Get These Instead
So these are the V-moda M 200 ANC headphones… they’re V-moda’s first pair of ANC headphones… and unfortunately I find it very hard to justify their $500 price tag. Performance wise their Active noise cancelation performs more akin to a pair of entry level or mid tier ANC headphones in 2021, sound quality wise they sound very narrow and bright, and comfort wise… they aren’t the best.
So like I just said, the V-moda M 200 ANC’s retail for $500 which is definitely going to open them up to more scrutiny from me. But obviously since these things retail for $500 they blow past super poplar options like the Sony 1000XM4’s which retail for $350, the Bose NC 700’s and Sennheiser Momentum 3’s which both retail for $400, and they’re just a little shy of meeting the Airpods Max at their $550 asking price. So if you’re someone that’s looking for a pair of ANC headphones in general you’ll definitely want to look at something else.
Now first lets go over the included carrying case… its decent. It’s your classic V-moda hard clamshell case that has a very synthetic feeling soft touch outside… But this case is definitely going to do a good job of protecting your headphones which is what’s important here. This isn’t like the Airpods Max smart bra that just protects half your headphones. But nonetheless when compared to other case’s V-moda’s case feels a little cheaper specifically cause there aren’t any dedicated compartments to store all of your cables and maybe even airplane adaptor if you’ve got one.
Now when it comes to the headphones themselves… build quality wise the V-Moda’s feel fine and they’re definitely durable… but they don’t feel like a pair of $500 headphones. Actually the M 200 ANC’s don’t feel all that different from the $200 crossfade wireless. We’ve still got mostly plastic ear cups, albeit we do have aluminum shields on the front, we’ve got these metal arms with with good actuation to them, and the headband feels very sturdy. But keep in mind these headphones are still using leatherette on both their headband and ear cups. And I point this out cause once we hit the $400 mark thats when we start to see headphones use more exotic materials like either the Sheep skin leather on the Momentum 3’s which really does feel awesome. The Bowers and Wilkins PX7’s have carbon fiber arms which is pretty exotic and then there are the Airpods Max with their all aluminum ear cups, chrome and silicon covered headband and unique looking canopy. Now don’t get me wrong, the V-Moda’s feel super durable, and they can definitely take a much harder beating than both the Sony’s and Bose… but premium is not a word that comes to mind. But I think my biggest build quality issue with these headphones are just their control buttons. These buttons are just straight up mush city which just make these headphones feel cheaply built.
Now regarding comfort, im not the biggest fan of how the V-Moda’s fit. When it comes to clamping force the V-moda’s have a firm fit to them similar to the Surface headphones. They fit snug and they aint going anywhere and I can say that they are big head approved cause I can wear them for hours on end without any problems… but you don’t really forget that you’re wearing these headphones cuase of their snug fit. But also there’s their weight… the V-Moda’s weigh in at 330 grams which is above average for a pair of ANC headphones. Cuase for comparison sake the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 264 grams and the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 254 grams. So with the V-Moda’s you’re definitely going to notice them shifting their weight around when you’re walking around with them on and you’re still going to notice them even if you’re sitting still either working at your desk or while watching a movie in bed. Where as since both the Sony’s and Bose both have less clamping force and weigh significantly less you forget that you’re wearing either of these two headphones. Which is great! But finally there are the ear pads. Even though the ear pads on the M 200 ANC’s are larger than the ear pads found the Crossfade’s they’re still cramped when compared to the rest of the competition like either the Sony 1000XM4’s, Momentum 3’s, Bose NC 700’s, or Airpods Max. I like to think that I have average sized ears… but still the M 200 ANC’s feel cramped, they rest on my earlobes and they push down on my cartilage. So if you’re got larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then the V-Moda’s definitely aint for you. Overall I can’t help but feel that the M 200 ANC’s fit like a of 2017 headphones… cause over the last few years more and more headphones have been increasing the size of their ear cups.
But now lets talk about tech specs… the V-Moda’s charge via a USB C port as they should. And they have an advertised battery life of 20 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on which is definitely going to get the job done… but I feel 20 hours is a little low for premium headphones in 2021. Personally I like to see headphones hit the 25 hour mark with their ANC turned on… And personally one of my favorite things about the Sony’s is they can go for as long as 30 hours with their ANC turned on.
However just keep in mind the USB C port on the V Moda is strictly used for charging. You can’t use this USB C port as a wired connection like you can like lets say the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity the V-Moda’s are using Bluetooth 5.0 but more importantly they can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another which is always great for power users.
And from a performance standpoint the V-Moda’s have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you're using an iPhone or an Android device. And when it comes to audio codecs the V Moda’s have support for SBC, AAC, and APTX HD which is a pretty standard stack for a pair of premium headphones. Cause for comparison sake both the Airpods Max and Bose only have support for SBC and AAC.
