Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone
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Super.fi 5Vi Liquid Silver
Features
- Hi-fidelity sound signature: Unique top-fire armature design ensures a snug noise-isolation fit every time with extended high-frequency response and a full soundstage.
- In-line phone microphone and control button: Switch between making calls and enjoying music and video on your iPhone® or BlackBerry® (with a 3.5 mm jack) with a push of a button.
- Flexible use: Wear them down for casual listening or over the ear while exercising or when more active.
- Find your fit: Three silicone ear-cushions and two sets of Comply™ foam ear-cushions are included to create that “magic seal” against outside noise in your ears.
- Red=right: For quick and easy left and right identification.
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 6 x 3 x 7 inches
- Weight: 2 pounds
Very Good Earphones – Recommended
These Ultimate Ears “SuperFi 5vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone” work very well with my HTC EVO and iPad Touch. These are much more expensive than all of the other earphones I own, but after my daughter confiscated my last good pair to take to college, it was time to get a “better” quality set for myself. Here are my observations:
Pros -
+ While I’m not an audiophile at all, these sound full and rich when using them to listen to my classical and ’80s rock music
+ Comes with six extra sets of ear cushions in various sizes, so getting a perfect fit is easy
+ When properly fitted, these do a great job of blocking outside noise
+ Comes with a nice palm sized plastic case
+ Heavy wires and connectors give these a very solid feel
Cons -
- Mic seems overly sensitive so even moderate background noise clearly noticeable when on a call
Since most of my need was for listening to my music in a noisy environment, these are just about perfect for me.
Recommended!
CFH
Nearly Perfect
I am using these headphones with EVO 4g (android) so far I love them….
You can pause/next/prev track on the headphones..no volume control
Mic is very good I have not had one caller told me he’s having a hard time listening.
Sound is really amazing definitely a big change from $10-30 headphones..
If you really do want the best sound you do have to have a tight fit in ears.
It does lack some bass that area could definitely be improved but overall this thing pumps music like never heard before.
I had a different experience while using them with computer & the tube headphone amplifier.
The volume was a big significant increased almost where I could not take it at all the way full…but with a little bass improvement & me still wanting more.
The next step for this line is a $300 headset…so I’m really happy with 5vi’s.
Time to test Logitech’s warranty
The 5vi’s sound quality is not as good as my old Shure SCL4’s nor is the sound isolation (that’s probably because the triple flange tips that I use with the SCL4 won’t fit the 5vi). The 5vi’s cable is a little too short and, for me, the remote control and mike are poorly positioned; this is a shame as the remote control and mike are what persuaded me to buy them in the first place. My main problem however is the build quality, after using them for two months the right channel is dead and the remote control works intermittently.
Ear cushions fall off the stems easily
I bought this about 2 months ago. The music quality is good enough. No complaints there.
However, I have three complaints about the design and construction:
1. The ear cushions fall off the stems easily. I’m talking about the clear silicone ones. This happens when I take it out of my pocket or my backpack, or even sometimes while I am disentangling the cords.
2. The jack is straight rather than at an angle (90 degress or so). This makes it harder to take the iPhone out of my pocket, since the jack get lodged against the pocket easily.
3. The rough texture of the cord makes it harder to untangle.
Good build quality, poor sound
This headphone is well-built and it seems it can endure daily abuse. The cable and the junction points look sturdy. It comes with a lot of ear tips. So, there is a good chance you will achieve a good seal and reasonable noise isolation. Sound quality is average, even poor (compared to Klipsch Custom-3). Tested the sound quality with different genres and all of them sound muffled. Though, it sounds a little better balanced compared to some other headphones. Overall, it is a much better headphone compared to the headphones that come with iphone/ipod. But, don’t expect studio quality sound.
Great Monitors!
I was looking for a great pair of earbuds and I stumbled on the ultimate ears superfi 5vi. They are definitely the best in ear headphones I have ever heard. They sound even better when you only pay $80 from amazon! They make it sound like the singer is right in the room with you. The thing about these is that you have to wait for the best sound quality. These particular ear buds actually have to “burn in”. After several hours of use, they begin to sound even better. It’s weird, but thats the way it went for me. I would defintely reccomend these to anyone looking for a great pair of durable headphones. I am in no way an audiophile, but the highs mids and especially the lows all sound awesome to me!
Ultimate Ears sounds great – took time to get adjusted
The headphones sound great. At first I had to try a few of the included earpieces and adjust the way I wore them to get comfortable and so they would not fall out of my ears. The cord is more rigid than many, so they do not tangle easily.
