V-MODA M-80 Review

Well if you didn't burn them in why did you return them so soon? I have a pair of LP's and I can assure you that overpowering bass subsides after a good lengthy break in. Getting an amp also helped me bring out the mids and highs on these cans.

BREAK THEM IN BEFORE YOU RETURN THEM! Leave them overnight with pink noise for a few days and THEN make a decision. Also an amp will help.

I love my V-Moda M80's but I have not noticed any appreciable change from break in (and I have many 100's of hours on them now).  Also, these were meant to be driven from a portable and most reports are that an amp doesn't really change things much if at all. My own experience is that there is no difference in sound quality when plugged into my Marantz AVR (admittedly not high end) versus my Iphone or Ipad.  Maybe the OP just does not like the M80 sound signature.

 

(BTW, I disagree strongly about OP's characterization that bass overwhelms everyything and drums, etc. being muffled, but we each listen to different music and hear things differently.)

Thing is. M80's aren't known to have overwhelming bass. The M80's are not bass cans. OP shouldnt have gotten the M80's to be honest. Should've gotten the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10's if he is fine with IEM's or the M50's as he said he loved them. And then done a mod to them to put new pads on them. Simple as that.

Bass bleed on the M80's comparing to the Beats Solo? This is madness.

I have to say that I personally was a bit disappointed with the M-80's in that I read several reviews from a lot of the popular reviewers on youtube as well as here at head-fi.  My main point of frustration was that several of the reviewers did not really get into the details on the M-80's sound quality but rather focused more on the cans aesthetics and their "endorse yourself" marketing angle where you can pay extra for custom outer shields.   IMO the M-80 is a bit too heavy on the bass and like the Dre Beats has a pre-manufactured lower end.   Defiantly not a bad pair of headphones, I just felt I was buying something a bit more neutral but the fault is on my end because I did not spend enough time researching the M-80.   On a positive note, the M-80's build quality is fantastic and they appear to be very durable headphones.
 

Wow, that's the worst critique I've heard about the M80's thus far. 

The Beats by Dre are completely muddy while these are crisp. Yes, they aren't bass light, but it's not Dre heavy.

Haha, take it back. 

I didn't find the M80 to be bass heavy that over shadowed the highs & mids "everything else".

As people on the M-100 thread might attest (and possibly complain), I'm not an advocate of the M-80s. But I draw the cartoon horizon (with extra skyscrapers) at the intimation they sound like anemic Beats. They sound bloody better than anemic (bleed, dribble), and the Beats Pros I once had the misfortune to hear were not even good prose.  I appreciate that that's what you hear, but it seems an unfair comparison.

 

Yes, they're a tad rolled off in the highs, which I happen to dislike. I'd rather EQ for transit -- and turn off all processing when I reach my destination -- than make do with fewer highs when I'm in the position to enjoy them. But the M-80s are decent-sounding and are clearly the best thing V-Moda has done so far.

 

And I disagree with the idea they sound as scrod as they're capable of scrodding out of an iPod. Listening via a good DAC/amp out of an android or PC/Mac source is a markedly better experience than straight out of an iPod -- at liced in my experience (bring on the lice!). I'm Citroën the same is true with an iPad and an AlgoRhythm Solo or Vamp.

 

(You'll have to excuse me -- playing with substitutions makes responding a tad less unex[c]iting.)

Edited by scrypt - 9/18/12 at 12:52pm

I agree that they are in no way as bass heavy as the Dre's, the Beats are in a completely different league.  The Beats bass is ridiculous if you ask me...  The bass on the M-80's was just surprisingly heavier than what I had expected. 

I don't know if the mass of the bass really is the complaint I was hearing. It's really just that the bass of the M80's is tight and quick where as the Beatses bass is slow, bleedy and horrible. :)

So I don't even know where to begin. Beats solos and V-MODA M-80 are night and day. OP I think you should have given the M-80s more time for your ears to adjust to the sound and listen for the details. Also the ear pads over time mold onto your ears which will make a big difference in SQ. My guess is that you're a big fan of treble since you love the M50s. They have a huge emphasis on treble. The M-80s are actually more balanced across the spectrum while having the same amount of bass, but better textured than the M50s. It's possible you're just not a fan of the sound sig. And the claim about bass drowning out mids and highs are just false to my ears. The highs are polite but vocals are balanced with bass and highs.

Comparing these to Solos and leaning towards the Solos is just ludacris. The solos = highway robbery - in that you can get $30 headphones that sound BETTER than the solos with better build quality. The M-80s, SQ and BQ wise, are worlds apart. I think the more experience you get with different cans, the better you'll be able to judge SQ. Just my 2 cents.
Edited by roma101 - 9/18/12 at 2:06pm

I tried a pair of M-80's at a shop before (they were display units so probably broken in by then?) and I have to say that I agree with what some of the other people were saying about the bass. That is, the bass is quite overpowered and muffles the treble and mids. Before I tried them, I was actually quite excited because I had read all those rave reviews here on head-fi about how their very neutral sounding with a slight bass hump. That slight bass hump turned out to be a little (understatement) too much for me and I have to say I was quite disappointed after hearing them. I suppose it's just not the sound signature for me, since a lot of people here love it.