V-MODA Crossfade M-100 Review (2024)

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1

Review updated Sep 08, 2016 at 12:11 pm

Latest change: Test bench update Nov 21, 2019 at 11:22 am

By Sam Vafaei and Marc Henney

V-MODA Crossfade M-100 Review (1)

6.1

Mixed Usage

7.2

Neutral Sound

5.9

Commute/Travel

6.2

Sports/Fitness

6.0

Office

5.1

Wireless Gaming

6.9

Wired Gaming

6.0

Phone Call

+ Create your own

overview test results deals 0 comments

Type Over-ear

Enclosure Closed-Back

Wireless No

Transducer Dynamic

Noise Cancelling No

Mic Yes

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are stylish and customizable headphones, with an above-average sound for critical listening. They have a durable build quality and a stable, comfortable fit. However, they feel slightly tight on your head and they struggle in loud environments. They don't block noise well and leak quite a bit at higher volumes.

Our Verdict

6.1 Mixed Usage

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are decent headphones for everyday casual use. They have a tough, durable build quality and an above-average sound quality. Unfortunately, they're not versatile enough for all use cases. They leak quite a bit and don't isolate well in loud environments.

Pros

  • Good audio reproduction.

  • Comfortable and stable fit.

  • Sturdy and durable design.

Cons

  • Poor noise isolation.

  • Leaky at high volumes.

7.2 Neutral Sound

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are above-average for neutral listening. They're a bit tight but comfortable enough for long listening sessions. They deliver decent sound quality with good bass, relatively well-balanced instruments and vocals, and a competent soundstage despite their closed-back design.

See our Neutral Sound Recommendations

5.9 Commute/Travel

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are subpar for commuting. They poorly prevent ambient noise from entering your audio, which isn't ideal for noisy flights or for commuting via public transit.

See our Commute/Travel Recommendations

6.2 Sports/Fitness

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are decent for sports. They're tight, and the ear cups are relatively flat on your ears which prevents them from swaying if used while running or exercising. However, they're a bit bulky and will get a little hot and steamy during intense workouts, especially if you sweat a lot. Their control scheme is also not the best.

See our Sports/Fitness Recommendations

6.0 Office

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are mediocre for office use. They won't isolate you very well from the chatter of a lively office, and they're also a bit leaky at high volumes.

See our Office Recommendations

5.1 Wireless Gaming

See our Wireless Gaming Recommendations

6.9 Wired Gaming

  • 6.1 Mixed Usage
  • 7.2 Neutral Sound
  • 5.9 Commute/Travel
  • 6.2 Sports/Fitness
  • 6.0 Office
  • 5.1 Wireless Gaming
  • 6.9 Wired Gaming
  • 6.0 Phone Call

+ Create your own

  1. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
  2. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
  3. Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
  4. Updated Oct 02, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
  5. Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
  6. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
  7. Updated Sep 08, 2016: Review published.
  8. Updated Sep 06, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.
  9. Updated Aug 09, 2016: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Compared To Other Headphones

See our recommendations for the best over-ear headphones, the best wired headphones, and the best studio headphones.

Test Results

Design

Design

Style

Type Over-ear

Enclosure Closed-Back

Wireless No

Transducer Dynamic

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 have an industrial yet modern aesthetic that looks good but won't work for everyone. They come in a variety of colors, and you can customize the backplate with a personal logo or insignia. These headphones will stick out in public with their eye-catching and unique design which, depending on your personal taste, could be a good or a bad thing.

7.0

Design

Comfort

Weight 0.62 lbs

Clamping Force

1.12 lbs

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are decently comfortable headphones that are a bit tight on the head. The ear cups are large and will fit around most listeners' ears. However, the cups are a little shallow, and the headband is a bit tight. Thanks to the decently cushioned ear cups, the tension of these headphones isn't too noticeable but might cause slight discomfort over long listening sessions.

LEARN ABOUT COMFORT

5.3

Design

Controls

OS Compatibility

Not OS specific

Ease Of Use Good

Feedback Mediocre

Call/Music Control Yes

Volume Control No

Microphone Control No

Channel Mixing

N/A

Noise Cancelling Control N/A

Talk-Through

N/A

Additional Buttons No

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 have a mediocre control scheme. The standard audio cable that comes with them only has one button and a mic. The button provides call/music and track skipping, but no volume controls. It's also a bit too rubberized, which doesn't deliver good tactile feedback. However, V-MODA offers more optional cables like a three-button mic cable, as well as the BoomPro mic dongle and CoilPro coiled audio cable with in-line controls.

