[V-MODA Team Member]

@AndrewY Hi, we noticed you are using 3.5mm balanced connector on your M-200. Please is this connector compatible with new 3.5Pro standard? Asking due to compatibility with our players.

Thanks

( ´ ω ` )ノﾞ Hey @Shanling let me ask to see if the cable is compatible with the 3.5 Pro standard and I'll get you an answer as soon as I know more.

Best,

Andrew

 

[fadeawayyy]

Hello, does anyone know when the m200's will be getting xl pads? I just got my pair yesterday and am loving them for everything but comfort so far. The sound is absolutely amazing but unfortunately they become very uncomfortable against my ears after wearing them for more than half a hour.

 

[V-MODA Team Member]

Hello, does anyone know when the m200's will be getting xl pads? I just got my pair yesterday and am loving them for everything but comfort so far. The sound is absolutely amazing but unfortunately they become very uncomfortable against my ears after wearing them for more than half a hour.

Hey fadeawayyy, thanks for reaching out! We don't have anything to announce on this at this time but I'll DM you shortly to discuss.

 

[sov73811]

I think the last thing I wrote on Head-Fi about V-Moda was in 2017 with the Crossfade II. But here we are in 2020 and V-Moda teamed up with Roland to make a "reference" "neutral" headphone? Now this was something I had to try for myself.

I gotta get this out of the way first...Why the 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRRS balanced cable? Isn't the typical connector 2.5mm or XLR? I don't get it at all; maybe @AndrewY has some insight.



With that frustration vented (and $26 USD spent on an adapter), I'll give a quick list of impressions.

- Fit for my average-sized ears is fine but very close - I need to angle them about 15 degrees back from a perfect 90 degree angle on my head.
- Vocals and midrange very forward and clear. I love it!
- Bass is present but shockingly light - especially for V-Moda
- Treble is polite - much like the Crossfade II
- Soundstage is initially confusing - close yet very airy and stops short of being intimate. I wonder how they did it.
- 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRRS cable????
- M-200 naming could confuse people? I mean, is this really a true successor to the M-100?
- Would be first in line to test pads made of different materials (microsuede, cooling gel, etc.)

I'm going to need to spend quite a bit more time. I've got a whole document going about what I'm hearing and I hope to post that up within a few weeks. For now I will say that I'm quite impressed with my first 20 hours listening to the M-200. A headphone that rivals a flat response of the Mrspeakers Aeon Flow Closed V1? From V-Moda? I never would have guessed!

Addendum: Do you ever get that feeling that you're supposed to do something important after you get back from work but then end up saying, "Ah $(%& it I'm going to kill the rest of the day messing around with my headphones and cables"?



This cable did change the sound a little from the adapter hodgepodge photographed above - I hear a tad more bass from my custom cable. And hey, the cable and XLR plug was $17 USD which is cheaper than the 3.5mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter. Oh and if anyone has a tip on how to determine which wire is soldered to which part of the terminating plug instead of playing the "Guess the Polarity" game, I would love to hear from you!

 

[Trunks159]

I think the last thing I wrote on Head-Fi about V-Moda was in 2017 with the Crossfade II. But here we are in 2020 and V-Moda teamed up with Roland to make a "reference" "neutral" headphone? Now this was something I had to try for myself.

I gotta get this out of the way first...Why the 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRRS balanced cable? Isn't the typical connector 2.5mm or XLR? I don't get it at all; maybe @AndrewY has some insight.



With that frustration vented (and $26 USD spent on an adapter), I'll give a quick list of impressions.

- Fit for my average-sized ears is fine but very close - I need to angle them about 15 degrees back from a perfect 90 degree angle on my head.
- Vocals and midrange very forward and clear. I love it!
- Bass is present but shockingly light - especially for V-Moda
- Treble is polite - much like the Crossfade II
- Soundstage is initially confusing - close yet very airy and stops short of being intimate. I wonder how they did it.
- 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRRS cable????
- M-200 naming could confuse people? I mean, is this really a true successor to the M-100?
- Would be first in line to test pads made of different materials (microsuede, cooling gel, etc.)

I'm going to need to spend quite a bit more time. I've got a whole document going about what I'm hearing and I hope to post that up within a few weeks. For now I will say that I'm quite impressed with my first 20 hours listening to the M-200. A headphone that rivals a flat response of the Mrspeakers Aeon Flow Closed V1? From V-Moda? I never would have guessed!

Addendum: Do you ever get that feeling that you're supposed to do something important after you get back from work but then end up saying, "Ah $(%& it I'm going to kill the rest of the day messing around with my headphones and cables"?



This cable did change the sound a little from the adapter hodgepodge photographed above - I hear a tad more bass from my custom cable. And hey, the cable and XLR plug was $17 USD which is cheaper than the 3.5mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter. Oh and if anyone has a tip on how to determine which wire is soldered to which part of the terminating plug instead of playing the "Guess the Polarity" game, I would love to hear from you!

