.It seems nowdays that you either get to have a Y Cable or an angled jack, but not both.(For example, the Senn 300's have an angled plug, which is good, but they saddle you with that stupid J Cable, which is bad.The clone of the Senns, the Creative EP 630's, have a Y Cable, but a straight plug.Argh!)So anyway, the Vibes have a straight plug, which is bad enough because that kind of plug is not good for your audio device.The sideways torque can damage the internals of the thing.But even worse than that, V-Moda has designed the jack with a slick, TAPERED metal grip.This means that it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to unplug your headphones without having to pull on the cable itself, instead of the jack.And this is a surefire way to end up with a short in the cable.This is why I docked these phones a half-star.They let their exciting hip design strategy flub up their headphone design in a potentially serious way.
Hopefully, the inner workings of the jack are strong enough that they will not begin to short from having to pull on the cable, and all will be well.
In any case, other than that one flaw, these headphones are unquestionably the best bang for the buck under $100.I have not listened to any of the competitors in the next range, looking up at the $200 and $300 phones, but those would have to be some seriously great cans to be able to beat these little guys in the sound department.
I highly recommend these, just be careful unplugging them.
Enjoy!
Click Here to see more reviews about: V-MODA Vibe Earbuds - Flashback Chrome
Product Description:
Fashion-conscious style and audio enthusiast sound unite to form the most sophisticated electronics accessory in the world.Vibe's metal craftsmanship delivers the perfect balance of rich bass, superior audio clarity, and luxurious design.Unlike other uncomfortable and obtrusive in-ear headphones, Vibe presents essential active lifestyle comfort, security, and noise isolation for the discerning music enthusiast.The modawrap cable manager is included to control the length of the cable while listening and a gold leather carrying case is provided for storage.
Want to read more honest consumer review about V-MODA Vibe Earbuds - Flashback Chrome now ?
