[Solrighal]

Like I said the only perceived benefit I get from my E18 is more likely down to the DAC rather than the amp section. I've since also bought Q701's and now I'm using the amp

 

[MCImes]

As others have said, the M100 are exceptionally easy to drive. A Sansa Clip+ gets uncomfortably loud at 75-80% volume. My DX50 is quite loud on medium gain at 200/250

The only reason to amp is for bass boost or sound filtering. I commonly use the BH2 for its bass boost. I like the boost on the BH2 because it has max boost (+4.5dB) at 20hz, vs something like the Fiio E12 which has max boost around 50hz. I prefer the bass boosted low low as opposed to middle low. I think the 20hz boost adds thump without making the rest of the bass muddy, which I perceive from the E12.

Actually, I take that back. Another valid reason to amp is your source amp sucks or is noisy. But thats about it.

 

[Smugsie]

I may or may not have damaged my M100 drivers... Driving the bass to the max may have done it... >.>
lol.

FALSE ALARM! Still blasting these at 100db

Edit: Nevermind. Left driver vibrates more than the right by 1-3db more.

 

[Nintendam]

So I'm going to pull the trigger on these, price seems to be set at 300.00 everywhere and doesn't seem to be going down at all (for years...?) Anyone foresee any price drop soon? 
 
Other contender was Nad hp50 but I think these will suit me better.
 
Forgot to bring my sony ex1000's to work last week so I picked up a 'loaner' beats studio 2013 from best buy, with full intention of returning them before 15 days. (certainly a step forward for beats, still not amazing/any sort of a good value... but a great step in the right direction)
 
so B&H, Brookstone for the m100's?

 

[tinyman392]

  So I'm going to pull the trigger on these, price seems to be set at 300.00 everywhere and doesn't seem to be going down at all (for years...?) Anyone foresee any price drop soon? 
 
Other contender was Nad hp50 but I think these will suit me better.
 
Forgot to bring my sony ex1000's to work last week so I picked up a 'loaner' beats studio 2013 from best buy, with full intention of returning them before 15 days. (certainly a step forward for beats, still not amazing/any sort of a good value... but a great step in the right direction)
 
so B&H, Brookstone for the m100's?

 
The M-100 probably won't be going under 300 anytime soon.  NAD HP50 is a warmer, smoother, but slightly dark signature.  The M-100 are closer to a slight v-shape.  offers quite a bit of fun and excitement if that's what you want from your music. 

 

[Nintendam]

   
The M-100 probably won't be going under 300 anytime soon.

 
All I needed to go out and pick em up after work, thanks...! 
 
only other full sized cans I've had were the d7000's and ultrasone pro 900, but those were a few years ago before I fully dove into mid to high tier iem's, I think these will be a great welcome back to full sized cans

 

[tinyman392]

   
All I needed to go out and pick em up after work, thanks...! 
 
only other full sized cans I've had were the d7000's and ultrasone pro 900, but those were a few years ago before I fully dove into mid to high tier iem's, I think these will be a great welcome back to full sized cans

 
The only piece of advice I would give you (that you probably already know) was to try to audition both of them first (the NAD and the V-Moda).  I think you're past that mark already if you're picking them up XD  Enjoy your M-100s, they are great cans  

 

[Androb]

How are these compared to momentums? I'm sorry if it is posted already but cba reading through all these pages ^^

 

[Maxx134]

The only piece of advice I would give you (that you probably already know) was to try to audition both of them first (the NAD and the V-Moda).  I think you're past that mark already if you're picking them up XD  Enjoy your M-100s, they are great cans  

The M-100 probably won't be going under 300 anytime soon.  NAD HP50 is a warmer, smoother, but slightly dark signature.  The M-100 are closer to a slight v-shape.  offers quite a bit of fun and excitement if that's what you want from your music. 

The m100 surpasses the nad50 in both the bass and trebles department..
While the Nad excells in the mids..

I have to now sell my Nad50 lol
Edit: the Nad does also have good bass.

 

[tinyman392]

The m100 surpasses the nad50 in both the bass and trebles department..
While the Nad excells in the mids..

