[DigitalFreak]

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Just put in my order for the FiiO L9; should come in on Friday or Saturday.
 
So is there a substantial difference between what the L9 will provide and the regular 3.5mm cable I've been using? I mean, I wouldn't have bought it if the answer was no, but I'd still like to hear exactly what sort of difference it makes.
 

Some people on here consider it a sacrilege to double amp. Truthfully, it's not as bad as some people will lead you to bellieve. I recommended you buy the L9 because it's a very well built low profile cable that isn't cumbersome and once you plug it in you can forget about it and it'll stay out of the way. If you're going to do any amount of walking around or around the house stuff with a rig a low profile cable is a must have. Fiio's cables are known for being good for that.

 

[DaBomb77766]

Oh yeah, I should probably post this here too!
 
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And here are the replacement shields I got, after not being 100% happy with the ones I got before!
 
 

 
I must say they turned out quite a bit better this time around.  I wouldn't say they're 100% perfect - and for some reason I noticed that one side was off-white and the other was a more natural white?  At any rate, the lines are smooth and it's pretty crisp!  I find that near the edges of the shields it starts to get a little less defined, but it's not enough for me to demand another replacement, I felt that I was being a bit picky even the first time.
 
Anyway, I'm pretty happy with these now!
 
(and yes, that is a raichu)

 

[jude]

Good question. The M100 is the most hyped headphone with the least reviews. The big names in head-fi have stayed away from these for some reason. I find it rather interesting....

After RMAF, it was straight to the holiday update of the Head-Fi Buying Guide for me. I'm giving the M-100 what I consider to be a very deserved full page in it. What I post about the M-100 in the Guide is going to be the soonest I'll have time to post any in-depth feelings about it.

Long story short, I love the M-100. It was also one of the stars of this year's CanJam @ RMAF, so I predict I'll be far from alone in my feelings about it.

 

[miceblue]

After RMAF, it was straight to the holiday update of the Head-Fi Buying Guide for me. I'm giving the M-100 what I consider to be a very deserved full page in it. What I post about the M-100 in the Guide is going to be the soonest I'll have time to post any in-depth feelings about it.
Long story short, I love the M-100. It was also one of the stars of this year's CanJam @ RMAF, so I predict I'll be far from alone in my feelings about it.

:blink:
There's a buying guide for winter too? I must have missed the one last year...but that's great to hear Jude. A lot of people are eagerly awaiting your word about the M-100's.




And if you ignore the fact that the cymbals are basically inaudible in this track (at least they are through the O2/ODAC), I think the M-100's do a great job with it:

[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsV5sUuCn4M[/VIDEO]

 

[dilinator]

Quote:

After RMAF, it was straight to the holiday update of the Head-Fi Buying Guide for me. I'm giving the M-100 what I consider to be a very deserved full page in it. What I post about the M-100 in the Guide is going to be the soonest I'll have time to post any in-depth feelings about it.
Long story short, I love the M-100. It was also one of the stars of this year's CanJam @ RMAF, so I predict I'll be far from alone in my feelings about it.

Eagerly awaiting this, if you could muster some comparisons I would appreciate it! I recently converted some friends over to some level of audophility - er. audiophileness? (audiophellatio?) - on the basis of the accessible summer buying guide, so keep up the good work!
 
 
On a completely different note, Val, have you ever considered sending a pair of the M-100s to The Verge or to Anandtech? The Verge because they have hipster cred (read - people with money who hate cultural standards) and a pretty snazzy looking website that complements hi-res photos of things that look awesome. Anandtech because they are the true detail masters and will definitely pick up on the high build quality of the M-100s.

