Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone

First let me start with the good by saying that the top firing micro driver in these ear buds are fantastic. As far as sound goes they provide a very lively, rich and balanced sound. I listen to a wide variety of music and they did everything justice...Jazz, Rock, Classical and Electronica all sounded great. They are not reference monitors by any stretch but for casual listening bang for the buck they really deliver. As for comfort I was satisfied with these buds although the foam ear tips don't last very long. You will find yourself ordering replacements before long.

The headset function though is where the problems start. First, if you are not using these over the ears there is a tremendous amount of cable noise. If you can get a good fit over the ears this defeats some of the cable noise. The problem is once over the ear the microphone is now not placed optimally for talking. Finally ear canal phones (any I would imagine) produce a weird experience while talking hands...Read more

About 6 months ago, I purchased the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4vi and found them to be great for airplane travel and the morning commute. They block out noise pretty well (considering I'm using them on the loud DC metro) and come with a variety of ear buds in different shapes so that I found a good fit. These fit very snugly into my ear. The only problem I would have with these are the cable noise (when you touch the cable) and the sub-par microphone (I am using it primarily for my iPhone) quality.

Fast forward to about a month ago - I lost sound in the right side of the headphones. I called UE customer support (really Logitech customer support, since they own UE now) and had them sent in for repair since they were still under warranty. After about a a week or so they told me that they would ship me replacements and would let me know the tracking number for these. A week later and I still didn't get my replacements or a tracking number. Sounds like a bad customer service...Read more

UPDATE:

After a few months, I've encountered two durability issues. First, the silver finish is flaking off the backs of the earbuds. I do not wear these in extreme conditions (exercising, the pool or beach, etc.), nor do I clean them with harsh chemicals, so there is no excuse for this.

Second, the eartips do not stay on the earbuds - they will come off IN YOUR EARS when you remove the earbuds. Cleaning the insides of the eartips and the *stems* of the earbuds with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips will work, but only for a little while.

To add insult to injury, Logitech's customer service is difficult to contact, slow to act (2 weeks and my replacement set under warranty still has not even shipped), and non-existent when inquiring as to status updates.

This is in addition to a controller that does not work 100% reliably (sometimes the unit registers one more "click" than what I input), eartips that are less than ideal in comfort (they're...Read more