V-moda Crossfade M100 Headphone Review

V-Moda was established in 2004, the original concept was to create  fashionable  high quality headphones, that can look astonishing and sound great at the same time. Even-though they are relatively new to the audio industry, but they sure are playing with the big boys. The first thing that crossed my mind when I first held the V-Moda M100 was I found a winner. They are the latest addition to the V-Moda family, which I can assure you that; they are a great pair of headphones.

Manufacture’s specifiction:

• Type: Over Ear (Circumaural)
• Drivers size: 50 mm
• Drivers Type: Dual-Diaphragm Driver
• Frequency Response: 5 – 30 KHz
• Sensitivity: 103 dB @ 1Khz 1mW
• Impedance: 32 Ω
• Microphone sensitivity: -42 dB@ 1 KHz
• Maximum Input: NA
• Weight: 280g
• Connectors: 3.5mm.
• MSRP: 310 $

Design

The M100 are an over the ear closed back headphones or as V-Moda describes them: semi open back headphones because of the three small V shaped vents on each ear cup.

The vents basically works on improving the headphones’ soundstage and sound characteristics, but at the same time they cause a slight sound leakage.

Out of the box

They come packaged in a really neat looking box. Inside the box you’ll find a cool carrying case with everything packed inside, the case has a Carabiner clip that allows you to safely attach the headphones to your backpack.

The case is really compact in size and can easily fit in almost any backpack, but at the same time it’s strong enough to properly protect your headphones, plus it comes with some rubber straps inside where you can store your cables and the 6.3mm headphone adapter.

The M100 come with two detachable fabric braded Kevlar reinforced cables.

The first cable is 1.3m(4.5 foot) long, and it has a built in microphone and a single button remote compatible with most smart phones in the market, the microphone is located close to your mouth and not in the same panel with the button, this way it wont keep brushing against your cloths so you wont keep getting that annoying sounds.

The second is a 2m (6 foot) long cable called the SharePlay cable, it allows you to plug in an additional pair of headphones through an extra input jack which is a really nice and new feature.

Both Cables have a straight 3.5 mm plug at one end, that goes into the headphones, and on the other end they have a 45 degree angle 3.5mm plug, which in my opinion is a great improvement for headphones’ plug because it does not stick out of your mobile device like straight plugs do and at the same time does not put a lot of stress & tension on the cables like the 90 degree angle plugs do.

I liked that you can detach the cables from the headphones because cables are always the most vulnerable part in headphones, and also the cable doesn’t lock in your headphone makes them even better cause sometimes while moving around, you might accidently pull the cables the cables might accidently get pulled, so in that case they will unplug and you headphones will stay safely secure on your head and you wont pull down you neck.

Another cool feature about the M100 is the two input jacks (one on each cup), which I believe to be a strong plus because it enables you to share you music with a another friend from the same audio source or you can use two separate audio sources to mix your music, plus an extra input jack can always come in handy incase you damaged one of them.

You will also find inside the case two V-cork to close and protect the second input plug from dust and any audio interferences when its not in use.

An IPhone 3 button remote (volume control) cable, or a DJ coiled cable can be ordered as an optional cable for them.

Style

These are one of the coolest headphones I’ve seen.  The V-Moda m100 come in 3 different colors: Matte Black, White Silver and Shadow, which are the one I’m doing my review on.

The Hexagon shape has been V-moda’s signature for all of their headphones, and personally I believe it looks amazing, these headphones are really eye catching and attractive,

What is really cool about the M100 is that you can customize the ear cups metal shields by either replacing them with different color (they come in 13 different colors) or you can engrave your name, logo, or any design you like on them.

Build quality

The V-Moda M100 are built to last, after trying them for a fair amount of time you’ll be certain that they can withstand any type of use, no wonder V-Moda gives a 2 year warranty with them.

They are really built like a tank or as V-Moda claims, they are military level quality, the steel flex frame of the headphones, and the clipfold hinges are extremely rigid.

The Kevlar reinforced cables with the 45 degrees angle plugs has been tested and certified by the manufacture and can handle any type of use.

