I'm still extremely satisfied with the sound of the M80s...from a music perspective. For gaming, they are a little less than ideal. Being that they are an ON EAR type headphone, they really don't give you that spaciousness that you need when playing shooters. This isn't necessarily the headphones fault at all because it's not designed that way. I've found the new LP2 is a much better option just because of the OVER EAR design. On to my mini review and comparison with the LP2 which I just received this week.
Having been one of the first purchasers on this board...I feel quite a bit more confident in saying that the M80s are a superb headphone in nearly every aspect. I know I'm not some respected reviewer around here, but I am pretty sure I know a quality headphone when I hear one. I have owned a couple on ear headphones (Beats Solo HD, Senn HD25s) and these trump them all. My ultimate headphone dream was an HD25 with an integrated mic so that I could use it with my wireless Astro Gaming system but alas, it's not really that affordable of an option because all of the mics that come with the HD25s are all professional broadcast grade it seems, so I kept my eye out for any on-ear headphones that came out so I could try them. Given V-Moda's generous 60 day return policy I figured what the hell. Turns out, it was a great decision.
I suppose pictures are worthless at this point because of all of the other pics in this thread. Obviously these things are built GREAT and the overall package is just outstanding. One of the best cases I've ever seen for a headphone as well as all of the cables/mics/accessories you could possibly need. Just an awesome presentation that is now the gold standard as far as I'm concerned.
From a sound perspective, I like to compare these to the GR07s as far as the balance of the spectrum goes. I'm not one of those guys that can explain soundstage or forward or recessed mids, but from a pure balance standpoint, these things seem to be right in the middle of the spectrum. Nothing is overbearing or completely muddled. Very crisp and clear highs, great vocals and midrange and bass that can be described as nearly ideal for an on-ear headphone for someone who listens to a wide variety of music.
I personally listen with a few different devices. My Cowon J3 is obviously the most customizable so when I'm listening to hip hop...this is my choice because I can enhance the bass a little bit to give it some kick. Other times I'm using my HTC Incredible 2, my iPad 2 or my MacBook Air...in all three instances, they work exactly as expected without the need for amping whatsoever. I've got a little Fiio e11 and an e6 and I rarely use them because the M80s are so well tuned to portable devices.
Which brings me to the gaming as mentioned above. No one else has mentioned gaming so maybe this will be of help to someone. I've been using them for the past few weeks with Battlefield 3 online. As most gamers know, you really need to have a 'surround' effect when playing shooters so you can tell where shots and footsteps are coming from. Being that the M80s were my only regular headphones I didn't know much better. The Mic is simply adequate for voice chat on Xbox Live and on the PC via team speak, so it's not really a strength or a weakness as far as I'm concerned.
So with that, I plugged in my older LPs and they seemed to be quite a bit better than the M80s when it comes to immersion in gaming. So I went on the site because I know Val mentioned that they were coming out with another pair of LPs soon...and as soon as the LP2s dropped, I ordered a pair. Now, this was my mistake, because I thought these were going to be the audiophile version of the LPs. They are simply a slightly better version of the LPs from what I can tell. They don't seem to be as muddy as the originals and the flat black look is simply stunning from a design perspective, so these will hold me over as far as my gaming goes until the audiophile version (M-100s I believe) come out. Then I'm pretty sure I'll sell both my M80s and LP2s to get a pair.
Anyway...just another short little review from a non-pro fan of music and gaming in general. Basically...you can't really go wrong with the M80 unless you spend most of your time gaming on them. In that case they can be beat by over ear models like the LP2. Some people just can't use the over-ear versions so in that case, the m80s are probably as good as it gets when it comes to sound reproduction during games. The surround effect is really the only thing that suffers because of the design.