Hippo VB vs Crossroads Woodie 2 vs Head-direct RE1 {REVIEW}
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:56 AM Post #16 of 31
Aaaaaah Brendon, dear Brendon (you dont know me but i know you), i've been waiting for this update for SO long but i had been poisened by dkft's review for a while already and at the end couldnt take it anymore and pulled the trigger on the VBs.
It will probably take a while until i receive them (from Singapore to France), and i hope i'm not going to be disappointed because... i DO listen to quite a lot of vocal-centric music, and seem to often enjoy engaging, warm lush sound over neutral sound. And this whole "harsh vocals" thing is scaring me.
But they still seem like the kind of versatile IEMs i think i need and i will like. Woodies might have been closer to my prefered sound sig but they are not available on jaben online store and i'm in france...

Will give feedback soon!
 
Dec 14, 2009 at 1:12 PM Post #17 of 31
Hi, they are very nice earphones TBH ONCE you have burned them in properly.

And best of all you, in addition to being VB (Variable Bass) they are also VT (Variable treble !) as stuffing a little foam into the ear canals tames the harshness and the mod is completely reversible !
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Dec 18, 2009 at 5:06 PM Post #18 of 31
Good review brendon, loved it!

@daouda....if you need a product from Jaben but do not find it in online store, you may get in touch with uncle Wilson or me.

Regards,
Moshel
 
Dec 22, 2009 at 5:25 AM Post #20 of 31
^^ They sound great with rock music with lots of instruments so I have no doubts that they will sound great with heavy metal music.

The bass on the VBs are very controlled and have good speed to keep up with the fast pace of heavy metal music.

The only place where I cant see the VBs doing to well is for vocal music.

However do note that there is some sibilance if you raise the volume so you might have to stuff some foam into the canals to tame the sibilance.
 
Mar 30, 2010 at 4:02 AM Post #23 of 31
Add me to the list of folks who got a shock after splashing out major coin based on a single review. I bought a pair of Future Sonics Atrio M8s after reading a rave review on anythingbutipod.com, and really didn't like them at all. Awful mids and highs. I just sold them this week - lost $40.
 
Apr 1, 2010 at 12:12 AM Post #25 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And what exactly does that have to do with this thread, or with resurrecting this thread from the dead?

Either way, if you hate the Atrio and like the ER-6, the phones mentioned in here are probably the wrong ones for your taste.


Hey there,

I came to this thread because I'm researching possible replacements in the $60-$150 range for the sucky Atrios. I didn't want to start a new thread, because I've seen Head-Fiers get abused for starting new threads when existing threads already deal with the topic. My comment about the Atrios was in response to two earlier comments by posters in this thread about how their initial responses to the Hippo VB differed from the impressions they gained from reading a review.

I've never heard the ER-6, but I did own a set of ER-6i, which I liked for their superb isolation and clarity but found frustrating because of the lack of bass. I enjoyed the bass of the Atrios, but the mids were muddy and recessed and the highs had a sharp peak at 4khz that gave me short-term tinnitus after every listen. They also didn't isolate well enough for me (could hear the rumble of the subway train).

Thank you for your feedback about these phones probably not suiting my taste. I was interested in the Hippo VB, FA Eterna and RE0 because they are all cheap and getting good reviews. However, none seem to meet my requirements for excellent isolation (I mostly use phones on public transport) and good clarity in the mids and highs, while still having better bass than Etymotics.

Thoughts anyone?
 
Apr 1, 2010 at 3:17 AM Post #27 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by newzild /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I should mention that after my experience with the Atrios I'm probably not suited to "coloured" phones.


If you need good isolation than probably any dynamic driver IEM is going to be a poor option. You could try one of low end westone products or the PFE, both with comply foam. Those should quite easily meet your isolation needs. Comply foam is criminally expensive, but if you soak them in peroxide to clean them off their life expectancy reaches an almost acceptable level.
 
Apr 2, 2010 at 7:09 AM Post #28 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by JxK /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If you need good isolation than probably any dynamic driver IEM is going to be a poor option. You could try one of low end westone products or the PFE, both with comply foam. Those should quite easily meet your isolation needs. Comply foam is criminally expensive, but if you soak them in peroxide to clean them off their life expectancy reaches an almost acceptable level.


Thanks for your helpful reply. I wasn't aware that it was possible to generalise about isolation in regards to dynamic drivers. I assume that this is because the larger size of the casing exposes them to more outside noise.
 
Apr 3, 2010 at 5:15 AM Post #30 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by newzild /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for your helpful reply. I wasn't aware that it was possible to generalise about isolation in regards to dynamic drivers. I assume that this is because the larger size of the casing exposes them to more outside noise.


The reason you can generalize about the isolation of dynamics vs most balanced armature IEMs is because most dynamics are ported. The port allows the driver to move more air for more natural and realistic bass, but at the cost of some isolation. Also, I think the majority of dynamic IEMs sound better with a shallow insertion (more soundstage but less isolation), while this tends not to be the case with the BAs.
 
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