Disclaimer: This is a review of Vsonic R-02 in-ear earphone for which I received a sample from headfi sponsor head-direct as part of his “free-to-try” earphone tours. I’m not affiliated with Head-direct in any way and I do not own the particular phone under review here. I’ll try to present my impressions in an unbiased manner and hope my review would provide accurate information for those who are interested in the Vsonic R02 earphone. However when interpreting this review you’re free to take into consideration the fact that I owe a great favor to Mr. Nankai as I got to try the earphone for free except for the minimal cost of mailing it to the next participant.
Coming from a pair of ER4p that are now slowly breaking down due to extensive uses, I was in the market for an in-ear phone that offers similar clarity to the etys, preferably with a warmer signature. Naturally I was looking to the Shures. The only problem is, I don’t really want to spend more than a new er4p as I’m also trying to spread my limited audio budget to speakers and such. I was a little disappointed with the E4c when I finally got to listen to it at a mini meet. The high seems to be a bit too recessed for my taste and the overall sound quality doesn’t really justify the extra investment. Then I came across the Vsonic promotion from Nankai. The thing that caught my attention is this frequency response graph that compares the R02 with er4p:
Looks like a close match isn’t it? I was aware that freq. response curves do not tell the whole story, so I decided to sign up for the trial to see what the deal is about this mystic phone.
Here comes the phone
So I got a package last Friday from New York and here it was, the R02 from Vsonic(sorry about the bad picture):
The packaging is actually pretty nice for a phone that retails for less than $40 (according to Nankai). Three pairs of ear tips were included. The small and medium sized tips are single-flanged, the large tips are double-flanged. A shirt clip helps to reduce the microphonic effect. There’s even a leather carrying bag in the box, if you ever need one. The phone itself was nicely tucked inside the box. White cable, white phone, looks pretty neat together with an ipod shuffle (and that’s a point we’re going to come back later). Makes you think why they didn’t market it as the iVsonic.
What the heck (but bear with me…)
So I was expecting something that sounds similar to the er4p, if not as good as the ety. And being used to the way to wear an er4p, I took out the R02 and inserted it as deep as I could into my ears. Connected it to the ipod, and played some music. A few minutes later I was like: “what the heck? This is no ety clone, this is soooooo un-ety!” The rumbling bass was so overpowering that even the mids were noticeably colored by it. Andrea bocelli sounded like having a nasal congestion, and Ace of Base was like being played from a over EQed boombox. The only thing that stands out is the high. It’s buttery smooth and very very sweet, not the clear-cut crystal-like kind of high from the ety, but very pleasing to the ear. Still with the overpowered bass and clouded mids, there’s no way I would buy this phone. Something is definitely wrong….
I was confused and baffled, so was Nankai when we discussed it on the phone as my impression was totally different from his and all the fan reviews from China. At first I thought it might just be one of those personal taste thing, then one day when I was sitting in front of my computer reading others’ reviews on the R02, it suddenly all came to me-
The real R02
The reason we insert the etys deep into the ear is to get the best bass response, but to take some weight off the bass, why not do the opposite? So I took out the R02 and refitted it in my ears. This time I put it in as I would normally do for the earbuds-just deep enough to have it properly stay in my ears. And surprise! It’s now a much much more balanced phone. The mids are much more natural and no longer sound muffled or veiled. The beautiful highs are now even more present. And the lower end is now much better controlled, and mostly importantly, listenable.
Finally, the review
So now with the fitting problem addressed, I’m finally ready to give my first headfi review for the Vsonic R02. Some aspects of its sound signature have already been described above, so I’ll try to focus more on the things that sets the R02 apart from other earphones of similar caliber.
First of all, the Vsonic is highly sensitive. It’s designed to be driven by portable headphone outs, even the rather weak ones. It’s easily driven to deafening levels with my ipod and ipod shuffle. Extra amping doesn’t seem to improve the sound quality in any noticeable way. But it’s also sensitive enough to pick up the slightest noise if you don’t have a clean source. With ipod and other modern mp3 players, this is not much of a problem. For portable cd players like the Panasonic SL-CT570, the occasional whining caused by spinning disks is a little bit annoying, and personally I’d use a portable amp from the lineout just to get rid of the noise.
Secondly, it’ll probably come as a surprise for some of you that this phone, although marketed as an in-ear monitor, is not very good at blocking outside noise. With the music on, I could still hear my wife talking and the heater whining. I’d say the noise reduction is probably around 7 to 10 db if not less. This is based on the silicon tips. Nankai told me that there would be foam tips available for the R02 soon, and they’re expected to be better in terms of noise reduction. As a related point, I don’t find the cord to be very microphonic with the shirt clip on, also wiring it around the ears helps to alleviate the problem a little bit.
Thirdly, the sound. To put it simply, this is a very enjoyable phone. Overally the sound is warm across the frequencies.
Bass: It would be perfect if the bass is deeper but the low end is quite nice with no lack of power as it is. The midbass is especially well presented in some Jazz pieces.
