[MICHAELSD]

"People like Yaroslav" would be all the users of head-fi.

V-MODA lied about AAC support with Crossfade Wireless 1. It's on the forums. It was also on the product page, internet archive to help you.

After people could prove CFW1 did not support AAC, V-MODA changed their website and disappeared from the forums. Half of this thread is related to discussing the issue.

But again, does not change the fact that CFW2 is a flop regardless of that issue.

It may seem like a minor issue, but I agree with Yaroslav: this was a major oversight. If a company like Sony or Bose advertised a key feature that their product didn’t actually have it would lead to an expensive class action lawsuit. It makes the situation worse that they didn’t try to rectify the issue by making sure CF2W actually had support for AAC and AAC+ after V-MODA rightfully praised the virtues of the AAC codec for Bluetooth.

I hope V-MODA comes out with new innovative products in the future but their newest Bluetooth products really fell short of the Bluetooth spec matching their price points. There are $24.99 Bluetooth headphones (and <$9.99 earbuds) that support aptX so it’s not really a premium codec. What is premium is a newer version of Bluetooth and support for as many codecs as possible.

Anyway, CF2W is wired first. I suspect they just added Bluetooth since it’s hard to market a headphone without it. Let’s see what they can do with a pair of wireless-first headphones.

 

[winslord]

Stop complaining guys.... Why don’t you all sue them?

 

[MICHAELSD]

Stop complaining guys.... Why don’t you all sue them?

They don’t deserve that as I’m sure it was an honest mistake that hopefully they don’t repeat. But it still was a major oversight and I would be upset if I bought Crossfade Wireless or any product that very prominently advertised a feature that’s important to me then found out months later that the company deceived its customers without compensation, knowingly or not. It’s frankly unprofessional how V-MODA deleted the information off of its web-site and changed the packaging then as a result completely avoided mentioning AAC when it came to CF2W.

They completely avoided the issue rather than properly addressing it as they should have once they realized that one of the main features on their flagship product was not actually supported.

 

[winslord]

Without compensation. Exactly. Hence the more reason to sue them. You guys seem to make it such a big deal and surely have major evidence for court right?

 

[MICHAELSD]

Without compensation. Exactly. Hence the more reason to sue them. You guys seem to make it such a big deal and surely have major evidence for court right?

As it was an honest mistake and they were a relatively small company at the time CFW was released they don’t deserve a lawsuit, though they should have addressed it in some way and made it right even if that meant a firmware upgrade or some kind of voluntary recall program. (I almost purchased Crossfade Wireless but didn’t so it doesn’t apply to me.)

 

[Zadok]

They also have a pretty liberal return policy. Although it is annoying to have to return a product, and sometimes at worst you pay return shipping, you have plenty of time to get your money back. If any real portion of my needs with the headphones required AAC, I would have known easily within the return period (Probably on the first day even). They might have planned to have it in the final product, but due to scheduling/costs/whatever, it wasn't there and someone could have forgotten to change the spec sheet. I don't understand how people feel like they got so burned by the company when they had 60 days to figure it out. If you don't use the feature at all within 2 months, how can it be that important to you?

Secondly, I read in one of the Schiit blogging forums that differences in manufacturing aren't always announced. Sometimes a part is readily available, and other times the supply company just disappears and you can't get that part anymore. If replacement parts are comparable, there usually aren't announcements that the part has changed. I saw the M100 and CFW2 at best buy, so if V moda is now being placed with big retailers, it might be BB's policy or general wisdom to just change the description and walk away without making waves. Those who noticed the problem will have returned their products or contacted customer support about it, and future buyers would not be misled.

I don't think V moda is going to fail. I spent a month with the CFW2, and the only reason I don't still have them as my main everyday computer headphones is because I used the funds for my LCD3 instead. They were extremely comfortable, well built, still v-shaped yet more balanced than previous offerings, well isolated, and even had wireless support to boot (which is an afterthought to me). Having had my m80s for 6 years and 15 countries later, I can say they do well on the road as well as in the house. Just my 2 cents on the topic

 

[winslord]

They also have a pretty liberal return policy. Although it is annoying to have to return a product, and sometimes at worst you pay return shipping, you have plenty of time to get your money back. If any real portion of my needs with the headphones required AAC, I would have known easily within the return period (Probably on the first day even). They might have planned to have it in the final product, but due to scheduling/costs/whatever, it wasn't there and someone could have forgotten to change the spec sheet. I don't understand how people feel like they got so burned by the company when they had 60 days to figure it out. If you don't use the feature at all within 2 months, how can it be that important to you?

