In ear monitors – even though I’ve a background in stage & live audio – still makes me think of a screen in my ears. However Ultimate Ears (a Logitech brand) promote their Super.fi 5vi earphones as in-ear-monitors. (A monitor for those not in the know is usually the speaker facing back to the singers on stage – or that ear piece in a singers ear – allowing them to hear themselves and the music mix).

Ultimate Ears are well known and highly respected name in the audio & music industry with a huge range of in ear monitors for singers, musicians and audio engineers. With a list of clients that reads like a who’s who of singers, they have a lot to live up to. I’m expecting great things from these.

The Ultimate Ears super.fi 5vi

The 5vi may not be the ultimate top of the line in Ultimate Ears range, but above this you start getting into their custom drivers. These however are some serious earphones and at US$270 (on Amazon) they are not cheap.

Back of box

The 5vi come with a great collection of accessories, from a nifty little plastic carry case, to a range of different tips and some Comply foam tips.

I do have to admit that I quite like the packaging, while not as pedantic as that of the q-JAYS, it has still be well thought out, and everything has its place.

Size comparison

When it comes to size, the 5vi are a similar size overall to the iPhone earbuds, maybe slightly smaller & of a similar weight. One very cool design element of these is that the right hand earbud has a translucent red case, while the other has a deep black. This makes it a no-brainer when picking them up to put them in your ears. Red for right – it’s one of those “Doh what a great thing” ideas.

Using the earphones

The design of the 5vi’s is more angular than many however I didn’t find this any more uncomfortable than others. The shape does give you the ability to easily remove them from your ears as there is an good amount of plastic to grab hold of.

I did try these out with their silicon tips and while I found them to be suitable I quickly moved to the Comply Foam tips and haven’t looked back. The silicon tips require you to muck around sorting out which is the best fit & if you don’t get the right one you won’t get a good seal, meaning you don’t get the best sound. The Comply Foam tips simply crush between your fingers and slide into place – then expand to fill your ear canal.

Ultimate Ears do recommend that you wear these with the cord running up and over your ears, rather than down the front – however I think that’s just silly with these as that puts the iPhone Mic miles away from your mouth – rendering it useless.

This does mean you will get some microphonic noise through the cables. One issue I found with these is the microphonic noise can be passed through to the iPhone Mic too, resulting in extra low level noise when using it.

I do love the fact that these have a call handing button – but unlike Apple’s own, it’s further down the cord leaving you to have to look and find it.

The Sound

When you first put these earphones in and pop on some music, you’ll soon realise why these are more expensive than your iPhone ear buds. The audio range of these in ear monitors is great allowing you to quickly pick out new sounds with in your old music. Once again I found the music of POD and Kutless bursting to life, allowing me to not only hear but feel the textures of the music. I love to close my eyes and let my mind shape images based on the music. You can see the drum stick hitting the drum head, the fingers on the bass guitar.

I did find these 5vi’s better than the q-JAYS for this sort of heavier music with a bit more omph in the deeper music. However for your Paul Potts clasical style music the 5vi’s didn’t allow the distinctness of the very high notes.

For spoken word, they are great, again they seem to enhance the audio allowing you to hear your podcasts better. The seem to soften out the sometimes harshness of spoken word, while still giving you the general ease of listening you need when concentrating to the podcast.

I do feel that while these are very good, overall they are a little muddy in their sound – not a lot, but you do tend to notice it after a while that they are not as crisp as the q-JAYS, however the 5vi’s still have a fantastic sound.

Any issues or concerns?

I do find that the 5vi are more likely to fall out of your ears unless you do wear the cable up and over your ears. This of course then means the iPhone mic and button are now running down your back, rendering them useless. I do find myself maybe pushing them in too hard to compensate for this – which may just be aggravating the situation.

I also find that after a few hours of wearing these your ears do feel tired and I end up taking them out for a break or simply dropping one out and carrying on with just one in your ear.

They really should consider dumping their silicon tips and giving more Comply Foam tips as these seem to work so much better – but are not as easy to clean as silicon tips.

I also feel the cord is a little light for earphones of this quality and price. I was expecting something with a little more body – although I have to say I’ve never had a tangle with these, but the cord now has a nasty kink in it just above the connector from having the iPhone in my pocket during use.

Summary

The 5vi have actually become my daily use earphones – why? Because the are iPhone ready and their sound allows me to easily concentrate for long periods on my podcasts.

iPhone ready Ultimate Ear super.fi 5vi

From their gold tip, to the effective “red = right” design, it’s evident the team at Ultimate Ears have thought a lot about these earphones.

Overall they are a solid contender, with a very good general sound geared (in my opinion) towards more heavy music (easy listening through heavy metal – not so great for classical). I loved these for spoken word podcasts & with the Comply Foam tips they really do drown out pretty much everything else.

Links:

• View all our review photos on flickr
• Learn more about the Super.fi 5vi at ultimateears.com
• Purchase Utlimate Ears Super.fi 5vi at Amazon.com

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