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Wow this was posted a week ago and there has been exactly 300 posts since then.
I got Pearl Jam's Binaural album...it sounds OK for home listening. The singer's voice seems pretty distant/quiet relative to the guitars, bass guitar, and bass pedal.
When I listened to the first 3 tracks, I couldn't tell the album was recorded with binaural technology, it sounded like any other album. Again, the L/R imaging of the M-100 isn't a strong point as I immediately noticed the binaural recorded instruments with the SRH940 (the drumset and singer are placed to the left of the "dummy microphone" in Evacuation).
How I did the mod
Paper towel info:
Brand: Up & Up (I think this is Target's house brand)
Size: 11 in (27.94 cm) X 10.4 in (26.416 cm)
Layering: 2-ply
- Take the paper towel and tear/cut it into fourths
- Using one of the fourths, tear/cut it in half
- Fold each of these so that you are left with 2 long strips (see second photo)
- Use one of these pieces in each earcup (I lined the right, bottom, and left sides of the earcup)
- Repeat steps 2-3
- Cut one of these pieces in half so you have 2 shorter pieces
- Use one of those pieces in each earcup so that each earcup has 1.5 long strips (I lined the upper right, top, and upper-left parts of the earcup). In the top photo, the smaller piece is the other half of a fourth that is leftover.
Sound
- The bass is reduced in quantity, making it sound more balanced with the rest of the audio spectrum
- The midrange is more forward and details are clearer to hear
- The highs are much easier to hear (in particular the cymbals, which is the one main area of the unmodded M-100 that I think could have been improved; they are muuuuch better defined with the mod and they still remain not sibilant to my ears)
- Surprisingly the soundstage seems to have gotten wider too. It sounds much more spacious with the mod. This soundstage can rival the SRH940 in my A/B comparison on my MacBook + Audirvana Plus + FiiO E7 setup (it's still not as wide, but it's much wider and deeper than the unmodded M-100)
Headphone:
- As for fit, yes the pads are stiffer, but my ears no longer touch the driver enclosure as much, so it's more comfortable as a whole.
Test tracks:
Joanna Wang - Lost In Paradise (the vocals are brought more forward and sound a little clearer)
Battles - Futura (the bass pedal isn't emphasised as much, but the punch is still there, so the cymbals are easier to hear; drummer-mode is activated!
Cloudkicker - Amy I Love You (same result as ^)
Ottmar Liebert - Snakecharmer (the guitar seems more up-front)
Massive Attack - Teardrop (the bass isn't as prominent, but it sounds more balanced to me; the "ssss" vocals are still sharp as before probably due to the recording, but they are again not ear-grating like they were on the SRH940)
Fourplay - Chant
Modded
good instrument separation
drum up front
drum pedal has punch, a little too much for me
bass guitar is very prominent, and has lots of authority
cymbals ts ts ts audible, more in background (quiet)
snare drum easily heard, back on stage
1:11 very good left/right imaging, lots of air between instruments
voices in background in front of snare drum a few steps
other drums have very forward sound
1:40 voices slightly in front of drums, front stage, bass guitar in front of drums (well defined notes)
piano is very clear, in front of drums and background vocals, front stage
2:50 guitar? now takes front stage, piano good distance away, bass next to piano, cymbals barely audible
cymbals clearly defined, nice authority
very good L/R imaging for drumset
5:50, cymbal ting ting ting ting audible, voices in front, bass guitar slightly behind voices
Unmodded
good instrument separation
drum up front, but more behind than modded, tonality seems off (sounds flatter in sound)
drum pedal has more punch
bass guitar is not as clear, (bu duuuuum ditto dooom, doom part is much quieter than modded), but louder than modded overall
cymbals ts ts ts ts is barely audible, still in background
1:11 ok left/right imaging (less wide)
snare drum easily heard, might cover "doom", seems farther back than modded
voices in background seem further back than before, but still in front of drums
decent left/right imaging, not as wide
1:40 main vocals seem quieter than bass guitar (doom doom doom doom doom bass), bass guitar in front stage, notes not well defined
piano is clearly defined again, not as forward, but in front of drumset and bass guitar, behind background voices (sound nasally)
2:50 guitar takes front stage, piano behind, bass guitar in front of piano (overshadows)
cymbals clearly defined, way behind vocals
good L/R imaging for drumset
5:34, cymbal ting ting ting ting audible, next to voices, bass guitar in front
Overall, modded sounds like a wider stage with better instrument separation, but not as deep (sounds like 1st row in a concert?), unmodded sounds like a deeper stage with less width and the bass guitar is more forward in the stage (sounds like 10th row in a concert? more reverb sound?).
Listening in a noisy environment
After trying the M-100 at school and on the bus, I concluded that:
Modded
- It does have better noise isolation but not a whole lot more, as I mentioned. The bus's engine noise was drowned out a bit more, especially the higher frequencies.
