IEMs to Replace Bose

[Urne]

Hi,

After using the crappy Samsung earbuds I got with my Samsung P2 for a whole year, I decided to buy something of better quality that could make up for the long weeks of work I had during that time. Of course, as new as I was to the whole market of Mp3-players as well as headphones, I ended up going for the most expensive ones I found in the local electronics store - Bose In-ear headphones.

So I've been using them since then which is approximately 2 or 3 years now. During that period they have broken 3 times but I've been quite satisfied with Bose's customer service as they sent me a new pair each time I sent in mine. Then recently I stumbled upon ABI as I was looking for a replacement to my Samsung P2, where I then have been reading about what everyone else around thinks about the Bose IEMs. So even though my latest pair of Bose is a year old now and still works just fine, I am looking for a new pair of IEMs based on your recommendations that fits well to my new Cowon J3.

Price Range: Up to $100

Type/Design: IEMs

Preferable SQ or Sound Signature: Some people describes the Bose IEMs as "high amount of bass with muddy mids & highs". Indeed they got a lot of bass, and I would definitely like that in my next pair of IEMs as well. When it comes to mids and highs, I suppose the sound being muddy is quite bad, right? I guess I have to leave this part to you, I have no experience with sound or headphones so I guess I will most likely be positively surprised no matter what.

Media: I listen mostly to Electronic & Dance/Trance/House music. To mention a few artists, I listen to Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, FM Belfast, Gorillaz, Kraftwerk, Röyksopp & Trentemoller. All my music is stored on my new Cowon J3 which I am very pleased with.

I've been looking at the Hippo VB's myself which many people seems to be satisfied with around here. But I will keep the basket empty at Uncle Wilson's until I hear anything from some of you. I've also considered TMA-1 as earcans later, but I think I will start out with IEMs before going up in that category and pricerange.

Share your thoughts with me, your help is very appreciated!

[CrowdAds]

[DragonBottles]

Hippo VB sounds perfect for your musical taste.

You might also want to consider the Panasonic RP-HJE900.

[rohit3192]

+1 above

[lestatar]

OP: Given your musical tastes, I think the VBs will be the perfect fit.

Get ready for thunderous in-your-chest bass and sub-bass, but still pretty damm fine mids and highs.

The VBs are not for everyone. But for someone with your admitted musical tastes, I think they are right up your alley.

ask ABier k_j, if he ever shows up around here

[IDvsEGO]

Vb ftw imho.



edit - gah...I wanted a post full of acronyms but I feel compelled to mention the audio eterna rev 1 that is available for preorder at Audiobase. I am holding out until osmeone else reviews because these are reproducitons of the orig loved version. I want to be sure they got it right.

http://www.gd-audiobase.com/index.ph...chk=1&Itemid=2

[Urne]

Sounds like it's pretty straight that I need the VB's then. Thanks for all replies, I will most likely place the order at unclewilson's this evening unless there are any objections. ^_^

[IDvsEGO]

i dont think you can go wrong with them. there have been some comments about hte fitment because they dont seat very deeply, but thats the case with all of the shallow fit IEMs I have ever owned. makes them more comfy though. I feel like i have to surgically implant my Klipsch S4s to get the same impact from my bass as the VBs give.

[Urne]

Order has been placed and now I'm officially living on leftovers.

[DragonBottles]

Leftovers aren't so bad.

[IDvsEGO]

Originally Posted by DragonBottles

Leftovers aren't so bad.

depends on what it was the first time around

[Urne]

Today I received the Hippo VB's - very fast delivery and especially when it's all the way from Korea! 3 days, even danish companys fails to deliver at that time when they deliver to my address.

First impression with the VBs was not good. I started out using those with 3 white dots on as I thought they provided me most bass (according to the box) and I was glad that they were very easy to change. I was not very satisfied with how the VBs sounded though and for just a moment I thought my VB's were defective as the bass was completely gone. Before going as far as sending them back I decided to test the other bass variants first though and god bless that I did so - At 2 dots they provided at least as much bass as my previous Bose and with the ones the VBs use as default it was almost overwhelming!

I might sound a bit like a basshead but that's really the only part that the Bose IEMs had a fair chance on, when it comes to sound. There is some other points where I think Bose did better, some of them listed below:

Bose IEMs vs. Hippo VBs

• Sound Quality: Hippo VBs. I don't know exactly what "highs" and brightness are, but Hippo VB does way better in these areas compared to Bose, where I had to use a weird EQ just to make them sound a little bit similar. An EQ which sounds like crap in the VBs, because they sound as headphones should.

• Cable Quality: Bose IEMs. They feel better, they look better (not so important), and though there isn't a clothes-peg I still find Bose's IEMs superior at this point. It doesn't mean they necessarily last longer though, I've already had my Bose IEMs exchanged 3 times most likely because of cable issues.

• How well they fit inside my ear: Bose IEMs. The Hippo VBs small tips is a little bit too large to my ears or at least they feel more loose and tend to fall out of the ear (not literally, just so the bass isn't noticeable anymore). The worst thing is that it takes me long time to find the right spot where the VBs sound really good, sometimes I'm fumbling around with them in 5 minutes without any luck, which is unacceptable if I for example is on my way to somewhere. Each human his ear though, I don't think it's Hippo's fault unless other people is having a bad experience too of course.

To end this post, here is some pictures of my hippo VBs in box-state.


And just a last question. Are the medium tips supposed to look so dirty considering they should be brand new? I mean, it's not an issue anymore since I dusted them off, but still, heh.

Once again, thanks for all the help guys. I haven't regret buying these!

[Brett_val]

Wow , three day delivery sounds impossible (I thought they were in Singapore though.)

