Earphone Solutions

Hey all,

Finally have the time to write my review of the V-moda Vibe iem earphones. I wanted to give them plenty of time and not rush the review. Listened to them now for quite a few hours during all times of the day and night, even sleeping with them for three nights to test comfort and get some good listening time.

I ordered them Nov. 7th. Come home Sunday and the package is waiting on my rear porch. Immediately I bust open the delivery box and grab out the Vibes. Packaging is very nice. A box with the phones visible through a window. Open the box and pull out the sealed plastic packaging, you know, the kind of stuff you need a blowtorch to melt through. Pull out my handy pocket knife, pierce the plastic, and hear a hiss. Whoa, these things are vacuum sealed! Or maybe pressurized, not for sure which, but it was interesting to say the least.

The build quality of these iems is superb. A very nice gunmetal gray color, with a black knurled center ring. The plug and splitter are the same gunmetal gray. Cord is of course black. They are very light too, almost as if weighing nothing. They came supplied with a huge amount of tips, nine pair of tips to be exact. Two pair of large, three pair and four pair each of medium and small. Out the package they are equipped with the small tips, and for good reason.

Good reason is to do with insertion. These iems are designed to nestle into the ear, so to speak, they should not stick out like Ety's. The small tips allow deeper insertion into the ear canal, which should improve comfort and sound quality. Concerning the tips, they seem the same as other canal style phones, like Sony Fontopia series and the Creative ep630 canal phones.

Well onto the music. I used a variety of music which I am very familiar with.

Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime II
Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Iron World
Natalie Merchant - Tiger Lilly
Breaking Benjamin - Phobia
Depeche Mode - numerous songs from albums
And lots of other bands too.

That's all nice and good Ply, but what about the sound man, what about the sound? We'll get to that in a minute. Before you listen to phones you gotta put'em on right? Okay, so settle down. Now, about the fit. The Vibes were somewhat awkward to put in properly at first. I just wasn't getting the seal I thought I should be, could still hear a decent amount of ambient noise, although it was much lower in volume. So I tried different tips, still the same. Hmm, lets take a closer look at these phones to see whats going on.

Y'all see that little hole, between the filter and the wire grommet? That right there is the culprit. That little hole allows some ambient noise into your ear, so I had the fit right from the word go and just didn't realize it. I expected them to be as isolating as my Um2s, but these phones are not designed to cut off ALL outside noise. I tried plugging the little hole and sure enough, isolation increased, but sound quality suffered, and when inserting and removing I could here the driver flexing. Also I found the best tips for my ears to be the ones that came with my Jays D-jays, the smaller medium tips work perfect for my ears.

Enough already!!! What about the stinkin sound??? Okay buddy you win, I'll tell yah about the "stinkin" sound.

First I had to throw in my boy Geoff Tate and Queensryche. Their latest album Operation Mindcrime II is a masterpiece. Truly must be heard to be appreciated. Plus I'll be seeing them in concert this Saturday night. They are doing the first and second Mindcrime albums opera style. Should be a fantabulous show. But anyway, Tates vocals, (I know them like the back of my hand I do), and other iems I have have never quite done him justice. The Um2s sound too midrangey, making his voice sound somewhat artificial, but eq help a great deal. The Superfi 5 pros put him far into the background and take away his upper vocal octaves. The D-jays are similar to the um2s but exaggerated even more in the midrange. Shure E2 just sounded kind of stale. But the Vibes, hmm, now here is a iem doing something good here. Tates vocals sounded alive, like he was singing to me, to me I say! The best I've heard from an iem. Similar sounding to the Ksc75s. And there was sound-stage too, the best yet from a iem. Not as much as a open can mind you, but sound-stage nonetheless. The highs were clean and crisp, beating the crap out of my other iems, I'm not kidding! The closest competitor was the Um2, but it simply did not have that sheen the Vibes have.

With OCMS I was paying attention to the harmonica and the bass in the background. Once again the Vibe came out on top with the Um2 second. Harmonica just sounded so saucy through the vibe, once again like it was right in front of me. While the Um2 sounded good but slightly thin. At first I thought the bass was kind of weak from the Vibe, but now I don't think so. Vibe just allows more ambient noise into the ear and it was hiding the bass. In a not real noisy area the bass shown through, not super tight but by no means muddy either.