But if you want to you can always just use a wired connection with these headphones cuase they still have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack and they even come included with an audio cable unlike the Airpods max.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones… long story short I do not like how these headphones sound what so ever. While in their stock EQ, the V Moda’s sound very bright and very narrow. Vocals are all up in your face, you can barely make out the instrumentals, and the bass is very flat. Now the M 200 ANC’s do have a companion app where you can either select from a few pre made EQ’s or you can even make your own. Now even after trying to tune these headphones and find a sound signature that I like… my problem with these headphones isn’t their sound signature its just their over all performance. From a clarity stand point these headphones sound very fuzzy across the board, at higher volumes the mids and highs get distorted, and the bass in general is very quick to get muddy. And if you’re listening to something with a lot bass then the bass on these headphones can just full on start sputtering sometimes. Now the sputtering on these headphones is nowhere near as bad as the sputtering found the Surface Headphones when you increase their lows too much… but with the V-Moda’s you will hear a residual sputter in the background. And in general I feel that any kind of sputtering on any pair of headphones that costs more than $150 is just out right unacceptable. Now ive tried using the V-Moda’s with multiple apple devices, android devices, ive used them with their Active noise cancellation turned off and turned on, ive used them wired and I even tried driving them with a DAC and I even left them playing for 2 days straight hopping that burn in would do something… but over all I am not impressed by the performance of these drivers. Sound quality wise I feel that you’re going to be way better off with any of these other headphones. Like I’ve said in the past I feel the Sony’s are people pleasers… whether you like a neutral EQ or a bass heavy EQ the Sony’s should have you covered. My only complaint is that they can sound a little narrow. But unlike the V-Moda’s distortion isn’t a problem at higher volumes and the bass doesn’t sputter out. The Bose NC 700’s sound a little more open than the Sony’s but their bass doesn’t have as much physicality. So for that reason I say the Bose are better for people who like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ. But finally there are the Airpods Max and Sennheiser Momentum 3’s. Now performance wise these things are in a whole other league than the V Moda’s. They both sound much clearer, wider, distortion isn’t a problem at higher volume and the their bass both have a good amount of physicality to it and its very clean. But personally I still do prefer how the Momentum 3’s sound over the Airpods Max cuase the Airpods Max can sound a little too bright at times and the instrument separation on the Momentum 3’s is a little better. But over all, sound quality wise the V-Moda’s just can’t compete here.
Now when it comes to active noise cancelation… again this is an area where the V Moda’s fall short. From a performance stand point the ANC on these headphones doesn’t really change how your music sounds, and there also isn’t a lot of cabin pressure. And the microphone array does a decent job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors which is good. But over all this active noise cancelation doesn’t block out all that much noise. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
So like you may have just seen the V Moda’s don’t block out nearly as much noise as the Bose NC 700’s, Sony 1000XM4’s or Airpods Max. Now personally im not the biggest fan of the ANC on the Airpods Max cause even though it does block out the most amount of noise here cause it brutally goes after those constant low frequency sounds… it does so through brute force so you can really feel a lot of cabin pressure with the Airpods max. Where as both the Bose and Sony’s go about blocking out an impressive amount of noise but with significantly less cabin pressure. So if ANC is a big deal to you then I highly recommend that you either look into the Sony’s or Bose. But over all the ANC on the M 200 ANC’s performance more a like a pair of entry level or mid tier pair of ANC headphones… but again so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into another ANC test.
So in this second test you can see that the V Moda’s does manage to block out a little more noise than then Sony WH-CH710N’s which are a pair of entry level headphones that retail for $200 but can routinely be found on sale for $150 now and you can clearly hear that the $250 Surface Headphones 2 manages to block out more noise. So again regarding active noise cancelation im not too impressed by the V Moda’s especially given their $500 price tag.
But one feature thats really missing on the V Moda’s is an ambient mode which is a very standard feature on a pair of premium ANC headphones… and now even entry level ANC headphones are starting to get an ambient mode as well which is very useful for when you’re walking around the city. Now V Moda’s app does allow you to adjust the level of your active noise cancellation but ive found that moving this slider really doesn’t do all that much and its definitely no substitution for a proper ambient mode in 2021. But while we’re at it let me just turn off the ANC on these headphones and turn it back on so that you can get another sense for the over all performance of the ANC.
However one thing that these headphones do have is this voice in feature where if you cover their left ear cup these headphones will lower the volume of you music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you just like how Sony’s quick attention does.
However I don’t think these headphones have a legit touch pad cause if you were to just cover this face plate how you would on the Sony’s voice in doesn’t activate. It took me a few tries to figure this out but you have to cover both the face plate and cover the edge of this ear cup almost like you’re completing a circuit and then voice in will get activated. I don’t know its the weirdest thing ever and Ive never seen this on another pair of headphones.
Now before we jump into the microphone test I do have to point out that these headphones don’t have wear sensors. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors and I just usually turn them off but other headphones like the Sony 1000XM4’s, Surface Headphones, Momentum 3’s, and Airpods Max do have them. So again the fact that the V Moda’s retail for $500 is going to open them to more scrutiny.
But finally here’s the microphone test and its not good. For starters I sound very far way but if I stay quite there’s this weird background noise. So long story short I wouldn’t take phone calls with these headphones. Period.
Now for comparison sake here’s the Sony 1000XM4’s. Now I feel I sound a little muffled with the Sony’s but I feel this microphone sounds much better than the microphone found on the V Moda’s.
Where as the Microphone on both the Bose NC 700’s and Airpods Max sound way better. Now with the Bose my voice sounds very natural and this microphone does a good job of blocking out ambient noise in a noisier environment.
But with the Airpods max my voice sounds more amplified which some people will might like. Over all I feel the mic on both the AirPods Max and Bose NC 700’s sound great but for different reasons. And if you want to learn more you can always watch my Bose vs AirPods Max video. But nonetheless this is another area where the V Moda’s falls short.
But with all that being said, personally for me the V Moda M 200 ANC’s are a hard pass especially at their $500 price tag. Sound quality wise they sound narrow, clarity isn’t the best, distortion can be a problem at higher volumes and there can be bass sputtering on occasion. Like you saw the active noise cancelation on the V Moda’s is nowhere near as effective as the ANC found on the Sony 1000XM4’s, Bose NC 700’s or AirPods Max and the ANC on the V Moda’s performs more akin to a pair of entry level or vide tier ANC headphones. But then there’s their build quality. Don’t get me wrong the M 200 ANC are built very well, they’re sturdy and they’re durable… but the word premium doesn’t come to mind. But finally there’s their fit, yeah they look cool but their above average weight of 330 grams, snug fit and cramped ear cups don’t make them very comfortable.