[Smogg]

Wow, I just have to say.... well "warn" actually... others of buying the Hippo VB headphones.
 
I bought mine brand new from Jaben, got them within a few days.  
 
I tried them on, hated them, burned them in for 10 hours, 20 hours, 30 hours, with testing at each interval, lasting for about 45 mins to an hour.
 
These headphones are absolutely terrible, please let me tell you why!
 
They are $80 but have worse (or similar) quality than most $8.00 Skullcandys
The cable is atrocious, MASSIVE amounts of microphonics, including a popping noise within the earbuds in each driver, from a displacement of air inside the dynmaic driver.
The silicone eartips are absolutely horrible as well lol.  They are sooo cheezy, and made of really crappy super-thin plastic.
 
the bass is, actually, very good with these headphones IF you can get a decent seal, and you use the open-port variable bass plate.
The bass is good, but clearly overpowers all other areas: treble, vocals, mids, and especially the highs.
 
Don't buy these. They're a freaking joke.  Terrible overall quality, super thin cable, poorly priced, especially at anything over $60.00, buy some turbines.  They're around the same price.

 

[AstroTurf]

Wow, Glad you put out this warning...

I was just about to pull the trigger on these.

Thanks again, Jim

 

[Swimsonny]

You told me you bought from eBay, that's not Jaben.

 

[bigheadhifi]

wow this is interesting,,, the VB been getting some good reviews and suddenly this came up... those physical problem such as cable, driver flex and stuff that you mentioned, I'm not gonna argue with it.. but about the sound, have you gave them some time to burn? or is it possible that it is just not your taste or something?

 

[ej8989]

maybe you're playing 128kbps mp3 files on an ipod?

 

[Swimsonny]

These really need about a 100 hours burn in and a mentioned above if your using 128 Kbps everything will sound poor. Also play around with bass plates, try 3 dots, bass calms down a lot and I found them poor with stock tips, try tip rolling!

 

[Smogg]

Okay yes I did get these through eBay, but if you check the seller's profile, (SoundCat Audio) they are an authorized re-seller of Jaben products/They sell all different types of hippos, the shrooms, vbs, I forget the others.
 
I said I bought them from Jaben because if I were to have said eBay, people would have immediately wrote-off my review as invalid.  Sorry for the confusion guys!
 
Authorized Hippo Dealer
 
Soundcat LLC
9245 Laguna Springs Drive, Suite 200
Elk Grove, CA 95758

 

[Smogg]

100 Hours of Burn in/break in time?  Good Lord Almighty, when I sent them back to SoundCat in an attempt to get a refund, they only had about 70 hours of usage at that time, so you think they needed another thirty to sound crystal?   To your defense, that's a good point, and maybe I should have waited another couple of days to let them burn in.
 
All my music is FLAC or WAV, everything is above 320kbps
 
The bass plate with two dots was my favorite. Three dots has almost no bass (compared to the open port) 
 
I just want other people to know how flimsy these are though, the eartips are the worst I've ever seen, and the cable acts as dental floss (in case you ever run out)
 
Everything about these headphones jsut feels cheezy, EXCEPT the hard carrying case, which is very nice.  Clamshell with a zipper, cloth but hard exterior shell.

 

[Smogg]

I bought some Klipsch S4's used off eBay for $21.00 USD, and the sound quality difference between the two was night-and-day.
 
Some examples were:  (All FLAC)
Feral - Radiohead
Uprising - Muse
Scary Monsters - Skrillex
Fur Elise - Beethoven
All of the Lights - KanYe West
Hell of a Life - KanYe West
Lights - Ellie Goulding

 

[Smogg]

Jim, I would just really look at buying Monster Turbines off Amazon for $4.00 USD "LESS" than the average price of Hippo VB's.  They both have similar intentions, but the turbines do it right.  And that cable/driver/casing quality difference is night-and-day between the two.

