[miceblue]

Mhmm, true true. High gain, volume 3/63 is still pretty quiet though (volume 1/63 is actually the mute stage). It's just loud enough to hear my music over the bus noise; at least in the buses I ride in.

 

[rudeboybass]

i use mine on the subway and i think they are fine...

 

[Bexxia]

Ooh, my order for the XL pads now says "awaiting shipment". Shame that will be up to two months away.....

Yesterday I wrote to V-MODA asking if there would be a chance to order the pads in grey. I've just received the following response:

They are only available in black at this time.

Rock On,
Joanna

Glad I ordered some black accessories to go with them then......

 

[Tman5293]

Quote:

Ooh, my order for the XL pads now says "awaiting shipment". Shame that will be up to two months away.....

Yesterday I wrote to V-MODA asking if there would be a chance to order the pads in grey. I've just received the following response:
Glad I ordered some black accessories to go with them then......

 
So like the guy above said, any color you want as long as it's black. 

 

[Craigster75]

Quote:

 
So does that mean that the M-100 are not suitable for bus-commuting purposes?
and walking around busy streets?
will the volume have to be pumped up to a dangerous level?

They are about as good or bad as most circumaural headphones for commuting.  IEMs would be better if you are concerned about isolation.

 

[Craigster75]

Quote:

 
So like the guy above said, any color you want as long as it's black. 

There's no way I puting black XL pads on my white M-100s.  I will wait for other color options.

 

[Evshrug]

Read the rest of the statement and your confusion should be cleared up.

Excuse me, I'm just in a weird mood, crazy busy at work today.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

 
So like the guy above said, any color you want as long as it's black. 

There's no way I puting black XL pads on my white M-100s.  I will wait for other color options.

They don't look all that bad actually. I have black hair too so the black earpads blend in. XD

 

[SpiderNhan]

I also use mine on the subway everyday and find the isolation to be fine. My IEMs, Meelectrionics A151 with large, triple-flange, silicon tips, isolate better against higher pitched sounds such as screeching brakes or nearby conversations, but low rumbling sounds still get through. I remember a while back Val posted something about strong bass cancelling out low background noise. I call it "bass-noise cancellation." I guess that's one thing the M-100 has over the A151 in terms of isolation.

 

[Transformatron]

Quote:

They don't look all that bad actually. I have black hair too so the black earpads blend in. XD

That looks good! Makes me feel better.

 

[blueangel2323]

That only works if you have black hair. But considering the demographics of Head-Fi, it's probably not a problem for a lot of us haha

 

[BRSxIgnition]

I was tempted to buy in to the larger pads, but like the others here, I will have to hold off until white is an option - I can't see myself putting black pads on white, and I'm unsure about buying another all-black headphone to match the pads alone.
 
Please update us on the status of pad colors, Val!

 

[miceblue]

I actually use my rig on the bus every weekday.
iPhone 4S -> FiiO L9 -> JDS Labs C5 (high gain, volume 3/63, bass boost on) is loud enough for me.

Careful my friend, hearing damage lasts a lifetime and cannot be reversed.

Actually, with my non-standard music that's quiet with a high dynamic range (DR17), I need to crank it up to 18/63. Most of my music is pretty loud with a DR7 though and so I don't need to crank up the volume too much.

Sometimes I switch to low gain mode for when the bus is just cruising or driving on flat city grounds.

 

[DrSheep]

Found another coil cable that might work:
 

 
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ADS3M4U/ref=s9_simh_gw_p422_d1_i7?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=0E3QAQCHQ76MWV2X8CBK&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470939031&pf_rd_i=507846

 

[scrypt]

Quote:

So does that mean that the M-100 are not suitable for bus-commuting purposes?
and walking around busy streets?
will the volume have to be pumped up to a dangerous level?

 
Whether the headphones I'm wearing are isolating, closed, or IEMs, I always do the same thing before commuting:
 

• Find the loudest track I'll be playing,
• Set the volume to a reasonable level for said track and
• Set the ceiling of all tracks to that same level.

 
 If I can't hear enough bass on a train or bus, sobeit.  That only means I'll have to wait to listen until I reach a quieter environment, and the decorative aspect of my headphones will be foregrounded while my ears are on temporary vacation.  That's the point when I'll turn off the music and allow my headphones to muffle (if only slightly, in the M-100s' case) the sounds of the outside world.
 
Loudness is lovely, but tinnitus is eternal.
 
If you haven't touched the volume once you arrive at your destination and discover you were playing your music too loudly during the commute, then the chances are good you've been doing the same thing for a long while:  damaging your hearing over time.
 
No environment should become a reason to listen at unhealthy volumes.  Studio musicians have to be vigilant about that, but so do headphone aficionados. 
 
If they're not, then they might have to learn to live like Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine: 
 
 
Quote:

"I did the damage to my ears listening to mixes in headphones at very loud levels without giving my ears time to recover."

 
Shields also addresses another concern I have for certain Head-fi members: The ill-considered habit of falling asleep while wearing headphones, which essentially exposes the ear to hours of potential damage caused by sound -- which the sleeping mind cannot even remember or appreciate -- and increases the likelihood the listener will do even more damage once they're awake.
 
Quote:
 

"I got tinnitus falling asleep listening to mixes of [the 1991 album] Loveless," [Shield] says. "It was only for about two hours, but when I woke up I could hear a high-pitched sound but wondered where it was coming from."

 
Remember:  Damage is caused not only by volume but by duration.