Long-time lurker, first-time poster, here. Hi, my name is b14cx0ut and i'm a headphone-a-holic.
Sorry if this is disjointed.
I had a few cents i wanted to throw into the pot on the CFW/M100 sound, to hopefully help... someone. I've been about 5 days without my M100, so I can't A/B the two phones, but I have a good general feel for the sound.
TL;DR Wired from a good source can really make the CFW sound great. IMO, way better than the M100.
Wired/passive:
Overall, the CFW has quite a bit more clarity in the upper range than the M100. It is more present and clear. Cymbals sound a heck of a lot more realistic. I also notice more pop with snare drum hits.
There is a caveat to this. Plugged directly into my Galaxy S6 Active (which has a pitiful headphone out), there is not near as much of a difference between the CFW and M100 with lossless flac files via Tidal.
Galaxy S6 -> e12 (0 gain, bassboost off) the CFW(wired passive) came to freakin life. I have also just received a Denon D5000(not sure which year) and was going back and forth between the D5000 and the CFW and the quality of the sound was scary close. The 5000 obviously has a much wider soundstage and the upper range is more present, but while in non-critical listening mode, I was very suprised/impressed with the CFW.
What i didn't like, same as the M100, is that I just really don't like the way the V Moda's sound with my desktop setup. PC, JRiver wasapi 24/192 wav to 16/44 wav or Tidal lossless flac->Uberfrost->Stock Lyr 2. I think it's just too much sound for such a small package.
Wireless:
It's non-aptx, so, whaddaya expect? Galaxy S6 Tidal lossless flac(converted to whatever the hell it does for BT) sounds very minimally different than wired Tidal lossless flac straight from the phone jack.
Wireless vs a lower output source:
When Val states that the CFW wireless is 95% the sound of wired, this was probably basing the judgement off a low power source. With that being the case, then yeah, BT hiss aside, it's probably 95% there, especially if you are only streaming 320kbps files.
Wireless vs higher output source:
It's not even close.
Build Quality:
I didn't have the loose button issue with my silver white version, but one of cups is loose in the fork. I accidentally popped said cup out of the fork, gave the fork a good squeeze, then put the cup back in and it fits better.
All that to say, this is a keeper. I was cautiously optimistic to begin with. Bluetooth is a let down, but in the same way, it's actually quite good for BT. Wired mode has the potential to really sound great. Thanks to a certain e-marketplace and their return policy, I've auditioned many headphones over the past year. Very few have i known at first listen that they were keepers. HE-500 was one(my current main). Finding a closed can has been a headache, literally, and I found 2 all in the same day. The D5000, and the Crossfade Wireless.