[Kylv]

  hahaha very nice post! i had a good laugh!

 
I was serious!  I have pictures to prove it!
 

 

[BillsonChang007]

Audiophile APPROVED 

 

[Tom22]

   
I was serious!  I have pictures to prove it!
 

your daughter's adorable! already getting them into this hobby at such a young age eh? haha i love how she's holding on them show off some swag, definitely a picture vmoda should put on their website! 
 
their headphones are loved by people of all ages! 

 

[Kylv]

Thanks. I think I'll keep her.

 

[ashutoshp]

Hi guys. Now that the XS has landed, any idea if there's going to be a M100 successor? The reason I ask is because wherever I read anything re. headphones, they seem to be making comparisons to the M100s and claiming that the one they're reviewing is better (for e.g., see 2nd page of this review- http://www.cnet.com/products/audio-technica-ath-m50x/ 
If I was Val Kolton, I would be secretly happy but disgusted at the same time. Anyone more current with said info.? 

 

[SpiderNhan]

Umm... I spoke to the VP of V-MODA a few weeks ago. He told me there are a couple new products that will debut this year. One is a new IEM and the other I can't say, but I know that I will be buying it.

 

[Tom22]

  Umm... I spoke to the VP of V-MODA a few weeks ago. He told me there are a couple new products that will debut this year. One is a new IEM and the other I can't say, but I know that I will be buying it.

 
oh sweet tease thanks! =) looks like 2014 is v-moda's year! their just rolling out their gear!

 

[ashutoshp]

Thanks Spidernhan. That's all I needed to hear

 

[ashutoshp]

For those interested, I recently bought the iFi nano iDSD DAC+headphone amp from Musicdirect.com and it sounds gorgeous with the XS. I am amazed at how well they scaled up. Initial impressions are that the bass is a tad tighter. The highs are accentuated overall but with the same general smoothness overall. Very fast dynamics. A prefect combo I think and much much better than the Fiio E07K. Not the most portable but I am getting the Dragonfly v1.2 next (cha-ching) and I'll post some impressions in case anyone is interested.  
They may be great with warmer and faster headphones in general. only con- despite the better treble, the soundstage is not the best and that was with my Fidelio L1s (semi-open over-the-ear) as well. I also paired them with my (un-forgiving) Beyer DT880s (open) which I use for TV, jazz and classical for their clarity and sound-stage and the iDSD did nothing to enhance it, although the highs were tamed a smidge.     

 

[The Blue Link]

I've had my XS for almost a year now, some of you may have seen my review before. Lately I have been condidering the M-100's or a new amplifier. I'm still new to the world of amplifiers and all the ways they work so if someone with experience could recommend one, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for an amp so kind of warm up the sound signature some. I enjoy the range of the highs and upper mids but I'd like something to enhance the overall quality and emphasize the lower mids and dig the bass a bit deeper.

 

[SpiderNhan]

Do you have a price range for an amplifier? I'd start with something small and portable, since the XS is pretty efficient and doesn't need much power. Here's a short list of amps that have plenty of info on Head-Fi.
 
For bass boost:
JDS Labs cMoyBB v2.03 (My review)
JDS Labs C5/C5D
FiiO E6
FiiO E11/E11K
 
For bass and treble control, plus DAC functionality:
FiiO E7/E7K
FiiO E17/E17K
 
Keep in mind, for efficient headphones an amp doesn't make much of a difference compared to larger more power hungry headphones. You'll certainly notice a difference if you use bass boost or play with the EQ in the E7/E17, but your XS will still sound like an XS. The best way to get a different sound signature is to buy a new pair of headphones.

 

[The Blue Link]

Do you have a price range for an amplifier? I'd start with something small and portable, since the XS is pretty efficient and doesn't need much power. Here's a short list of amps that have plenty of info on Head-Fi.

For bass boost:
JDS Labs cMoyBB v2.03 (My review)
JDS Labs C5/C5D
FiiO E6
FiiO E11/E11K

For bass and treble control, plus DAC functionality:
FiiO E7/E7K
FiiO E17/E17K

Keep in mind, for efficient headphones an amp doesn't make much of a difference compared to larger more power hungry headphones. You'll certainly notice a difference if you use bass boost or play with the EQ in the E7/E17, but your XS will still sound like an XS. The best way to get a different sound signature is to buy a new pair of headphones.

Thanks, this is pretty helpful. My price range is no higher than 200 for now. And what's the significance of DAC? I haven't found anything to explain it that well.

