[SpiderNhan]

Quote:

I love my M-100's but I find them slightly awkward when walking about/jogging with them for example. With the way they are closed, you can hear every step you take, but with a deep boom and amplified. It makes listening to music quite uncomfortable.
Must be the closed nature.

I used to notice the footstep "boom" also, but for some reason it's gone now. I don't know if I'm used to it or the pads broke in enough to alleviate the problem. I actually notice the boom much more with my Meelec A151 IEMs.

 

[epithetless]

  I love my M-100's but I find them slightly awkward when walking about/jogging with them for example. With the way they are closed, you can hear every step you take, but with a deep boom and amplified. It makes listening to music quite uncomfortable.
Must be the closed nature.

 

  I used to notice the footstep "boom" also, but for some reason it's gone now. I don't know if I'm used to it or the pads broke in enough to alleviate the problem. I actually notice the boom much more with my Meelec A151 IEMs.

 
When you guys are hearing the boom of your footsteps, are you using the stock cable? That thing is microphonic as hell, so every time the cable swings into your clothing/body/anything at all, the sound transmits right to the earcups. I'd be curious to know if swapping the woven cable for a standard (non-V-MODA) rubber one would make a difference.

 

[DrSheep]

Get the NuForce Transcient cable, it is much better in terms of clothing noise reduction.

 

[InvaderSkoodge]

Hi I am new here as far as posting goes. I have been reading this forum since around the beginning, then left, and have come back in the past couple weeks. Anyway, I actually am okay with exercising, and walking with my Crossfades, I have the LPs (but want the m100s) , but the concept is the same. I get very little microphonics, and the footstep booming is only if I have very low volume.

My main question though, is has anyone with the m100s tried blocking off the vents on the outside, the vports, and also the little vent on the inside under the ear pads? Doing so on the LPs has made a noticeable improvement in balance of bass, middle, and high. I just covered them with electrical tape, the sound is more closed, but better, and the LPs didn't have the fabric covering the holes, which made them leak noise like crazy, so I had to anyway. Thanks!

 

[ltgem612]

Every thread on any headphone has all kinds of tricks/suggestions that are supposed to improve the sound.  It probably doesn't hurt to try and if you THINK there is a improvement well good for you.
 
Val has spent thousands of hours and hundreds of tests trying to get the best possible sound from all his headphones.  I would guess if he or his engineers or testers had felt any of them had any benefit they would have incorporated them in the design.
 
Val has spent months on the xl pads trying to get them right and not alter the M100 sound.  We don't know if he succeeded since they are not out yet.  But when they are I bet there will be a difference in the sound which some will like while others will dislike.
 
Your ears and hearing are different from all others so if you like it, go for it.  However I personally doubt if there is any improvement with most if not all the tweeks/tricks etc.

 

[InvaderSkoodge]

Yeah it is just really easy to get stuck in all of the nitpicking that people have, and make you paranoid, like infomercials that make you think you have a problem you never thought you had before. I know Val has spent some serious time and testing, but who knows. I have preordered the xl pads, and am eagerly awaiting those. I am a classically trained musician, but I don't find V-moda headphones to be that bad in balance, even with my eclectic music preferences. I think that audio quality obsession is circular, you keep getting better things, making the old sound worse, and making you more obsessive. 
 
Anyway, to each his own, nothing is one size fits all.

 

[epithetless]

Get the NuForce Transcient cable, it is much better in terms of clothing noise reduction.

 
Yeah, I was thinking that could be a relatively easy and inexpensive solution for musical-kage if indeed the booming he hears is tied to cable microphonics.
 
Me, I'm perfectly good with my low-profile, all-black ebay cable. As I went into far too much detail about earlier, I can't abide NuForce's color decisions with the Transient cable's plugs.

 

[Evshrug]

I put my hands over the v-port holes in the shields of my M-100 just now, cupped over most of the exterior cracks of the headphone... zero change, except that the drivers were slightly closer to my ear (and the resulting increase of the pad's sealing around my ear and the sound a little more forward) and my hands could feel a tiny bit of vibration. Basically, no change because I was touching/covering rather than pressing. I'm pretty sure Val has said twice that the v-ports are decoration, if you unscrew the shields the earcup is sealed behind them anyway. I used to have LPs, I don't remember if they were like that too though.

As far as nitpicking goes, I think it mainly serves to keep the conversation going. Else you'd just be listening to them, like I have been the past hour and a half, and recommending them, which honestly becomes a little repetitive and boring, lol. The recommending, that is, not the actual headphones and sound. The XL pads may be nice, but even though I usually put on my M-100 with the pads pinning down the back edge of my ear down (the opening isn't quite wide enough for my ears to fit inside) I don't find them to be a major comfort issue. Sure, my Q701s and AD700 "disappear" more, ear wise especially the Q's, but I'm not sure "thicker" is the answer; the marshmallow pads on a friend's XB500 felt nice at first but quickly became stifling, those are the thickest pads I've ever worn. Do the XL pads have a wider opening? I imagine not.

 

[epithetless]

Do the XL pads have a wider opening?

 
Yes, they should. Early on, Val said the XL pads were designed to be both thicker and have a larger opening than the standard ones.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Oh my...if you want the perfect album to test out the M100s...its the new Nine Inch Nails "Hesitation Marks".  Wow...what an impressive sounding album on these things.  Ridiculously good, even just streaming on Ultra Quality via Spotify.

 

[DrSheep]

   
Yeah, I was thinking that could be a relatively easy and inexpensive solution for musical-kage if indeed the booming he hears is tied to cable microphonics.
 
Me, I'm perfectly good with my low-profile, all-black ebay cable. As I went into far too much detail about earlier, I can't abide NuForce's color decisions with the Transient cable's plugs.

Another good find, thanks for sharing.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I believe someone that opened them up and showed pics showed that there is a hole yes but it's covered with an acoustic filter foam so it leaks a lot less therefore than the LPs, Fidelio L1 for example which has quite large opening at the back is using a similar foam and it's suprisingly effective at isolating. The result is that you get some sound passing through for better venting and increased soundstage typically versus fully closed while still blocking a huge deal of sound.

Quote:

I put my hands over the v-port holes in the shields of my M-100 just now, cupped over most of the exterior cracks of the headphone... zero change, except that the drivers were slightly closer to my ear (and the resulting increase of the pad's sealing around my ear and the sound a little more forward) and my hands could feel a tiny bit of vibration. Basically, no change because I was touching/covering rather than pressing. I'm pretty sure Val has said twice that the v-ports are decoration, if you unscrew the shields the earcup is sealed behind them anyway. I used to have LPs, I don't remember if they were like that too though.

 

[Tman5293]

  Oh my...if you want the perfect album to test out the M100s...its the new Nine Inch Nails "Hesitation Marks".  Wow...what an impressive sounding album on these things.  Ridiculously good, even just streaming on Ultra Quality via Spotify.

 
I'm currently listening to the audiophile master of this album, yes they made two different masters, and it sounds fantastic. Noticeably more detailed than the regular master on Spotify.

 

[DrSheep]

   
I'm currently listening to the audiophile master of this album, yes they made two different masters, and it sounds fantastic. Noticeably more detailed than the regular master on Spotify.

From where?  HDtracks?

 

[Tman5293]

  From where?  HDtracks?

 
More info on it here: http://nineinchnails.tumblr.com/post/59587808317/hesitation-marks-was-mastered-in-two-different
 
You have to purchase the album from their webstore and then you can download either the regular master or the audiophile master (or both if you want to compare).