I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pair of V-Moda’s newest entry into the “higher end” market of headphones. The pair I am reviewing are the color “White Pearl”.
The Build
Let me just start out by saying that these headphones feel extremely well-built. They feel very sturdy to the touch and have a bit of weight to them without seeming overly heavy on your head. They provide a good amount of outside noise isolation and don’t allow very much of the music you are listening to escape, which can come in handy if you plan to use these in public places where your tunes could disturb your close neighbors. One of the things that really surprised me was the relative size of these. I was expecting a much larger earcup based on the pictures I had seen, however these cans are very much an on-ear design, and do not fit around the ear as one might expect. This is not an issue for me however, as around-the-ear designs with too much clamping pressure will occasionally cause me discomfort. The clamping pressure of these headphones is moderate and they are quite comfortable to wear, however I do suffer from sweaty-ear syndrome over extended periods of use.
The Crossfade M-80 headphones do come with a nice array of accessories to complement your listening needs. In addition to the carrying case, this package included two pairs of removable cables, one with built-in controls for the Apple platform and one for Android. Very handy if you are prone to listening on the go. The case held both of these cables very neatly inside its interior elastic straps. The overall size of case was very manageable and probably took up only half of the real estate compared to the case that is included with a pair of Beyerdynamic 880s.
The Sound
Please note, any auditory observations we make on this blog are the opinions of the reviewer’s ears. I do believe that everyone has different preferences when it comes to the frequency response curve they enjoy most. Additionally, due to hearing loss etc, what one person hears may not translate equally to what the next person’s brain interprets.
The Crossfade M 80’s did seem to have a bit of a bump in the mid bass area around 64-128 hz when compared to both the Beyerdynamic 880 and Grado signature sound. And while this boost did seem present with most recordings I listened to, the bass did not crowd the mids to the point where it seemed to diminish their value. I found the mids to be a tad reccessed with the M 80’s, making this headphone a better fit for dance and rock music. The bass drum thump was predominantly featured within the soundscape when I sampled these cans with a wide cross-section of rock tracks. Being a closed-back design I did find the sound stage to be smaller when compared to the Sennhieser 650. I also found the 650’s to have better resolution, but this is not a completely fair comparison considering the 650s are more than 2x the cost of the M 80.
Conclusion
Overall, the M 80’s do deliver a very lively sound for their price range and should have considerable appeal to those looking for a solid build, bass-friendly headphone. Additionally, the included accessories are a big plus for listeners on the go, offering versatility and portability not found with some audiophile headphones. These headphones from V-Moda feel very well constructed and should pair very nicely with an iPod without the need for an additional amp.
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007TRUY6C