I have to now sell my Nad50 lol

 
The M-100 has more bass and treble...  At times, I found the treble too edgy with the 100's, but the treble on the NADs were too soft...  I'll agree with bass and mids though.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

So today, I went to a HiFi store and sampled the following:
 
- HiFiman HE-400
- Sennheiser HD800
- Denon AH-D7100
- Shure SRH1840
- Audeze LCD2
- Grado RS1i
- Grado PS500
 
All off of a Burson Conductor (an $1800 amp) using my iPhone 5s as a source.
 
I spent about 2 hours auditioning all of them, using music from a variety of my styles (metal, rap, electronic, post-rock, post-metal). I had a credit card in my hand and was ready to purchase something. You know what happened?
 
...I went home with my M100's. It was a 115 mile drive and I really, REALLY wanted for one of them to floor me and turn into my new "at-home" pair and the M100s remain my portables. Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything on that list that particularly impressed me. The HE-400's sounded really nice, but the low end was lacking. Say "accurate" all you want, the point was that I had to focus really hard for the low frequencies. The LCD2 was better, but hardly impressive. The RS1i... I don't even know who would enjoy that. It was ALL treble. The PS500s were close to being a winner, they sounded burly and aggressive, but the frequency just COLLAPSED under about 50-60Hz. 
 
Out of the above, the best two were the HD800s and the D7100's. The problem with the former was obviously price ($1600 for the cans plus a big amp to power them), and the latter just felt like the M100s with a bigger soundstage. It wasn't a significant improvement and didn't add much beyond more "air" to the sound. Yes, I understand why some people love the Audeze's. If you list to delicate music, these are sublime. I tested some acoustic and piano tracks and it absolutely sounded like I was sitting beside the instruments. Unfortunately, for more energetic music, all that stuff lacked the "oomph", and the ones that could keep up with the M100's didn't add enough to warrant purchasing a new pair and amplifier.
 
Again, keep in mind, this isn't rationalization. I had the money ready to go. I had heard so much about all of these that I wanted to have a high end setup, but I sat there, more than a little underwhelmed, kind of chuckling at the fact that I could run the M100's straight off of my iPhone and get a more lively experience (at the expense of clarity and openness) than headphones that cost more than twice as much. I admit that this is partly because of WHAT music I used (320kbps mp3, mind), and if my listening habits trended more toward "live" type recordings of orchestral or acoustic instruments my experience would be different, but... I actually stayed a lot longer than I meant to because I refused to believe that the M100s were keeping pace or surpassing these expensive products.
 
My enjoyment of the D7100s leaves me wondering what the Fostex TH600/900 or the OLD D7000's sounded like, but I know right now that I have no real interest in open-back or planars. The HD800s, admittedly, sounded SUBLIME (and were way more comfortable than they had any right to be), but until I have $2000 that I need to get rid of I'm not going that route.
 
So here's the take home: if you have the M100s and you love them (meaning, you're not trying to EQ away problems you have)? You're not gonna find anything under $1000 that can pull you away. The Shure SRH1540s were actually pretty dang good, but... didn't seem like any appeal over them. The main appeal of the two I liked were that they were "bigger" and so they had all the power but a wider soundstage and separation. I honestly couldn't tell if the speakers were better or if it was just due to the M100 cups being cramped. 
 
Got a couple neat pics though.
 

 

 

[ratinox]

From what I understand, once you get into the summit-fi budget range you'll have a hard time finding prominent anything. You're relying on the equalizer to shape what you hear rather than characteristics of the headphones themselves.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

From what I understand, once you get into the summit-fi budget range you'll have a hard time finding prominent anything. You're relying on the equalizer to shape what you hear rather than characteristics of the headphones themselves.

 
I can understand that, but it does kinda seem to suggest that at a given point you're not actually gaining anything. 

 

[tinyman392]

   
I can understand that, but it does kinda seem to suggest that at a given point you're not actually gaining anything. 

 
You will always be gaining something, but the gains you get as the price goes up decreases.  Think of a y = a*x^0.5 graph, where the x axis is price and the y axis is performance...  It'll eventually reach infinity, but slowly does it. 

 

[iAmCalm]

 So today, I went to a HiFi store

 
What store?