Comfort

The ear cups are fairly large in size so it should fit most ear sizes unless you’re having, extra large ears.

The memory foam on the ear cups is really soft and comfortable, it allows you to wear the headphones comfortably on your head.

The head band have a good amount of padding, I’ve used the M100 for a lot of  long listening sessions they are pretty comfortable although you might get your ears a bit warm, but that is expected from most over-ear headphones.

Supplied accessories

• Carrying  case
• Smart phone cable 1.3m(4.5 foot)
• SharePlay cable 2m (6.5 foot) long
• 24K gold plated 3.5 mm to 6.3mm headphone jack adapter
• V cork (2)
• V-Moda Sticker
• User’s manua

Sound

The V-Moda M100 doesn’t need an amplifier to sound good, not like other full size headphones, they are fairly easy to drive with almost all portable media players, you enjoy your music without having to crank up the volume.

I’ve tried them with all of my audio gear starting by my IPod ending with my High end CD player and a headphone amplifier.

I’d advise you to use them for around 60-70 hours prior to judging the audio quality; I found the sound quality to improve a lot after about 10 days of extensive use.

Traffic by Tiesto sounded amazing you could actually feel the bass, it felt like your really attending a concert specially when I paired them with my Fiio E7 headphone amp. You can also try some Ludacris tracks

While listening to Come Away With Me by Norah Jones, the vocal was pretty clear and out there, you can hear her breath.

You can really enjoy every single instrument when listening to Gravity by John Mayer live album; the bass was moderate and balanced.

On the other hand the movie experience was a delight, tried them on while watch Tom Cruise’s Oblivion and tried the bod racing scene in Star Wars the phantom menace.

After using the M100 for a considerable amount of time, trying them with all types of music, they were really fun to listen to.

I can’t really say that these are audiophile headphones, or that they can be used as studio monitors, and that their sound character is transparent and purely neutral.

Bass: Bass, Bass and more Bass. No matter how much Bass you through at these headphones, they can handle. Sorry if I’m emphasizing more on the Bass but they are really able to produce and handle very low frequencies with ease, they sound punchy, deep, clean and precise. The response is pretty fast, it is not the fastest I’ve listened too but it is quite good.

Mid-range: The Mids are good on them, even though they are slightly dominated by the base since these are designed to be DJ headphones, but this doesn’t mean that vocals will not sound good, especially if your listening to the types of music these headphones are tuned for, such as Dance, Techno, House, R&B, Pop…etc.

They are not designed for listening to classical Jazz, classical music…etc. but of course you’ll still enjoy these music on them but I believe in that case you won’t be getting your moneys’ worth.

Treble: The treble in the M100 is sparkly clear and easy on the ears. V-Moda tuned them in a way to remove all the sturdiness and harsh notes that might cause ear fatigue, so you can listen to them for long hours without injuring your ears.

My observation on the treble was; it doesn’t feel natural is sound a bit artificial, but at the same time they were intended to be used for listening modern electronic music so that shouldn’t be an issue for listeners who use these type of headphones.

Sound stage and instrument separation:Their sound stage is a bit more deep than wide, the vocals seems a bit distant in the background, as I mentioned before you wont feel that with the intended types of music they were made for, they do a fairly good job in terms of instrument separation both with & without a headphone amplifier, for sure it’s always an advantage to use an amp.

They are a great joy while listening to music or watching movies. The way sounds blend together. They have a warm sound character.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Great fine-tuned tight strong Base response.
• Build to last.
• Comfortable for long listening sessions.
• Easy to drive with portable media devices.
• Detachable cable.
• Really compact & durable carrying case
• Unique ClipFold design that allows for compact storage.
• Customizable style ear cups.
• Great ambient noise isolation.
• Duel input jacks.
• 2 year warranty.

Cons

• Midrange and vocals are slightly laid back.
• Soundstage is more deep than wide.
• Slight sound leakage

Conclusion

V-Moda M100 are able to combine high-end quality audio, perfect sense of style & fashion, along with quality durable materials and all of that with an affordable package.

So if you’re surfing the market for a pair of fun& cool headphones. Look no more.

V Moda M100 Headphone Video Review