V-moda Vibe Headphones: Inner pieces

Just how much is Crave prepared to spend on getting the best sound from our iPods (or Zunes for that matter)? Plenty of headphone manufacturers tout phrases like 'noise cancelling', or 'enhanced bass', but when the V-moda Vibe Headphones appeared, they arrived with some outstanding jargon: 'low structure-borne sound sensitivity' takes things to a whole new level...

When we got them out of the box it was nice to see the fancy design lived up to the high-falutin' talk. The construction is spot on -- an all-metal alloy affair that oozes quality. Supplied with three different silicon rubber fittings, the Vibe headphones go a little way into the ear -- but not as deep as some headphones (some of the Shureofferings go so deep it makes you worry about dislodging something important near the brain). Once fitted correctly the Vibe's feel quite comfortable, but do they sound any good?

We used a trusty iPod for the test, with some high bitrate MP3s. It wasn't entirely clear that the design 'eliminated all standing waves inside the headphone capsule', but we certainly couldn't swear otherwise. We could tell that the bass delivery was great -- very controlled and tight -- however the mid-range notes seemed a little muffled when compared to the standard Apple supplied headphones. Vocals sounded very natural and we thought these phones really brought the music to life.

Crave liked the overall sound quality, and they're certainly a big step up from the standard headphones supplied with most MP3 players. Then again, they should sound special -- the V-moda Vibe headphones will set you back the equivalent of around £55, including international shipping.

The Vibes are available in a variety of colour finishes, and come supplied with a gold leather storage pouch and a modawrap, which is a posh word for a plastic thing to wrap your excess cable around. -DC 

Update: We now have a review of the V-moda Vibe headphones live in our Reviews channel.