I concur with your impressions. I'm sitting here AB'ing the M200, Momentum 3, Focal Listen Pro, and Meze 99 Classics. The forward (really kinda just neutral but in a closed portable its most certainly forward) midrange is ridiculously refreshing to listen to. All of these cans a purty good (especially the Focals) but there's literally no way I could get rid of a V-Moda with this sound sig.

 

[V-MODA]

Hey everyone, just wanted to post an update here as well -- We just launched our new hardware review program which will feature the M-200 in this flight.

Apply to join here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/v-moda-hardware-review-program.943472/

 

[V-MODA Team Member]

@Shanling Apologies, the standard TRRS configuration for the 3.5mm balanced cable included will likely not be a perfect fit if your products are designed for the 3.5Pro standard. We'll keep you posted though if there are any updates

 

[Otto Motor]

I unboxed the M-200 today. Apologies for the poor visual presentation (without a monitor). But the story comes sonically across quite well...and it is sound we are primarily concerned with.

Initial listening: I am currently testing with the ifi nano and the first impression is positive...more in a week or so.

 

[SilverEars]

I've recently gotten the M-200 on the review tour as well. It's my first time hearing V-Moda as I've never really had considered trying out any of their headphones in the past. I understand the headphones look well designed and build based on the aesthetics, but sound is the biggest factor for my purchase decisions.

So far, what I'm hearing, the response seems fairly balanced (without much bass emphasis), and like most headphones, the output depends on the what amp you connect it to. My trusty solid-state is a BHA-1, and it didn't occur to me to try it with the BHA-1. I started out with the smartphone, and wasn't really impressed. The highs seemed not colored enough for my taste, and the bass and imaging came out flat. Got better with Hugo 2, but still didn't like the treble presentation. Treble didn't controlled enough.

Best pairing happens to be a home amp, the BHA-1. BHA-1 is generally a good amp with anything I pair it with however. BHA-1 amp has a great bass output in terms of quality and quantity. I think the M-200 needed the modest bass boost from this amp, and the treble push to provide better articular in terms of separation, and thus the imaging is much much batter than the other sources I've used. It's actually airy sounding believe it or not. That's the magic of amps guys!

A positive of the headphone is no bloom in the mids. I've heard number of closed-backs with too warm of mids. So, you will not get sounds that masks with these. Not wonky sounding response either. I've heard wonky closed-back responses.

As far as the feel of the headphone, it feels very snug around my ears. However, I have to admit that my ears are on the smaller side than avg, and it's snug. Cups do adhere to my ears. Could be informative for those with big ears.

Since these fit so snug and adheres like it does, it seems like one of the higher noise isolating headphones. I suspect it isolates noise well.

I really don't know which headphone did the folding first, V-Moda or DCA. Either way, the way it folds is very practical as the headphone fits inside a smaller casing making is better portable.

There were two cables provided and there was issue with the black one. Audio only outputted through only the left side. Orange cable however, worked for both channels.

Based on the sensitivity and the length of the cable, I assume portability is the market for these. However, I didn't find the sound quality to be all that notable out of my smartphone.

It would be interesting if V-Moda put out a higher impedance, less sensitive version for desktops with higher gain amps. Although I prefered balanced input to my BHA-1 for sound performance, the M-200 was too sensitive to it's gain, and thus I had to use single ended input. With this version, longer cable would be necessary.

 

[SilverEars]

I've been listening to these quite a bit to get a better idea. I will say that I've been listening to quit a bit of hip-hop with these and these definitely arn't lacking in bass, or do they have bloated bass. Bass seems quite tight, fast, and hits hard when necessary. It's not bassy, but bass is definitely sufficient to enjoy tracks that bass should be appreciated.

So, using the phone output is just fine I realized, and that not significant of a difference from my desktop amp. I think the highs gets presented better with my desktop amp with a different bass presentation. This maybe due to the DAC as well. Resolution wise it's not the highest, but that's expectable due to the price-point. It's not trying to be TOTL or anything like that. For mixing purposes, it seems to be the right response without real emphasis at any part of the spectrum.

Out of the phone, I use USB Audio Player Pro with Tidal, and that worked well.

What I find it does really well is the noise isolation. I think it's a good alternative to ANC if anybody has noise in the room like fans or air-conditioning.

As far as comfort that I don't find totally comfortable is room inside the cup for the ears. The headphones adheres to the ear almost like a on-ear, and this will effect overall comfort with extended listening. It's not Grado level with the flat surface pushed against you ear, but it does have part of that intensity.

It would be interesting to have bigger pad room, but also I could see why the design was like it is. The look overall does seem compact, and sleek due to the compactness of the design with greater noise isolation. So, compromises. As far as comfort, the pad room could be increased however. Possibly we can have adjustable clamping? That might be a first.

Edit: The clamp pressure grows and get's uncomfortable due to the driver grill adhering against the ear.