Mid range: As I said earlier, if you push the phone too deep, the midrange is going to be colored and somewhat muffled. However with an easy and not too deep fit, its midrange is nothing like any other phones I’ve listened to. I’d characterize it as full-bodied with a velvet like texture, for the lack of proper words to describe. The er4p/4s are a lot more accurate in this department, and the hd600 has a much more grandeur presentation, but for the price you pay, there’s really nothing to complain about. It’s a different kind of flavor, the one you know is not the best but very enjoyable nonetheless. I have found that the R02 sounds particularly good with certain Baroque music, like the water music and Brandenburg concerto, possibly due to the extra richness conveyed by the midrange.
Highs: Should I say the R02 is made for female vocals? It’s very pleasing to the ears, although not as extended as in some better phones. Nothing will ever sound harsh with this phone. It’s not as dark as Shure e4c (from my short experience with it), and yet it is different from the crystal clear highs from the etys and PK1. The same vocal pieces would sound intimate and buttery smooth with the R02, while with the etys it gives you an airy and heavenly intoxicating feeling. Again the etys are probably more accurate and more extended, but the R02 is quite sweet and pleasing too.
Soundstage: That’s the one thing you indeed get what you paid for. With better phones you have very accurate positioning of every instrument and singer, and the soundstage is out of your head. With the R02, it’s very much like the etys with the in-the-head feeling. The separation is not laser-sharp as you’d expect from high-end IEM. You could still pick out every source of sound, but the image is more blurred than the etys. Of course I’m being a little bit over-critical here. The point is that the soundstage is pretty much what you’d expect from a $40 phone, not particularly good and definitely not bad at all.
Detail: It’s not an ultra-detailed phone. The detail is always there, you just need to listen extra-carefully to appreciate it, as it’s not that in-your-face and conspicuous. The whole thing is much like an impressionism painting, with all the pieces blended together nicely to become an ear-pleasing picture.
So, at the end of the day, is it a giant-killer phone or not? That’s a million dollar question that I’m not able to answer here. Throughout the review I used the etymotics er4 for the comparison. It’s mainly because the ety is the only other in-ear phone I have, and because their similar freq. response is what prompted me to try this phone in the first place. Is it as good as the ety at only a fraction of its price? I can’t really say as they’re so different. One is perhaps the ultimate example of clean and accurate sound, the other is polite, warm and smooth. In terms of hi-fidelity, the ety definitely wins hands down, but sometimes the lesser R02 could be equally enjoyable. When compared to other phones of the same price range, without a doubt the Vsonic R02 has set a new standard for the budget earphones in terms of sound quality. For a lot of phones under $50, the biggest problem is perhaps the overly bright high and muddy bass. The Vsonic is relatively free of this problem, and for that alone it is worth the money for me. Did I tell you I’m going to buy another R02 as soon as this one is off to the next guy?
Coming from a pair of ER4p that are now slowly breaking down due to extensive uses, I was in the market for an in-ear phone that offers similar clarity to the etys, preferably with a warmer signature. Naturally I was looking to the Shures. The only problem is, I don’t really want to spend more than a new er4p as I’m also trying to spread my limited audio budget to speakers and such. I was a little disappointed with the E4c when I finally got to listen to it at a mini meet. The high seems to be a bit too recessed for my taste and the overall sound quality doesn’t really justify the extra investment. Then I came across the Vsonic promotion from Nankai. The thing that caught my attention is this frequency response graph that compares the R02 with er4p:
Looks like a close match isn’t it? I was aware that freq. response curves do not tell the whole story, so I decided to sign up for the trial to see what the deal is about this mystic phone.
Here comes the phone
So I got a package last Friday from New York and here it was, the R02 from Vsonic(sorry about the bad picture):
The packaging is actually pretty nice for a phone that retails for less than $40 (according to Nankai). Three pairs of ear tips were included. The small and medium sized tips are single-flanged, the large tips are double-flanged. A shirt clip helps to reduce the microphonic effect. There’s even a leather carrying bag in the box, if you ever need one. The phone itself was nicely tucked inside the box. White cable, white phone, looks pretty neat together with an ipod shuffle (and that’s a point we’re going to come back later). Makes you think why they didn’t market it as the iVsonic.
What the heck (but bear with me…)
So I was expecting something that sounds similar to the er4p, if not as good as the ety. And being used to the way to wear an er4p, I took out the R02 and inserted it as deep as I could into my ears. Connected it to the ipod, and played some music. A few minutes later I was like: “what the heck? This is no ety clone, this is soooooo un-ety!” The rumbling bass was so overpowering that even the mids were noticeably colored by it. Andrea bocelli sounded like having a nasal congestion, and Ace of Base was like being played from a over EQed boombox. The only thing that stands out is the high. It’s buttery smooth and very very sweet, not the clear-cut crystal-like kind of high from the ety, but very pleasing to the ear. Still with the overpowered bass and clouded mids, there’s no way I would buy this phone. Something is definitely wrong….
