[Kurashima]

I'm sorry if there's too many threads about the much hyped Vibes, but I have some questions about these, specifically in comparison to the Bose IEs.

(start reading past the double lines unless you want to read my rant)

I've been perfectly content with my stay-at-home headphones for a long time now (A900s), but I've never quite found what I needed in terms of portable headphones. There's always something wrong with them, usually in terms of the sound balance.

I have the sony EX90, and it's too thin sounding. Apple In-Ears (with sony tips to make them usable) have good balance, but too much microphonics and a really claustrophobic sound. The Bose IEs I picked up a while ago were great, save for two features: usability (the tips can and do fall off and get lost while I'm not using them and wearing them around my neck) and sound balance (while the sound quality's great, the highs are too recessed and way too mellow for rock music. I love rock!)

There's always some kind of problem with almost all portable headphones, except one: The Sennheiser MX400. I've found the balance to be absolutely perfect with this for all music. The only problem is, the bass isn't very big (typical for a lower-end earbud), and it doesn't isolate. I don't need much isolation, or the most perfect sound quality. All I want is good balance, with decent bass that has some impact, and at least a little isolation.

For me, a perfect portable headphone is a shallow canal phone with some (not necessarily much) isolation and no microphonics, that has decent sound quality and a good bass with some extension, and a good balance between highs, mids, and lows. So many headphones have come close, lacking only one or two small details.

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Here's where the Vibes come in and my actual question starts:
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People have been talking a lot about the Vibes, but I have not found some answers to several questions:

1) How are the highs? People say they're recessed, but how much (as in, is rock music still exciting to listen to?) I found the Bose IEs to be very rich in sound quality except for their quite recessed highs, which makes them too mellow for rock music.

2) How balanced are they overall? I'd like a headphone that you can listen to all kinds of music with.

3) How good are they for indie/relatively poorly recorded music? Some headphones sound great and bring out a good sound even from music that isn't perfectly recorded while others just sound very flat.

I ask because I've spent way too much money trying to find a portable phone that satisfies me but to no avail, and I don't want to waste even more.

Other than that, I welcome all comparisons between the Vibes and the Bose IEs, both because they really seem to be competing with each other for the same type of market, and the comparisons between them as of now are incredibly meager.

 

[The_X]

I think you'll enjoy the vibes. They are perfect for rock music and have hardly any microphonics. I have the black version with the rubbery cable, apparently the white ones have a slightly different cable material. Here are my best answers to your questions, but I'm not the most experienced head-fier.

1.) The highs sound good but are definitely recessed a bit. They will never be as clear or piercing as my Etymotics but for rock music, they sound just fine. I can't stress enough that the Vibes are great for rock, better than any other earphone that I've listened to (my experience is admittedly not that diverse).

2.) Classical and Jazz sound boring and muffled thanks to the prominent bass and recessed highs. Don't use the Vibes for critical listening or you'll be disappointed. They definitely lean towards the pop/rock/rap/club/etc spectrum.

3.) They are pretty forgiving headphones especially given their high performance. I don't have any problem listening to my crappy Mountain Goats or live U2 recordings.

So yeah... after reading what you wrote I think you'd like the Vibes a lot. They're decently balanced and detailed though I've been spoiled by Etymotics. The bass is terrific. Slightly on the flabby side but really good for earbuds.

 

[LaBreaHead]

For easy-to-use canal phones, money well spent. I've now convinced two friends to upgrade from Sony and Creative canal phones to the Vibes -- one set is listened to for hours a day, the other is still in transit and eagerly awaited. I'm considering a pair for myself, but I have way too many, as it is (I know, I know -- this is Head-Fi,after all).

These are not highly detailed like my Etymotics, but they are by no means mellow. To avoid thin sound with any canal phone, use larger tips than you might first think would be necessary -- the soft tips flex and should fit snugly but gently in the ear. Microphonics less an issue than with the Creatives and Etymotics (get a right-angle headphone adapter, by the way, for peace of mind in reducing stress on the earphone cord). Isolation is minimal, due to the "open" sound (see the "port hole" in the stem) -- but virtually no sound leakage outward.

The overall value is excellent in terms of versatility everywhere except airplanes and maybe noisy subways. A really fun earphone without the boominess sometimes associated with "fun" sound.

 

[Kurashima]

Thanks for the advice (though it still doesn't seem many people have owned both the Bose and Vibes in order to be able to compare them.) I've ordered them from V-Moda's website so I have a thirty-day trial period (that's always nice.) I'll post some impressions here, or in another thread about them that'll be currently active.