Well, actually, they do. That's what "V-shaped" and "U-shaped" FR curves mean, and M-100 has a V-shaped curve out of the box. It isn't as deep as some serious bass-heavy cans like Crossfade LP. What you may not be accustomed to is how clear the midrange is with M-100 given that bass-heavy headphones tend to drown out the midrange. M-100 doesn't do that. Me, coming from very neutral, very detailed headphones (KRK KNS-8400), I'm confident writing that M-100 is quite detailed although it's not as unforgiving of dirty sources as the KRK's.
Coming from the KRK's I found the depth of the V to be a bit overwhelming. Hearing stuff like Iron Maiden that way was weird, the bass and cymbals in my face while the guitars and vocals were back near the drum kit. That lead me to experiment with tape mods on the bass ports until I found something that I like for daily use. I miss some of the bass for stuff like Juno Reactor but I'm not weirded-out -- weird-outed? -- when the guitar rock comes on. Six of one....
I might have worded it wrongly, but before I begin. Yes you are absolutely correct, I was not expecting the mids to be this clear out of the M100's. The bass is very deep, and your second point is that they're not as bass heavy like the Crossfade LP. I never listenned to the LP's so I wouldn't know, but I was definitely expecting a further mids recession.
Am I disappointed as an "audiophile"? Not at all, these are actually a great replacement to my Sony MDR-1R Mk2's, they're sleek and EVERYTHING seem built like a tank. Even the drivers seem like tanks, it can push out SO MUCH bass quantity without even distorting. (Well the mids distort, but that's to be expected.)
I'm giving my ears a break so I'm not very sure what you mean by the odd soundstage, I'd like to comment that the M100's like to hard pan center, left and right. I'll get back to that.
Edit: Yep, vocals are clear, but they're at the back. What? Not sure how I should feel about this, but I like it, it's different from my regular set of headphones.
My A900x has a centric vocal area in the soundstage, Q701's are fairly upfront, and the M100's are at the back. Interesting.
The best thing about these is you really can EQ and amp them to be just STUPID booming. They come out the box with wonderfully deep and present bass, but slap an e11 or something on it, turn up the bass, then sit back and lament the fact that you can only blow your eardrums out once in your life.
This was the 2nd thing I did when I got them. E11, Bass boost on, +20db bass boost on my sony walkman.
My ears were numb after a ten minute session.
THIS ISN'T JUST STUPID BOOMING.
I was close to tears of how beautiful the bass is, and only the mids from the Q701's can do that to me.