Overall, they have been very good.
Excellent iPhone 4 Earphones
I am very pleased with the SuperFi 5vi earphones.
I initially ordered the Klipsch image s4i after reading many positive professional and user reviews and … I won’t bother with the details, but they just plain sucked.
I ordered the SuperFi 5vi’s after I returned the Klipsch and to be honest, I was pretty nervous. Like I said, I read nothing but positive reviews on the Klipsch and had a VERY poor experience and then I started reading mixed reviews on the SuperFi’s and started to think I may have had my hopes too high. When I received my SuperFi’s my initial impression was WOW! They are everything the Klipsch were not – comfortable, good noise isolation, excellent “natural” sound, good bass definition (not boomy or overpowering, just an excellent, natural sound). The cords are MUCH sturdier than the Klipsch, so unless you are flexing the cord back and forth constantly or removing the earphones from your device by yanking on the cord instead of the plug, I don’t see durability being an issue (but, that remains to be seen).
I experienced excellent comfort and sound quality with both the silicone tips and the comply foam tips, I didn’t notice any significant difference other than slightly better noise isolation with the comply foam.
The only bad thing I can say about these earphones is that they lack volume controls, but I can’t really complain about that since I knew they were lacking that feature upfront.
My primary interest was a “good” sounding earphone with iPhone controls. In the Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi I got “EXCELLENT” sounding earphones with basic iPhone controls. Volume controls would have been nice, but I’ll take sound quality over 1 missing feature any day.
And to top it off – Amazon has been running huge discounts on these earphones lately, I paid less than half of the list price and less than the worthless Klipsch I returned.
Lousy Construction, Poor sound, Junk.
The feedback from this earphone’s cord is BAD. This unit should not be on the market. The overall quality isn’t better than the free earphone that comes with the iPhone. It is a little more comfortable but that is it. I return it the very next day. What a waist of my time! The 5vi earphones are the worst I ever owned.
Outstandind sound for the price
After breaking my Shures which cost over four times as much, I decided to research and buy a cheaper pair from a different brand. I may not have reached “audiophile” status, but these produce breathtaking sound quality and could not have satisfied me more. Highly recommended.
Great sound, shoddy manufacture
I really liked the large variety of rubber and foam attachments that come with these earbuds, since my ear canals are not symmetrical. The sound it delivered was extremely good — I was able to listen to my iPhone on the lowest setting while riding the commuter train without any problem.
However, I’ve only had them three days and they have already fallen apart. The cord snapped in half at the control button junction box after it got snagged on something. I have had a variety of earphones over the years and they have all gotten snagged on something at one point or another, but I have never had anything even remotely close to this kind of damage result (and I wasn’t even moving particularly quickly when it happened). Worst of all, the warranty expressly excludes the cord, so that’s $80 down the drain.
On a separate disappointing note that I should have realized if I had read the product description slightly closer: there is no in-line volume control on these earphones, just an on/off switch.
Best iPhone Earphones I’ve Used Yet
I’ve tried a lot of earphones for my listening devices over the years and these are the best by far. I’m not an audio snob but I find the sound quality of the 5vi to be outstanding. My musical tastes run from classical to heavy metal and the SuperFi 5vi earphones performed well on all. But the biggest surprise was the sound attenuation. I usually travel by plane using active sound canceling headphones, either a muff type or a in-ear model. On a recent trip in a small, noisy regional jet the 5vi outperformed both when he came to reducing jet noise. Instead of having to crank the volume on the iPhone 4, I was able to use a much lower setting and get far superior sound.
Have had them for a month now with extensive use and have not seen any signs of the cable problems others have mentioned. Hopefully I won’t run into similar problems. But to be honest I usually only have earphones for less than a year before I lose them or one of my dogs decide to chew them up. At the Amazon price I can afford to replace yearly.
Durability issues
Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone
I bought these earphones specifically to have the ability to utilize the built-in microphone. The microphone stopped working after one week. There was no event that triggered the loss in function — just stopped working while walking through an airport. Then later that day the LEFT earphone became faint. There is a FAQ at the Ultimate Ears customer support that addresses the decreased sound in the earphone as moisture in the earpiece. It says the sound should return if you let the earpiece dry out for a day or so. Well, the earphones didn’t get wet and the earpiece still isn’t working after 4 days of drying out.