With Natalie merchant I was mainly listening for the boomy bass and correct vocal reproduction. I know I'm starting to sound like a mockingbird but so what, the Vibe from V-moda take the crown again. They simply sounded better than my other iems.

Percussion sounded simply awesome. Drum hits were quick and tight. Double bass was just that, a double bass and not a bwoowoomp sound. Cymbals crash and tingle, sounding very lively and fun, without being overly harsh or causing headaches after a few minutes or hours of listening.

They do add a very slight coloration to the sound, which is not unpleasant at all. I think it has to do with the metal casing surrounding the driver and adding to its sound signature. BTW, all phones have some coloration in their sound, so this is not really a flaw, just something I thought I should mention.

When it comes to comfort the Vibes do lose to the Um2, but not by much. And after wearing them for as while I guess my ears have grown accustomed to them. I can now leave them in for hours on end without discomfort, even sleeping on my side with an ear buried in the pillow is no problem at all.

The Vibes are not perfect however. The cable is a tad too stiff and sticky. The cable on my Um2 is much better. And as I mentioned earlier, getting the fit just right did take me a while, but now that I got it down it is no problem at all. Due to them being metal they can be a bit cold to put in my ears right now. Currently the temperature in Cincinnati Ohio has been in the 30s-50s, so the metal body can be a touch cold to the ears upon first insertion.

On a scale of one to ten, I have to rate the V-moda Vibes a solid 9.5. There really isn't much wrong with these phones. What really ticks me off is I spent over $300 bones on my old favorites the Westone Um2. And now these bad boys come out at just $101 dollars and smoke them. I'm not kidding. The Vibes just sound so musical. When I get up in the morning to go to work I want to reach for my Um2s, because I spent so much on them, but the Vibes sweet sound call out to me, and I make the right choice and grab them instead.

In case you are wondering, no I haven't been paid by V-moda to give a good review of these phones. They simply are the best sounding iem I have yet to hear.

Val Kolton and the engineers at V-moda have done their job well. They didn't hit a grand slam, but they most certainly hit a home run with the Vibes. The Vibes are a true joy to listen to, and will be in my stable for some time to come.

Terry Howard, aka plywood99

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Yep. Another one. V-moda was kind enough to send a box of goodies to last weekend's Toronto meet and, as organizer, I had the pleasure of acquiring a pair of pre-production Vibes.

Blessedly, these are an excellent entry-level IEM. For your consideration, I present to you my early review of these sharp-looking little earphones.

All impressions have been built around the following equipment:

iPod 5G, 60 gig > Sendstation lineout dock > ALO Jenawire Cryo mini-mini > RSA M Hornet > Vibe

I also spent about 25% of my listening time straight out of the iPod headphone jack. All songs auditioned ranged from 128kbps AAC to Apple Lossless, the majority at 320kbps AAC. I'll elaborate more on what I listened to them with a little later, but at this point, I've had about 50+ hours of listening time with them.

So without further adieu, let's begin.

Construction

Simply excellent. From the gold-vapourized 1/8" termination to the driver enclosures themselves, this is a simple design that works to its advantage not only looks-wise, but functionally as well. The termination cover, y-splitter and earphones themselves are 100% aluminum. I have the "Gunmetal Black" model, which in reality is a chromatic brown/green metallic colour. In other words, under different light, the colour shifts... and always looks slick.

One of the major concerns I have with IEMs is the stalk - where the tips attach, and its durability. Not only are the Vibe's stalks large diameter (due in part to a traditional dynamic driver mechanism over an armature design) but the three piece aluminum housing, best described - if inacurately - as a monocoque shell, inspires confidence while "tip-rolling". These are far and away the easiest IEMs to swap tips with. The large diameter of the stalks/tips and all but indestructible earphones facilitate speed and confidence in a necessary routine that can be finicky at best.

Unfortunately, this comes at a price: Proprietary tips. I could be wrong about this, but the tips themselves will need to be specifically designed (see: purchased from V-moda) to fit, due to the circumference of the openings. Not a huge deal, but for those of you who like to use foamies or bi-/tri-flanges, you're currently out of luck.

This is really unfortunate, as the ease of use here really begs for experimentation. Hopefully, V-Moda will decide to expand their repertoire in the future; for now, different sized and coloured "complys" will have to do.