LEARN ABOUT CONTROLS

6.2

Design

Breathability

Avg.Temp.Difference 6.5 °C

They get moderately hot if you have them on for more than 30 minutes. It's not super uncomfortable, but you feel a noticeable difference that might keep you from listening to your audio for extended periods. Furthermore, they won't be the ideal headphones to take to the gym due to their closed-back design and leather-like padding, preventing a lot of air flow within the ear cups.

LEARN ABOUT BREATHABILITY

6.1

Design

Portability

L 5.25"

W 5.38"

H 3.38"

Volume 95.47 in³

Transmitter Required N/A

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 are decently portable. They're mid-sized over-ear headphones that fold into a very compact format that'll fit into smaller bags and purses. Unfortunately, they're too big to fit in larger jacket pockets, so they'll be a bit of a hassle to carry around on your person without a bag.

LEARN ABOUT PORTABILITY

8.5

Design

Case

Type Hard case

L 6"

W 5.5"

H 4"

Volume 132 in³

They come with one of the best cases we've tested. The hard case is compact and will protect them from scratches, water damage, and falls. It's a tough, durable case that's also quite portable.

LEARN ABOUT CASE

8.0

Design

Build Quality

The V-MODA Crossfade M-100 have a good build quality. The headband has a lightweight, metal frame that feels sturdy, and flexible enough to handle a decent amount of physical stress. The ear cups are made of a dense plastic that won't easily break from a few falls. However, the customizable metal plate attached to the ear cups may get scratched through regular wear and tear. The cable that links the two ear cups is also somewhat exposed and could get damaged easier than the rest of the build.

LEARN ABOUT BUILD QUALITY

7.5

Design

Stability

These headphones are quite stable. The tight headband and flat ear cups apply decent pressure around the ear and don't sway during exercise. These aren't sports headphones, but their design is stable enough to use while running or jogging. However, they're still a little too bulky and cumbersome to use at the gym or while doing strenuous physical activity.

LEARN ABOUT STABILITY

Design

Headshots 1

Design

Headshots 2

Design

Top

Design

In The Box

  • V-MODA Crossfade M-100 headphones
  • Carrying case
  • 1/4" to 1/8" adapter
  • Audio cable
  • SharePlay Audio Cable
  • Manual

Sound

Sound

Sound Profile

Bass Amount

0.96 dB

Treble Amount

-3.18 dB

LEARN ABOUT SOUND PROFILE

6.9

Sound

Frequency Response Consistency

Avg. Std. Deviation

0.64 dB

LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE CONSISTENCY

Sound

Raw Frequency Response

LEARN ABOUT RAW FREQUENCY RESPONSE

7.8

Sound

Bass Accuracy

Std. Err.

3.12 dB

Low-Frequency Extension

10 Hz

Low-Bass

2.52 dB

Mid-Bass

3.17 dB

High-Bass

4.23 dB

LEARN ABOUT BASS ACCURACY

8.1

Sound

Mid Accuracy

Std. Err.

2.56 dB

Low-Mid

-1.75 dB

Mid-Mid

-1.47 dB

High-Mid

2.39 dB

LEARN ABOUT MID ACCURACY

6.8

Sound

Treble Accuracy

Std. Err.

4.46 dB

Low-Treble

-0.09 dB

Mid-Treble

-4.61 dB

High-Treble

-6.07 dB

LEARN ABOUT TREBLE ACCURACY

6.6

Sound

Peaks/Dips

Peaks

2.18 dB

Dips

2.01 dB

LEARN ABOUT PEAKS/DIPS

7.9

Sound

Imaging

Weighted Group Delay

0.31

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch

1.74

Weighted Frequency Mismatch

2.05

Weighted Phase Mismatch

5.91

LEARN ABOUT IMAGING

5.8

Sound

Soundstage

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)

2.33 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.)