As far as poitives, I do find these earphones comfortable since they come with several size silicon ear cushions to get a good fit. I was impressed with the robust appearance of the cords. They are much larger than those that came with the iPhone and the cables do not tangle as easily as so many other earphones. You can position the earphones to have the cords wrap over your ear as well as hang down from your ear. I found that wrapping them over the ear was very secure and eliminated the cord rubbing sound much more than if the cords just draped down from the ear. The cords are a little stiff so over the ear wearing does require a little repositioning of the cord if you are turning your head from side to side alot when wearing them with the cord over the ear. The foam ear cushions seal great but do not tolerate becoming wet so you may not want to use them if you are going to sweat while wearing the foam ear cushions ( such as during a walk here in Mobile, Al during the summer!)
Once a good seal is made in the ear they are pretty good at noise cancellation and I tolerated being beside the engine (in the cabin of course) of an MD-88 during my last business trip without the need to turn the volume to a hearing damaging level. The hard case is a great feature and I found myself actually using this to store the earphones instead of wrapping them up with the cord.
The sound quality is good but I am not an audiophile so use the opinions of others with better hearing acuity than I have to evaluate this aspect of the earphones.
In noisy environments, the microphone was sensative to picking up outside noise based on comments from the people I would talk to while using the built-in microphone. Turning down the volume on my end seemed to help. I was able to wrap the cord over my ear during walks and was still able to talk using the microphone. The in-line function button can be inadvertently pressed if you cross your arms and therefore cancels your phone call. Also I sometimes struggled finding the function button on the cord by touch alone since there are three little plastic things on the cord (microphone, cable connector, and function button) and I was still new to using these earphones.
Customer support is good. I contacted customer support by telephone and they will replace the earphones. Phone contact with customer support was painless. I first have to ship the old set to them (they are providing shipping label) and after they recieve the old set, then they will send me a replacement.
Overall I really liked these earphones until the microphone and the earpiece stopped working. Since durability is a problem with my set, I would be careful if you intend to use these for anything other than commuting or sitting around.
Excellent sound quality!
These ear buds have outstanding sound quality! I have small ears so I had to fiddle around with the 5 sets of foam or rubber ear cushions before I found the right set for me that would allow sustained use without ear fatigue. I settled on the small, grey foam set and am very pleased! Crystal clear highs and solid lows allow these ear buds to accurately reproduce my Ipod’s superior frequency response giving me better than CD sound quality. Great equpiment, and the on/off push button on the cord makes starting and stopping my Ipod child’s play!
poor quality cable, great drivers and tips
Like many others, I enjoy these headphones for their quality sound and fairly good isolating quality of the foam and silicone tips… but the cable noise is incredibly awful, even just walking or moving slightly… and I’ve had two pairs and the first pair completely separated at the call button box, and the second set is now separating at the input jack.
Buenos audífonos
Estos son los primeros audífonos que adquiero para aislar el ruido. Mi primera impresión fué que no aisla el ruido completamente, sólo un poco, aunque una vez suena música hay más aislamiento. Hay que adaptarse al uso de estos audífonos por un par de semanas, una vez se acostumbra se disfruta más el uso de los mismos. El sonido es bueno, aunque a veces los sonidos medios son difíciles de identificar, a pesar de configurar el equalizador en el reproductor. La contrucción es de buen calidad y la caja de plástico ayuda a su protección. El botón que controla el Ipod a pesar de ser de gran utilidad con frecuencia se activa fácilmente, es muy sensible. Recomiendo los audífonos a pesar de no calificarlos 5 estrellas.
Not quite as expected
I got this headphone because I wanted to try out other headphone beside apple’s great in-ear headphone. Big mistake! I bought it specifically for the button/mic feature with a quality sound headphone. My biggest gripe with this headphone is the music control button. The button resistant is all wrong. It is so soft that you can accidentally pause the music with a slight touch. Moreover, the height of the button is wrong. It sticks way out where something can easily press it. The tactile feedback of the button is also wrong. It’s so soft that you sometime can’t tell if you are pressing on it. Moreover, the button is located below the split as oppose to apple’s on the mic. This makes it hard to find and storing while listening hard. I find it easier to reach the mic and press. (I mean that is when you want to end call) As for the sound quality, it is like any other good headphone. There is bass like the apple’s in-ear headphone. The ear buds that were provided is soft and comfortable.
Other than the horrible button control, the headphone would be flawless. I would not buy Ultimate headphone again because it seems like they focus way too much on the sound and not enough on the interface of their headphone. Until they do that, I can’t recommend this headphone with mic to anyone.
