V-MODA M-100: Discussion/Feedback, Reviews, Pics, etc. - Page 799

So I had visitor friends from Oz come by Tokyo this week. One of them knew I was a headphone nut and asked me what's hot these days. I let him try my M-100 and sold the idea to him completely. He wanted me to take him to the shops the next day to pick one up. The next day, he told his friend he was going headphone shopping with me and that chap then wanted to try my headphones too - sold again!! So I took them to the shops and picked up 2xShadow M-100s.

There's no doubt the M-100 signature is pleasing even to non-audiophiles - they liked the sound, they liked the way it collapsed, they liked the shell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by money4me247 

 

haters always going to hater. kinda funny as m50s are probably the most "mainstream" safe audiophile choice, and he probably just bought them based on what he read rather than personally auditioning to different sets & falling in love w/ the sound.

+456498413

So much of  this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apo0th3karY 

+456498413

So much of  this.

Haha I thought you'd just posted your phone number there (that would be one in Denmark).

Hah! Nope, just funny coincidence 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 

So I had visitor friends from Oz come by Tokyo this week. One of them knew I was a headphone nut and asked me what's hot these days. I let him try my M-100 and sold the idea to him completely. He wanted me to take him to the shops the next day to pick one up. The next day, he told his friend he was going headphone shopping with me and that chap then wanted to try my headphones too - sold again!! So I took them to the shops and picked up 2xShadow M-100s.

 

There's no doubt the M-100 signature is pleasing even to non-audiophiles - they liked the sound, they liked the way it collapsed, they liked the shell.

The US retailer that was selling the Ultrasone Signature DJ (my only hope for unseating the M-100 as the portable headphone king) for $699 had a falling out with Ultrasone over pricing, so the cheapest I can purchase them is $999 US which puts them out of consideration which means the M-100 wins the headphone battle for me. 

There are a few stragglers I plan to try.  I have NuForce HP-800s arriving today.  I also want to try the Yamaha PRO 500 and upcoming NAD VISO HP50.  Other than that, it's the M-100 for me and I'm better than good with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zalithian 

I can hear some sound, but no speaking. :(

Maybe it's because the track is an instrumental track

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craigster75 

The US retailer that was selling the Ultrasone Signature DJ (my only hope for unseating the M-100 as the portable headphone king) for $699 had a falling out with Ultrasone over pricing, so the cheapest I can purchase them is $999 US which puts them out of consideration which means the M-100 wins the headphone battle for me. 

 

There are a few stragglers I plan to try.  I have NuForce HP-800s arriving today.  I also want to try the Yamaha PRO 500 and upcoming NAD VISO HP50.  Other than that, it's the M-100 for me and I'm better than good with that.

Thank you for highlighting the NAD. Never knew about that. Someone else also asked me to try the Yamaha Pro 500 but strangely (despite being a Japanese brand), that model is not available here (yet?).

I was demo-ing the Ultrasone Edition 8 Romeos whilst they were paying for the M-100's. I used to own the Ed8LEs but sold them off 7 months ago with the intention of buying the SigPros but have since forgotten the Ed8 sound. Listening to the Romeos again did sound very nice. One of the guys did have a listen to it after he paid for his M-100 and liked it. However the price was somewhat too rich for their tastes.

I think even $700 for the SigDJ was probably more than they wanted to spend irrespective of their impressions of the SigDJ over the M-100. i.e. it seems that for that $300 price range, the M-100s seem to be at the pinnacle of value for money...not just in its sound, but balanced with durability, compact size for a pair of circumaural headphones, nice design rather than anything too flashy or plasticky, etc. I tried enticing them with the LP/LP2s (since they were somewhat bassheads) but they kept to the M-100 for it's collapsed size.

They were even more impressed when I told them my unit that they heard had fallen into a frozen lake and its SQ wasn't affected. In addition, I showed them my M-100 being stress tested :-

All these tests I'm doing may seem silly to most, but believe it or not, along with that accidental frozen lake test and this, it has helped demonstrate the features and has helped sold the M-100 idea to these non-audiophile folks. It's slowly reeling them and exposing them to the audiophile world slowly through other means that they find attractive. Sometimes blunt approaches of talking solely about sound quality doesn't always work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 

 

Thank you for highlighting the NAD. Never knew about that. Someone else also asked me to try the Yamaha Pro 500 but strangely (despite being a Japanese brand), that model is not available here (yet?).

 

I was demo-ing the Ultrasone Edition 8 Romeos whilst they were paying for the M-100's. I used to own the Ed8LEs but sold them off 7 months ago with the intention of buying the SigPros but have since forgotten the Ed8 sound. Listening to the Romeos again did sound very nice. One of the guys did have a listen to it after he paid for his M-100 and liked it. However the price was somewhat too rich for their tastes.

