These are not flat or analytical sounding cans, but they are a pretty good slice of the sonic cake for portables. I'm crowning these cans as Electronic Dance Music (EDM) king contenders for sure.
First off, let me say that I love Head-Fi, and I enjoy reading so many impressions of so many pieces of gear. I've learned so much about portable sound over the years thanks to this place and Head-fi has cost me a lot of money (in a good way) too! Thanks to Head-Fi again, I discovered 2 more treasures to add to my growing collection (V-Moda V80 and M100). I typically read way more than I post, but I felt like giving back a bit and offering my impression of the M100 cans I recently bought.
I was really after a portable headphone that offered an overall sound arrangement that was fun, clean, non-fatiguing, yet not lacking in detail so much as to sound muddy or overly veiled in the mids. I had trouble finding what I was looking for until I stumbled upon the M100, which gave me everything I was looking for.
Bass:
The M100 does NOT have overbearing and fatiguing bass that destroys the rest of your music like Beats do (tried & compared Mixr). The M100's have deep, clean, and plentiful bass WITHOUT over-delivering. I did not find mids and highs getting crushed in the aftermath of bass punch, which was epic relief to me since I like bass, but not the absolutely dominating and overbearing amounts that kill any hope of hearing the rest of your music. I never felt like I was having a sonic tug of war like I did with Beats Mixr headphones, where I know my music well, and I had to struggle to hear subtle pieces I know are supposed to be there. Also here, you get good sub-bass, which is more felt than heard. I absolutely love how these drivers deliver bass frequencies and volume. This bass is not as tight and punchy as the M80, but this is my preference.
Mids:
I'm enjoying the arrangement of the mid emphasis where it is, which seems to be upper mids, with slightly lowered lower mids. I tried the Sony MDR-1R, which sounded horribly forward in the mids, and artificial IMO. I don't feel frustrated trying to discern anything in the lower mids in this arrangement either, but as others pointed out before me, female vocals really stand out with emphasis to upper mids nicely here. Overall, I love the articulation here and clean presentation that lets me effortlessly pick up inflection and great nuances in female vocals, especially.
Highs:
Highs on the M100s are about perfect for a portable, and is rolled off at a sweet spot that still gives me a good taste of effects and instruments in the upper spectrum without the fatigue. I think they got this right for a portable setup, and I love listening to these for hours on end without my ears feeling like they have to throw in the towel.
Value Assessment:
What is interesting about these cans is that I resented paying 300 for them at first, until I discovered that there aren't many other portable choices that offer a combination of competing sound, style, portability, comfort and build quality. These are very good quality cans on the go. I really couldn't find a better pair that offered the same combinations, and I love the inline mic and control buttons on the cable!
Summary:
These are not analytical, flat cans, no. These are high quality portables with warm, clean, adequately detailed and non-fatiguing sound. Seriously, these are what Beats really should have been in my opinion. And to offer more context to my impressions, it should be noted that I listened to Electronic Dance Music (EDM) extensively, contemporary R&B, soul, reggae, some alternative, rock, and some metal. I like so much music (except most country), but EDM is my favorite, and it sounds amazing on these. I use Neutron as my music player on a Samsung GS4 (hence the desire for portable cans), EQ off, dithering on. I rip my own CDs with Exact Audio Copy to 320 CBR using lame as the encoder. The stock Samsung music player sucks and adds noticeable distortion to the sound.
Finally, I was surprised to hear some people feel that the bass was too heavy... These cans never crushed upper frequencies with bass and the bass is not overwhelming either - it's perfect in my opinion since it has good sub-bass and decent punch, and no distortion on anything I put through them, even at max volume.
First off, let me say that I love Head-Fi, and I enjoy reading so many impressions of so many pieces of gear. I've learned so much about portable sound over the years thanks to this place and Head-fi has cost me a lot of money (in a good way) too! Thanks to Head-Fi again, I discovered 2 more treasures to add to my growing collection (V-Moda V80 and M100). I typically read way more than I post, but I felt like giving back a bit and offering my impression of the M100 cans I recently bought.
I was really after a portable headphone that offered an overall sound arrangement that was fun, clean, non-fatiguing, yet not lacking in detail so much as to sound muddy or overly veiled in the mids. I had trouble finding what I was looking for until I stumbled upon the M100, which gave me everything I was looking for.
Bass:
The M100 does NOT have overbearing and fatiguing bass that destroys the rest of your music like Beats do (tried & compared Mixr). The M100's have deep, clean, and plentiful bass WITHOUT over-delivering. I did not find mids and highs getting crushed in the aftermath of bass punch, which was epic relief to me since I like bass, but not the absolutely dominating and overbearing amounts that kill any hope of hearing the rest of your music. I never felt like I was having a sonic tug of war like I did with Beats Mixr headphones, where I know my music well, and I had to struggle to hear subtle pieces I know are supposed to be there. Also here, you get good sub-bass, which is more felt than heard. I absolutely love how these drivers deliver bass frequencies and volume. This bass is not as tight and punchy as the M80, but this is my preference.
Mids:
I'm enjoying the arrangement of the mid emphasis where it is, which seems to be upper mids, with slightly lowered lower mids. I tried the Sony MDR-1R, which sounded horribly forward in the mids, and artificial IMO. I don't feel frustrated trying to discern anything in the lower mids in this arrangement either, but as others pointed out before me, female vocals really stand out with emphasis to upper mids nicely here. Overall, I love the articulation here and clean presentation that lets me effortlessly pick up inflection and great nuances in female vocals, especially.
Highs:
Highs on the M100s are about perfect for a portable, and is rolled off at a sweet spot that still gives me a good taste of effects and instruments in the upper spectrum without the fatigue. I think they got this right for a portable setup, and I love listening to these for hours on end without my ears feeling like they have to throw in the towel.
Value Assessment:
What is interesting about these cans is that I resented paying 300 for them at first, until I discovered that there aren't many other portable choices that offer a combination of competing sound, style, portability, comfort and build quality. These are very good quality cans on the go. I really couldn't find a better pair that offered the same combinations, and I love the inline mic and control buttons on the cable!
Summary:
These are not analytical, flat cans, no. These are high quality portables with warm, clean, adequately detailed and non-fatiguing sound. Seriously, these are what Beats really should have been in my opinion. And to offer more context to my impressions, it should be noted that I listened to Electronic Dance Music (EDM) extensively, contemporary R&B, soul, reggae, some alternative, rock, and some metal. I like so much music (except most country), but EDM is my favorite, and it sounds amazing on these. I use Neutron as my music player on a Samsung GS4 (hence the desire for portable cans), EQ off, dithering on. I rip my own CDs with Exact Audio Copy to 320 CBR using lame as the encoder. The stock Samsung music player sucks and adds noticeable distortion to the sound.
Finally, I was surprised to hear some people feel that the bass was too heavy... These cans never crushed upper frequencies with bass and the bass is not overwhelming either - it's perfect in my opinion since it has good sub-bass and decent punch, and no distortion on anything I put through them, even at max volume.