 

[plakat]

Yes, comfort is not their strong side... which is a pity: the first V-Moda that actually *is* over-ear, but much too shallow pads. Since they are so easy to change, a pair of XL pads would be more than welcome. I think the sound signature would also win from a bit more distance between driver and ear.

 

[Otto Motor]

Yes, comfort is not their strong side... which is a pity: the first V-Moda that actually *is* over-ear, but much too shallow pads. Since they are so easy to change, a pair of XL pads would be more than welcome. I think the sound signature would also win from a bit more distance between driver and ear.

Yep, they are sitting tight...which, on the upside, makes them more inconspicuous looking compared to some monster cans.

 

[lawshredpower]

Hi, everyone!

I’ve just received an unit on the review tour. I was super curious and my first impressions are quite different from what I expected... but in a good way!



I’ll hold a little bit on describing the sound. Expect my full review with pictures and everything soon around here. So far I’m pleased with most of it, although I do have a few peeves. All things considered, this experience is inspiring me to write a lot so bear with me. I hope it can be useful for someone! I’ll try the cans in the following week in a number of different scenarios.

 

[Currawong]

The M-200s arrived yesterday. I'm already familiar with the V-MODA designs, but it was pleasantly surprising just how small the carrying case is, as they compact very well when folded. The inclusion of a 3.5mm balanced cable, a non-standard use that is effectively unused in the industry (even the couple of manufacturers that were using it have abandoned it for the 4.4mm standard), was a surprise. Why it wasn't 4.4mm I don't understand. That being said, the sound:

It wouldn't be too far off to say that they sound like a closed-back Sennheiser HD6XX/HD650. However, the sound quality, ignoring the "flat" frequency response, is very poor. I've experienced a narrow soundstage from studio headphones before which make everything sound like it is coming from a "blob" in the middle, so that wasn't so much of a surprise, but the resolution just isn't what the advertising suggests. For example, in one track I listened to, a trumpet easily overwhelmed the ability to hear the drums. This directly out of a Hugo 2 (in the picture, I'm using a cable I got from V-MODA years ago, but I was using the included, orange cable prior -- I wanted to check that nothing was wrong with it). Compared to the 6XX, the Sennheiser very easily has more resolution and overall clarity.

Edit: Turned out my pair was broken. I sent them to the Roland factory where they were tested and found to be faulty.

I wonder if the compact design, with shallow ear-cups and smallish earpads are simply limiting what is possible. I guess that they fulfil the concept of having very compact, foldable monitor headphones, just as the the Crossfade headphones did that for DJs with the tuning specifically for club music.

Edit 2: Here are my impressions after being sent a replacement pair:
I wasn't surprised that the tuning for them is "flat", which, to me, sounds a bit bass-light and upper-mid forward (compared to what I called "listening neutral" which is slightly v-shaped compared to speaker-flat/neutral). They extend well into the bass and treble, however. The presentation of the music isn't particularly detailed, though decent enough, and initially I felt that the pads should be a bit bigger, as the moderately strong clamping force was compressing the pads a bit much and muffling the sound, something I noticed was improved by pulling the cups out a bit, so I stretched the headband to reduce the clamp, and that made the improvement I was looking for.

Though it is effectively a non-standard, and I don't know why it was included, I used the 4-pin "balanced" cable with the one device I have here that uses that pinout, the iFi xDSD. Funnily enough, it has a mild bass boost and 3D function, which effectively EQs in just a touch more bass and spaciousness to the music, making the M200 more suitable for general listening.

For what is effectively a set of closed studio monitors, they seem to make for reasonably decent closed-back listening headphones, even if they don't have the most nuanced delivery.

 

[Voxata]

Hey all! Checking in with the V-Moda M-200. What a very interesting headphone this is from the start of opening the box to the first few hours of listening.

I was greeted with some high quality packaging when unboxing. Heavy cardboard casing with accessory tray and felted foam fittings around the included headphone case. I've received $800 pairs of headphones in worse so this was nice to see.

Welcomed was the carry case and tightly foldable design I've appreciated from V-Moda. On its own it looked to easily be backpack worthy so packed up I doubt one would have any concern about durability. Not so welcomed was the 3.5mm BAL connector, I've been at this hobby for a while and I've never seen an amp with this connection. The other cable has an inline mic which is fine, though I'd have preferred a usable stock cable without one.

When it comes to sound I can tell the designer tried to squeeze every bit of performance they could from the compact design while using a massive driver. From my listening I'm guessing it's tightly dampened right behind the driver. As a result these are indeed fairly linear and listenable however the lack of a fast unimpeded driver response means detail, instrument separation and most importantly treble performance takes a hit.

This may not necessarily be a deal breaker depending what your needs are (and what you are using to drive them) but I'm not exactly sure what V-Moda is aiming for here. I still have a lot of testing to do and sources to try out with these. I've not really been a believer of burn-in in the past but I'm going to hit them with a good few dBs of pink noise for a while as well. Maybe they just need to loosen up a bit.

They sure do look awesome.