V-MODA Crossfade M-100: Am I doing something wrong?

[Bobby123179]

Hey I don't mind! Any answers help because google is worthless to me right now. I've found nothing there.

Is there a better pair of buds with better and more powerful (or what you might call "bloated") bass? That are also clearer at higher volumes? Beats get really muddled at higher volumes and the other sound qualities sound like junk.

 

[Funambulistic]

I believe you may have set your expectations of the M100’s bass response a little high – no disrespect intended at all and I do not believe you are doing anything “wrong”. Reading the reviews here and on other sites, the V-Modas are often referred to as “bass head” cans but most said reviewers are comparing them to “neutral” sound signatures. I think of the M100 as having a “fun” sound with an elevated bass signature – not “bass head” at all (I am sure there are those who vehemently disagree). Also, listening to an IEM compared to an over ear design is a totally different experience. Case in point: my Velodyne vPulse IEMs can freakin’ rattle my skull whereas the M100s on the same song sound great but do not have that immediacy and, frankly, I feel any more bass would be overwhelming. The same is true when going from a closed back design to an open back. My Fidelio X1s rock, with great bass, but do not have the intensity of the M100s. The next step out would be a car system, then a home stereo, etc. On a couple “bass shy” (actually, quite neutral) headphones that I have, I sometimes use a Digizoid ZO2 digital subwoofer (around $100) that hooks  up between  source and headphones and they become absolute monsters. I tried the ZO2 on the M100s and the bass was way too bloated and overpowering – you might like it! If you still are not satisfied with the M100s, by all means return them and look elsewhere. They certainly are not for everyone. There are quite a few threads on here regarding bass head cans – I hear the Sony Xtra Bass series are pretty good in that regard. Good luck in your quest!

 

[deciBel23]

I agree with Funambulistic. If you want head-rattling bass, I'd consider the Sony MDR-XB500, it's much cheaper and might have that bass you are looking for. I heard that it has more bass than Beats. V-Moda also has the Crossfade LP, which I can guarantee has a lot of bass because I actually own a pair.

Also, you never answered my questions. Where are you getting your music from? This could be the source of your problem.

(There's also a difference between powerful and bloated bass BTW. Maybe you should look up that kind of thing before talking like you know more about it than us.)

 

[Bobby123179]

First, I DO NOT know more about any of this than you guys! That's why I'm here! If I knew more, I wouldn't be here asking you, would I? I'm just doing my best to explain what I'm looking for. And my source is just ripped YouTube mp3 files. So yeah, I'm aware the music's quality itself is bad to begin with.

 

[deciBel23]

Is all of your music ripped from YouTube? Could you try some music that you bought from a legit source? If you're interested, I could give you some legitimate quality bass-heavy electronic music that you could try.

 

[Bobby123179]

You're going to laugh, but I don't own any. I don't buy CD's. I don't buy music on iTunes. Why would I if I can get it free? Sure, maybe the quality is bad. But it beats paying $1.29 a song. And how would you give me quality electronic music? Do you know of a place where I can find some for cheap/free?

 

[Bobby123179]

I just looked up the XB500's. I also the the XB600's and XB700's. are the 600's and 700's better? Because I can afford the 700's. are they worth it?

 

[Funambulistic]

Here is a review on Inner Fidelity: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sony-mdr-xb300-mdr-xb500-and-mdr-xb700-extra-bass-headphones

 

[deciBel23]

You're going to laugh, but I don't own any. I don't buy CD's. I don't buy music on iTunes. Why would I if I can get it free? Sure, maybe the quality is bad. But it beats paying $1.29 a song. And how would you give me quality electronic music? Do you know of a place where I can find some for cheap/free?

Unfortunately, sound quality and listening experience is only going to be as good as the weakest link in the chain. You could buy a $5000 headphone like the Stax SR-009, but it's not going to make YouTube rips sound any better than a $20 Skullcandy earbud. There are many places you could go to get high-quality music for free that are just as legal (illegal, really) as ripping audio off of YouTube, but I'm not really sure what the rules of Head-Fi say about that kind of stuff so I don't feel like linking them to you, but they are really not that hard to find.
 
Also, check your inbox. I sent you a little surprise. 

 

[Funambulistic]

Also, check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/644595/official-free-flac-file-music-sharing-thread If you do not have FLAC capabilities, most of the posts here will have mp3 and wav. Free AND legal.

 

[hawk1410]

I'll also highly recommend you try out the M-Audio Q40, I am a big basshead like yourself and although I haven't heard the M100(not very fond of Vshaped sound sigs like the M100), I think the Q40 might just be the one for you. It is a basshead headphone and has the most bass of any headphone I've ever heard(compared to Denon D5ks, Ultrasone Hfi 580, Pro 900, even XB500 etc). Sony Xb500 has a tiny bit more bass but it is much more muddy and bloated and just not as good as m-audio in terms of quality IMO. M40 bass has more of a punch and kick to it. Again I havent heard the M100 so dont know how the bass would compare.
You can also try out a good bass boosting amp like the Digizoid ZO2 

 

[Bobby123179]

I'm trying to decide if I should just buy the highly-recommended ZO2 amp that everyone is recommending to me, or if I should return these, and buy a pair of Sonys or the Q40's and save myself $150+.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I'm trying to decide if I should just buy the highly-recommended ZO2 amp that everyone is recommending to me, or if I should return these, and buy a pair of Sonys or the Q40's and save myself $150+.

The digiZoid ZO is probably what you need, remember it won't only make you enjoy M100 bass-wise but all other cans/IEMs you have even more. They are releasing ZO3 anytime these days though as the ZO2 is pretty much discontinued already (but it will be expensier though). With this amp though you can even turn a slightly bass boosted headphone, bassheavier than an extremely bassheavy headphone such as XB500 stock.

 

[Bobby123179]

Yeah, the ZO2 has probably been recommended to me 20 times today! So I assume it must be pretty great!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Yeah, the ZO2 has probably been recommended to me 20 times today! So I assume it must be pretty great!

The ZO2.3 is also said to work pretty well with M100, it doesn't work equally well with all headphones but if guys like miceblue said it works quite okay with it (he has amps like JDS O2 and C5 etc which are pretty much the benchmarks in sound quality as far portable amps goes in their price bracket), I believe it does.