 

[AnakChan]

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just out of curiousity, when are other Head-fi members such as Jude, Tyll, ect. going to post official reviews for M-100? they have had pairs for awhile right? so far only Anak has posted an official review on the M-100 page

 
Tyll may not have written anything about it (yet) but he's definitely spoken about it :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTSafas1j0
 
(and was wearing them for the video group conference even)

 

[Kirin]

Hi, this is a bit off topic, but I thought I'll ask your advice since you all know audio, and I've had trouble finding good options. (Also, I'm still waiting for my M-100s ><)
Basically I need a portable (battery powered) speaker that plays music loud. 
Right now, I have the logitech s715i, which is complete rubbish. 
The two main 'high end' portable units seem to be Bose Soundlink, and Big Jambox. They are both decent, but pretty pricey for what they are, and I think the price is higher because of the bluetooth connectivity (which I don't need). 
Anways, if anyone has any ideas please let me know. 
Ok, back to m-100s now  

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

 
Tyll may not have written anything about it (yet) but he's definitely spoken about it :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTSafas1j0
 
(and was wearing them for the video group conference even)

 
That must have been among the most interesting 1 hour audiophile discussion ever. Should be like a disclaimer to joining this site haha, so many interesting and important things brought to the table in it.

 

[AnakChan]

I just PMed someone since his response back to me was lost in the number of posts that gets generated in day in this thread and now I'm contradicting completely by replying to scrypt's publicly.
 
@scrypt since your impressions seemed to have gotten lost and buried in this thread too.
 
Quote:

 

Spoiler: Feedback%20Hidden%20%231

 
I'm sitting at my work desk staring at a Ray Samuels Hornet (close neighbor to the amp mentioned by Anak-Chan), an E10, a Head-Room Micro-DAC, the Grado HF-1, my TF-10s, a PC tower, an iPod Classic and even an iHP-140.  My RS-1, MS-2i, ER-4S, DT-831, M-80 as well as my Macs, Ray Samuels XP-7, MAD Ear++ and various other amps are all at home.
 
But as quirky as a comparison could be of this intergalactic gumbo of sources, amps and headgear, I haven't made one because I've been using my E10 and M-100s exclusively to edit a playlist of passacaglias, passacaillen, grounds and chaconnes.  This has been going on for two days.
 
Anyone who wants to hear the compressed version can do so on Spotify if they search for a playlist titled "Passacaglias, Grounds and Chaconnes."
 
Why am I doing this?  Because a passacaglia is a classical form involving variations on a bass line, a passacaille is the French word for the same form, a Ground Bass is the English variant, and the chaconne is a set of variations on a series of chord changes (note how close baroque forms often come to jazz -- "Giant Steps" works the same way as the Chaconne in D minor from Bach's Partita for Solo Violin, and the harpsichord's figured bass in baroque trio sonatas and cantatas is reminiscent of a chord chart from the original Real Book).
 
I'm interested in the effect of the M-100's frequency emphasis on classical music which is structured around prominent bass parts and/or chord changes.
 

 
 
My suspicion is that the M-100 is better for certain kinds of classical music than people might think.  As with rock, it all depends on the specific style, instrumentation, orchestation and piece of music.  I'll go further and say this is usually true of other headphones as well.
 
 

Spoiler: Feedback%20Hidden%20%232

I tend to favor classical styles in this order:  modernist and postmodernist, medieval, baroque, rococo, post-romantic, renaissance, classical period, romantic, chant and (last and least) minimalist. The playlist is arranged roughly to reflect that (though I haven't organized the end).  A few jazz passacaglias occur early on. (Don Ellis's is the truest representation of the form.)  The last few tracks at the very end of the playlist are interpretations of the form by rock bands and other non-classical artists.

 
 
 

* * * * *​

 
When people talk about recessed mids and unsatisfactory guitars, it sounds to me as if they're missing the lower mids specifically.  That's the range that adds weight to unison comping and lines on the low end of the neck.  I've spent decades of my life watching guitarists lay down tracks and then having to fit keyboard parts into the few open frequencies around them.  (It's a bit like being the last person to choose your elementary school Christmas present out of the gift pile, but it's also a fun challenge.)
 
 

Spoiler: Feedback%20Hidden%20%233

 
Tristan Avakian -- an excellent guitarist, by the way -- used to come into the studio so attuned to the mixing desk you'd have thought he arrived with a track sheet already filled out.  He carefully EQ'd and tailored his tracks to occupy as many prominent frequencies as possible. I used to watch him nudge the engineer aside and do it all himself.  When he was feeling more trusting, he'd call out exact gain levels and frequencies to notch.
 
