V-MODA M-100: Discussion/Feedback, Reviews, Pics, etc. - Page 749

This is fun. I love stirring up trouble. I just find it funny that someone that posts alot is an authority on any subject. I could write a lengthy review on these and other headphones as well. My point is everyone should make their own conclusions. My conclusions are that the M-100s are a great headphone for all genres. They do specialize more towards the bass end of the spectrum but they are fun for most any music. 

I feel my background as a musician is very important. Playing live sessions for jazz, orchestra and even southern rock have given me perspective for many different things. The same can be said for my experience in the high end home audio and home theater. Setting up these systems and tuning them in room help you to learn what to listen for. I know what live sounds like and I know what many recorded sessions are trying to accomplish if you look at what the producer usually strives to achieve in his/her work. The point is many will mix to have vocals as the centerpiece and sometimes they will mix to blend them more. Look I am not trying to be the experienced one on this forum or even this thread. Its not that important to me. I have been in many more internet arguments on high end audio forums and I find it fun to challenge people. 

While the mids are clearly recessed, relatively speaking, I don't agree with the people who say these are 'genre specific'.  I don't listen to any pop, electronic or dance music these days.  I do listen to a lot of acoustic, folk, rock, psych, metal, doom, etc...  The M80s, which I also own and love, I do consider absolute all-rounders.  Their frequency response is more balanced and they somehow sound fantastic no matter what I play through them.  The M100s, on the other hand, are more picky.  I do believe the people who say they're better for electronic music, but what I'd like to say is that I nevertheless wouldn't discount them entirely for other genres.  I simply find that when playing rock and folk that they're a bit more hit and miss.  At their best, when playing an album that suits them well, they absolutely crush the M80s.  But on other albums their very coloured sound can sometimes work against them, particularly in regards to the quite strong bass.  I absolutely love my M100s and wouldn't part with them, and would still recommend them to others who listen to rock, metal and folk.  When they rock hard, they rock REALLY hard.  And they do perform incredibly well with some folky albums, with great clarity of acoustic guitar and beautiful vocal presentation.

A couple of examples of albums that I find to work very well from the heavier rock genres - the new Soundgarden 'King Animal' (should need no introduction), Graveyard 'Lights Out' (retro 70s style hard rock) and the new Ufomammut albums (heavy sludge / doom).  The massively distorted and rumbling bass on the Ufomammut albums is particularly powerful on the M100s - I find it hard to imagine a headphone that could do it better.  The albums by Yob, on the other hand, which I love on the M80s and which should by all accounts sound fantastic on the M100s, somehow seem to miss the mark.

Well, I just sent back my M-100s today for return.  I only had them for about a week, and I didn't get to give them as much headtime as I would've liked, but here were my impressions:
 

• The build quality is the single most impressive thing about these headphones.  They feel sturdy and look pretty sick, although they're more flashy than I'd feel comfortable wearing in public.  The case is also genius.

• I thought my ears were smaller than average, but my left ear wouldn't fit into the pad.  This caused soreness after about an hour of listening.  I eventually mitigated this problem by just wearing the headphones partially on-ear.  I was surprised by the tight fit, since my ears fit perfectly into the Edition 8 earpads, which might only be slightly wider.

• I found the sound quality more or less OK for a headphone which is trying for a fun, colored sound, but still lacking the kind of clarity, detail and balance that I'm looking for even in a portable headphone that I'll mostly be listening to casually.  The bass added a layer of haze to everything, and I didn't find the headphones very resolving even on bass-light music.  I mainly want a pair of portable over-ears to listen to high-energy music (hip-hop, house, hard rock), and I found the M-100's polite treble and thick bass a bit dull.  However, I didn't listen to these headphones in a noisy environment where the extra bass may have come in handy.  In quiet settings where I could really focus on the music, I found it hard to get lost in the music with the lack of detail and neutrality.