- Cymbal crashes and other higher frequency sounds were more apparent than unmodded
Unmodded
- The U-shaped sound is more preferable, to me, while walking on campus/with extra background noises
- The bass was more easily heard over the outside noise than the modded version, so it was actually really pleasant to hear the bass guitars in some tracks over people's conversations
- Laid back lower midrange was harder to hear over outside noise, but the upper mids were nicely balanced with the bass (snare drum and cymbal hits can get a bit fatiguing though)
- The quieter [upper?] treble was also more pleasant to my ear since it's not fatiguing (the modded version was a similar experience with my SRH940, too little bass and lower mids, too much upper mids and highs)
Isolation test
Overall there is slightly more noise isolation when modded, but it's not a deal-breaker.Test track played on $20 desktop speakers: Quincy Jones - Back on the Block
(M-100 is not connected to anything, cable is removed from earcup)
Modded
Isolation is pretty good
Most of the highs are blocked out
The mids/vocals are somewhat blocked out (I can still hear the singer's lyrics and the background "ooo waaai eee ooh")
Bass guitar is kind of audible
Unmodded
Isolation is still pretty good
More of the highs come through to me (the snare drum's hit is more audible), but they're still mostly blocked out
The mids/vocals, just like the highs are a tad bit louder to me (the lyrics are more distinguishable）
The bass guitar is is also more audible
Both versions isolate a decent amount. With this mod, the higher and upper-midrange frequencies are blocked out more. They don't isolate as much as the SRH940, which I thought was good (Innerfidelity says it has a -14 dB isolation rating, which is about average for a full-sized headphone), but it's pretty close.
Soundstage test
Using this video as a test for the soundstage, it gave me a good sense of the M-100's soundstage.
Unmodded
- I definitely sense more depth than width as I've mentioned before. The two sentries at the L/R locations at 1:48 in the video seem to be more diagonal L/R, giving a larger sense of depth. On the SRH940, the L/R locations are much more accurate from my quick listen, and the echo effects in the TF2 room makes the room much more realistic-sounding than the M-100 relatively speaking.
Modded
- Wow OK this is kind of scaring me. With this mod, the soundstage IS in fact wider as I previously mentioned as well. The L/R imaging of the sentries is more accurate (L/R as opposed to diagonally behind L/R) and the echoes of the sentries in the room make the room sound much larger than it was in the unmodded version....this larger soundstage actually does rival the SRH940, also as mentioned before.
I've been switching from modded to unmodded and the sound difference is very clear to me. The best thing about this mod is that it's completely reversible and is easy to do.
DigitalFreak suggested a different mod that uses smaller paper towel pieces.
Setup: MacBook + Audirvana Plus (integer mode, exclusive access mode, use max I/O buffer size, best quality sample rate conversion) + FiiO E7 (volume level 05, bass boost 0)
Track used: Fourplay - Chant
DigitalFreak Modded
very good instrument separation
drum up front, mid-stage
lots of bass pedal punch
bass guitar in front of drums, very prominent, well-defined notes
cymbals ts ts ts ts audible
vocals up closer to front stage
good L/R imaging
bass guitar in front (dun dun dun dun dun sound), cymbals behind vocals
piano slightly in front of bass guitar, drumset behind
guitar takes front stage, bass guitar behind, piano behind bass guitar, drumset behind that
3:29 very clear cymbals and drums, vocals slightly in front, bass guitar behind vocals
5:50 cymbal ting ting ting ting present, next to bass guitar, vocals in front, piano slightly behind
Unmodded
ok instrument separation
drum further back
more bass pedal punch
bass guitar in front, VERY prominent (I can feel it rumbling my gut), slightly slurred notes
cymbals ts ts ts ts barely audible (bass guitar/pedal overshadows)
vocals next or slightly behind bass guitar
OK L/R imaging
bass guitar in very front (dun dun dun dun dun sound), cymbals next to vocals
piano in front of drums, behind bass, vocals slightly in front of piano
guitar takes front stage next to bass guitar, piano behind both, cymbals barely audible
3:29 cymbals sound lacking in higher ring, vocals next to or slightly behind drumset
5:50 cymbal ting ting ting ting back on stage, vocals slightly in front, piano next to vocals, bass guitar slightly behind vocals/piano
miceblue Modded
excellent good instrument separation (lots of air between instruments)
drum up front, mid-stage
least bass pedal punch, still good though
bass guitar slightly in front of drums, prominent, well-defined notes
cymbals ts ts ts ts is audible
vocals closer to front stage
very good L/R imaging
bass guitar in front (dun dun dun dun dun sound), vocals very slightly behind, drums slightly behind vocals
piano in front stage, bass guitar behind, vocals slightly in front of bass guitar
guitar in front stage, piano slightly behind, bass guitar behind in front of drumset
3:29 very clear cymbals and drums, vocals in front of drumset, bass guitar slightly in front of drumset
5:50 cymbal ting ting ting ting present very clear, vocals in front, piano slightly behind bass guitar next to drums
Overall impressions, DigitalFreak's mod is mid-way between miceblue's mod and not modded. miceblue's mod seems to have better instrument separation and stage width, but at the loss of some bass impact/presence, sounds more balanced overall. DigitalFreak's mod still retains the M-100's signature bass but is more clearly defined/cleaner and the midrange is brought more forward as well as having clearer treble.
Given the slight differences between mods, I could actually go for either! They both sounded good to me for that particular track.
I like DigitalFreak's mod a little more since 1) it retains the signature M-100 sound for the most part, and 2) it's easier to install. My mod, on the other hand, significantly changes the sound and it's much more cumbersome to install.
The FiiO E7 pairs pretty nicely with the M-100. The E7 has a pretty wide soundstage so it compliments the M-100. The whole sound spectrum sounds a bit cleaner with the E7 and the chest-hitting bass is increased.
Grado's have a signature completely different from the M-100. The M-100's treble might disappoint you when coming from a Grado, and the lower-midrange (male vocals) is pretty laid back. I'd say give it a shot, you actually might like the M-100.