I was confused and baffled, so was Nankai when we discussed it on the phone as my impression was totally different from his and all the fan reviews from China. At first I thought it might just be one of those personal taste thing, then one day when I was sitting in front of my computer reading others’ reviews on the R02, it suddenly all came to me-
The real R02
The reason we insert the etys deep into the ear is to get the best bass response, but to take some weight off the bass, why not do the opposite? So I took out the R02 and refitted it in my ears. This time I put it in as I would normally do for the earbuds-just deep enough to have it properly stay in my ears. And surprise! It’s now a much much more balanced phone. The mids are much more natural and no longer sound muffled or veiled. The beautiful highs are now even more present. And the lower end is now much better controlled, and mostly importantly, listenable.
Finally, the review
So now with the fitting problem addressed, I’m finally ready to give my first headfi review for the Vsonic R02. Some aspects of its sound signature have already been described above, so I’ll try to focus more on the things that sets the R02 apart from other earphones of similar caliber.
First of all, the Vsonic is highly sensitive. It’s designed to be driven by portable headphone outs, even the rather weak ones. It’s easily driven to deafening levels with my ipod and ipod shuffle. Extra amping doesn’t seem to improve the sound quality in any noticeable way. But it’s also sensitive enough to pick up the slightest noise if you don’t have a clean source. With ipod and other modern mp3 players, this is not much of a problem. For portable cd players like the Panasonic SL-CT570, the occasional whining caused by spinning disks is a little bit annoying, and personally I’d use a portable amp from the lineout just to get rid of the noise.
Secondly, it’ll probably come as a surprise for some of you that this phone, although marketed as an in-ear monitor, is not very good at blocking outside noise. With the music on, I could still hear my wife talking and the heater whining. I’d say the noise reduction is probably around 7 to 10 db if not less. This is based on the silicon tips. Nankai told me that there would be foam tips available for the R02 soon, and they’re expected to be better in terms of noise reduction. As a related point, I don’t find the cord to be very microphonic with the shirt clip on, also wiring it around the ears helps to alleviate the problem a little bit.
Thirdly, the sound. To put it simply, this is a very enjoyable phone. Overally the sound is warm across the frequencies.
Bass: It would be perfect if the bass is deeper but the low end is quite nice with no lack of power as it is. The midbass is especially well presented in some Jazz pieces.
Mid range: As I said earlier, if you push the phone too deep, the midrange is going to be colored and somewhat muffled. However with an easy and not too deep fit, its midrange is nothing like any other phones I’ve listened to. I’d characterize it as full-bodied with a velvet like texture, for the lack of proper words to describe. The er4p/4s are a lot more accurate in this department, and the hd600 has a much more grandeur presentation, but for the price you pay, there’s really nothing to complain about. It’s a different kind of flavor, the one you know is not the best but very enjoyable nonetheless. I have found that the R02 sounds particularly good with certain Baroque music, like the water music and Brandenburg concerto, possibly due to the extra richness conveyed by the midrange.
Highs: Should I say the R02 is made for female vocals? It’s very pleasing to the ears, although not as extended as in some better phones. Nothing will ever sound harsh with this phone. It’s not as dark as Shure e4c (from my short experience with it), and yet it is different from the crystal clear highs from the etys and PK1. The same vocal pieces would sound intimate and buttery smooth with the R02, while with the etys it gives you an airy and heavenly intoxicating feeling. Again the etys are probably more accurate and more extended, but the R02 is quite sweet and pleasing too.
Soundstage: That’s the one thing you indeed get what you paid for. With better phones you have very accurate positioning of every instrument and singer, and the soundstage is out of your head. With the R02, it’s very much like the etys with the in-the-head feeling. The separation is not laser-sharp as you’d expect from high-end IEM. You could still pick out every source of sound, but the image is more blurred than the etys. Of course I’m being a little bit over-critical here. The point is that the soundstage is pretty much what you’d expect from a $40 phone, not particularly good and definitely not bad at all.
Detail: It’s not an ultra-detailed phone. The detail is always there, you just need to listen extra-carefully to appreciate it, as it’s not that in-your-face and conspicuous. The whole thing is much like an impressionism painting, with all the pieces blended together nicely to become an ear-pleasing picture.
So, at the end of the day, is it a giant-killer phone or not? That’s a million dollar question that I’m not able to answer here. Throughout the review I used the etymotics er4 for the comparison. It’s mainly because the ety is the only other in-ear phone I have, and because their similar freq. response is what prompted me to try this phone in the first place. Is it as good as the ety at only a fraction of its price? I can’t really say as they’re so different. One is perhaps the ultimate example of clean and accurate sound, the other is polite, warm and smooth. In terms of hi-fidelity, the ety definitely wins hands down, but sometimes the lesser R02 could be equally enjoyable. When compared to other phones of the same price range, without a doubt the Vsonic R02 has set a new standard for the budget earphones in terms of sound quality. For a lot of phones under $50, the biggest problem is perhaps the overly bright high and muddy bass. The Vsonic is relatively free of this problem, and for that alone it is worth the money for me. Did I tell you I’m going to buy another R02 as soon as this one is off to the next guy?