Secondly, I read in one of the Schiit blogging forums that differences in manufacturing aren't always announced. Sometimes a part is readily available, and other times the supply company just disappears and you can't get that part anymore. If replacement parts are comparable, there usually aren't announcements that the part has changed. I saw the M100 and CFW2 at best buy, so if V moda is now being placed with big retailers, it might be BB's policy or general wisdom to just change the description and walk away without making waves. Those who noticed the problem will have returned their products or contacted customer support about it, and future buyers would be misled.

I don't think V moda is going to fail. I spent a month with the CFW2, and the only reason I don't still have them as my main everyday computer headphones is because I used the funds for my LCD3 instead. They were extremely comfortable, well built, still v-shaped yet more balanced than previous offerings, well isolated, and even had wireless support to boot (which is an afterthought to me). Having had my m80s for 6 years and 15 countries later, I can say they do well on the road as well as in the house. Just my 2 cents on the topic

EXACTLY! Finally someone who understands. Cheers.

 

[Yaroslav]

Stop complaining guys.... Why don’t you all sue them?

First, lol. Second, that obviously was a honest mistake, probably screwed by their OEM. The reason we discuss this is the way they handle the communication. Being a head-fi-friendly company with M-100 proudly being an "crowdsourced" headphone, radio silence is the worst thing they could possibly do.

I also personally am very disappointed about the whole thing because I actually used to order V-MODAs for my company as a souvenir for my employees, with shields and everything. That is awesome. Would be happy if the situation would resolve itself and CFW3 will be on point, but seems unlikely.

Also, just responding to a question. It's not like we go here on a daily basis to bash V-MODA. /r/headphones is a better place lately anyway.

 

[subguy812]

Again you are talking about the original Crossfade in the Crossfade 2 thread. I am not sure why guys would expect AAC, or any Codec or feature for that matter to be included in any product if the packaging or web sites or manuals don't mention it. That would be your problem not V-MODA's. Wired, this headphone shames the M-100, unless of course you are all about boomy bass that bleeds into the other frequencies. If the original Crossfade made false promises or mis-advertisement I have no idea nor do I care. Are there better headphones on the market...yes, are there worse....yes. Would these be my first choice for critical listen, no. Would these be my first choice if I wanted a predominantly wireless headphone...no. The XS was the first move towards a more refined sound but they had pretty poor isolation and wouldn't stay on your head, the Crossfade 2 wireless is certainly a step in the right direction regarding sound for V-MODA.

 

[winslord]

To be fair everyone, V-MODA is relatively balanced nowadays with their CF2W and FMW. How balanced? The bass isn’t that weak as in so-called “high-end” cans, but I assure you upon my testing CF2W have WAY WEAKER BASS than newest headphones from Sony, B&O, B&W, Beats (which are way more balanced too now), and others. Point is, bass never dominates other frequencies.

Besides (and this is just my view), when you listen to something live; drums aren’t that weak compared to the piano playing and vocal singing next to it. My theory is that old microphones hardly capture bass in its purest form (and still does now), therefore creating a standard of “weak bass=flat=true”. For example, not a single microphone could capture the true baritone sound of my AMG C63 S.

 

[RoMee]

For the Immortal Life upgrade thingy, do I send in everything, packaging, cable, case, etc? Or do I just send the headphone by itself?

Nvm, got my answer.

You can keep the accessories that is fine just send the headphones with the form.


Rock On,
Richard

 

[Yaroslav]

For the Immortal Life upgrade thingy, do I send in everything, packaging, cable, case, etc? Or do I just send the headphone by itself?

Nvm, got my answer.

Lifehack: turn on your phone videocamera, film yourself cutting the cords from the earcups to headband while showing your email address or something like that and send it to the same address. That way, you don't have to send anything.

 

[Zadok]

Yeah, like I said earlier, that program really mainly exists to reduce the amount of secondhand products being resold. They aren't gonna inspect what you sent, but instead just care that it's been removed from the market.

Yaroslav's imagery is still too much for me to bear lol. I want them to live on!

 

[RoMee]

Lifehack: turn on your phone videocamera, film yourself cutting the cords from the earcups to headband while showing your email address or something like that and send it to the same address. That way, you don't have to send anything.

You could do that?
That would save lots of time and hopefully get the coupon code faster

 

[Yaroslav]

You could do that?
That would save lots of time and hopefully get the coupon code faster

Yep, just ask the guy. That's what I did. Seems like they would not re-use the headphones anyway. Bummer