The cable design is a rubberised and extremely thin wire, approximately 3' long. It feels tough though, and is not horribly prone to twisting and gnarling up. I really cannot attest to their durability as far as jogging/excercise is concerned, but one of the main build goals was to ensure strength and longevity under the stresses of working out (according to the V-moda website they are "durable even-length cables optimized for sport" and the CEO himself has expressed that cable durability was a significant focal point). I can at least say they do indeed seem tough.

An unfortunate reality with any earphone is cable microphonics and I'm afraid these are not exempt. It's not terribly noticeable, especially if you like to crank the volume, but it's there. Making matters worse is the inability to insert the earpieces upside-down, leading the cable behind the ears, which eliminates the microphonics altogether. I'm not convinced it cannot be done, but the cables wouldn't stay behind my ears. As it stands, your mileage may vary. It's important to note that it seems the "Flashblack Chrome" variant is more than just a colour swap - the cables are different as well.

Finally, the earphones are essentially semi-open. If you look at the photo below, you'll notice a tiny hole in the enclosure, just below the stalk. I'll touch on what this seems to do sonically, but for this section all I can say is that it seems to come at the cost of less isolation. They are by no means open earphones, but they certainly do not isolate upwards of 20dB like other IEMs do.

Truth be told, the attenuation is enough that you aren't constantly having to remove your earphones in a social environment; with music playing, outside noise is all but eliminated save for extremely noisy environments such as a subway or city bus. My personal take on this is positive. I don't like absolute isolation and any earphone that facilitates a simple press of the pause button to hear what's going on around you over removal and reinsertion is a tremendous benefit. Those of you looking for an IEM specifically for plane/subway travel may want to look elsewhere... unless you don't mind upping the volume to compensate.

Comfort

One of the downsides to an aluminum design is that they are cold when first inserting them - this is particularly true for this Canadian on a cool November day. Mercifully, they warm up about as quickly as they cool off, so avoiding frostbite of the ear is about as complex as holding the cans in your fist for a few seconds.

Other than Jens' d-Jays, these are the easiest IEMs to insert and remove that I have come across. Obtaining a proper seal (once the appropriate tip size has been determined) is easy and natural. It's never more complicated than simply popping them in. I like my buds to go as deep as possible, so I still pull on the tips of my ears when inserting them, but it's really not necessary at all. Removing is just as easy: pull them out.

Despite the cylindrical chambers, the earphones sit surprisingly flush. They can easily be worn under a toque. My only real gripe is they can be a little difficult to get a grip on when its time to take them out. Generally, I find myself gripping the top of the Vibe with my index finger while my thumb uses the rubber stopper (where the cable enters the housing) as an anchor.

Now I need to be upfront here: To me, "comfortable IEM" is an oxymoron. Comfortable headphones mean soft, velour pads caressing my skull, not sterile silicone deep in my precious, precious hearing bits. This, coming from a guy who finds Grado bowls comfortable for hours on end. All that aside, the Vibe is definitely a "comfortable IEM." They are not terribly abrasive, thanks in part to how easily they go in and out, and they are light enough that they aren't completely noticeable while being worn. This is about as good as it gets for universal fits (D-Jays do win again here), but I still can't stand wearing them.

One issue I came across was with the tips themselves and I want to point this out both to you the reader and V-Moda: For heaven's sake, please, please find a way to make tips without a seam! The lower part of the tips, about a quarter centimetre from the very bottom, have a seam where the mould must come together. I've posted a picture below to illustrate. As far as I'm concerned, if that little ridge gets eliminated, overall comfort will double.

Ultimately, these are very inconspicuous earphones but if you're like me and don't like the comfort of IEMs or simply don't like stuffing electronics in your ears, these are not going to change your mind. For those already comfortable with using IEMs regularly, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how easy they are to wear.

Sound

So here's where it counts. What do these little fashionistas do other than look pretty? Huh? V-Moda has their work cut out for them - around here, anyway. They have a business philosophy much like B&O or *gasp* Bose(!) and they have some... bold marketing language to match. There's an air of suspicion around this company and I think a lot of us are thinking "do they have the chops?"

