V-MODA has been slowly but surely cementing themselves as a purveyor of high-end audio gear for discerning consumers. Their reputation as being a company with extremely high concern for build quality, material selection, and excellent customer service has been serving them well, judging by reviews and buzz on the web.

One of the things that sets V-MODA apart is that their founder and engineer, Val Kolton, is a DJ himself, as well as actively involved in the headphone community (there’s a huge and thriving audiophile headphone community), soliciting feedback and interacting with customers and those he hopes to turn into customers. For example, while they were developing the most recently announced V-MODA product, the VAMP (an iPhone digital-to-analog amp), Val participated on Head-Fi, an audiophile community forum, answering questions and explaining the development process. This goes a bit above and beyond putting a “face” on a brand, when the CEO himself is interacting with his customers and detractors.

Their Crossfade M-80 headphones are a smaller set of headphones designed to be more fashionable than their larger big brothers, while still retaining the hallmark attention to sound quality and ruggedness that V-MODA are known for.

M-80 White Pearl Specs

Patented 40mm dual diaphragm drivers

V-PORT V3 Soundstage

BLISS™ Noise Isolation

Two Kevlar-reinforced cables (one 3-Button, one 1-Button) with separate controls to reduce noise for voice recognition in noisy surroundings

1 button SpeakEasy control and separate microphone universally compatible with all audio devices, tablets and 3.5mm smartphones

3 button SpeakEasy control and separate microphone for Apple devices

Interchangeable shields (purchased separately)

White exoskeleton hard case

Two-year V-MODA Premier warranty

Immortal Life Replacement Program—50% off lifetime discount to replace consumer-damaged headphones

Over three years of ergonomics research

It’s hard to describe what some of the features mean for every day use. Why would you need Kevlar cables, for example? What has three years of ergonomic research done for the fit?

These are the kind of headphones that you buy for the long-term. When you consider that these will be your headphones for the next 5 or more years, the design decisions start to gel. They’re extremely rugged, extremely well-built, and very, very comfortable due to their smaller size and memory-foam earcups. They don’t completely enclose the ear—they’re too small for that—but they’re not the typical ear-squeezing, hurts-after-an-hour type that make long-term wear awkward, either.

Performance

For many, however, especially in this price range, the most important question is: how do they sound?

The bass is rich; richer than I am used to. Of course, I use mostly gaming headsets even for music listening. My music consumption comes through Sony earbuds, and so I’m not used to having good 40mm drivers next to my ears. Not to disparage the gaming headsets I use, but these sound far better than any of the headsets I’ve ever had. I actually plugged them into my HTC One S with Beats Audio for a more accurate sound test and listened to FLAC lossless audio files. They sounded phenomenal, a sound that I’m not used to hearing. This is the kind of setup that makes me want to go back to my high school days, where I would enclose myself into a dark room and listen to an album in its entirety, just for the sake of music. It’s music that you can feel.

I’m not saying you can’t get that same effect with cheaper headphones or earbuds, but there’s just a richness here that I can’t really quantify. They sound very good.

Package

These are not inexpensive headphones. They’re around $230 retail, and the packaging reflects it. I’m not often one for taking box photos because I feel they’re useless most of the time, but in this case even the box speaks to the level of attention V-MODA strives for. The box has a faux-leather finish, with a dark red ribbon and a metallic jewel-shaped snap enclosure. The inside reveals the white rubberized “exoskeleton” carrying case, which will handily protect your investment. The downside of the exoskeleton case is that it is not exactly compact for travel.

The cables are silvery/grey braided cables made with Kevlar fibers. They feel substantial, but I suspect that they could actually cause some minor skin irritation if left to rub against a shoulder or neck during, say, jogging. Best to make sure that they’re not contacting skin. You get two of them—one with a one-button control for most devices, and a special three-button control for iOS devices. You also get a small clip if you want to clip the microphone portion to your shirt.

The added ability to customize the Crossfade M-80 for $25 (or $45 if you want your own custom artwork) is just an added bonus to an already slick package. Everything else, from the package, to the headband fit and finish, just reeks “quality”.

Recommendation

If the small size of the earcups and the largeness of the carrying case doesn’t bother you, I will handily award the V-MODA Crossfade M-80 headphones our silver Outstanding Product award. These are, quite simply, excellent headphones when you add up the total package: audio quality, engineering, warranty and support, availability of custom shields, and aesthetics. The lifetime 50% off replacement if you derp them off a cliff or run them over with your Hummer is testament to how much V-MODA cares about their customers.

The V-MODA Crossfade M-80 headphones are available now on Amazon for $199.99, or directly from V-MODA for $230.00.