Sound and aesthetics typically haven’t always fused together in an effective way. Meaning the nicer-looking headphones or earbuds, like the iPod earbuds (admit it, they look alright) can sound terrible while a more simplistic set of headphones (like the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones we’d looked at not too long ago) can produce great sound. Never judge a set of headphones by its looks.

Note: In this review, I use the term ‘headphones’ and ‘earbuds’ interchangeably. I apologize in advance if this causes any confusion, and if it does just substitute the word ‘headphones’ for ‘earbuds’ (or ‘headset’, now that I think about it). Enjoy!

Usually, I don’t bring my Able Planet SG500 set of headphones on a regular day — because I know that:

1. I won’t need its performance.
2. It’s better off I don’t isolate the music, because I like to be aware of my surroundings.
3. I’m scared to look like a doofus and don’t want to get mugged.

Okay, so you might be thinking I’ve got some self-image issues to work out (that’s a whole other discussion) — either way, I’m trying to say that headphones haven’t always looked too hot. It’s not that they shouldn’t — because I think that no matter what happens, in the end, aesthetics do matter. Why have Macbooks sold so well? And iPods? And iPhones? Sure, they’ve got novelty and character — but it’s the streamlined look and feel that Apple’s got mastered. It’s not just Apple, either — a while ago, we looked at the Das Keyboard which nearly knocked my socks off with its performance — but also its flashiness.

Ideally, I’d have a set of headphones that were inconspicuous (yet looked good), but still played good music. I’m no audiophile, but I like to think I can tell the difference between iPod headphones and a live orchestra. So when the opportunity came up for me to have a look at the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones, I jumped on it. I’d heard great things about the first set of V-Moda Vibe headphones, so I was only expecting more.

A bundle of accessories is included with the V-Moda Vibe II headphones.

Design

It’s freaking beautiful. I know it sounds cliche — but nothing else comes to mind. It’s just…beautiful. I think that the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones is…really flashy. Seriously, I could see a celebrity or a model wearing the set of headphones.

I received the ‘Nero’ version of the Vibe II, and I approve. Its chrome touches match the black very well, giving it a more ‘sophisticated’ look in comparison to other sets of earbuds.

I was really impressed by the ‘versatility’ of the Vibe II earbuds — originally, since they were designed as a really, really fancy headset for the iPhone (and Blackberries), I would have assumed that the mic would be a pain in the ass and doubly as annoying if one didn’t have an iPhone to use it with. I can’t say that I like it, but it’s really not that noticeable. It blends in well with the rest of the Vibe II, and is positioned perfectly for me to speak into without using my hands to lift it up, like I see so many people having to do awkwardly with their Sony Ericsson headsets (hypothetically, since I don’t have a phone compatible with it).

The other piece of the Vibe II that I was initially a bit iffy about would be the call answering button. I thought it was weird how V-Moda decided to separate the mic from the ‘answer’ button, but it actually turned out to be quite a good idea — it’s very inconspicuous and doubles as a piece to secure the earbuds — adding to the build quality.

The Vibe II seems to be very sturdy, and it comes with a great case to shield it from travel damage. The case is made of leather, and again, really contributes to the ‘sophisticated’ and ‘fashionable’ feel of the Vibe II earbuds. I’m actually also a really big fan on the case, because it’s just..sweet, haha. I’ve wanted a case that could contain my earbuds/headphones safely for a long time, and I could never find one, which makes this one all the more enjoyable.

V-Moda was considerate enough to include both white-coloured earbud slips (they go over the actual speakers) and black ones — 4 different pairs of each colour, accomodating 99% of mankind’s ear sizes. I found that the default set fit into my ears pretty well, so I didn’t bother changing it. Taking them off (for cleaning — because they do go deep in the ear) was a bit of a pain, because they seemed really fragile and I didn’t want to cause any damage, but they turned out fine (for now). Putting them back over the speakers went a lot more smoothly.

The V-Moda Vibe IIs also introduced two very interesting features to me — the first being its threaded wiring, which makes it more durable in comparison to typical rubber wiring.

The second would have to be the interesting headphone connector design — I haven’t seen anything like it before, but it really makes sense and functions well. It’s a great balance between the pure 90-degree headphone connector (like the JVC Gumy headphones, which I thought was awkwardly fitting and also a bit susceptible to wear and tear), and the straight-up plug-in headphone connectors (like the iPod headphone connector, which would be very susceptible to wear and tear).

Sound Isolation

The V-Moda Vibe II uses a more passive form of sound isolation — because they go in-ear, they don’t need an active filtering system like LYNX Audio to cancel out noise. I did find this to be equally as effective though, because I couldn’t hear people standing eight feet from me carry a conversation (their voices became barely distinguishable when they were four feet from me) while I was listening to music on my Dell Inspiron 6400 at 1% of Windows Vista volume in Windows Media Player.

I was initially a bit skeptical about how well these in-ear headphones would feel; I always had the notion that in-ear headphones felt a lot more intrusive and disturbing, and would fall out a lot. Although they did fall out quite a bit (sporting clips included to solve that problem), the ‘proper’ way to put the Vibe II earbuds would ensure that they stayed in your ear. I never really got around to using that method, because I grew tired of trying to learn how and I personally thought those sport clips looked really cheezy (plus I couldn’t put them on very well…my hand eye co-ordination isn’t the greatest).

I had trouble hearing a lot of things that were going on around me, which got to a tipping point when I couldn’t hear a telephone on my desk (of course, I’m kind of easily swept away by music). But in all honesty, the background noises were masked very well by the V-Moda Vibe II in-ear headphones — for better, or for worse.

