I am a retail vendor for many of the high end headphones retailers. My job is basically to know everything about all of my products. I sell mainly "mainstream brands" and vmoda is one of them. I will start by saying i listen to "younger generation music" and enjoy bass as it is a main focus of many songs particularly my electronic music. But i also like acoustic and classic rock, both of which I also believe benefit from having a solid bass presence. I think there should be enough bass to be able to hear every note present, and not drown any out. This is my consensus (for now)
Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD - Small, compact, light, portable. Great introduction to the world of high end headphones and the new levels of bass that can be achieved. Once compared to other high quality cans, the apparent lack of highs and mids is apparent with an almost muffled sound.
Beats By Dr. Dre Studios - LARGE, heavier, require batteries. Sound great better highs less bass, but i do not like having to put batteries in my headphones.
Ludacris Souls SL-100 - Much better sounding than the beats solo HD. Much crisper highs, but still plenty of bass like the HD's. Best for the size. I HATE the colors. It looks like fisher price made them...
VMODA LP Crossfades (LP1)- Great sound! Still have a lot of bass, but also much better highs. Sound like a cross between the beats studios and solos. Great mids/highs and booming bass. I was settled on keeping these until i read about the LP2s and M-80s, so i tried them too...
VMMODA M-80- Great mids and highs. Very noticeable reduction in bass though. I almost felt like not enough... I agree that the others can seem a bit bass heavy, but these seemed like they were lacking. I also was not as impressed with the fit. The beats solo HDs have a much better on ear feel however they have made my ears hurt after a while.. So i am still a bit undecided on the fit. But the clarity on these was what stood out the most. I tried on the LPs after and felt much more immersed in the music than with the M-80s.
Finally I tried the VMODA LP2 Crossfades- I have been going back and fourth between the LP1s and LP2s all night.The LP2s are clearer overall and have less bass than the LP1s. I have been really torn between them. I got the LP1s for $120 and the LP2s cost me $179 so i am trying to justify the additional money. They are very close. It seems like some bass frequencies are just over done on the LP1s and cause a lot of the vibrating and possible distorting sounds. The LP2s handle this much better by providing less drowning bass while still being able to hit those low frequency sounds. There were some songs where the bass-heavy LP1s made the song sound much warmer and "real", voices sounded more natural, but more often than not the bass was a bit obtrusive. The LP2s are great. They provide all the low frequencies without sacrificing too much on the highs. No batteries! Full over ear headphones for the price of on ears beats! Metal Durable. SOLD
So for now I am keeping the LP2s as my home listening headphones. I have a small head and the large size make these a bit cumbersome to use every day, but I know many customers that do use crossfades daily. So i am also keeping the beats HD as my daily beaters. (I paid $99) I might try to switch them out for the SL-100's for the better sound with equal bass and similar from factor, but the colors make me sick.
Thats my long story... Hope this helps some people.