V-MODA M-100: Discussion/Feedback, Reviews, Pics, etc.
Mar 2, 2013 at 2:49 PM Post #12,632 of 23,366
Quote:
Bear in mind, with the mod in for an extended period of time, the foam will compress more than usual over time.  Doing this mod will hurt any hopes of "going back to normal" the longer you leave it in.  You would have to purchase new pads to really start from scratch.  

 
You're totally right, but I can't see it being detrimental to the seal, I mean, the part of the pad that's conformed to my face is really what matters, isn't it? The gauze did compress quite a bit with use, and I can easily tell it's moulded to shape, but like I said, I can't see the inside of the earpad cushion's shape being what hurts the seal. I can't disagree that the pads would be a little shallower, but from memory (pun unintended), I don't seems to notice much of a difference, but it's been a while, so tifwiw. If my assumption is incorrect, then please correct me. I'm going by 'logic' which doesn't always work out for me lol.
 
And yeah, I wasn't expecting to keep these earpads in. Ever since Val announced the XL Cushions (I still like DD lol) I've been patiently waiting for them to be released and replace the stock pads/mod. Until then I'm fine with however the stock pads turn out (with or without the mod), theyr'e not the permanent pads I plan on using.
 

 
I'd like to take this time to throw it out there to those who don't want to 'stuff $300 headphones with paper towel to make ti sound how it should'. I understand the frustration that might lend to, seeing users such as myself being happy with the mod. However, Val's R&D team developed the pads to be MEMORY FOAM. It has to sink in; once the seal is optimal, the sound is optimal, and that's the point. For me it was a purely comfort issue as to why I decided to put in the mod, but a secondary result of the mod ended up having a more preferred sound. Keep in mind that every review/site/aggrigate blog site that's lended a high esteem award to the M-100 has done so without any mod, and I think more users here than not are happy with their M-100s sound without the mod. So just because a few people here have comfort issues, or report 'better' (subjective) sound with the mod in, shouldn't steer people away. Val's working hard on getting the comfort right for everyone, but that doesn't mean a modification of any sort won't make a difference. Take Fostex T50RP headphones for example. How many people mod that thing to get a preferred sound? And that involves much more than a couple rolls of paper towel or gauze.
 
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:16 PM Post #12,633 of 23,366
I agree that making the earpad material less compressible would increase comfort for people who have issues with the inside driver pressing up against their ears.
 
This is the uncompressed earcup depth of some of V-Moda M100's direct competitors.
Sony MDR-1R's earcup depth with angled driver goes to 22mm deep.
Sennheiser Momentum's depth is 20mm
AKG K550's depth is 20.65 mm
 
I remember measuring the V-moda M100's earcup depth to be about 14-15mm, and the paper towel mod boosted it to around 17mm. I believe that if the overall earcup depth is increased to at least 20mm using a less compressible foam material, the issue of the inside of earcup pressing against people's ears will be mostly resolved.
 
I think in future v-moda products, the designers should definitely look into implementing an angled driver or just deeper earcups in order to give more clearance for people's ears. That kind of small change would definitely show customers that V-moda is always constantly improving their products based on consumer feedback.
 
Thanks to Val for spending the time and effort to work on XL Memory Pads!!!
 
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:27 PM Post #12,634 of 23,366
The problem with having too compressible memory foam with a total earcup depth of only ~15mm is that it is inevitable that the ear will press against the driver, which would cause discomfort at some point.
 
I was actually wondering if my ears were too big, so I did some more research to find:
"The fully grown ear protrudes from the scalp about 1.8 - 2.0 cm (0.7-0.8 inches) at its midpoint"
http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/otoplasty_should.html
 
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:39 PM Post #12,635 of 23,366
I was actually sent the wrong color V-Moda M100s, just I had two M100 to test.
 
Using 320kbps mp3 files w/o an amp, I could not distinguish the sonic differences between the paper towel mod and non-paper towel modded headphones. Both of the headphones were "burned-in" already with at least a week of playtime. I tested with my eyes closed, so I did not know which headphones I was using, and I could not accurately say which was which based on sound alone. I believe the sound may change if you have a bad seal vs. a good seal or if you somehow cover parts of the speaker/venting, but I find it difficult to believe that a 2mm increase d/t the paper towel mod will change the sound too drastically. Of course, my ears may not be as sensitive as yours :)
 
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:58 PM Post #12,636 of 23,366
It is a noticeable difference for me, and other users (musical-kage, miceblue, DigitalFreak for example). It also may be because of material/dampening. I'm using gauze, rather than paper towel like some others, but even those with paper towel have noted a change in sound.
 
While not night/day difference, it's noticeable enough to mention.  Especially in the bass presence, and i think that's where I'm hearing the difference the most
 
Also, as you can see, I'm getting more added depth than just 2mm.  
 

 
Mar 2, 2013 at 7:06 PM Post #12,639 of 23,366
@Apo0th3karY,
 
It is cool that you guys are hearing sonic changes. However, every user is doing a slightly different mod with different materials and a different change in depth. Also, each user starts off with a different ear shape and different hearing abilities of the different frequencies. Even the placement of the headphones on different people's heads are different. In fact, every time you redo your mod with gauze, different areas under your pads will be thicker/thinner. This makes it difficult to predict what kind of change someone will experience when they do their own mod.
 
