[penguindude]

Have you tried amping these babies? Last night I had nothing to do and took out the recently-bashed V-moda vibes and plugged them in to my Headfive. Man, was i shocked at the improved sound quality. Highs and upper mids were drastically improved. While retaining the overall signature a bit towards the warm side, i feel the frequency scale became much more equally representative. Listening to the female vocals, although i still feel there is a slight dip in the upper-mids, the overall upper-mids to treble has definitely become more apparent. My advice, try plugging them into your rig and see if you can hear a difference!

 

[warrior05]

When I had mine, I plugged them into my Hornet that is mated with my iMod and I agree, they responded quite favorably.

 

[stereophile]

I like the Vibes sound a lot.

My problem is with the poor build quality in the cabling, especially around the plug. Way too many failures, including mine after 6 weeks. Lost connection at the plug on both channels. To compound matters, the company won't acknowledge a problem with the cable design. That all metal plug almost seems designed to cut the connection over time.

There aren't THAT many members on this board with Vibes, and I've read at least 10 different accounts of cable failures...
I don't think all those users are abusing the Vibes, or that its a coincidence.

 

[RasmusseN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stereophile /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like the Vibes sound a lot. My problem is with the poor build quality in the cabling, especially around the plug. Way too many failures, including mine after 6 weeks. Lost connection at the plug on both channels. To compound matters, the company won't acknowledge a problem with the cable design. That all metal plug almost seems designed to cut the connection over time. There aren't THAT many members on this board with Vibes, and I've read at least 10 different accounts of cable failures... I don't think all those users are abusing the Vibes, or that its a coincidence.

try out the JBL 220's a few with both have considered them better than the vibes.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Yea, I noticed an improvement using the Hornet with the Vibes. Not really sure where all the Vibe hatred is coming from of late, either, but I stopped commenting on these headphones anyway. You ever want to get bombarded with flames, profess that the bass response on a Vibe is decently extended, and nice and punchy.

 

[_M2]

Its good, but not $101usd+tax good and if you really want to spend money, you can save that money and spend it somewhere better

 

[stereophile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by _M2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Its good, but not $101usd+tax good and if you really want to spend money, you can save that money and spend it somewhere better

I've seen the Vibes on sale for as low as $59 lately. Just to balance my comment above: I think if they fix the plug design problem, and ~$60 becomes the new price point, the Vibes would be one of the best IEM's available for $60. SQ of the Vibes is hard to match at that price. JBL 220s would be the main contenders IMHO.

I have both Vibes and JBL 220s. Both have their advantages, but at this point in time the JBLs rule IMO because of superior build quality of cable, not to mention they come with ~$25 worth of airplane adapters, nice carrying case that will fit many mp3 players, etc.

 

[Superpredator]

Yeah, with the iMod / Tomahawk the Vibes really didn't sound bad at, just not enough isolation for me. I'm a little surprised at the hatred, but I didn't love them so I haven't really seen fit to jump in and defend them. I paid something like $65 for them, so maybe this goes some way towards my non-hatred.

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superpredator /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, with the iMod / Tomahawk the Vibes really didn't sound bad at, just not enough isolation for me. I'm a little surprised at the hatred, but I didn't love them so I haven't really seen fit to jump in and defend them. I paid something like $65 for them, so maybe this goes some way towards my non-hatred.

Yea, if they're priced at $60, i think that would be more suitable. But then again, all entry-level IEMs should have their prices lowered.

 

[uraflit]

if they fixed the plug and possibly made it into an right angle plug... i'll possibly consider buying them =]

 

[Mico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguindude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yea, if they're priced at $60, i think that would be more suitable. But then again, all entry-level IEMs should have their prices lowered.

agree~
that would attract more "beginners" into the iem world~

 

[souperman]

yes i have tried them with an amp and they were still as bad as i thought they were. plus you shouldn't have to amp these portable headphones anyways

. they just aren't for everyone. especially me.

 

[lui_boy]

I bought the Vibe about 2 months ago and it came brand new with the left ear piece housing detached. It seemed like it wasn't glued properly from the factory so, I used glue and tape to hold it together myself. I was told by a member here to return it, so I did. I shipped it back to them a week ago under warranty and they've shipped me a new pair which I received today. That was fast! However, I wanted the new one in Chrome, but instead they shipped me the same Gunmetal Black I had before. Oh well, I guess that's how warranties work. But it sucked that I had to pay shipping to them, so the least they can do is change the color, right? So, now I have a brand new Gunmetal Chrome Vibe in box just sitting at my desk. I would have opened the box up and started using them immediately if it were the Chrome ones just because it matches my new player better.

Ok, with all is said and done, I do really like the sound of the Vibe. Oh, btw, Val did answer a PM I sent a few weeks back prior to me sending the Vibe in. He told me to ship the Vibe back in as well and said he's been very busy with things at V-Moda. I'm sure if he had the time, he'll say hi to all of you too. Hahahaha.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by souperman /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes i have tried them with an amp and they were still as bad as i thought they were. plus you shouldn't have to amp these portable headphones anyways . they just aren't for everyone. especially me.

Agreed. It was just making it louder (duh), and it was pretty much everything unamped + more oomph. Sweet, now I can listen to the "percussion" better.

 

[jamato8]

It was mentioned months ago that they sound better amped. I was listening again today to them and then switched to the 220's and there, for me, is just no comparison. I keep the 220's because I got them at a great price but they are hard on the top end and not sweet on the mids. I just don't see how they can be said to be better than the Vibes. I do wish the vibes had the gread accessories and cord of the 220's though.