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V-MODA Crossfade M-80 Reviews - Page 4

post #46 of 2473
11/8/11 at 3:22pm

Hey guys, great to see V-Moda getting some recognition and really putting the work in. I had a pair of crossfades a while back and loved everything about them - except for the distancing in the sound which really spoilt a lot of my listening (especially older rock like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc)

I was looking for someone who has compared the two personally to give me a straight answer and tell me if this is a thing of the past and if the M-80 can now let older recordings shine. Cheers 

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post #47 of 2473
11/8/11 at 5:34pm

Wow, these are some excellent reviews and comparisons. Thank you again to V-Moda and Mr. Val-Kolton for allowing us Head-Fiers to get a chance to listen and review these headphones.

 

One quick, unimportant question, why did you decide to name the model "M" -80? Is it for M-odern Audiophile? I guess that sounds better than "A" -80 for A-udiophile. "And over here we have the V-Moda Crossfade ay-eighty"

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post #48 of 2473
11/8/11 at 5:53pm
Well I don't have any feedback, about a week and a half ago I shipped my Eternal Rev2 to DenverDude who I have yet to hear back from, and that's the only trade I've done :/ Not entirely sure how I feel about being responsible for someone else's expensive hi-fi equipment. Your candor, however, has assuaged a measure of my pessimism, I do think I'll make an effort to audition a pair some how or other, most likely buy from somewhere with a decent return policy.

Thank you for the response smily_headphones1.gif
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post #49 of 2473
11/8/11 at 7:11pm

M-80 comes from some explosive material used in the military. I thought it matched the sound sgnature quite well per the brief listening I did, and I mean that as a compliment !

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post #50 of 2473
11/8/11 at 7:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miceblue View Post

Wow, these are some excellent reviews and comparisons. Thank you again to V-Moda and Mr. Val-Kolton for allowing us Head-Fiers to get a chance to listen and review these headphones.

 

One quick, unimportant question, why did you decide to name the model "M" -80? Is it for M-odern Audiophile? I guess that sounds better than "A" -80 for A-udiophile. "And over here we have the V-Moda Crossfade ay-eighty"

 

Yes- The M-80 is the first of this sound signature (and explosive)


M=Modern/Mobile Audiophile Series

LP = Live/Loud/Long Play Series

__ = ____

 

I originally built M-80 as a headphone for producing and critically listening on the go and with mobile devices for modern high-end listeners. LP was designed for DJ, clubheads and trains/planes/commuting.  We always go backwards from the use cases of the target audiences, to achieve the best reviews and feedback from that audience with extensive research.  Imagine playing Bach at a Dubstep gig, or heavy metal at a symphony - you have to align all the elements.

 

I allocated a lot of time and travels for this review program and our participation at Canjam, Tokyo/Japan meet and more to get critical insight into what the "Head-Fier" craves in both this unit and for future products.  V-MODA is focusing on the MI (musician instrument) and "modern-audiophile" space now. The only gain will be from our ability to better craft the M-series products.  We picked fairly senior Head-Fiers and a diverse crowd that listened to a variety of music to make it fair.

 

PS - there will be something very sweet that we're doing with all this research, can't wait to unveil it soon!   

 

-v

 


Edited by valkolton - 11/8/11 at 7:41pm
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post #51 of 2473
11/8/11 at 7:21pm
@Gilly87

Well I've been called many things in my lifetime but never a shill. Out of all of us me and Armaegis were probably the most hardest on the M-80. If you check on the Head-Fi home page you'll see a shoot out done by Armaegis that includes the M-80, that's his review. If you do a quick search you'll run across mine. I suggest you please read it carefully. If you don't want to do a search then just look at the first couple of pages of this thread. Most of us reposted our reviews on the thread. If you read my review you'll see I compare the M-80 to various headphones I own and you'll see I gave it top marks in certain areas and not bad in others.

The only thing me and others in this experiment received was a free pair of headphones and a set of earplugs so we could review the product and give V-MODA feedback on their product. We were picked as reviewers because we threw our names into a contest run by V-MODA and the only thing they wanted to know when we entered our names was what our 3 top music genres were. Many people entered and we were picked randomly. Me and others on here approached this review as honestly as we could. There was no financial gain for us to say the M-80 was great. If you doubt us that's fine the only thing I can say to that is get a pair of M-80's and judge for yourself if they're a good headphone. All that aside there really was no need to be rude to the review group.
Edited by DigitalFreak - 11/9/11 at 1:15am
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post #52 of 2473
11/8/11 at 8:45pm

To have a vendor offer free pairs to get feedback from us is a great thing, and while it might create understandable skepticism should the reviews come back mostly positive - this is a good way for Mr. Kolton to get some good feedback on his product while also hopefully getting some target audience publicity for his M-80s.  

 

I don't smell anything funny.  None of the reviews I have read were completely glowing with adoration (save for the build quality but the photos back that up) and without some criticism, most of which found similar issues (treble).  I've been tuning my custom woodied Grados and can attest to how difficult is must be to get everything just right in a new design.  I have changed the dampening behind the drivers at least a dozen times to try to get the right amount of bass without smothering the treble and midrange.  Most headphones are stellar in certain respects but have compensatory drawbacks:  The energetic midrange delivery of the SR-60i is great, until about 20 minutes later when I can't take it anymore and have to take them off due to listening fatigue.  My K701s were super detailed, mid and upper ranges were exquisite but the bass energy sucked.  Etc, etc.