Well, thankfully, at least in the case of the Vibe, the answer is a resounding yes. The Vibe has a clear, airy presentation about it that's actually quite pleasant. With the IEMs I've heard (all of which are in the same pricerange as the Vibe), the sound is "in your head" and the Vibe is no exception. It's just, not, so in your head. As mentioned earlier, the enclosures have tiny ports drilled in them. It seems that, at the expense of some isolation, you get a decent little sense of space with these cans! This is completely dependent on the room information in a given recording of course, but it's a nice surprise and can be fairly pronounced.

It was my presumption before hearing the Vibe that they were going to be muddy, bass heavy 'phones. After all, one of the goals in the sound of their current flagship model was to recreate the club experience on the go. To that end, I also figured they would be heavily tailored to Hip Hop and Electronic music. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I don't know what clubs Mr. Val Kolton frequents, but he must know some pretty sweet spots. I think maybe he meant to say he wanted to capture the essence of the girls at a club here. There's a nice, round, firm bottom, smooth midsection... and this is no butterface either! To my surprise, the Vibe has a pretty decent extension in the treble. There are IEMs in its price range that can beat it, but where this one excels is with its focus on all aspects of the frequency range. The versatility of the Vibe across many genres is outstanding, which is an enormous benefit for me, considering my wide-ranging tastes.

So let's get to the music. I listened to just about everything. I had started out with a specific list of old standbys to cycle through, from R&B to Thrash, old to new, but I quickly recognized its ability to play well with most music and just set my library to shuffle. For the most part, the Vibe prefers modern recordings. I suspected the "sculpted sound curve" the website speaks to translates to "sounds great with hot, compressed recordings". To test this, I threw on Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung from The Flaming Lips' At War With the Mystics, an excellent tune I am very fond of, but unforgivingly hot; it clips so often it sounds like a dirty record. Sure enough, the Vibe was surprisingly forgiving. Old recordings aren't forgotten though. I was surprised how easily I could rock out to Skynyrd's Freebird and The Beatles sounded great. The Kinks in particular were presented with a wonderful exhuberance that got me moving. It's not all great though.

In a bizarre way, I feel as though this "sculpted sound curve" is somehow responsible for certain recordings - old and new - to feel sucked out, compressed and lifeless. The first song I listened to on the Vibe was like this, and it was with a sigh of relief that when the next song came on I was entirely pleased. Certain Rock tunes sound thin or boomy and I have come across some Rap and Techno that just didn't cut it. Even more strange, is this is not specific to the quality of the recording either. I heard some of my muddiest independent releases sound as good as they're ever going to get and some of my better recordings sound like they were being played through a telephone. Thankfully, these instances are few and far between and my overall experience has been favourable. In particular, Ska music has been tremendously enjoyable through the cans, and horns indeed seem to get a real sweet treatment from them. Vocals and guitars sound exciting but smooth and drums, while missing the impact a larger headphone can provide, still have good snap and decay. Jazz and Classical are surprisingly listenable here, but certainly nowhere close to the performance achievable from other offerings - especially the direct competition from Etymotic. While the Vibe can hold its own across the board, it seems best suited to Rap, R&B, Soul, Rock, Ska and Reggae, and Electronic music.

Conclusion

The Vibe is not a particularly flat headphone. It's a very well manufactured, attractive and, above all, fun little IEM. When it comes down to it, the Vibe does a lot of things right. It has full, lightly accentuated bass, pleasing midrange and rolled-off highs that manage to retain some sparkle and transparency. It's a curious thing, really, but I'd have to say that if the goal in recreating the club experience meant giving the listener a fun experience with enough emphasis on detail to really groove, but not enough to dissect, then they have absolutely succeded. As it stands I would say I like the Vibe better than my iGrados (though they do certain things better, comfort only one of them), which I like better than Sennheiser's PX100 and these handily best the Shure e2c in every regard. Those looking for a more refined sound are probably better off with something like Etymotic's ER-6i and as far as the d-Jay is concerned, well, it's too close to tell. The choice will come down to a preference for a brighter (d-Jay) vs. warmer (Vibe) presentation. They both seem to strive for the same goal at this level. I've kept my comparisons short, since my experience with IEMs is limited to those I named and my impressions were (mostly) brief. I know what I like though, and if anyone is looking for an IEM with an involving presentation and strength with the genres of music I mentioned above, this is definitely worthy of your consideration. A fine effort from V-Moda, and an excellent companion for me as winter approaches - and the knitted hats come out.

Glendale Viper