 

[SpiderNhan]

All electronic devices that play music have a DAC, which stands for Digital to Analog Converter. It is a chip that takes the digital information stored in audio files(WAV, mp3, aac, PCM, FLAC, ALAC, etc.) and converts them into an analog signal(electrical signal that runs to your headphones/speakers). Basically, a DAC does for sound what a video card in a computer does for graphics.
 
So iPods, iPhones, Android phones, laptops, PCs, etc. all have built-in DACS and they all have headphone amplifiers. Without a DAC or headphone amplifier, no cellphone will be able to play music through the headphone output. But the quality from DAC to DAC and amp to amp varies between devices. Most modern portable devices have decent DACs but the amplifiers are usually lacking since they were generally designed to power tiny earbuds.  Also, they may suffer from EMI(Electro-Magnetic Interference) such as when the CPU is accessing something or when sending/receiving signals through wi-fi or cellular networks. You ever hear that weird buzzing noise when your cell phone rings next to speaker? That's EMI.
 
Now, if your phone or device has a crappy DAC or a crappy built-in amplifier and you run that crappy signal into ANOTHER amplifier(like a cMoy or a FiiO) all you're doing is taking the bad signal and making it louder. If your device has flabby crackly bass, and you use bass boost, you'll have more flabby crackly bass. This is called "double amping." However, this is an extreme example, and if you pair an amp with any decent cell phone or DAP(Digital Audio Player) it should help with increasing output power.
 
The reason for a dedicated DAC/amp combo, like the FiiO E7/E17, is you can bypass the internal DAC of your PC/phone altogether and just use the DAC/amp of the unit. If you have a crappy DAC in your device or the soundcard in your laptop dies, a DAC can be used as the soundcard instead. There are a few DAC makers whose names you'll see often on this site and each make will often be cited as having a signature sound. Wolfson DACS are usually known to sound "warm." I don't know how to end this explanation, so I'll just list a few of the most popular brands and be off.
 
Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM)
Burr Brown
Cirrus Logic
Texas Instruments
Wolfson
Yamaha

 

[The Blue Link]

All electronic devices that play music have a DAC, which stands for Digital to Analog Converter. It is a chip that takes the digital information stored in audio files(WAV, mp3, aac, PCM, FLAC, ALAC, etc.) and converts them into an analog signal(electrical signal that runs to your headphones/speakers). Basically, a DAC does for sound what a video card in a computer does for graphics.

So iPods, iPhones, Android phones, laptops, PCs, etc. all have built-in DACS and they all have headphone amplifiers. Without a DAC or headphone amplifier, no cellphone will be able to play music through the headphone output. But the quality from DAC to DAC and amp to amp varies between devices. Most modern portable devices have decent DACs but the amplifiers are usually lacking since they were generally designed to power tiny earbuds.  Also, they may suffer from EMI(Electro-Magnetic Interference) such as when the CPU is accessing something or when sending/receiving signals through wi-fi or cellular networks. You ever hear that weird buzzing noise when your cell phone rings next to speaker? That's EMI.

Now, if your phone or device has a crappy DAC or a crappy built-in amplifier and you run that crappy signal into ANOTHER amplifier(like a cMoy or a FiiO) all you're doing is taking the bad signal and making it louder. If your device has flabby crackly bass, and you use bass boost, you'll have more flabby crackly bass. This is called "double amping." However, this is an extreme example, and if you pair an amp with any decent cell phone or DAP(Digital Audio Player) it should help with increasing output power.

The reason for a dedicated DAC/amp combo, like the FiiO E7/E17, is you can bypass the internal DAC of your PC/phone altogether and just use the DAC/amp of the unit. If you have a crappy DAC in your device or the soundcard in your laptop dies, a DAC can be used as the soundcard instead. There are a few DAC makers whose names you'll see often on this site and each make will often be cited as having a signature sound. Wolfson DACS are usually known to sound "warm." I don't know how to end this explanation, so I'll just list a few of the most popular brands and be off.

Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM)
Burr Brown
Cirrus Logic
Texas Instruments
Wolfson
Yamaha

Again, you've been very helpful. This will help a lot in my shopping. I really appreciate this

 

[valkolton]

 
Head-Fiers, can you guess what is in the V-MODA Pulp Fiction #SecretSuitcase?
 
We launched a giveaway to find out the answer. 
 
You can all participate in here: http://VVV.MODA/OiRDO.
 
COMMENT the answer below the Facebook post and SHARE the post on FB for a chance to win an historical V-MODA treasure worth $400
Hint #1: it is not a headphone, AMP, DAC or a speaker but it works with your Crossfade or XS
Hint #2: Jude knows the answer and therefore cannot participate, sorry dude! ☺
 
Contest ends June 15th 9pm PST. The winner will be chosen at random on June 16th.
 
#WeHappy?