Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Sept 3, 2016 15:45:10 GMT
The bass on the m-100 has a lot of clout and it's very focused. The Sony bass is flabbier, I think. I like both TBH.
The Sony has a more defined treble where the m-100 is darker. The m-100 bass is fast and really hits where the Sony gives lots of bass that hangs around for longer!!
The focus of the m-100 is perhaps narrower than the Sony and very 'concentrated' where the Sony is more diffuse and spread out.
I'd prefer a bit more in the top with the Vmoda but it is a very likeable sound.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2016 18:50:28 GMT
They are breakable, trust me. Great cans though. I hated the stock cable because it wa so stiff & swapped it for a Nuforce cable which worked much better. Still non-microphonic but smooth, flexible & short. I bought it on Amazon but I can't find it now.
They weren't smooth like my 650's but with the right music (German metal in my case) and a bit of bass boost (yup, provided by my Fiio E18) they rocked like nothing I'd heard before nor subsequently.
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jello
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Post by jello on Sept 3, 2016 22:22:42 GMT
Odd them including such an inflexible cable. The one I bought from them was great and I'd always assumed it was the stock one.
Non-microphonic, didn't tangle and was almost shoelace like in its flexibility.
The Nuforce cable you had was pretty good to from what I recall.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 10, 2016 10:18:24 GMT
Listening on m100 this morning and have found that amping seems to clean up some of the bottom end mud that you can get from this headphone. The bass becomes better defined in comparison to direct from the Fiio x5. It might be just a fraction less in quantity, I'm not sure, but everything does seem to be more in control, just from the Fiio e12a.
I'm presuming that the Fiio x5 is very low output impedance, but the e12a normally strikes me as a warm amp, which you think wouldn't particularly help the m100, but definition does seem to be better etched.
Maybe it's more to do with the headphone out of the x5? Get similar with IPods, except the bass gets deeper from digital out on an iPod.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2016 10:53:01 GMT
Hey Ian, I had fantastic results from the M-100's when using them with my SGN3 + E18 playing FLAC via Neutron. Try this track and use the bass boost on the E12a. It probably isn't your preffered genre but the sound is incredible!
Bear in mind that's YouTube so you're losing a fair bit of attack & depth but it'll give you a flavour of what the M's are truly capable of.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 10, 2016 11:35:23 GMT
Blimey, that has some depth of bass......
Have you still got an m100?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2016 13:16:58 GMT
No mate, they were sold last year I'm afraid. I think the secret to their bass is the dual-diaphragm driver. The outer layer only seems to kick in when there's an actual signal present in those frequencies. Pretty clever actually.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 10, 2016 13:48:39 GMT
I've never known about the dual drivers. That must account for speech not being as boomy as I would expect from them. They are like two big subs kicking off at times while speech remains pretty much ok.
Very smooth sounding too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2016 13:52:00 GMT
The subwoofer comparison is valid, the same would happen in my sub-equipped car. Nothing with Simon & Garfunkel but throw on some Rammstein and stand well back.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 25, 2016 9:39:49 GMT
Just received the XL pads for the M100. It's a no brainier!!
I am a bit disappointed that the company don't supply them with these. They are way more comfortable. Dead easy to fit although the internet seems to show it as a slightly tricky job ..... there is a knack to it.
Push one side and top in first and the left over bits click in with ease. To pull the old pads off needs a lot of pulling power but spread your fingers so that the pressure isn't all in one place and they pop off really quickly.
My ears are enclosed easily. Sound isn't affected too much at all. If anything, slightly slacker sounding I think.
The biggest problem in the UK is getting the pads. I had to wait a couple of weeks to get some imported, but they were well worth the wait.
I like the M100 a lot TBH. Big bass but not too overwhelming and ideal for portable use. They are extremely sensitive and match my iems volume wise. Incredible given the size of the drivers but they go loud with minimal power.
I really think that these were designed well for mobile use, both soundwise and quality of build which is exemplary. It's a pity about their price. They were cheaper in the USA for me though and I got a nice discount. American shops seem much more willing to bargain I think!!
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Post by timjthomas on Nov 25, 2016 10:08:44 GMT
How do they compare to the Oppo PM-3?
