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V-Moda Crossfade M100 headphones review: monsters are far behind by their bass

V-Moda company, the headquarters of which is situated in Hollywood, is widely known in America only in narrow circles of gadget lovers. However even the American person who has not heard anything about it before can guess from its name alone, that the accent in its production is made on style and image. Meanwhile, the company produces earphones and guitars, and recently it included a case for iPhone with an inbuilt DAC and headphone amplifier in its range. And yes, the style and image is what the emphasis is on in its products. Many lovers of high-quality sound are skeptical about “image” audio equipment, however, jumping ahead, we say: the senior model of headset from V-Moda – Crossfade M100 is able to dispel this skepticism – you should only listen to it once.

Headphones

The design of

V-Moda Crossfade M100 shares with Sennheiser Momentum the abundance of leather or, probably, a very high quality leatherette and metal in the case design. But there is not much plastic here – only the cups are made of it, and not wholly – the decorative covers on their back sides are metal. By the way, these pads are replaceable. From the official site V-Moda you can order a set of these overlays with a design of your choice – and the decorating pattern you can create yourself.

In the best traditions of headphones designed for portable use, V-Moda Crossfade M100 can be folded: cup holders are bent on the inner side of the headband, while the cups are pressed to each other – the result is a very compact semicircle of headphones, that easily fits in a small bag – very convenient. One more pleasant peculiarity of V-Moda Crossfade M100 concerning convenience – signal cable it is one-way can be connected either to the right or to the left ear cup.

Ease of use

According to the manufacturer’s statements, the weight of the V-Moda Crossfade M100 is 280 grams. It is quite a lot for portable earphones, but in practice the headset does not feel heavy at all. And even in a direct comparison with Sennheiser Momentum, you don’t feel that V-Moda is much better in weight.

And the pressing force of the cups to the head of the V-Moda is much higher than the Senkhs, but we can not say that it is too great – everything is within reason. V-Moda Crossfade M100 ear cushions are made of leather or of very high quality imitation leather . They are pleasant to the touch and have a good sealing, thanks to which the headphones from V-Moda provide good noise isolation in relation to its class – in order to listen to music with pleasure, even in a very noisy environment in the subway, for example is not necessary to put on the player high volume.

Remote and mic

The remote control V-Moda Crossfade M100 contains only one button, which allows you to answer the phone and start stop playback. The ergonomics of the remote doesn’t cause any complaints: its only button is easy to feel and easy to press. No complaints about the quality of the microphone – it clearly records speech and does not pick up too much unnecessary noise.

Listening

The sound of V-Moda Crossfade M100 surprises, above all, its bass. “There’s a lot of bass in these headphones, and if you’ve ever heard of extra-powerful bass on a set of headphones like the Monster Beats By Dr. Thomas Thomas, for example, you’ll be hearing a lot of bass in these headphones. Dre Studio – know that “Monsters” are far behind V-Moda in “bassiness”.

It’s nice that with such a huge amount of bass V-Moda Crossfade M100 provides also decent quality. First of all, even when playing records with the most powerful, rich bass, in the V-Moda Crossfade M100 does not appear parasitic resonant noises, which many headphones with powerful bass have.

Secondly, V-Moda Crossfade M100 speed characteristics and bass intelligibility do not reach the record values, but are on a very decent level and are enough to play almost any music material unproblematically – only the heaviest compositions are not up to the headphones: they start to “blur” some beats in the rapid passages of the bass drum

A really enormous amount of bass in V-Moda Crossfade M100 makes a very effective sound of ectronic beats, rhythm sections in rap tunes. Thanks to it, the avalanche-like power of “shock” special effects: explosions, gunshots, collisions, earthquakes, etc. is achieved. d., so it’s very cool to watch movies and play computer games with the V-Moda headphones.

The second thing that catches your eye or ears when getting acquainted with the sound of V-Moda Crossfade M100 is its volumetricity. For an in-ear headphone with closed acoustic design it is, without further modesty, outstanding. Partly this fullness is achieved due to the mighty bass – which takes part in forming the imaginary sound field, but there is one more no less important factor: the resolution.

In the low-frequency range it is more or less normal for the Crossfade M100, but in the mid and high frequencies it is surprisingly high for this class of headphones. The result is not only fullness of sound, but also rich in nuances, abundance of small details in the sound – such as squeaks, rustles, as well as – soft notes of instruments playing in the background. But the main thing is the overall realism of sound, the feeling of direct presence of a listener at musical action.

Another small but still existing moment, which adds volume to the sound of V-Moda Crossfade M100 – a slight fall in the upper part of the midrange. Along with some “additions” of volume, it makes vocals – especially female vocals, some live instruments, and anything else that falls within the designated area sound slightly muffled. This dullness, however, is quite light and it does not affect the naturalness of the sound.

Finally, a few words about high frequencies – there are not many of them in V-Moda Crossfade M100, because of what at first glance it may seem that they and the sound of headphones in general lack of “purity” and even intelligibility. But after listening carefully to M100 for some time you understand that with “purity” and sound intelligibility as we said before they are fine, and treble is actually good, and even outstanding in this respect, it’s just because of their small number of components of sound, which give it a feeling of “sharpness”, “purity” – which are just, mostly in the high frequencies.

Headphones

Audio equipment

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John Techno

Greetings, everyone! I am John Techno, and my expedition in the realm of household appliances has been a thrilling adventure spanning over 30 years. What began as a curiosity about the mechanics of these everyday marvels transformed into a fulfilling career journey.

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Comments: 3
  1. Waverly

    How well do the V-Moda Crossfade M100 headphones perform in terms of sound quality and clarity for music genres that require more than just a heavy emphasis on bass?

    Reply
  2. Joshua Wright

    This review mentions that the V-Moda Crossfade M100 headphones have an impressive bass, but it leaves me curious about the other aspects of these headphones. How is the overall sound quality? Are they comfortable to wear for extended periods? And how do they compare to other headphones in terms of durability and value for money?

    Reply
    1. Giselle

      The V-Moda Crossfade M100 headphones are known for their powerful bass, but their overall sound quality is equally impressive. The sound is clear, detailed, and well-balanced across all frequencies. As for comfort, they are designed with memory foam ear cushions and a flexible headband, making them suitable for extended wear. In terms of durability, these headphones are built to last with a sturdy metal frame and military-level MIL-STD-810G certification. While they may be pricier than some other options, the quality of sound and build make them a worthwhile investment for audiophiles looking for a long-lasting and top-performing pair of headphones.

      Reply
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