Sound
Being an on-ear headphone, isolation is not the best. You can’t block out all the external sounds and there always will leak sound out as well. At the same time I find the XS to isolate quite well. I always try to listen at low volumes and so far I haven’t gotten one complaint or weird look in the train because of leaking sounds. Phew!
The XS delivers a slightly warm and smooth musical sound. But it doesn’t exaggerate doing that, it’s actually a pretty clear sounding headphone. Everything is more inline than with the M80 and M100. The XS has a reasonably good sound stage, certainly for a closed on-ear headphone using 40mm Dual-Diaphragm High Fidelity (patent pending) drivers but of course you shouldn’t expect a huge and deep sound stage either.
Bass on the XS is very good and that doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone I think. Bass has always been very prominent in the V-MODA headphones. That doesn’t mean the XS is a basshead headphone but you do have to like your bass cause there clearly is a focus on it. It’s not the tightest bass you’ve ever heard, it’s more loose and runs a bit in to the lower mids. At the same time it’s not the most layered or detailed bass but it’s fun bass with a good impact, certainly for an on-ear design.
Because of the bass, the mids seem a bit withdrawn and the (lower) mids sound a bit more in the back. The upper mids on the other hand are more forward sounding, resulting in more forward and very lively and enjoyable vocals.
For such a tiny on ear headphone, treble is very good in my opinion. Of course it’s not the most extended treble, but it is very forgiving and smooth. The way you would expect from a portable on ear fashion headphone, but a little bit better.
All this his results in a rather forgiving headphone that is great for on the go. If I’m really honest the XS sounds quite good and it definitely is one of the better on ear earphones I have ever tried. It’s that simple.
The Competition
Available on-ear headphones at the Headfonia office are the Beyerdynamic T51P, the classic Sennheiser HD25 and the Bowers & Wilkins P3 but there must certainly be dozens of other competitors on the still growing market.
If we look at the 4 before mentioned headphones, the V-MODA XS is runner up and the Beyer T51P still is king. The Beyer sounds clearer, has more detail and has quite a larger sound stage with more depth. Its bass is tighter, more detailed and deeper. Its treble is more precise. It’s a richer and better balanced sounding unit (especially the mids) and all that makes the XS hard to dethrone. Comfort wise I can listen longer to the T51P than I can to the XS. The XS does have more bass and mid body and a removable cable on the other hand.
The HD25 has a wider soundstage and sounds clearer. It however has less bass and body compared to the XS and it sounds less musical all together. It’s not as comfortable either as I find the Senn to have a rather powerful death grip. The Beyerdynamic DT1350, which I sold so I have to go from memory, is very clear sounding but is missing body all over, including bass impact. I really can’t get to like the DT1350 and I don’t think I ever will.
The B&W P3 also is a design headphone but it doesn’t come close to the sound quality the V-MODA XS produces. The P3 sounds a bit dark and muffled and I couldn’t really recommend it to the more experienced quality wanting listener.
In the end I would rank all these headphones in this order:
T51P>XS>HD25>DT1350>P3
Amplification & Giveaway on the next page!
Headfonia_L.
Just to be clear, the XS you can win does have the Headfonia logo on it.
MFerrosa
Thanks L!
Headfonia_L.
My pleasure. I appreciate you taking the time to post a thank you 🙂
Guest
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Philippe Gervaise
Thank you! Just when I’m hunting for portable headphones, and had narrowed it down to XS or T51p 🙂
Not sure I know for sure which one I should get yet. Would you recommend one over the other for someone who listen to a wide range of styles, from ambient to post-rock to industrial metal? You clearly say you like the T51p better, are they worth the price difference?
Headfonia_L.
You’re welcome. To me they absolutely are. The T51P is better in all fields. I have to admit the XS has more body/weight but quality wise the T51P is the best and is worth the exra $$
Philippe Gervaise
My only fear is the peak in the T51’s treble that could sound sibilant to my ears (I’m very sensitive to some high frequencies). I’m used to HD25s, but I think they sound very different.
dalethorn
You won’t be bothered by it out of the box – it’s when you raise the treble overall to a hi-fi standard (i.e. about 6 db lower than the T1 or T90) that the peak becomes very noticeable.
dalethorn
If the T51p cable were not so fragile I think it would be worth the extra $100 – but I’ll take the XS as a much better value.
Headfonia_L.
You’re right about the cable yet I’d take the sound quality of the T51P over the XS any time. I suppose it depends how you’re planning on treating your headphones 🙂
dalethorn
The granddaddy of hi-fi, J. Gordon Holt once famously said: “Who cares how long it lasts if it doesn’t sound good”, to which I replied: “Who cares how good it sounds if it doesn’t last”.
Headfonia_L.
I see his point but I don’t always agree
Edison
I recently was searching for on ears portable and tried all onears available on the market. Eventually i got the t51p. What drove me crazy about the XS is the very low clamping force. It does’t stay secure on my head even when i’m sitting still.
Headfonia_L.
And the T51P is just that tad more clamping, isn’t it. Sound wise you’re better off too, you made a good choice 😉
Headfonia_L.
Oh, vmoda (see what I just did there?) made me write V-MODA everywhere in case you’re wondering why I kept using caps 😀
dalethorn
Yeah, they told me “It’s either V-MODA or v-moda, as long as it’s all upper or lower”.
Headfonia_L.
We are now at 200 participants (17122014)
Headfonia_L.
The Contest is over. Congrats to the winner!
Joost Peters
Major thanks! I’ve never won something before 😉 Can’t wait to try the V-MODA out.
Anthony Kimball
congrats Joost!
Joost Peters
Thanks Anthony!
dalethorn
The XS clamping might feel less constricting if the earpads are aligned perfectly to your ears. I always have to do a permanent headband bend forward.
Justin Myers
I am a bit of a fan of the V-Modas. They do not sound that bad
at all as long as you don’t need a lot of bass in your ears. I first came
across them in my RSS app on my phone. Poc Network has a review and I killed
some time by looking up a few others. The results were pretty good as they
seemed to like them and everyone bragged about how tough they are built. I
stepped (don’t judge) on my Sonys and busted them so that was something that
stood out (haha). They are really bright on the ears making vocal and dialogue
very up front. Not the best for action flicks since they are like having a pair
of Kickers on your head, but they sound good. I am happy with mine. ( source: http://pocinc.net/blog/product-reviews/review-v-moda-xs-on-ear-headphones/
)
dalethorn
I’ve had 2 V80’s, 2 M80’s, 2 XS’s, 4 M100’s, one LP, one LP2, and 2 Verzas. There’s almost no difference in the sound of the V80, M80, or XS.
eleosphere
The V-Modas are the most practical of these headphones by a mile. The T51p’s case and cable are a giant step back from them, the folding design is very practical and to me the ability to feed sound into another headphone to share a listening experience is fantastic in many situations. The refinement in the T51p’s sound is astounding for sure, though.
dalethorn
I did a test-EQ on both – the XS was much easier to bring up close to neutral than the T51p. It’s when you get both signatures into a frame where you can compare the background qualities of each headphone that you’ll know which one has a better quality sound. The XS scores at least as well for me, and if you read where Val the maker talks about the dual membrane or radiator design that allegedly provides better bass with less distortion, then maybe that will provide some insight there …. but that’s just my finding, because they are very different types of headphone.