[skyejack]

I concur. My review of that cable is here.

Are you saying this cable would fix a channel imbalance? And thanks for the link to the review and the Amazon link. I ordered one just in case I go the M100 route, although now you guys have made me worry about getting a pair with an imbalance.

 

[hifi80sman]

  Unless something has changed, this is not the case.  Audio is being transcoded to AAC by the iPhone as it's being sent over Bluetooth, it is not piping the audio as-is.  The maximum transmission bitrate supported is 264,630 bps and the bitrate can vary based on connection strength.  This is outlined in Apple's Bluetooth Accessory Design Guideline.  No matter the source, audio is being transcoded to either AAC or SBC over Bluetooth.  So Apple Music AAC files are being transcoded to AAC, it isn't directly passing them through.  It really isn't any different from playing AAC (or high quality mp3) over something like AAC or aptX.  Some lossy formats are better at handling lossy-to-lossy transcoding and the last audio test I came across for this (on hydrogenaudio) showed that AAC wasn't bad for this purpose.  They didn't test aptX but rather focused on consumer accessible codecs.

 
Interesting.  In the end, however, even if there are bitrate limitations, it does sound like AAC is rather good for piping native AAC files over Bluetooth AAC without further encoding into a different format.
 
For what it's worth, to my ears, there was a noticeable difference between Apple Music (iPhone/AAC) and Google Play (LG G4/MP3->aptX) when using the same headphones.  Further testing this with Apple Music/iPhone/AAC vs. Apple Music/LG G4/aptX, it sounded better thru the iPhone than thru the LG G4.  Again, this is just a test based on my opinion with the specific hardware noted and certainly not a scientific conclusion.  I'm curious what others have experienced, which I assume would be similar results, given the outcry over the perceived lack of AAC support in the CFW2.

 

[haroex1]

I had hopes for these to be a primary Bluetooth headphone for me due to the fact that I really give my Vmoda XS a lot of play time when I use just my phone for music without a separate DAC and AMP. I have the cheap but decent sounding MEE Electronics MATRIX2 AF62 that I currently use at the moment when I need Bluetooth. I wonder how the Matte black without APTX sounds like compared to these because the Matrix 2's actually have APTX when paired with an Android phone like the Samsung S6 in my case? I hate to spend $330.00 to $350.00 for a Bluetooth headphone that does not sound much better than a $60.00 to $70.00 one when in Bluetooth mode. Like most of the people wanting these, I can't deal with the rose gold. LOL

 

[SpiderNhan]

Are you saying this cable would fix a channel imbalance? And thanks for the link to the review and the Amazon link. I ordered one just in case I go the M100 route, although now you guys have made me worry about getting a pair with an imbalance.

I have never noticed channel imbalance with any V-MODA headphone and I have access to 5 pairs. 2 belong to the girlfriend. The cable is definitely a sound upgrade, but there is no imbalance to fix.

 

[Yaroslav]

I can check in a little bit, I am using iPhone 7. Let me know how to do it and I'll do it.

Unfortunately I don't know how to do it with just an iPhone; checking out logs usually requires a connected Mac
 
Maybe try to use them with a device that does not support AAC for sure and compare? Also, can you hear any noise when not playing any music but connected via Bluetooth? That is generally a symptom of SBC, a lower quality codec.

 

[expontherise]

 
Are you saying this cable would fix a channel imbalance? And thanks for the link to the review and the Amazon link. I ordered one just in case I go the M100 route, although now you guys have made me worry about getting a pair with an imbalance.

I have had 2 m100s the first set had to be returned as internal wiring went faulty but it did not have an imbalance.

My current set, if I use a single input cable like the stock ones, I notice an imbalance, with the cable I do not. I even had asked friends to listen and tell me if they noticed anything weird and agreed my right speaker (even if plugged in the right hand cup) is audibly lower. Once putting in the replacement dual input, it is resolved.

I do use my boom pro mic daily for gaming as well and when its not music, its not noticeable.  Its not a BIG difference, its very faint and you have to be paying attention to notice it. But if I A/B the cables you can notice without trying to.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

Pulling out the thread guys. They're already boxed up and ready to go back. I feel bad lending my negative feedback but they'll find their place. If you guys keep pushing maybe they'll hook up the AAC and apt-x for ya.

 

[SpiderNhan]

Pulling out the thread guys. They're already boxed up and ready to go back. I feel bad lending my negative feedback but they'll find their place. If you guys keep pushing maybe they'll hook up the AAC and apt-x for ya.

Don't feel bad Doc. That's exactly why we dregs of society linger around these parts. You've saved a lot of people time and money from your experience. Thanks!

 

[skyejack]

Pulling out the thread guys. They're already boxed up and ready to go back. I feel bad lending my negative feedback but they'll find their place. If you guys keep pushing maybe they'll hook up the AAC and apt-x for ya.

If you don't mind me asking, what are you going to go with in its place? Also, what was the final straw that led to your decision?

 

[WCMTWS]

Was watching a few reviews where people say they sound better then the V.1's in BT Mode. But with the lack of communication from both Val and the customer support I have trouble putting faith in it. 

 

[MICHAELSD]

Was watching a few reviews where people say they sound better then the V.1's in BT Mode. But with the lack of communication from both Val and the customer support I have trouble putting faith in it. 

The thing about the reviews is they're all based on the aptX model, and all the reviewers are using them with Android devices.

 

[shove13]

I had hopes for these to be a primary Bluetooth headphone for me due to the fact that I really give my Vmoda XS a lot of play time when I use just my phone for music without a separate DAC and AMP. I have the cheap but decent sounding MEE Electronics MATRIX2 AF62 that I currently use at the moment when I need Bluetooth. I wonder how the Matte black without APTX sounds like compared to these because the Matrix 2's actually have APTX when paired with an Android phone like the Samsung S6 in my case? I hate to spend $330.00 to $350.00 for a Bluetooth headphone that does not sound much better than a $60.00 to $70.00 one when in Bluetooth mode. Like most of the people wanting these, I can't deal with the rose gold. LOL

V-moda has a 60 day return policy...you can always give them a try

 

[shove13]

Pulling out the thread guys. They're already boxed up and ready to go back. I feel bad lending my negative feedback but they'll find their place. If you guys keep pushing maybe they'll hook up the AAC and apt-x for ya.

You're going to return them?

 

[WCMTWS]

The thing about the reviews is they're all based on the aptX model, and all the reviewers are using them with Android devices.

I too would be using them with android on a S7, my issue really stems from any lack of communication. It's kinda like a company offering something, but not backing it up imo.  Plus they need to introduce a phantom chrome. 

 

[hifi80sman]

  Was watching a few reviews where people say they sound better then the V.1's in BT Mode. But with the lack of communication from both Val and the customer support I have trouble putting faith in it. 

 
Also, the thing about the reviews, is all these people got pre-release headphones, meaning they already have some kind of inside connection.  Even if they don't and they are just a big company or well known organization, they have no skin in the game, so their review will be from a perspective of not having paid for the product (in many cases).
 
Even if a product is good, your review may sound much more optimistic if you paid nothing vs. someone who will be more critical because they paid $300 for "Awesome!" but just got "Good".
 
The CFW1 are a good headphone with great durability and I love the look of the matte black CFW2, but the sound signature from what people are describing, is not just an improved version of the original, but a completely different type of sound.