Velodyne vPulse In-Ear Headphones Preview

Do you love bass? Do you dream of subwoofers? Do you have an excel chart buried somewhere with a list of the subs you'd buy if you won the lottery - ranked by performance and price? Do you walk out of movie theaters saying, "Boy, I wish I could have seen that at home where there is some REAL bass?"

Then you are, most likely, painfully aware that not everyone feels as you do. Instead, you are treated to a chorus of "turn that down!" from family, friends, neighbors and, if you are like us, occasionally the police. The answer, of course, is headphones. But which? What company can you trust to make headphones up to your expectations of bass?

When Velodyne told us they were releasing new in-ear headphones/earphones, we probably reacted just as you did when you read the title of this preview. "Um... really?" Don't get us wrong - there is no reason that any company, let alone one as big as Velodyne, shouldn't release any product in any category. But, when a company is best known for subwoofers, it takes a few minutes of brain adjustment to wrap your mind around it. Velodyne - subwoofers - headphones... okay, we'll bite. What are they like?

First, they are in-ear and small. They are mostly shown in their electric blue version but there is also a classic black. Since they are in-ear, Velodyne has provided multiple tips (for different sized ears) and a handy, zippered, carrying case. The 1.1 meter cord, as you can see, is flat and "tangle-resistant." We like this feature as it is a fairly passive way to combat the inevitable tangles. Plus, those wrapping solutions that everyone else seems to think is good enough never gets used by us.

The vPulse headphones are designed with both iDevice and Android products in mind. The control unit, while simple, has just about everything you need. There are dedicated buttons for Volume Up and Down. The center button, depending on what you're doing, controls everything else. Anyone that has used a Bluetooth earpiece is familiar with using multiple button pushes to skip songs, put people on hold, and more. The Velodyne control system is fairly intuitive and should be picked up by all but the most ardent Luddites in seconds.

Of course, what is most important is how they sound. While review units have yet to ship (to us at least), Velodyne spec's their vPulse headphones from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The noise reduction is passive (as sticking anything in your ears tightly will do) and Velodyne has included a pressure-relief system to reduce air pressure in the ear canal for a safer and more comfortable experience. The driver is a 10mm unit with a rare-earth magnet structure. The vPulse features an aluminum housing as well.

Conclusion

The Velodyne vPulse In-Ear Headphones look to be a pretty interesting offering from a "subwoofer company". With built-in iDevice and Android functionality, you won't have to remove them to answer your calls. Since they are so new, you can only pre-order them from the Velodyne website. But you will save $10 over the $89 asking price. Frankly, for less than $90, many headphone aficionados would consider these an impulse buy. We're going to have to reserve our final judgement until we can get a pair in our hands... or ears, rather.

For more information, please visit www.velodyne.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.