 

From what I could glean from the reviews these seem to strike a very nice balance between detail & accuracy / bass energy / and pleasant mid & upper range delivery.  If on a scale of 1 to 10 it can deliver at least a 6-7 in each of those areas and retain it's own sound signature vs. the HD25 and DT1350 then it's a worthy competitor and deserves to be successful.  My 2 cents.

 

After getting all the review info on these I am certainly much more curious now and I actually want to hear them.     

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post #53 of 2473
11/8/11 at 8:54pm

I was offered a pair of M80s from Val which he proposed me in exchange for some feedback and to thank me for the help in recent Tokyo trip. 

 
However, I declined the offer because:
 
1) I felt I could not do a proper review since I have let go of all my dynamic amps (although I inderstand the m80 is aimed toward portable use and can indeed be easily driven)
2) I was concerned I would loose my freedom to say anything I want about the product. Of course I am free to do so, but I would probably feel bad about it unless I'd send it back after the review.
3) credibility: I can understand where some critics are coming from since 200usd is not really pocket change and getting a free pair would automatically make people dismiss my comments.
 
Thinking about it, it was probably silly to refuse, oh well ;). Maybe val should run a loaner program instead of actually giving away the headphones, that way there is a guarantee that the reviewed is not influenced by any kickback...
 
I still stand by my words on the m80 (see tokyo headphone show impression / photo threads): I very much liked it on short listening and may try to audition it properly later on once it hits thr stores in Japan...

 

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post #54 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:11pm

Great read! Will do check this one out. Is this available internationally :)


Edited by se7en - 11/8/11 at 9:21pm
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post #55 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:16pm

Just curious, on the website, I saw the V-80s.  Is there a difference between the V-80s and the M-80s?

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post #56 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Originally Posted by xtasi View Post

Just curious, on the website, I saw the V-80s.  Is there a difference between the V-80s and the M-80s?


The headphones are the same, in terms of how they sound, and in terms of construction.  Key differences:


 

  • V-80 has True Blood branding, including a zipper pull on the carrying case that looks (convincingly) like a little vial of blood.  Other than that, the cases are the same.  (The boxes, though almost identical, have different graphics on the outside.)
  • The V-80 ships with one plain cable (no remote, no mic) and one single-button remote mic cable.
  • The M-80 ships with one single-button remote mic cable, and one three-button remote mic cable (for iPhone/iPod/iPad).
  • The V-80 has a red inner headband, the M-80 has a black inner headband.
     

 

Here's a link to a set of photos I took showing both headphones, from box to case to headphones.

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post #57 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by arnaud View Post

Maybe val should run a loaner program instead of actually giving away the headphones, that way there is a guarantee that the reviewed is not influenced by any kickback...
 
I still stand by my words on the m80 (see tokyo headphone show impression / photo threads): I very much liked it on short listening and may try to audition it properly later on once it hits thr stores in Japan...

 


like a loaner we offer a 60 day test drive on our site, Tokyo will hit stores in about a week and a half.  We sold out already, we started production again today and will ship by next Monday.  We didn't make many M-80s so far at all, we paused until we had enough feedback from V-80 as well as the first M-80 production run.   slow but steady! 

 

this production run has a smaller carrying case and package, we were able to shrink it - but we locked acoustics.

 

-v 

 

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post #58 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jude View Post


The headphones are the same, in terms of how they sound, and in terms of construction.  Key differences:

 

  • V-80 has True Blood branding, including a zipper pull on the cas that looks (convincingly) like a little vial of blood.  Other than that, the cases are the same.  (The boxes, though almost identical, have different graphics on the outside.)
  • The V-80 ships with one plain cable (no remote, no mic) and one single-button remote mic cable.
  • The M-80 ships with one single-button remote mic cable, and one three-button remote mic cable (for iPhone/iPod/iPad).
  • The V-80 has a red inner headband, the M-80 has a black inner headband.

 

Here's a link to a set of photos I took showing both headphones, from box to case to headphones.


Nice & clear.  Thank you!

 

The m-80 makes me curious about the LP2, if they made any sonic changes.

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post #59 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:48pm
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by xtasi View Post

Nice & clear.  Thank you!

 

The m-80 makes me curious about the LP2, if they made any sonic changes.


I have the Crossfade LP and the Crossfade LP2, and the LP2 has a bit more clarity and sounds less congested (than the LP), but, for most Head-Fi'ers (myself included), the M-80 is probably going to be the better-sounding headphone.  If you tend toward the bass-heavy, in terms of your preferences, then you should listen to the LP2.  Also, if looks matter to you, the LP2's matte-black appearance is rather striking.

 

Here's a photo set showing a couple of different Crossfade LP's (black & chrome, and black & green), with a few showing the matte-black Crossfade LP2.

 

Again, the M-80 is, to me, the better sounding headphone, by a pretty good margin.  The LP2 is one of my go-to headphones when I'm feeling the basshead mood, but that's not too often.

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post #60 of 2473
11/8/11 at 9:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jude View Post

 


I have the Crossfade LP and the Crossfade LP2, and the LP2 has a bit more clarity and sounds less congested (than the LP), but, for most Head-Fi'ers (myself included), the M-80 is probably going to be the better-sounding headphone.  If you tend toward the bass-heavy, in terms of your preferences, then you should listen to the LP2.  Also, if looks matter to you, the LP2's matte-black appearance is rather striking.

 

Here's a photo set showing a couple of different Crossfade LP's (black & chrome, and black & green), with a few showing the matte-black Crossfade LP2.

 

Again, the M-80 is, to me, the better sounding headphone, by a pretty good margin.  The LP2 is one of my go-to headphones when I'm feeling the basshead mood, but that's not too often.


 

Thank you jude, was not expecting a reply this fast!

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