He focused on lower-mid lines and rhythm parts, with board-and-mic-sculpted highs to accentuate the attacks.  He was as organized and cerebral about it as a keyboardist.  I think he'd sound quite good on the M-100; not so a guitarist like Dave Mustaine, whose sound was always pointlessly nasal and would prove especially washed out on these particular headphones.
 

 

 ​

* * * * *​

 
 

Spoiler: Feedback%20Hidden%20%234

 
That's one of the most distinctive color/shield choices yet.  I actually chose not to get the crocs, but that's because my design was wordy and a textured surface looked not to be the place for it.  Whereas DF's centuries-old Gothic/Nouveau cross could be rendered in jewelry.  My significant otter might love it.
 
One last thing:

To the person who wanted to see orange shields with the matte-black M-100s:  I haven't installed mine because I'm waiting to hear whether customer service is satisfied with my photos of the slightly scratched earcup and matte black shield.  I don't want to touch anything until I verify that I can exchange my current pair for a new one whenever it becomes available.  Customer service has said this is likely (and they've been exceptionally responsive and honorable), but I want to be sure they're satisfied before I change anything.
 
BTW:  The scratch I'm talking about is so small that some people would wonder why I cared.  And my cord isn't frayed at all, nor are any that came with my M-80.  Any minor build issues are probably reducible to the stage of development at which we chose to purchase our M-100s.  The M-80s were largely perfect from the start because we weren't buying them before they were ready. 
 

 

 
That is interesting. When I felt the M-100 didn't present timbre accurately for classical. Admittedly I was listening to more string instruments (Vivaldi Four Seasons, Air-Suite No 3, etc.), etc. Mind you although still enjoyable to hear, but not necessarily accurate.
 
For the mids, in my impressions I felt they were "pulled back" for my tastes but somehow through this thread, it got translated to "mid recessed". Thinking about it more, I think it's more I'm more happy with the lower mids and less so with the upper mids - and it was that region that I felt was pulled back (i.e. which is probably where I personally like something like Il Divo fine good with the M-100 but, strong female vocal tracks not as much).

 

[Jerryberry]

Hey Anyone used the m100s for the gym/working out or for running? How are they and do you think they could withstand some moisture and sweat and are even comfortable to work out in? 

 

[autoteleology]

Has anyone else used the M-100s as speakers? They're actually very good at being loud (and I don't believe that Val has covered how the M-100s can also be used to stand this way in his marketing materials)

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Hi, this is a bit off topic, but I thought I'll ask your advice since you all know audio, and I've had trouble finding good options. (Also, I'm still waiting for my M-100s ><)
Basically I need a portable (battery powered) speaker that plays music loud. 
Right now, I have the logitech s715i, which is complete rubbish. 
The two main 'high end' portable units seem to be Bose Soundlink, and Big Jambox. They are both decent, but pretty pricey for what they are, and I think the price is higher because of the bluetooth connectivity (which I don't need). 
Anways, if anyone has any ideas please let me know. 
Ok, back to m-100s now  

You might wanna check out the new Logitech UE ones, they're apparently quite good.

 

[DrHouse]

Quote:

After RMAF, it was straight to the holiday update of the Head-Fi Buying Guide for me. I'm giving the M-100 what I consider to be a very deserved full page in it. What I post about the M-100 in the Guide is going to be the soonest I'll have time to post any in-depth feelings about it.
Long story short, I love the M-100. It was also one of the stars of this year's CanJam @ RMAF, so I predict I'll be far from alone in my feelings about it.

Could you give us a rough release date for the Buying Guide? Could really use some of that solid advice!

 

[Curly21029]

My apologies for going dark over the past couple of days, but listening has been kept to a minimum due to my previously-disclosed headaches.  
 
I'm opting to stay intentionally vague, but there have been some physiological developments that may be proven applicable to my time with the M-100.  I will, however, state in the interest of transparency that the preceding should in no way be viewed as carrying a negative connotation, but it may serve as the preface to a conclusion.
 
Testing is under way.  More soon...

 

[Carlos4996]

Okay. Also, what's better, digizoid's ZO2, or a cmoy ad823, I'm debating on which one
And obviously the cmoy is closer to my budget. And if ther e is a difference, is it a big enough difference to pay that much money extra