• My reference for what a "fun" portable, closed headphone should sound like are the Edition 8s, but I realize those retail for $1000 and aren't as rugged or portable as the M-100s.  But I love the Ed. 8's level of clarity, treble extension, and soundstage.  I also own the DT1350s, which I don't listen to much anymore as I find them too mid-range focused, with a thin yet warm sound which is only engaging with certain kinds of vocal music.  But they're very compact and isolating.

I just ordered a set of Amperiors, I'm hoping that it will have a brighter, cleaner presentation than the M-100s, with more detail and bass refinement.  I'm glad to see that Val is so engaged on Head-Fi, and I received nothing but outstanding customer service from V-MODA.  If he develops a more neutral, reference headphone down the line, I'll definitely be checking it out!

This is fun. I love stirring up trouble. I just find it funny that someone that posts alot is an authority on any subject. I could write a lengthy review on these and other headphones as well. My point is everyone should make their own conclusions. My conclusions are that the M-100s are a great headphone for all genres. They do specialize more towards the bass end of the spectrum but they are fun for most any music. 

I feel my background as a musician is very important. Playing live sessions for jazz, orchestra and even southern rock have given me perspective for many different things. The same can be said for my experience in the high end home audio and home theater. Setting up these systems and tuning them in room help you to learn what to listen for. I know what live sounds like and I know what many recorded sessions are trying to accomplish if you look at what the producer usually strives to achieve in his/her work. The point is many will mix to have vocals as the centerpiece and sometimes they will mix to blend them more. Look I am not trying to be the experienced one on this forum or even this thread. Its not that important to me. I have been in many more internet arguments on high end audio forums and I find it fun to challenge people. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by awtryau89 

The fact you are using a video game as reference for anything tells me all I need to know. As a musician for 23 years I know what instruments and most mixes should sound like. I know you are a kid but you should quit making definitive statements without any real knowledge.

Miceblue merely said that he was testing the mids of the m100s with the soundtracks in AC3. The fact that you've been a so called musician for '23 yrs', would probably make me want to think twice about your opinion on the sound of ANY headphones.

Also it's obvious that the mids are quite recessed with the m100s. Imo even after the pp mod and hooking them up to a portable amp. We all know that they sound BEAUTIFUL with electronic genres and rap/ hip-hop( my fav. genres (: (: (: ...). However I have a question for you micdeblue & others who have been using the m100s for a while. What are other genres that they sound great/ good with? Please, very curious.

While the mids are clearly recessed, relatively speaking, I don't agree with the people who say these are 'genre specific'.  I don't listen to any pop, electronic or dance music these days.  I do listen to a lot of acoustic, folk, rock, psych, metal, doom, etc...  The M80s, which I also own and love, I do consider absolute all-rounders.  Their frequency response is more balanced and they somehow sound fantastic no matter what I play through them.  The M100s, on the other hand, are more picky.  I do believe the people who say they're better for electronic music, but what I'd like to say is that I nevertheless wouldn't discount them entirely for other genres.  I simply find that when playing rock and folk that they're a bit more hit and miss.  At their best, when playing an album that suits them well, they absolutely crush the M80s.  But on other albums their very coloured sound can sometimes work against them, particularly in regards to the quite strong bass.  I absolutely love my M100s and wouldn't part with them, and would still recommend them to others who listen to rock, metal and folk.  When they rock hard, they rock REALLY hard.  And they do perform incredibly well with some folky albums, with great clarity of acoustic guitar and beautiful vocal presentation.

A couple of examples of albums that I find to work very well from the heavier rock genres - the new Soundgarden 'King Animal' (should need no introduction), Graveyard 'Lights Out' (retro 70s style hard rock) and the new Ufomammut albums (heavy sludge / doom).  The massively distorted and rumbling bass on the Ufomammut albums is particularly powerful on the M100s - I find it hard to imagine a headphone that could do it better.  The albums by Yob, on the other hand, which I love on the M80s and which should by all accounts sound fantastic on the M100s, somehow seem to miss the mark.