Finally have my hands on the V-Moda v80. These are on ears & are quite small.
The build quality is almost reference for portables....lots of metal used.
Comfort- The pads are quite small, so its quite a challenge to get good fit.The pads warm up with usage .Overall comfort is average at least for me as i have large ears.
Sound quality-
Tracks & albums used-
Karsh Kale- Supernova, Cinema, Slither
Midival Punditz- Dark Escape(Closer OST), BBC radio one mix
Prem Joshua- Lahore Connection, Secret Place, Chandini Chowk
Karunesh- Call of the tribes, Om namo
She's All That- Jab Tac
Gareth Emery - Sound Of Garuda Chapter 2
Cafe Bombay- Upanishad, Pandas Dream
Matrix Revolutions OST- In My Head, Navras, Zion
Makis Ablianitis- Love Secret
Oliver Shanti- Dew Drops Of Light , Infinite Compassion etc
Buddha Bar- Indra Story, Indusufi, Karma Busta Rhythm
Rejuvenation Of Life- Planetory Healing
*As you would notice by the choice of tracks i do not listen anything even remotely related to Rock, Dub, Rap, Metal. So, i ahve now idea how the V80 would sound with such music.
These do not require much burn in. Overall sound is quite airy with fairly tight bass, forward mids & a very flat treble response with no spikes. These sound really beautiful with non bass heavy tracks.
The resolution & definition is significantly better than the Shure750DJ(another headphone i own). These are a step above the shures in terms of clarity & treble quality. Lower mids are more forward & airy although definition is better on shures. Upper mids are much better than shures(these have some spike in upper mids) with very nice texture, definition & clarity.
For bass the 750dj outdoes V80 by a wide margin. There is no competition.Not that V80 lack bass , in fact V80 has quite more bass quantity than 750DJ. It's the sub bass that is kinda ill defined. Depth, resolution, impact & extension are so much better on the shures. V80's mid bass isn't bad & remains quite textured & detailed at low volumes.It's also tiny bit better layered than the shures. But anything loud & the drivers run out of breath. But i strongly believe this is very much due to the fact that i've never been able to get a good fit with these & there is always a gap between the cups & my ears. With improper seal , bass is likely to suffer. But still i have a feeling , even with proper fit 750DJ's bass is hard to beat.
SS on V80 has really good depth for such small cups & is quite airy. Although LR separation is noticeably wider on 750DJ. Imaging is also bit better on the shures as they reproduce sound on a larger canvas mostly due to larger 50mm driver compared to 40mm of the V80.
The V80 do not require any amp. On the Cowon i9 these are plenty loud at 30 & are easily listenable at >16. However i do not like i9 a bit & all the listening was done through Touch 3g & Nokia X5 Line Out(HP out is crap as hell)
Conclusion - In the first place i wanted something with better refinement & the V80 are definitely a class above the shures in overall sound.
The build quality is almost reference for portables....lots of metal used.
Comfort- The pads are quite small, so its quite a challenge to get good fit.The pads warm up with usage .Overall comfort is average at least for me as i have large ears.
Sound quality-
Tracks & albums used-
Karsh Kale- Supernova, Cinema, Slither
Midival Punditz- Dark Escape(Closer OST), BBC radio one mix
Prem Joshua- Lahore Connection, Secret Place, Chandini Chowk
Karunesh- Call of the tribes, Om namo
She's All That- Jab Tac
Gareth Emery - Sound Of Garuda Chapter 2
Cafe Bombay- Upanishad, Pandas Dream
Matrix Revolutions OST- In My Head, Navras, Zion
Makis Ablianitis- Love Secret
Oliver Shanti- Dew Drops Of Light , Infinite Compassion etc
Buddha Bar- Indra Story, Indusufi, Karma Busta Rhythm
Rejuvenation Of Life- Planetory Healing
*As you would notice by the choice of tracks i do not listen anything even remotely related to Rock, Dub, Rap, Metal. So, i ahve now idea how the V80 would sound with such music.
These do not require much burn in. Overall sound is quite airy with fairly tight bass, forward mids & a very flat treble response with no spikes. These sound really beautiful with non bass heavy tracks.
The resolution & definition is significantly better than the Shure750DJ(another headphone i own). These are a step above the shures in terms of clarity & treble quality. Lower mids are more forward & airy although definition is better on shures. Upper mids are much better than shures(these have some spike in upper mids) with very nice texture, definition & clarity.
For bass the 750dj outdoes V80 by a wide margin. There is no competition.Not that V80 lack bass , in fact V80 has quite more bass quantity than 750DJ. It's the sub bass that is kinda ill defined. Depth, resolution, impact & extension are so much better on the shures. V80's mid bass isn't bad & remains quite textured & detailed at low volumes.It's also tiny bit better layered than the shures. But anything loud & the drivers run out of breath. But i strongly believe this is very much due to the fact that i've never been able to get a good fit with these & there is always a gap between the cups & my ears. With improper seal , bass is likely to suffer. But still i have a feeling , even with proper fit 750DJ's bass is hard to beat.
SS on V80 has really good depth for such small cups & is quite airy. Although LR separation is noticeably wider on 750DJ. Imaging is also bit better on the shures as they reproduce sound on a larger canvas mostly due to larger 50mm driver compared to 40mm of the V80.
The V80 do not require any amp. On the Cowon i9 these are plenty loud at 30 & are easily listenable at >16. However i do not like i9 a bit & all the listening was done through Touch 3g & Nokia X5 Line Out(HP out is crap as hell)
Conclusion - In the first place i wanted something with better refinement & the V80 are definitely a class above the shures in overall sound.