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 25, 2016 10:17:40 GMT
I wish I knew Tim. I can't remember how the pm3 sounded when I tried them.
The sound is bass slanted on the M100 with a smooth sounding top end. It's quite a darkish sound but very engaging for a mobile headphone. I liked it with the standard pads but the XL pads make them feel extremely comfortable and sound is still very similar.
It's smooth almost Senn like with a bigger bass. I also find that it's not too fussy about volume, so if you want less bottom end, turning down helps that and if you want more, just edge up on the volume pot. It doesn't turn edgy at high volume and anything with very low bass seems to kick off the bass driver like a banshee. That doesn't happen all of the time though and seems recording dependent.
The sound is very robust and the build is unbelievably good TBH. It's a tough old horse and yet, still looks really good.
I would imagine that the PM3 is technically superior to the M100 though, but I'm really enjoying the richness of the M100 a lot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2016 14:04:40 GMT
Don't get too excited about the build and don't drop them on concrete. It did not end well for my pair. The bass really does depend on the recording and that's something I really enjoyed about them. No need to faff around with different EQ settings when switching between say, country & EDM. Little to no low bass energy in the Country stuff (apologies to Emmylou Harris - I'm speaking generally) and a tremendous bang on Yello, Shpongle etc. You really can have your cake and eat it. I also bought the XL pads but I'd done my research on the cans - in fact I was part of the research - and ordered a pair of XL pads in advance of the cans. They had a massive effect on comfort but sound-wise the only difference was very slightly reduced bass slam. Yes' they should have shipped with XL pads from the get-go. I also changed the cable. I found the original braided thing to be very awkward in use, and microphonic, which I hate. I bought one of these for £10.. NuForce Transient 3.5mm to 3.5mm x 1.5m interconnectVery soft, very flexible, non-microphonic and exactly the right length for portable use. Zero impact on sound quality. Sadly it's no longer available. To be fair the stock cable does at least have phone controls but I never used them. So yeah, in many ways the V-Moda M100 w/XL is the perfect headphone. What I'd really like to know is what - if anything - could compete with it? The DT150? Possibly sonically but not very easy to drive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2016 14:20:45 GMT
I should add that finding a good replacement cable isn't easy. The NuForce above was pretty unique when I was buying in that it had a very slim-profile jack, slim enough to slip inside the tiny hole that is on the headphones. You don't notice how snug it is if you only ever use the stock cable. The NuForce above was perfect. Although the jacks are solid they're actually slimmer than what you'll find in the all-plastic, moulded £0.99 bin. They won't fit so leave them in the bin. Sadly I can't really find anything else that would work other than stock.
I should say, I don't really care about cables these days, certainly not on sound quality grounds but nice build is essential, simply from an engineering pov. The only time I do really care about cable quality though is in a portable environment. I can't stand inflexible cables, cables that I'm actually physically aware of because I'm wearing them. Those cables have too be light, flexible and silent.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 25, 2016 15:47:59 GMT
When you dropped them Gordon, I guess that the plastic prong broke that goes into the yokes? Apparently, it's designed so that the cups disconnect from the yokes on impact, but then, dropping them onto concrete might well damage most headphones.
My cable is in good nick still but I have others with thin plugs as well.
I'm not that keen on the dt150 on a home set up. I was used to hearing it eq'd and when I first heard it at home, I felt a bit underwhelmed TBH. I see that it's being mentioned on HF as a closed alternative to the hd650. I don't consider it anywhere near the hd650 TBH. It's quite uneven in response I think and is lumpy in the bass. Eq'd, it's fine. Actually, although there is a big treble peak, I prefer the dt770 250 ohm version. It's more open sounding and doesn't sound as constricted as the dt150.
The XL pads are great. Although I was fine with the old pads, these ones are just much better for longer listening times. They get a bit warm but I think they might be better for isolation as well.
I can't believe how sensitive the m100 is. It goes loud with ease, even coming from an IPod Touch which is really a low powered device that can even struggle with some iems. The big bonus is the sound that stays really 'fruity' even from an IPod. Amped, even better.
I like the Vmoda a lot TBH.
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