 

I think even $700 for the SigDJ was probably more than they wanted to spend irrespective of their impressions of the SigDJ over the M-100. i.e. it seems that for that $300 price range, the M-100s seem to be at the pinnacle of value for money...not just in its sound, but balanced with durability, compact size for a pair of circumaural headphones, nice design rather than anything too flashy or plasticky, etc. I tried enticing them with the LP/LP2s (since they were somewhat bassheads) but they kept to the M-100 for it's collapsed size.

 

They were even more impressed when I told them my unit that they heard had fallen into a frozen lake and its SQ wasn't affected. In addition, I showed them my M-100 being stress tested :-

 

 

 

All these tests I'm doing may seem silly to most, but believe it or not, along with that accidental frozen lake test and this, it has helped demonstrate the features and has helped sold the M-100 idea to these non-audiophile folks. It's slowly reeling them and exposing them to the audiophile world slowly through other means that they find attractive. Sometimes blunt approaches of talking solely about sound quality doesn't always work.

That's awesome. :)  I love my M-100s and really appreciate the feedback you're providing to us.  It's great to see such a well thought out product come to the market and actually be able to live up to its rather bold marketing claims.  The warranty that takes in to consideration those same bold claims is great too, and shows that V-moda believes in and will back its product. 

I'm..... In awe.... My M-100 just opened up to new levels.

I'll admit it's my first amp ever, but I can't believe the difference the C&C BH has made to the entire signature. Vocals came alive, background instruments came forward and the LF (bass boost) and SF (sound field) switches..... They're magic. 

I can't say much more right now because I'm at home watching How I Met Your Mother with my lady, and she hates when I listen to headphones when I'm with her; makes her feel ignored lol. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by money4me247 

omg... that happens to you too?? i legit thought i was just crazy. the funny thing though is that vmoda mistakenly sent me the wrong color m100s (white), so I currently have two m100s. the white ones are actually REALLY REALLY comfortable!!!! my friend who was wearing bose quietcomforts tried em and said they were super comfy. i don't get any rubbing of the inner cup against my ear w/ the white ones at all.

 

However, my shadow pair (which is the color I wanted) is immediately has some rubbing when I put them on, and gets slightly irritating after 30min and uncomfortable after 1hr. It's driving me crazy. I thought it might have been the foam paddings but I legit measured out the puffyness of both earcups & they are the same. Also I wore the black pair for the last 2 weeks, hoping it will get better w/ time... but it didn't lol.

 

do you guys think there might be variations in the different color models for comfort or maybe some batches of m100 are different? Or maybe the flexband of different sets are just inherently different? I definately don't remember having any comfort issues w/ the white pair, but the shadow pair I noticed it immediately. 

Really? that would be a shame, I don't like the white ones. And i'm guessing V-Moda is very aware of the comfort issue hence the XL pads they are making. I recommend everyone who is having comfort issues to wait for the XL pads...so you know i'm not alone in this.

Anyways I have made the decision to keep the M100's despite the pain, I can wait a bit for the XL pads. The clarity, the bass, I really love them.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 

 

Thank you for highlighting the NAD. Never knew about that. Someone else also asked me to try the Yamaha Pro 500 but strangely (despite being a Japanese brand), that model is not available here (yet?).

 

I was demo-ing the Ultrasone Edition 8 Romeos whilst they were paying for the M-100's. I used to own the Ed8LEs but sold them off 7 months ago with the intention of buying the SigPros but have since forgotten the Ed8 sound. Listening to the Romeos again did sound very nice. One of the guys did have a listen to it after he paid for his M-100 and liked it. However the price was somewhat too rich for their tastes.

 

I think even $700 for the SigDJ was probably more than they wanted to spend irrespective of their impressions of the SigDJ over the M-100. i.e. it seems that for that $300 price range, the M-100s seem to be at the pinnacle of value for money...not just in its sound, but balanced with durability, compact size for a pair of circumaural headphones, nice design rather than anything too flashy or plasticky, etc. I tried enticing them with the LP/LP2s (since they were somewhat bassheads) but they kept to the M-100 for it's collapsed size.

 

They were even more impressed when I told them my unit that they heard had fallen into a frozen lake and its SQ wasn't affected. In addition, I showed them my M-100 being stress tested :-

 

 

 

All these tests I'm doing may seem silly to most, but believe it or not, along with that accidental frozen lake test and this, it has helped demonstrate the features and has helped sold the M-100 idea to these non-audiophile folks. It's slowly reeling them and exposing them to the audiophile world slowly through other means that they find attractive. Sometimes blunt approaches of talking solely about sound quality doesn't always work.

 

 

AnakChan:

Let me just say that you are nuts....but in a good way. 

There is NO WAY I can imagine the Verza having 5x the affect on sound that the C&C BH does for 5x the price.

I'm in awe.... wow. This amp really brings the M-100s to life. The thing is, there's so many configurations with this little thing, it's really configurable to taste. So far I prefer LOD > OUT2 with GC on low, and both LF and SF switches on. I think OUT1 is more mid centric, but I've been using OUT2 because the volume pot is less sensitive to turns and the sound has a warmer tilt.