It's funny that your opinion on them is so different from others, most people comment on the huge and detailed bass and feel that the highs are a bit on the background. You seem to encounter the opposite? Doesn't the bass go much deeper than Bose's, and don't you think it's also more refined?

The cable is a bit weird yeah, it's thick and sturdy but that makes me confident that it will not break easily .. I hate it when that happens.

About the tips, I also have some troubles with them, they slip out of my ears slowly, and sometimes when re-inserting I just can't get them right anymore, up to the point where I get so annoyed that I leave them out. Like you say, it's a real pain on the go.
Try some different tips, as you may know the people around here have good experiences with Sony Hybrids, which are quite cheap. I'll eventually order them from Amazon as I'm unable to find any decent tips locally.

As for the dirty tips, I take it you mean the white packing stuff that's on them? That was also on mine, but it came off easily. I was just happy to see they were packed securely.

Nice to see some more user reviews on them, thanks for that!

[danx55]

hi,
glad to hear you got your VBs so quick - i have these too but have had some issue with tip fits - im now using the sony tips which are better - think the weight of the VBs causes them to fall out easier than lighter models imo

i think the single dot bass plates are the bassier ones - ive got them in and its defo punchy

enjoy

cheers
dan

[Urne]

Originally Posted by Brett_val

It's funny that your opinion on them is so different from others, most people comment on the huge and detailed bass and feel that the highs are a bit on the background. You seem to encounter the opposite? Doesn't the bass go much deeper than Bose's, and don't you think it's also more refined?

My experience with IEMs is only ranging between 3 different pairs, and I never really got interested in sound quality before I registered here, which approximately was 3 months ago. The Bose IEMs has been my best earphones for 2-3 years, so that might explain why I was surprised by the highs and frequencies that the VBs could deliver. On the bass area I still think Bose has a chance, but it's true that the VBs provide a more exact bass somewhat - My ears are not trained, so I cannot tell much about highs, brightness, refined or deeper bass, even by comparing.

Listening to Bose's IEMs is like listening to music without EQ when you use BBE Mach3Bass, compared to the VBs. The Bose IEMs provide less bass and no clarity, which was why I was impressed at first by the "highs" and "mids" the VBs could deliver. Previously with the Bose IEMs, I used the EQ (4, -1, -2, 5 5) to compensate for that, which sounds very bad in the VBs of course.

Originally Posted by Brett_val

About the tips, I also have some troubles with them, they slip out of my ears slowly, and sometimes when re-inserting I just can't get them right anymore, up to the point where I get so annoyed that I leave them out. Like you say, it's a real pain on the go.
Try some different tips, as you may know the people around here have good experiences with Sony Hybrids, which are quite cheap. I'll eventually order them from Amazon as I'm unable to find any decent tips locally.

Originally Posted by danx55

glad to hear you got your VBs so quick - i have these too but have had some issue with tip fits - im now using the sony tips which are better - think the weight of the VBs causes them to fall out easier than lighter models imo

Thanks, I'll look into it. Right now I've got more used to the standard tips though, so much that the Bose almost seem to fall out when I try them again. The VBs are very different from what I'm used to, but they provide great noise isolation and doesn't hurt at all over longer periods - maybe because they tend to fall out from time to time?

About the dirty tips, your explanation solves it all of course. I didn't think that it was the white packing stuff itself that made all those small white particles. Thanks for the info.

[rohit3192]

There is burn-in period for Hippo VB.
Suggested 100 hrs. burn in to get proper sound.
Review Here

[lestatar]

Old info but...

There may be a typo on the Hippo VB box. The default installed bass plates are usually the ones which provide the MOST bass.

There are 3 sets of bass plates.

3 White Dots = least bass
2 White Dots = medium bass
0 White Dots = most bass

I preferred the 2 dot plates immediately and have used them exclusively since March.

As Goldilocks says, "it's just right..."

congrats and enjoy,
-les

[rohit3192]

The BOSE earphones start with 100$ in India and they do not sound what 100$ is supposed to sound.
Even my AKG K324P which is just 50$ sound much brighter than Bose.
Waiting for my Hippo VB.

[lestatar]

Go rohit, go! Looking forward to your reaction to the VBs

[rohit3192]

Originally Posted by Brett_val

Wow , three day delivery sounds impossible (I thought they were in Singapore though.)

It's funny that your opinion on them is so different from others, most people comment on the huge and detailed bass and feel that the highs are a bit on the background. You seem to encounter the opposite? Doesn't the bass go much deeper than Bose's, and don't you think it's also more refined?

The cable is a bit weird yeah, it's thick and sturdy but that makes me confident that it will not break easily .. I hate it when that happens.

About the tips, I also have some troubles with them, they slip out of my ears slowly, and sometimes when re-inserting I just can't get them right anymore, up to the point where I get so annoyed that I leave them out. Like you say, it's a real pain on the go.
Try some different tips, as you may know the people around here have good experiences with Sony Hybrids, which are quite cheap. I'll eventually order them from Amazon as I'm unable to find any decent tips locally.

As for the dirty tips, I take it you mean the white packing stuff that's on them? That was also on mine, but it came off easily. I was just happy to see they were packed securely.

Nice to see some more user reviews on them, thanks for that!

I placed order on 8th Jan it was dispatched on 10th and reached me on 12th in India.
Yeah the buds look dirty.
Uncle Wilson should pay more attention on packing(not attractive like of Premium brands)
Sound quality:Let me put them on fire for burn-in
The attachment with 2 dots produces good bass but 3 dot gives distortion.

I need opinion of power users about burn-in period of VBs.
Did you experience any change in sound stage and after how many hours(roughly,may be days)?