Looking more like a set of bling wheel accessories than earphones, v-Moda’s Vibe Duo earphones are stunning to look at. Crafted out of metal rather than plastic these have a solid and incredibly tactile feel to them.

v-Moda is a fashion house first and audio house second – at least this is the way I perceive their market positioning. Don’t get me wrong: they strive to create an incredible sound, but they also realise that you are going to wear these and you don’t want to be like every other iPod Touch or iPhone “white” wearing person.

v-MODA's Vibe Duo packaging

The Vibe Duo’s are the cheapest earphones we are looking at this month, and that does make it a little hard to compare them with the q-JAYS who set the bar very high right from the start. It’s reflected in everything, from the packaging to the craftsmanship. For US$99 the Vibe Duo arrived in a very plain styled box, with an interesting picture of some lips behind the earphones – I’d have though an ear a better choice – but okay.

However when you get rid of the packaging (hey it all goes in the recycling anyway), and get down to the earphones things start to pick up.

Vibe Duo & Accessories

Using the earphones

You’ll see from the pic above that the earphones come with a range of ear tips and a nice carry bag. I have to say this is the best sized bag of all that have arrived so far. The JAYS one was just far far too small, the Ultimate Ears was a good size but still felt like you were shoving your earphones in it. This v-Moda bag has plenty of space so you don’t damage your earphones.

The first thing you notice is, as I mentioned, these earphones are not plastic, they are instead metal. I have to say I was expecting them to be heavy – and they are, just not as heavy as I was expecting. The weight really isn’t that much of a factor.

The canal pipes (the part that you insert into your ear) is a lot larger than the ones found on others tested, however I still found them to be a comfortable fit.

Size comparison

As you can see, they are smaller than the iPhone’s original ear buds and yet they actually feel about the same if not slightly heavier than the originals.

The cord is not plastic – well I shouldn’t say that, what I should say is, the cord is covered in a woven fiber. This does a good job of reducing (not eliminating) the microphonic sounds that plague in ear earphones. The microphonic sound that you do get is less harsh, meaning it can more easily be drowned out.

I’ve heard some people say this woven fiber helps reduce tangling, however these were one of the only sets we tried that do actually tangle. Not as bad as the original iPhone ear buds (those just drive me nuts), but these do actually tangle.

Woven cord, plug & mic

The Vibe Duo are iPhone/iTouch ready, so they do feature an integrated mic and call management button. Of course the button mimics that of the original with double click features etc. The microphone is adequate – not great, but perfectly fine for phone calls. If you are recording audio with it, the audio will come out a bit dirty and you’ll get a fair amount of background noise.

One thing I do love about these is the 3.5mm plug. It’s gold plated, so it carries audio well, but more than that the cord exits the side rather than the back. When you have your iPhone in your pocket there is often pressure on the cord as it exits the 3.5mm jack – v-Moda’s one here exits on the side reducing any pressure on the cord – reducing chance of damage.

The sound

Sadly this is where I found the Vibe Duo’s let me down. The sound was bass heavy, to the point of sounding muddy. I found that these were actually pretty good for listening to the likes of Carrie Underwood and other easy listening sounds – not a great deal of clarity but fine for general audio. For the likes of Guns’n'Roses and POD the bass really seemed to overpower and you lost some of the subtitles of the heavy guitar and bass tracks.

Listening to classical, depended on the song. The highs were not as crisp as I’d like, and again I found the sound leaning to the muddy side.

When listening to Podcasts I did find these good at removing some of the scratchy ambiance some podcasts have, and spoken word was not too bad – given the generally middle range of spoken word.

Any issues or concerns?

I was actually expecting more from these, as they have this really incredible look to them – just so different from your typical earphones. I guess my main gripe with these is the lifeless audio they pump into your ears. The volumes there, the comfort is there, the lack of microphonic sound is there, the iPhone readiness is there – there’s just no real life to the audio.

Summary

If you listen to a lot of the typical easy listening music, you want a set of earphones that look sexy, and you like the idea of a braided cord – then these are for you. If you listen to music on a bus, train or other noisy location, then these are going to be perfectly fine for you.

However, if you fancy yourself as an audiophile, someone who likes the subtleties and nuances of their music, then sorry, keep moving.

These Vibe Duo’s are a great looking, great feeling, and average sounding set of earphones – perfect for your average joe music listener, who is willing to spend more than $50 but not willing to head up into the $200 price range.

Links

• View all our review photos on flickr
• Learn more about the Vibe Duo at vmoda.com
• Purchase Vibe Duo for the iPhone at Amazon.com

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