[jinp6301]

flavor of the month

a little while ago was the vibes
and before that was the AKG k701

 

[JES]

I thought it was Fad of the Moment ... same thing I guess ... thanks

 

[Drover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds like you're another person for whom the original tips are not working as well as they might. It seems that we're a minority but not statistically insignificant. Get these and convert them to biflanges. the bass should tighten right up.

I don't suppose there are any retail outlets that might carry these things, or am I stuck ordering them online or getting them on eBay?

 

[tnmike1]

I own both Ety 4p and the Vibes. Ety's, I find, get really jammed inside the ear canal--waaay deep. I keep my Vibes sorta "perched" on the peripheral on the inside of my ears. In other words, not jammed tightly inside--which will also mean the screens don't get cruddy.

Now with all that said, I'm not getting a seal with them like I am the Etys, but I don't want to. IF I want a perfect seal, I use the Etys, like at the gym, gardening, etc. IF I just want a casual, open-type of seal, I'd go to the Vibes.

Others may disagree, but I like the loose fit of the Vibes sometimes over the sealed-off fit of the Etys. Just depends on mood

But weren't you sent a bunch of tips to try with the Vibes> Mess with them and see if any of them work. Also some may recommed Comfys, Shure tipsm, etc. and you may hve to spend another $15 or so bucks experimenting

 

[HiFlight]

I also found it difficult to get a satisfactory seal with the tips that came with my vmodas, but I stretched a triflange from my Etys to fit over the grooved end of the vmoda, and now get a very good seal, and a resultant good sound.

It takes a bit of work to get the Ety tip on, but once in place, the groove holds it tightly and I have yet to have one come off. With these tips, the vmodas are almost invisible in the ear. They don't hang out nearly as far as the my Etys.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drover /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't suppose there are any retail outlets that might carry these things, or am I stuck ordering them online or getting them on eBay?

I only know of the eBay link that I provided. (They're not really packaged and branded goods so I doubt that you can get them in a store.)

 

[Drover]

OK, so what I'm reading from the input is that the Vibes perform as well as one should reasonably expect of IEMs, and certainly quite well for IEMs in its particular price segment. Anyone care to expound on my comparison to Koss Pro35A over-ear phones, and how the high-bass/low-midrange seems much cleaner and the whole bass range seems to have more "punch" on the Koss phones? Again, is this just because the Koss drivers are much larger and therefore can reproduce lower frequency ranges more accurately?

Once the (IMO) overdriven high bass/low midrange is corrected with the right EQ settings, the Vibes really do sound quite good. I'm just not convinced they sound $100 worth of good, especially when stacked up against my $30 Koss/Radio Shack over-ears. Maybe IEMs aren't for me??

 

[erlik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drover /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK, so what I'm reading from the input is that the Vibes perform as well as one should reasonably expect of IEMs, and certainly quite well for IEMs in its particular price segment. Anyone care to expound on my comparison to Koss Pro35A over-ear phones, and how the high-bass/low-midrange seems much cleaner and the whole bass range seems to have more "punch" on the Koss phones? Again, is this just because the Koss drivers are much larger and therefore can reproduce lower frequency ranges more accurately? Once the (IMO) overdriven high bass/low midrange is corrected with the right EQ settings, the Vibes really do sound quite good. I'm just not convinced they sound $100 worth of good, especially when stacked up against my $30 Koss/Radio Shack over-ears. Maybe IEMs aren't for me??

A few points to answer your remark:

First the Koss you mention is most probably based on Koss's famous 60 ohms drivers and these are themselves very good value for money.

Second as you say yourself these are IEMs designed to produce the best sound possible in a very small package. You can get better sound for your money with a headphone with a bigger driver such your Koss or with a senn PX100, however these are not as portable as the Vibes.

Third the vibes are made to have a "not flat" frequency response by design in order to deliver a "fun" sound, which may or may not suit your own preferences. Altrough I personally like it with most of my music it may not sound well on your own music or be to your tastes. That's always a problem with headphones that have a "designed" sound: your idea of great sound may not be the same as the designer's (nor the same as the fanboy base).

Compared to earbuds and other IEMs they have good value for money (better sound than most earbuds, cheaper than most IEMs) but of course that's only true if you like their sound signature. Compared to bigger headphones the SQ/price ratio isn't that good.