4.61 dB

PRTF Distance

7.86 dB

Openness

4.9

Acoustic Space Excitation

4.2

LEARN ABOUT SOUNDSTAGE

7.8

Sound

Weighted Harmonic Distortion

WHD @ 90

0.175

WHD @ 100

0.141

LEARN ABOUT WEIGHTED HARMONIC DISTORTION

Isolation

4.9

Isolation

Noise Isolation

Isolation Audio

Overall Attenuation

-11.91 dB

Noise Cancelling No

Bass

-0.17 dB

Mid

-9.18 dB

Treble

-27.12 dB

These headphones have poor isolation. They don't have active noise cancellation and perform as expected. The passive isolation starts to kick in at around 400Hz, and reaching its maximum at around 3kHz. However, the amount of isolation provided in the mid-range is quite poor, and the isolation achieved in the treble range is only decent.

LEARN ABOUT NOISE ISOLATION

6.7

Isolation

Leakage

Leakage Audio

Overall Leakage @ 1ft

41.49 dB

These headphones have poor leakage. They leak a bit more than most closed-back over-ears. The significant portion of leakage is between 300Hz and 6kHz, which is rather broad. However, the overall level of leakage is low.

LEARN ABOUT LEAKAGE

Microphone

Microphone

Microphone Style

Integrated

No

In-line

Yes

Boom

No

Detachable Boom

N/A

Mic Yes

LEARN ABOUT MICROPHONE STYLE

6.0

Microphone

Recording Quality

Recorded Speech

LFE

479.46 Hz

FR Std. Dev.

1.68 dB

HFE

2,215.77 Hz

Weighted THD

0.176

Gain

22.09 dB

LEARN ABOUT RECORDING QUALITY

6.5

Microphone

Noise Handling

Speech + Pink Noise

Speech + Subway Noise

SpNR

17.54 dB

LEARN ABOUT NOISE HANDLING

Active Features

not tested

Active Features

Battery

Battery Type

N/A

Continuous Battery Life

N/A

Additional Charges

N/A

Total Battery Life

N/A

Charge Time

N/A

Power Saving Feature

N/A

Audio While Charging

N/A

Passive Playback

N/A

Charging Port N/A

LEARN ABOUT BATTERY

0

Active Features

App Support

App Name N/A

iOS N/A

Android N/A

macOS N/A

Windows N/A

Equalizer

N/A

ANC Control

N/A

Mic Control N/A

Room effects

N/A

Playback Control

N/A

Button Mapping N/A

Surround Sound N/A

These headphones have no compatible app.

LEARN ABOUT APP SUPPORT

Connectivity

0

Connectivity

Bluetooth

Bluetooth Version

N/A

Multi-Device Pairing

N/A

NFC Pairing

N/A

Line of Sight Range

N/A

Default Latency

N/A

aptX Latency

N/A

aptX(LL) Latency

N/A

LEARN ABOUT BLUETOOTH

0

Connectivity

Non-Bluetooth Wireless

Non-BT Line of Sight Range

N/A

Non-BT Latency

N/A

LEARN ABOUT NON-BLUETOOTH WIRELESS

9.5

Connectivity

Wired

Analog Audio

Yes

USB Audio

No

Detachable Yes

Length 4.33 ft

Connection 1/8" TRRS

Wired Latency

0 ms

LEARN ABOUT WIRED

Connectivity

PC / PS4 Compatibility

PC / PS4 Analog

Audio + Microphone

PC / PS4 Wired USB

No

PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless

No

LEARN ABOUT PC / PS4 COMPATIBILITY

Connectivity

Xbox One Compatibility

Xbox One Analog

Audio + Microphone

Xbox One Wired USB

No

Xbox One Wireless

No

LEARN ABOUT XBOX ONE COMPATIBILITY

0

Connectivity

Base/Dock

Type

N/A

USB Input

N/A

Line In

N/A

Line Out

N/A

Optical Input

N/A

RCA Input

N/A

Dock Charging

N/A

Power Supply

N/A

LEARN ABOUT BASE/DOCK

V-MODA Crossfade M-100 Review (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Merrill Bechtelar CPA

Last Updated:

Views: 6267

Rating: 5 / 5 (70 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Merrill Bechtelar CPA

Birthday: 1996-05-19

Address: Apt. 114 873 White Lodge, Libbyfurt, CA 93006

Phone: +5983010455207

Job: Legacy Representative

Hobby: Blacksmithing, Urban exploration, Sudoku, Slacklining, Creative writing, Community, Letterboxing

Introduction: My name is Merrill Bechtelar CPA, I am a clean, agreeable, glorious, magnificent, witty, enchanting, comfortable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.