Sound Quality

I’m going to say straight up — they were good, but they weren’t really that outstanding. Don’t get me wrong — the sound was rich and there weren’t many tinny or weak spots, but I just expected more from the V-Moda Vibe IIs. Then again, sound testing is very subjective — and I’m not always the most accurate judge (hey, I’m just a man).

Again, same ol’ test playlist:

• Back in Black by AC/DC (for the guitar intro)
• Devil’s got a New Disguise by Aerosmith (electric guitar performance)
• Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain (bass)
• Janie’s got a Gun by Aerosmith (vocals)
• Live & Let Die by Guns N’ Roses (instruments)
• Live Your Life by T.I. featuring Rihanna (bass)
• Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses (guitar solo)
• This Love by Maroon 5 (vocals and instruments)
• Whatever You Like by T.I. (synthesizer and bass)

For one thing, I expected punchier bass. The bass was already quite strong on the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones, but it just lacked the punchiness that would have made it perfect.

Songs with midrange and treble were reproduced quite well with the V-moda Vibe IIs. In fact, the midrange really stood out for me — acoustic/electric guitars sounded very clear. I think that the snare drums weren’t very distinct though, but that could’ve been a file/encoding issue.

What’s the Verdict?

In comparison to the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones I took a look at earlier this year, I would say that the V-Moda Vibe IIs can stand their ground. They’re a lot more portable, fashionable, and produce comparable sound quality — which says a lot. However, the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones were not as comfortable, and personally I felt that the the NC200s produced a punchier bass, which I really look for in headphones (I feel that it’s overlooked sometimes).

And although I love its fancy designs, personally, I feel that if you don’t care about aesthetics as much and you want better sound quality, you’d be better off with another set of headphones (Able Planet NC200?).

I’ve always been a fan of album art – when Coverflow came out, I was dazzled.  When I finally got an iTunes account and could finally get album art, I was ecstatic.

Here’s a funky site for album art, and strictly that.  No artist biographies, no music, nothing but pure, unfiltered album art.  With people guessing that album art is a dying trend (I should hope not), you better come get ‘em while you can.

http://albumart.org/

After acquiring some information from Dailytech, I’ve learned that Sony BMG is developing an all-you-can-download buffet style subscription program.   The files will be DRM-free, possibly even after the subscription has canceled.  That’s the absolutely galling part – could someone march right in there for a month and download all the songs from the Sony BMG catalog, and then cancel and never pay another dime.  …Right?

Source: http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/7696_large_Rolf%20Schmidt-Holtz.jpg

I think that it’s definitely a shame we’ve underestimated CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz and the entire Sony team to such an extent.  If they ever plan to use such a service, I highly doubt that the downloads per month (or day) would be unlimited – perhaps they will adopt a similar pricing scheme as eMusic’s.  Basically, you pay a certain price for 25 downloads per month, a higher price for a higher number.  Not a bad idea, to be honest.

The only question is if this is going to be implemented into the MusicPass program.  And to this, I really have no idea – on one hand, MusicPass looked as though it was an alternative to just CDs, but now I think it’ll be easy to spread the branding to an online store.  I hope that they have success with this DRM-free idea, as it’s going to be the way of the future.  No strings attached.

Looking to take advantage of the new Windows Presentation Foundation?  Hate iTunes?  I’ve got the alternative media player just for you today – a relatively new entry to the market, but one already gaining steam.  It’s called ViewOn, and it specializes in integrating WPF into playing music, radio, and video.

In my brief experience of using it, it’s been pretty cool.  It’s somewhat unique, and doesn’t take as long as iTunes to start up – I haven’t tried syncing my iPod with it yet though.  The only pain I’ve been having with it is with the album art – darn, seems like it can’t read the album art iTunes or WMP11 applied to my .mp3 files!  This really does take away from the overall look and feel of the media player, making it feel somewhat last-gen.

I’ll probably write a full-blown review on it later on, but right now I’ve got quite a stack on my plate right now so I’m trying not to bite off more than I can chew, while at the same time provide material for you loyal readers.  Pardon the briefness – hey, if you’re tech-savvy, I suggest you try this yourself!  Just remember, you have to have .Net framework 3.5, which took a while to download and install on my laptop.  I wish you all the best.

Visit:

http://viewon.tv/

Alright, so the latest sensation sweeping the nation would definitely be known as Guitar Hero (let’s not forget Rockband, but they’re in the same pond). Revolutionaries and somewhat pioneers in making the musical games mainstream (Dance Dance Revolution anyone?), they’ve made three amazing games and now are going for a fourth – however, this time they’re focusing on a single band. Not just any band, mind you – it’s Aerosmith.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m….1256_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0

It couldn’t have been a better choice (Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, and the Eagles come to mind, but I believe Aerosmith is a bit more widely-accepted/mainstream/well-known?), but I still think its a risktaker here. For one thing, customization’s already down the tube – you’re playing as Aerosmith (members Steven Tyler or Joe Perry come to mind) and nobody else. Another thing would be its lack of variety – sure, there’s a few other songs of bands that opened with Aerosmith, but then it’s all out Aerosmith. Not a bad thing necessarily mind you, it’s just a bit too concentrated for me. This basically isolates everyone except for Aerosmith fans, and I’m thinking it’s a very risky move. However, so was the original Guitar Hero – I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this turns out.

I’m somewhat of an Aerosmith fan, but I can’t say that this game will be as successful as the other Guitar Heros. This one is taking a huge risk, and although I do enjoy risks, I’m not sure that this one’s going to pay off.

VIEWER’S REQUESTED UPDATE: The game will be focused on the life of Aerosmith, from high school to Superbowl, and it will feature my personal Aerosmith favourites: Jaded, Mama Kin, Walk This Way, and Sweet Emotion.  Yep, I got the greatest hits CD.  Haha.