[Mhog55]

The 99 neo is more cold and bass heavy. The Denon ah-d600 is more warm and bass heavy, so that's an option

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Absolutely agree with listening to a bunch of different headphones - the only issue I have is I cannot readily do that and probably not about to undertake the cyclical quest of buying and returning and paying a restocking fee and yeah it's just a bit messy.
I just need to put this on hold then, until I either take a chance on a pair and find they are amazing or wait till I'm in a major city - sucks to be in this situation to be honest.

Personally, I would dial the budget down a couple of notches and buy a couple of different headphones and figure out what I really like before spending the big bucks trying to find your Cinderella. Play the field a little.

 

[Mhog55]

fair enough, that's your personal experience...the OP has an IPhone 6 which should be able to power the headphones adequately enough to know if you like how they sound or not. I doubt an amp will transform them THAT much.

Yeah, probably not a lot, but at this point he is looking for better than Apple earpods. I'm just concerned it's more about volume than sound quality. If it's strictly sound quality, by all means grab the 99 classics

 

[notanaudiophileithink]

Look at it like this. You've tried a few pairs, and pretty much drawn the same conclusions. I gave my status audio cb-1 to my co-worker today because I'm not using them. These by all means are not terrible. Listening to them through his S8, they sounded absolutely nothing like they did through my V30 in high impedance mode. Practically speaking, what's it going to hurt to buy a 40 dollar portable amp? It's a heck of a lot cheaper than a 350 dollar pair of headphones you very well might say the same thing about. Don't get me wrong, the 99 classics are superior to the m100. Technically speaking, on paper my Hifiman Edition S should be the most efficient headphones under the sun. But guess what, when I listen to them in high impedance mode, they give me all they've got, and there is no doubt that when they get unlocked, they sing much better than they do in auxiliary mode

That's fairly intriguing, is laptop power a big enough different than iPad and iPhone power or can I just class them together and amps are just another level?


QUOTE="Cruelhand Luke, post: 14341657, member: 454173"]Personally, I would dial the budget down a couple of notches and buy a couple of different headphones and figure out what I really like before spending the big bucks trying to find your Cinderella. Play the field a little.[/QUOTE]

Bit of a difficult situation, I think I know what I want - thing is Idk now, how much better it can really get. Edit: butchered that quote my bad

 

[notanaudiophileithink]

Would the XL pads for my Vmoda's make any difference - essentially as I'm listening to them right now and typing this I have two options - send them back and pay a 20% restocking fee (unfortunately I had to cut the damn ribbon on the retail box to get into them, I've even left the plastic on earcups on smh) or just keep them.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

That's fairly intriguing, is laptop power a big enough different than iPad and iPhone power or can I just class them together and amps are just another level?


QUOTE="Cruelhand Luke, post: 14341657, member: 454173"]Personally, I would dial the budget down a couple of notches and buy a couple of different headphones and figure out what I really like before spending the big bucks trying to find your Cinderella. Play the field a little.

Bit of a difficult situation, I think I know what I want - thing is Idk now, how much better it can really get. Edit: butchered that quote my bad[/QUOTE]
I assure you, unless you just don't have great hearing, it can get MUCH better than Earpods. I mean, I have a set of modified Philips SHP 9500s and I run them through a Schiit Magni 3, and with certain songs, certain situations, my brain repeats the phrase, 'this is the BEST I have ever heard this song"
It really is possible to get absolutely stellar sound, for not a lot of money.

 

[notanaudiophileithink]

Switched back to earpods and they're just more 'full' at the lower end - something I want, something I get because I suppose they're in between a headphone and iem.
I'd like to think I have great hearing hahaha

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Would the XL pads for my Vmoda's make any difference - essentially as I'm listening to them right now and typing this I have two options - send them back and pay a 20% restocking fee (unfortunately I had to cut the damn ribbon on the retail box to get into them, I've even left the plastic on earcups on smh) or just keep them.

I would burn them in with pink noise and listen to them for a few days...sometimes it takes time to get used to how a headphone presents sound. Also use your EQ settings to fine tune the sound...you might just need some time with them to get a good feel for if you like them or not.

 

[notanaudiophileithink]

I would burn them in with pink noise and listen to them for a few days...sometimes it takes time to get used to how a headphone presents sound. Also use your EQ settings to fine tune the sound...you might just need some time with them to get a good feel for if you like them or not.

Initially mids have felt recessed - not as full down low as well, but I guess it's just different to what I'm used to - I'll continue to scrutinize them and switch back and forth. I feel like in ear earphones would be an another route to chase potentially but have steered away from them for various reasons.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Initially mids have felt recessed - not as full down low as well, but I guess it's just different to what I'm used to - I'll continue to scrutinize them and switch back and forth. I feel like in ear earphones would be an another route to chase potentially but have steered away from them for various reasons.

maybe try the Sonarworks trufi app for mobile or some other Eq program...you might be able to adjust for some deficiencies in the sound that you don't care for

 

[Mhog55]

I'm not suggesting by any means that you push the drivers to the point of distortion. Kinda goes without saying. Yes, your laptop may provide a little more juice than your iPhone, but not like a dedicated amp. I'm tempted to ship you my little Fiio E6 just to see if you notice a fair, audible difference in the M100s. And yes, this particular headphone indeed has recessed mids. Given this discussion at length, I really think you would enjoy the 2nd generation B&O H6. There's not much to not like about it.

 

[notanaudiophileithink]

I'm not suggesting by any means that you push the drivers to the point of distortion. Kinda goes without saying. Yes, your laptop may provide a little more juice than your iPhone, but not like a dedicated amp. I'm tempted to ship you my little Fiio E6 just to see if you notice a fair, audible difference in the M100s. And yes, this particular headphone indeed has recessed mids. Given this discussion at length, I really think you would enjoy the 2nd generation B&O H6. There's not much to not like about it.

I was looking at the H6 before buying the M100s, I've just wrapped them and they'll be on their way back tomorrow morning - I spent time this afternoon testing out all possible music with my iPad Pro, iPhone, laptop, spotify premium, Tidal Master and HiFi quality and the overwhelming consensus was that after plugging in my earpods to whichever device and whatever source I like them better, clarity factor for one thing - M100 vocals sounded a bit less clear which is strange no? Bass was good, the mid section just felt a bit flat or washed out or something along those lines, less clear and less direct. I think I may put this interest on hold until I can visit an audio store or have money to burn for very high end equipment because my feeling is there's a messy middle ground here and for the transcendent (lol) experience I want, it's going to cost me. I can only say that with my limited experience that when I was in JBHifi the other month and stood listening to headphones that the Studio 3's jumped at me, a good level of anc (not intoxicating like the qc35s), clarity and real energy and liveliness was present. That said, I don't want them because of everything associated with bluetooth just won't cut it for me.