V-Moda Vibrato Remote Review

Introduction

Comfort Design & Features

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These ultra-light, highly portable ear buds are fairly comfortable for in-ear phones.

V-Moda put a considerable amount of time and effort into developing the cables for the Vibrato Remote and other headphones released in 2010 and 2011. Underneath that fabric weave on the outside of the 3.93-foot cable is a layer of kevlar to shield the wire. All in all, an insanely durable cable. At the end of said ridiculously durable cable is the oddly-angled 1/8^th inch plug.

In-ear headphones are essentially bits of plastic and silicon jammed into an orifice that wasn’t meant to see any foreign objects, so you can imagine that there’s always a risk of these things being a little uncomfortable if you don’t know what to expect. That being said, the multiple sizes of sleeves and the soft material they’re made out of reduce a lot of the pressure on the ear canal walls.

As these in-ears are super light and have a leather carrying case, they are super-portable. You may not want to carry all 7 extra pairs of sleeves with you, but it will be easy for you to carry around these headphones without too much effort. The Vibrato Remotes also do not come with cleaning tools, so maintenance will be an issue unless you either never expel earwax ever, or carry around rubbing alcohol with a cloth. That being said, the mesh gate should catch just about anything you could gunk it up with.

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Audio Quality

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While heavy on the bass tones, the Vibrato Remotes showcased good frequency response and decent isolation.

Some people enjoy a heavy dose of bass in their phones, and if that sounds like you, the {{product.name}}s fit the bill, as they emphasize bass quite a bit. For the rest of the audible range of sound, they maintain an even response, meaning that no one sound is likely to be a lot louder than the others, so you should be able to equalize your music without too much trouble.

Ear buds like the {{product.model}}s also have a natural advantage when it comes to blocking unwanted ambient noise. They're sealing up your entire ear canal, after all, so they serve to dampen outside noise even when they're not in use. The Vibrato Remotes do just that—in fact, they isolate noise slightly better than the average buds.

Conclusion

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The Vibrato Remotes are good headphones for their MSRP.

Overall, you’re getting a lot if you plunk down the money for the V-Moda Vibrato Remotes (MSRP $129). A solid set of durable in-ears, these headphones certainly don’t skimp on the bass (if you’re into that sort of thing), and don’t break the bank.

As far as in-ears go, these little buds are about as comfortable as they get, and they offer a decent level of noise attenuation. These are great for basshead smartphone users who want to avoid using the stock, crappy headsets from the electronics store.

Science Introduction

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Overall, we were impressed with the audio quality of the V-Moda Vibrato Remotes. They have no major drawbacks (unless you just really don't like bass), and get the job done with a solid mix of form and functionality.

The science page is here to show off the data we collected, and back up those claims with hard evidence.

Frequency Response

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The Vibrato Remotes may favor bass frequencies, but they give ample to other tones as well.

The V-Moda Vibrato Remotes do a pretty good job when it comes to reproducing sound in an appealing fashion. They give a huge boost to low-end bass notes, but this boost tapers off into a flatter response across the rest of frequencies. They managed the most important area—between 800Hz and 10kHz—with good consistency and little peaking in either direction.

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Isolation

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Ear buds are natural noise isolators, the and Vibrato Remotes are no exception.

Taking headphones outside, you're going to want a pair that can make the world outside melt away. If your music is at a certain volume level—let's say 78 dB—and the ambient noise around you is at 85 dB, you're going to have a hard time hearing your music without turning it up, potentially to harmful volumes. Headphones that isolate properly will shut out ambient noise so that you can listen comfortably and safely.

Ear buds take up your whole ear canal, resulting in some natural dampening of ambient noise. The Vibrato Remotes do a decent job of this, on top of being fairly comfortable for something you shove into your ear. At the lowest point, they're giving a good 12 or 13 dB of isolation, and that number only goes up as sounds get higher in pitch. For a frame of reference, the outside world will sound anywhere from half as loud to 1/16^th as loud as it would without the headphones in.

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Other Tests

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