So I've owned the m100's for many many years now, and just sent them in last week to upgrade using the immortal life program. I wanted to get the crossfade wireless 2, but am skeptical now because of the codex edition. The CW2 will run me back $125 while the codex edition is $225.
In real world testing, will I notice a different worth $100 to get the codex edition. I listen to all my music on mac and iphone, primarily soundcloud and spotify. Use the headphones for gaming too and plan to use it mainly wired. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
While little is known about actual changes besides Codec Support in the new CF2, I think if you mainly use it wired it might not be worth 100,- more to get the newer model...
For my use case (i.e. mobile use while commuting) even SBC offers good enough sound quality. I think the missing AAC support on the original CF2 might be a thing if your only source is an iPhone and you're listening at home. But since you mention you're going to use them wired anyway, at that price difference the older model is a good option.
While little is known about actual changes besides Codec Support in the new CF2, I think if you mainly use it wired it might not be worth 100,- more to get the newer model...
For my use case (i.e. mobile use while commuting) even SBC offers good enough sound quality. I think the missing AAC support on the original CF2 might be a thing if your only source is an iPhone and you're listening at home. But since you mention you're going to use them wired anyway, at that price difference the older model is a good option.
I did use the CF2 wired at times, but never tried to assess differences. They are not that large to me and switching between modes takes much too long for a reasonable comparison I think...
I did use the CF2 wired at times, but never tried to assess differences. They are not that large to me and switching between modes takes much too long for a reasonable comparison I think...
To me the CF2 is a bit more balanced, giving voices more presence. The M-100 still has a special place in my heart, yet I'd consider it more colored (OK, the CF2 is still quite far from neutral...)
To me the CF2 is a bit more balanced, giving voices more presence. The M-100 still has a special place in my heart, yet I'd consider it more colored (OK, the CF2 is still quite far from neutral...)
Hmm ok. I listen to rap and edm primarily so hopefully the bass is still hard hitting. I hope it still has some of that fun v-shaped sound and isn't 'boring'.
If you are planning on using it wired the codex version will do nothing for you. so you will have to justify if the extra 100 dollars is worth the negligible (imho) difference between aptx HD and AAC for those few times you use it wirelessly. the Normal CW2 already does everything the Codex does except for that one thing. Same headphone, still wireless, still has great quality. You are paying
$100 for a different process of encoding of the wireless signal. For me personally, the difference between AAC and APTX is even less than how much a cable might change the sound quality.
Since you were okay with spending the 100 dollars anyway, and you primarily use it wired, I would suggest buying a nice custom cable for your headphones instead. The one that comes with the CW2 has a mic on it ):
If you are worried about the bass being reduced when people say the CW2 is more neutral.. here is a perspective:
If 100% = m100 levels of bass '
and 0% = completely neutral, lets say something like the MrSpeakers Ether C (non Flow),
the CW2 is about 85-90% of the bass level
The main reason it is more neutral compared to before is a much better treble and midrange performance, and a bit of tweaking to the bass. To clarify, it is not anywhere near neutral, it is just a little bit more neutral than before.
Hmm ok. I listen to rap and edm primarily so hopefully the bass is still hard hitting. I hope it still has some of that fun v-shaped sound and isn't 'boring'.
I’d like to chime in a bit as a previous V-Moda advocate, I recently sold my CW2 (before the new version got announced luckily).
I have since been using the B&O H7 which can be picked up cheaper than the CW2 if you shop about.
They are a very good set of cans and worth trying out also if you are on the fence about getting some BT phones.
The only negative in terms of functionality is the lack of inline mic when wired.
a lot of people have been mentioning other wireless headphones with this line of thought, and I want to point out that it is unfair to compare the cw2 to other headphones without mentioning the intended use.
If you are planning on using it wired the codex version will do nothing for you. so you will have to justify if the extra 100 dollars is worth the negligible (imho) difference between aptx HD and AAC for those few times you use it wirelessly. the Normal CW2 already does everything the Codex does except for that one thing. Same headphone, still wireless, still has great quality. You are paying
$100 for a different process of encoding of the wireless signal. For me personally, the difference between AAC and APTX is even less than how much a cable might change the sound quality.
Since you were okay with spending the 100 dollars anyway, and you primarily use it wired, I would suggest buying a nice custom cable for your headphones instead. The one that comes with the CW2 has a mic on it ):
Thanks for your feedback! I've decided to go ahead and get the codex version. It'll put my mind at ease and do some future proofing as well. So stoked for it to get here!
I got the Codex Edition today. I’m actually not convinced that it uses AAC on the iPhone X. Sound is (according to memory) very identical. There was one track that I noticed had distortion on the CF2W. It’s “With You (Daniel Richard Remix)” on 00:16 just when the music drops. This drop is still distorted on the Codex. I have tested this song with a lot of bass-heavy sub-par headphones including the Beats Studio Wireless and none of them had this distortion. To dig in more, I tried audio latency on YouTube. My Beoplay H9i (which is definitely streaming on AAC) had about 0.5 second delay, while the Codex had up to 1 second of delay. On the other hand, and perhaps this is placebo effect, me and one other person felt that the Codex is less cloudy on the mids and vocal. Now, the question is, HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S REALLY USING AAC?!
I got the Codex Edition today. I’m actually not convinced that it uses AAC on the iPhone X. Sound is (according to memory) very identical. There was one track that I noticed had distortion on the CF2W. It’s “With You (Daniel Richard Remix)” on 00:16 just when the music drops. This drop is still distorted on the Codex. I have tested this song with a lot of bass-heavy sub-par headphones including the Beats Studio Wireless and none of them had this distortion. To dig in more, I tried audio latency on YouTube. My Beoplay H9i (which is definitely streaming on AAC) had about 0.5 second delay, while the Codex had up to 1 second of delay. On the other hand, and perhaps this is placebo effect, me and one other person felt that the Codex is less cloudy on the mids and vocal. Now, the question is, HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S REALLY USING AAC?!
Do you have a Mac? You can check which codec it’s using by option-clicking the Bluetooth menu in the top bar.
Guide from Reddit:
Make sure you have the Bluetooth icon in your menubar and headphones are paired.
Start playing something on your headphones. Don't enable the microphone (that will force the usage of a "bad" headset codec), just play some music.
Hold Alt/Option, click the Bluetooth icon, hover over the headphones in the list and check the codec.
Crossfade Wireless I advertised AAC support on the V-MODA site and its box but didn’t actually include it. After V-MODA realized this they silently scrubbed the “Master Codecs” advertising from its site and changed the box without alerting current owners about their mistake and false advertising. It would be downright comical if Codex didn’t actually support AAC either.
You can also check which codec the iPhone is using by connecting it to a Mac and following this guide:
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