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I own both Ety 4p and the Vibes. Ety's, I find, get really jammed inside the ear canal--waaay deep. I keep my Vibes sorta "perched" on the peripheral on the inside of my ears. In other words, not jammed tightly inside--which will also mean the screens don't get cruddy. Now with all that said, I'm not getting a seal with them like I am the Etys, but I don't want to. IF I want a perfect seal, I use the Etys, like at the gym, gardening, etc. IF I just want a casual, open-type of seal, I'd go to the Vibes. Others may disagree, but I like the loose fit of the Vibes sometimes over the sealed-off fit of the Etys. Just depends on mood But weren't you sent a bunch of tips to try with the Vibes> Mess with them and see if any of them work. Also some may recommed Comfys, Shure tipsm, etc. and you may hve to spend another $15 or so bucks experimenting

Same exact situation here. Own both ER4Ps (with the S cable) and Vibes. Use the latter when I want to "hear" around me (streets of the city, playing poker), but the Etys when I want total sound seal (trains, planes, whatever). They are very different products, but I like them both, and use EQ on both as well. They have become my two "go to" in-ear headphones (though I just ordered a pair of Yuin PK2s as well, at the $49 Chinese New Year special price. Damn you, Head-fi!). Oh, you can get the ER4Ps at Amazon for around $160, not much more than the Vibes.

 

[BrotherMovesOn]

Hi Drover,

Possibly you were expecting a little too much from the vibes which I think is easy to do when you make a purchase based solely on recommendations. I did the same with the Shure e3c. They sound just as they've been described by many on this forum, but at first, I still found myself disappointed in their treble.

However I don't think the vibes have been overhyped as people are beginning to suggest. I brought a pair based on all the positive comments in the 20+ page review thread. The main selling points I took away from the comments there were that the vibes sounded musical and open, they had good bass response, and are very good value for the money.

When I first listened to them, my reaction was 'Yes!' I felt that nothing was lacking as I did with the shures or the etymotic er-6 I had before that. To my ears, the bass, midrange, and treble are all well represented and they pretty much fit the description people have been giving them.

Besides having had the shures and etymotics, I also have the koss portapros which I think are similar to the koss headphones you mentioned and senheisser hd555, just so you know where I'm coming from can-wise.

All of this is just a long-winded way of saying that, as erlik suggested, maybe their sound is just wrong for you. I don't think they've been overhyped though. My 2 cents.

I would suggest the altec lansing im716 as an alternative, but I'm not sure if they would deliver the punch you crave. Good luck finding the right ones.

 

[kin0kin]

I havent heard of the Vibes but I can personally vouch for the im716 being one of the best-bang-for-the-bucks IEM ever made. My limited experience with IEM is that there is always a trade off between bass and treble. Having said that, you either get lots of bass with little treble, or lots of treble with little bass. The im716 on the other hand has an equally fair amount of bass and treble that I do not find there's something missing in my music. There have been cases where people complain that the 716 is still bass deficient. I'd personally investigate on the phone and sound preference of these people as I have found that the im716 has sufficient bass at HD mode, and overly exegerrated bass in bass mode.

 

[_M2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I havent heard of the Vibes but I can personally vouch for the im716 being one of the best-bang-for-the-bucks IEM ever made. My limited experience with IEM is that there is always a trade off between bass and treble. Having said that, you either get lots of bass with little treble, or lots of treble with little bass. The im716 on the other hand has an equally fair amount of bass and treble that I do not find there's something missing in my music. There have been cases where people complain that the 716 is still bass deficient. I'd personally investigate on the phone and sound preference of these people as I have found that the im716 has sufficient bass at HD mode, and overly exegerrated bass in bass mode.

Yes your comments are good, but you have to see what type of music you are playing through. I have listened to them and for Rap/techno/trance, the bass impact is only a meager quantity, not significant i would call enough; quite similar to earbuds' bass. Although it is crystal candy clear, its just not filling like a steak, and im716 is only suited for rock classical etc.

NOW back to the main Discussion

 

[BrotherMovesOn]

The one thing I forgot to ask is, what are you using for your source?

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I havent heard of the Vibes but I can personally vouch for the im716 being one of the best-bang-for-the-bucks IEM ever made. My limited experience with IEM is that there is always a trade off between bass and treble. Having said that, you either get lots of bass with little treble, or lots of treble with little bass. The im716 on the other hand has an equally fair amount of bass and treble that I do not find there's something missing in my music. There have been cases where people complain that the 716 is still bass deficient. I'd personally investigate on the phone and sound preference of these people as I have found that the im716 has sufficient bass at HD mode, and overly exegerrated bass in bass mode.

yup the altecs are a terrific buy, even at the full retail price. to my ears the im716 are in a completely different league than the vibes. keep in mind i prefer a more neutral sound, something the vibes don't claim to deliver. obviously ymmv.