V-Moda Vibe - Riovolution

radish

2007-01-29, 10:54 #1

Member since Jul 2006 · 176 posts · Location: Hoboken, NJ
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Subject: V-Moda Vibe

I was looking for a replacement for my e3s which recently died, and came across the Vibe. I was particularly interested in them because they fit like conventional earphones, with the cable hanging down, and are thus easier & quicker to put in - something which annoyed me about the Shure's.

So anyway, I got a pair from Amazon for $85 the other day and they're pretty nice. Plenty of bass (something else which lacked a little on the e3), _very_ easy to put in (and very comfortable), and they even look pretty good to my eyes. I'm not going to pretend to compare them sonically in great detail as my "on the go" audio setup is hardly audiophile, but they sound just fine to me. The head-fi folks generally seem to like them.

Pros:

Sound good - lots of bass and wide soundstage.

Solid metal - they feel very well made and durable

Nice looking

Cheap

Easy to put in (one handed, no ear pulling!)

Comfortable

Cons:

Not as good isolation as a higher-end IEM like Shure or UE

Crappy looking case

Not compatible with tips from other brands

radish

2007-04-27, 14:42 #2

Member since Jul 2006 · 176 posts · Location: Hoboken, NJ
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No-one's replied to this but I see the read count is high so I thought I'd post my updated thoughts after using them for a while.

In short, I still like them. The sound is still more than satisfactory, but a few niggles have come up:

The marking for which is left and which is right is a tiny letter printed in white (on silver metal!) and is virtually impossible to read without close examination. I don't know if it really makes any difference which way around you put them in, but a more obvious marking would have been nice.

A decent case (like the Shure one) would be a nice addition, although would probably add to the price. The ugly gold pouch they come with is too embarrasing for me to use in public

The isolation really isn't very good...and the bass seems first to go when there's ambient noise around. But this only really bothers me when I'm sitting next to a bus engine or something, so it's not a big deal for me. I've used them on a number of flights and they've worked just fine.

The design of the plug makes it sometimes a little hard to pull out, it's a smooth metal cylinder and if your fingers are wet or otherwise slippy you can have problems.