The Kitty Bradshaw had the pleasure of meeting the representatives from Velodyne while attending the gdgt trade show a couple of weeks back.  During our meeting… I had the opportunity to learn about the history of the company and the passion put into building their sub-woofers and audio products.  Velodyne has been a leader in bass technology for over 29 years… they build solid technology, with a sexy exterior.  Started in 1983 by David Hall,

Velodyne owns more patents for sub-woofer design than anyone other company.  In addition to manufacturing sub-woofers, they also produce these wonderfully sleek earphones called vPulse.  During the trade show I was able to take a pair home and try them out.  The buds feature a flat, tangle free cord; built-in mic for phone control, and volume control.  Currently they come in the colors Blue and Black… Pink will be launched in November.  The Velodyne subwoofers and vPulse earphones are available for purchase at http://www.velodyne.com.

Now that we have a little background on the company I will go on to discuss and review the vPulse earphones.  The exterior, was incomparable to any current brand out.  I have never possessed such a beautiful pair of ear phones in my life.  Currently, the market is so over saturated with companies producing earphones.  Some brands are celebrity endorsed, some come out with colors, some vary in size…. what sets Velodyne apart is their unique design.  As I stated earlier the cord is shaped flat, and is tangle free.  You can tell when holding this unit that a lot of time and thought went into its construction.

The sound… not to sound repetitive or anything BUT! again this has to be the best sound quality I have ever experienced when it comes to ear phones.  I will go as far to say that they were better than Beats by Dre ear phones.  I mean all ear phones produce sound… but  the quality on these ear phones were so noticeably different than anything I have ever experienced.  I know this may seem like I am exaggerating but I felt as if there was a mini equalizer in my ears adjusting the levels as the songs changed.  This was indeed studio quality sound coming from these earphones.

The only thing I was dissapointed on was the volume.  The earphones weren’t nose canceling and that is one very important feature to New Yorkers.  Most of us commute by subway, and while riding the train every circus act, street performer, side show, panhandler, candy pusher comes through trying to get your attention. During a normal ride on the train… at one point there was two ladies holding a conversation while I was trying out this product.  Although, I couldn’t make out what they were saying word for word… I could hear that they were having a conversation and it was distracting. I know that the Velodyne reps market these as “noise reducing”… but I hope that sometime in the near future that they opt for “noise cancelling”.  Once they do that, there will be no serious competition for this brand.  The quality will speak for itself.

In regards to price, these earphones retail for $89.  I think industry standard is around $150, so I think this is something the average person could obtain without going bankrupt.  One thing I forgot to inquire about was if there a warranty provided with this product.  I mean this isn’t a huge issue since they under cut most of their competition in the pricing arena… but I think it is a good feature to have.

In conclusion, although I love the construction, price, and sound quality of these ear phones… I can not honestly say that they would be my go to pair of earphones living in New York.  Ok, so we all know that NYC is the concrete jungle… top 10 tourist destinations… New York is its own planet.  But as the saying goes, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”.  Unfortunately, the volume didn’t make it here… but I am confident that these earphones can hold up anywhere else.  I would totally take these earphones to the beaches of California or riding on an airplane.  I look forward to the updated version of the vPulse earphones.

Overall I give this product a A-.  That is a solid grade in a world full of mediocre brands forcing celebrity endorsed garbage on the masses.  For the price, I recommend buying these earphones.