So far fantastic…….best earbuds I’ve ever owned
Well…bought these on sale after hearing wonderful things about Ultimate Ears in general.
Have used these on 3 trips so far and they are excellent for using on airplanes or anywhere you don’t want to be bothered by external noise.
I also have noise reduction headphones which are different to be sure. These really form fit to your ears and do block out alot of external noise.
They are also very comfortable and have a heft to them which lend to very good build quality.
I have only tested it with indi rock & electronica music but the sound quality has been crisp. They have less bass than my Razer earbuds but not a big issue imo as everything sounds great.
Comes with a nice compact sturdy case and other sets of ear plugs with very good documentation & packaging.
not for runners!
This is my first review ever. But, I was compelled enough after using these for a few weeks to share my thoughts. I purchased these headphones for running, as the headphones which ship with the iPod aren’t great for staying in your ears.
My first run with these shiny new earphones was miserable. I thought I had picked out the correct size of rubber ear pads, but they kept popping out. I remedied this with my next run, using the foam pads instead. Complete success there. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the biggest problem. The sound being amplified from the wires rubbing or hitting anywhere on your body was unbearable. Every little sound transfers right into the earbuds. I honestly felt like I was wearing a stethoscope. My next idea was to run the wires down through my t-shirt to keep it from hitting or rubbing. That helped, but it honestly just stopped that sound and allowed me to hear my every foot fall hitting the pavement. I have purchased my share of cheap ear canal headphones in the past and haven’t experienced this before.
I love good sound, and a nice thumping bass, which is what drew me to these headphones. For running I have gone back to my iPod headphones, but I have found a new purpose for these. Riding a motorcycle, these are fantastic! The seal on the headphones is sufficient to keep the wind out of my ears, and keep the volume very reasonable. Plus, I can appreciate how good they sound. I wanted bass and I got it. Having used very high end earphones before (as a musician), these aren’t top shelf, but upgrading from the iPod or every earphone you could purchase at a Walmart you will be amazed.
Other things I’m pleased with. I thought I might need the microphone for this, to use with my iPhone. So glad I did. Taking a call on the motorcycle with your ears sealed, and a hands free mic is fantastic. Plus, the small switch is the coolest part. This starts and ends a call, but having it advance to the next song was awesome. My wife was instantly jealous when I could advance a slow song instantly without unlocking the iPod, fumbling with it, and then putting it back. Finally, if you want to be secluded from the world, the seal on these is amazing. If you are on a flight and have your music on low, you absolutely cannot hear what anyone else is saying or doing.
So, I still have to give these earphones high marks. I do like them, I’m just saddened the reason I purchased them I can’t use them for.
Dead after 2 months & the cable noise was awful
[UPDATE: My rating is down to 1 star from 3. After two months, the cable caught and pulled out of my iPod. The left bud now has no sound. That has happened with my first SuperFi 5 Pro's - but the cable on that older pair is much more substantial. The new, thinner cable fails too easily. Again, glad I bought these on special. Would not purchase these again. Other models have reviews stating the cable is too flimsy now and fails even without catching like mine did. If my originals ever die, I won't buy UE's if they still have this thin cable.
After two months the cable noise was a deal-breaker for me anyway.]
This was my second pair of UE SuperFi 5’s. My first pair are SuperFi 5 Pro bought in 2007 for $150 – excellent in every way and still like new. I indulged in the 5vi because of the great price from the special at just $60. I’m glad that’s all I spent. (Those older SuperFi 5 Pros now list for $249 here on Amazon. What is it with Logitech products going waaay up in price the older the model gets?)
Pros:
*The sound was improved over my first pair – cleaner with crisper highs.
*Fit was really comfortable even for my small, sensitive ears.
*Having the option to wear them front facing was nice. (My ‘07 Pro model has the stiff wire for curving around your ear, which is annoying to put on & take off.)
*Noise isolation on UE’s is pretty good (though I haven’t tested them in an airplane or a train commute).
Cons:
*The cable noise is really, really bad. Again, my hearing is sensitive – but the slightest bump of the cable can cause quite a thump in your ear. It can be heard over moderately loud music playback. With no music playing, the normal jostling causes cable thudding that starts to hurt. I never even tried the mic and call answering. I wonder if the other person can hear it when you bump the cable while on a call?
*The bass is disappointing. If you like full, thudding bass, you will be disappointed.
Overall, I *was* happy with the sound. [See my update - these are now dead and I would not buy UE's again unless they beef up the flimsy cable and get rid of the cable noise issue.]