Micro detail like never before. The bass boost is very generous, and is VERY clean, I'm extremely impressed by it. I prefer it over the ZO. The SF switch does wonders for the sound stage. It boosts the highs a bit and crossfeeds the channels giving more depth, and height it's really magical - The soundstage opens up substantially.

The amp itself (no switches on) brings the mids a little more forward, and I found the sub bass (especially) is cleaner and a tad more present; really makes the M-100 purr. Vocals have better presentation than unamped imo - especially with SF on - and background instruments are given more room to breathe. If you thought the M-100 was detailed before... 

Like I don't know what kind of black magic is going on here, but the background instruments and noises are coming right out, and the soundstage has become so much more 3D. Mids are not taking a back seat anymore. Well integrated into the rest of the song. Drums, vocals and guitars are all much better presented now.

I'll come back with impressions on a different configuration later. 

EDIT: Upon a little more careful listening, with OUT2 the SF switch cross feeds, and brings mids and lower treble forward, where the LF switch boosts lows generously, and the highs a little bit giving it a V-shaped EQ almost. This is a fun little amp. I don't even know if I care to get another one for comparison sake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craigster75 

The US retailer that was selling the Ultrasone Signature DJ (my only hope for unseating the M-100 as the portable headphone king) for $699 had a falling out with Ultrasone over pricing, so the cheapest I can purchase them is $999 US which puts them out of consideration which means the M-100 wins the headphone battle for me. 

 

There are a few stragglers I plan to try.  I have NuForce HP-800s arriving today.  I also want to try the Yamaha PRO 500 and upcoming NAD VISO HP50.  Other than that, it's the M-100 for me and I'm better than good with that.

 

Thank you for highlighting the NAD. Never knew about that. Someone else also asked me to try the Yamaha Pro 500 but strangely (despite being a Japanese brand), that model is not available here (yet?).

 

I was demo-ing the Ultrasone Edition 8 Romeos whilst they were paying for the M-100's. I used to own the Ed8LEs but sold them off 7 months ago with the intention of buying the SigPros but have since forgotten the Ed8 sound. Listening to the Romeos again did sound very nice. One of the guys did have a listen to it after he paid for his M-100 and liked it. However the price was somewhat too rich for their tastes.

 

I think even $700 for the SigDJ was probably more than they wanted to spend irrespective of their impressions of the SigDJ over the M-100. i.e. it seems that for that $300 price range, the M-100s seem to be at the pinnacle of value for money...not just in its sound, but balanced with durability, compact size for a pair of circumaural headphones, nice design rather than anything too flashy or plasticky, etc. I tried enticing them with the LP/LP2s (since they were somewhat bassheads) but they kept to the M-100 for it's collapsed size.

 

They were even more impressed when I told them my unit that they heard had fallen into a frozen lake and its SQ wasn't affected. In addition, I showed them my M-100 being stress tested :-

 

 

 

All these tests I'm doing may seem silly to most, but believe it or not, along with that accidental frozen lake test and this, it has helped demonstrate the features and has helped sold the M-100 idea to these non-audiophile folks. It's slowly reeling them and exposing them to the audiophile world slowly through other means that they find attractive. Sometimes blunt approaches of talking solely about sound quality doesn't always work.

Wha......I don't even... >.>

When I dropped my M-100's at the last Head-Fi meet I went to, the left earcup got a pretty long but thin crack in it. Here you are putting 110 lbs on it no problem. There is no possible way my M-100's could have sustained over 110 lbs from the 3 ft drop. D:

I mean, if you do the math, 280 g is about .62 lbs. Even if I were to forcibly throw the M-100's to the ground, I don't think I can throw it with a force of 109.38 lbs.

"That just ain't right"

So I've owned my M-100s for about two weeks and I noticed today one of the plastic pieces on the left side, near a screw, has started to separate.  It appears the internal housing for the screw broke and the screw itself started to back off. 

I'm extremely careful with my gear so no idea how this occurred.  I'm just assuming it's a defect.  I'm not too concerned as I know V-moda has a good warranty and I purchased these from Amazon.  Returned as defective and the replacement will be here tomorrow at no charge to me.

Hopefully I have no other issues as I really do like these headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tokendog 

So I've owned my M-100s for about two weeks and I noticed today one of the plastic pieces on the left side, near a screw, has started to separate.  It appears the internal housing for the screw broke and the screw itself started to back off. 

 

I'm extremely careful with my gear so no idea how this occurred.  I'm just assuming it's a defect.  I'm not too concerned as I know V-moda has a good warranty and I purchased these from Amazon.  Returned as defective and the replacement will be here tomorrow at no charge to me.

 

Hopefully I have no other issues as I really do like these headphones.

Wow, judging by your headphone collection and the fact that you really like these headphones is awesome.