 

[zeinharis]

I don't have any problem with mine, to me this IEM is great, it had reccesed on the mid but good on the high and great on the low , it definitly had more quality than it's price

 
*just my 2 cent
 

 

[AstroTurf]

Jim, I would just really look at buying Monster Turbines off Amazon for $4.00 USD "LESS" than the average price of Hippo VB's.  They both have similar intentions, but the turbines do it right.  And that cable/driver/casing quality difference is night-and-day between the two.

Thanks for the Heads Up.

I was going to buy them based on some of the reviews.

Your post snapped me back into reality.

Back to my Etys, Jim

 

[Swimsonny]

70 and 100 hour difference is not night and day, very subtle. Tip differences is larger but these have amazing bass, clear but slightly pushed back mids and great energetic highs, not bad at all!

 

[H20Fidelity]

Okay yes I did get these through eBay, but if you check the seller's profile, (SoundCat Audio) they are an authorized re-seller of Jaben products/They sell all different types of hippos, the shrooms, vbs, I forget the others.

I said I bought them from Jaben because if I were to have said eBay, people would have immediately wrote-off my review as invalid.  Sorry for the confusion guys!

Authorized Hippo Dealer

Soundcat LLC
9245 Laguna Springs Drive, Suite 200
Elk Grove, CA 95758

So what else have you "just said" in your OP to make your post appear "valid"

Smogg, I'm going to say it how I see it straight up.

You came here asking for the most bass possible from an IEM, you asked myself, Swimsonny for our advice also via PM. You created more than one thread asking the same question "I want brain crushing bass" I specifically told you if you wanted maximum sub-bass go for VB as long as you were willing to sacrifice some sonic quality's. I also told you if you wanted less bass with better SQ to go for Turbines, we were under the assumption from your threads you wanted as much bass as possible So we delivered.

Therfore recommended VB as an option. What were you expecting? Crystal clear mids and highs and no bass bleed presentation in these amounts for $79?? I also think you're highly blowing them out of proportion because you weren't happy with them personally. Even ljokerl rates them 7.7 / 10 and there's a huge appreciation thread for VB at anythingbutipod for anyone who wants more impressions.


Here's what Smogg asked for guy's

One of his many threads: http://www.head-fi.org/t/617535/what-would-ironman-do

And his PM between myself.




The way I see it all we did was advice you, no one forced you into buying these only yourself. Now, because you personally aren't happy with them feel you must come here to get it off your chest. I never had any problems with the build, cable, SQ I felt excelled $79 worth for the amount of bass they produce. What you need to understand is bass in these amount comes with bleeding into other areas. I actually disliked the cheapish $3 clam case. Sure...up against a Turbine housing they look pretty basic though I enjoyed mine and kept the tips due to how rare they are.

I think you might be a little upset so VB are copping a bit more flac than they deserve here. It's a real alarm bell you find them horrible in almost "every area" possible.

 

[tegR]

Sadly, i agree with some of what you say. I've had tons of listening time with these and gradually using them less and less.
 
With mine i have one side pumping more bass than the other, easily noticeable and pretty annoying. I know there are lots out there with this very same issue so i'm pretty sure it's not me.
 
Cable is horrible, never liked these rubbery cables that cling onto anything they can and totally agree with microphonics. There is a chin slider however, for those that use them which does help but that won't stop it clinging onto your shirt and stuff.
I have the same problem with the 1xb cable too which is even more rubbery and imo, the worst ever made, but somehow the microphonics on them isn't as bad as it is on these.
 
Can't stand full on bass port, sounds like ass tbh and the bass does over power everything... YES, like Smogg said, everything! Sounds muddy as hell. Probably better off playing with eq on 2/3 port for more bass.
 
Love 2 dots port though. The mids were a little more recessed than i expected, but i guess you've got to trade something for that bass, right?
Not a fan of forward mids any way so down to personal preference i guess.
Haven't tried 3 dots and don't plan to, not why i bought 'em.
 
That deep rumble is the only reason any one would ever want these and for that alone "i" think they are worth it.