In my personal experience, I did not notice a change in sound when I did my paper towel mod (half a sheet rolled up tightly and stuffed under the earpad which added 2mm to the depth). I had two M100 headphones, so I could switch back and forth rapidly between them. I think I have decent hearing as I can tell the different in sound quality between 320kbps vs. 192kbps (or lower) mp3 on a pretty consistent basis in blind tests.
 
So I did numerous direct A-B comparision between one modded vs unmodded, and I did not hear any of the noticeable changes that people were describing. I tried a variety of songs and different listening lengths. I also listened to each one for a whole day and did not notice any change that was noticeable enough to comment on. I even tried looping a specific 10 sec part of a track and rapidly switching headphones to see if I could hear the difference, and I also tried holding the right earcup of modded to one ear & the right earcup of unmodded to my other ear, and then switching it while playing a short loop to see if I can notice the difference.
 
I did these tests blind and not-blind specifically trying to hear changes from the mod. Whenever I thought I heard a change, I rewound to that section and did a A-B direct comparison to see if I can reproduce it. At the end of the day, I personally could not hear any change that I could duplicate or consistently identify. All these tests were done w/ 320 kbps mp3 files.
 
While some people here may be able to detect such differences in sound, I know I personally cannot, and I am sure there will be some other people who will share my experiences. So I thought it would be helpful for people to hear about my personal experience. :)
 
Mar 2, 2013 at 7:33 PM Post #12,641 of 23,366
Quote:
@Apo0th3karY,
 
It is cool that you guys are hearing sonic changes. However, every user is doing a slightly different mod with different materials and a different change in depth. Also, each user starts off with a different ear shape and different hearing abilities of the different frequencies. Even the placement of the headphones on different people's heads are different. In fact, every time you redo your mod with gauze, different areas under your pads will be thicker/thinner. This makes it difficult to predict what kind of change someone will experience when they do their own mod.
 
In my personal experience, I did not notice a change in sound when I did my paper towel mod (half a sheet rolled up tightly and stuffed under the earpad which added 2mm to the depth). I had two M100 headphones, so I could switch back and forth rapidly between them. I think I have decent hearing as I can tell the different in sound quality between 320kbps vs. 192kbps (or lower) mp3 on a pretty consistent basis in blind tests.
 
So I did numerous direct A-B comparision between one modded vs unmodded, and I did not hear any of the noticeable changes that people were describing. I tried a variety of songs and different listening lengths. I also listened to each one for a whole day and did not notice any change that was noticeable enough to comment on. I even tried looping a specific 10 sec part of a track and rapidly switching headphones to see if I could hear the difference, and I also tried holding the right earcup of modded to one ear & the right earcup of unmodded to my other ear, and then switching it while playing a short loop to see if I can notice the difference.
 
I did these tests blind and not-blind specifically trying to hear changes from the mod. Whenever I thought I heard a change, I rewound to that section and did a A-B direct comparison to see if I can reproduce it. At the end of the day, I personally could not hear any change that I could duplicate or consistently identify. All these tests were done w/ 320 kbps mp3 files.
 
While some people here may be able to detect such differences in sound, I know I personally cannot, and I am sure there will be some other people who will share my experiences. So I thought it would be helpful for people to hear about my personal experience. :)

I believe you. I had 2 pairs of M-100s for a short while and I A-B'ed them without being able to tell any noticeable difference between the two. My comparison was for burned-in vs. not burned-in, although I did have the paper towel mod on my old pair when I did my initial listening. When I couldn't tell any difference, I took out the paper towels and still couldn't detect anything. I might give gauze a try, though. I think the material alone should some kind of dampening effect on the sound.
 
Mar 3, 2013 at 12:40 PM Post #12,644 of 23,366
just recieved my M-100
couldnt be happier :)
this is my first ever headphone
normally i use my good old Audio Technica ATH-CM7Ti (ear bud)
cause i'm one of those people that couldnt stand wearing an In Ear due to the stereophonic issue, it always gave me a headache.
i bought V-Moda M-100 after asking several members here and after seeing all the good review about it,
Thanks God i found this web site before i bought those "beats" :)
and i also bought the "poor's man VAMP aka the GO-Dap 4.0" cause they are on sale.
couldnnt be happier right now
i haven't really have a time to listen to them yet because i'm still suffering from a bad flu
and it kind of effecting my left ear.
but i just try a song or two just now and the GO-Dap really change the colour of the music, if thats the correct word for it.
it feels "brighter" and more transparent.
but thats only after casual hearing. i'll update my finding later on after i completely heal from my flu.
 
anyway i have a question, 
-why i only able to stick the rubber stopper that supposedly plugged to the 3.5mm plug on the right headset ?
i can install it on the left headset because theres like something blocking it or something.
-does anyone here have the Go-Dap as well ? i'm confused which setting should i set my Go-Dap gain to, Lo or hi ?
 
 
and by the way, yeah the screws on the shield is really crappy , i managed to spoiled one of them, luckily they include severals spare with the custom shield.
 
here's a picture of the combo, so sorry for the bad quality picture, i'm too lazy to take out my DSLR, cause i just want to listen and listen for the rest of the week :D
 
 

 
Mar 3, 2013 at 12:57 PM Post #12,645 of 23,366
oh and yeah since this is my first ever headphone
and first ever portable amp, (normally i'm a car audio hobbyist )
i've no idea wether is should break them in or not ?
and what's the correct way to do it ?
i have a pink noise from a Focal audiophile CD that i usually burns my car audio with.
should i use that ?
for both the headphone and the amp ?
and how loud should i set it to ?
low / medium/ high ?
and how long i should keep them running ?
thank you.
 

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