In 2012, I traveled by plane more than 80 times totaling over 120,000 miles. Most of my flights were before sunrise and in that surreal pre-dawn haze you start to notice everything: the gate number, the indistinct conversations around you, the model of the aircraft, the flight attendants, the lucky bastards that made it into first class and the same mind-numbing musac the airlines play over the intercom system to pacify the passengers.
Recently it seemed like all of my flights switched from a Dave Matthews Band knockoff (tolerable) to some unidentifiable soulful song with a high-pitched ding-ding-ding in the chorus which swings the pendulum from awesome to homicidal rage. It’s right about then where I start fishing through my backpack for my vPulse earbuds. Oh not for me mind you, but for all those poor folks locked on the plane with me.
As a frequent traveler you’ll find yourself collecting high-quality items that make the traveling easier and Velodyne VPulse In-Ear Headphones are exactly the high-quality, reasonably priced items you should take everywhere.
Using them:
The vPulse earbuds are the first pair I’ve owned that not only fit but stay in my ears using the factory installed silicone ear tips. Velodyne provides four sizes of ear tips in both Black and White colors (more on this below). Not unique to Velodyne but certainly the new market standard is the flat cable. The obvious advantage to other products is that when removing the vPulse from, your pocket, your car, your backpack, they don’t get tangled.
Velodyne vPulse work perfectly for your phone with push buttons to increase/decrease volume or take/end calls embedded on the cable. My only gripe is that the small plastic housing where the volume controls are located is squared off and has squared corners. You wouldn’t expect that those small corners could snag on your shirt or coat collar and tug the earbuds out of your ear after you sip the unexpectedly furnace hot coffee you gulped down.
Like most people, my ears aren’t perfectly symmetrical and I use two slightly different ear tips for a perfect in-ear fit. I bought my vPulse in black and in early morning light it can be easy to mix left from right. In a brief flash of insight I changed the right ear tip to white while leaving the left one black – giving me back precious time. Small, customized changes that round the corners of your life make all the difference and the vPulse certainly hit the mark.your shirt or coat collar and tug the earbuds out of your ear after you sip the unexpectedly furnace-hot coffee you gulped down.
Why you want them:
- They fit well, travel better
- You can mod them a little
- The ribbon-cord prevents tangle
But wait there’s more, they sound great! I previously had another very popular pair of high end earbuds marketed by well known and extremely accomplished record producer and rapper. Verdict? The vPulse.
The bad:
- The controls need to have rounded corners (but this is pretty minor)
Would I recommend them?: Yup. Based on the sound quality, convenience, comfort and my long term usage – the Velodyne vPulse are a permanent addition to my travel.
–Jon
Photo credits: Amazon website