Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic

Design

The Vibe Duos have a better design than the Apple In-ear Headphones wiht Remote and Mic. The Apples have the mainstream behind their design, while the Vibe Duos look pleasingly different.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Frequency Response

The Vibe Duos have a silly amount of bass, which has a very high chance of sounding too boomy. It drops the ball with the high-end, similar to the Apple In-ears.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Distortion

Even with their noisy high-end, the Apple In-ears showcased less distortion than the V-MODA Vibe Duos.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Tracking

The Apples win this tracking competition handily. Look at the straight line on the left versus the squiggle on the right.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Isolation

The Vibe Duo’s smooth attenuation curve is relatively meaningless: on this test the only thing we care about is the area under the line, which is the amount of noise blocked out. The Vibe Duos block out a bit more high-end noise and excel at points where the Apple In-ears’ graph dips down.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Comfort

The Apple In-ear headphones are slightly less comfortable to wear than the Vibe Duos, primarily because the Vibe Duos don’t fall out nearly as much.

Wear
Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	V-MODA Vibe Duo

Verdict

The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic might not be as pretty as the V-MODA Vibe Duos and they might pop-out about 12x as frequently, but they are better overall headphones. They are also cost about $20 less.