V-Moda M-200 Studio Headphone Review

There aren’t that many headphones that are marketed for studio use yet have such low impedance, thus making them very mobile device friendly. There really is no setup where squeezing enough volume out of M-200s can be an issue.

Most of the parts used in M-200 are plastic with the exception being the hinged metal yokes, which allow them to fold for easier transportation. Ear pads and headband are covered in soft (yet, according to V-Moda, durable) PU leather that feels great to touch. In the M-200 box, you’ll find a compact semi-hard case, 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter and two cables, a 1.3 m long one with mic and a 1.2 m one without – both terminated with a 3.5 mm jack. The coolest feature though must be the super easily detachable magnetic ear pads, so switching out a worn set for a new one can be done in a few seconds. The same can’t be said for most rival headphones.

Another uncommon and neat feature is the option to choose which ear cup to connect the cable to.

Overall the build feels quite solid and good, but maybe not worth €350. Nevertheless, there isn’t much to complain about regarding the build, apart from the included cable situation being suboptimal. Since V-Moda is selling them as studio headphones, it would’ve been more convenient for users if the cable without the mic came with a threaded 6.3 mm adapter.

M-200’s have a unique sound signature, there aren’t that many closed backs that don’t follow the “smiley face” curve. The sub bass extension is very good and bass response overall is quite flat, if we ignore the channel mismatch. Moving up the frequency spectrum, there’s a weird, very wide bandwidth boost spanning from about 150Hz all the way up to 1.5kHz, followed by abrupt peaks and dips in the high-mids and highs. The absence of 4-5kHz paired with the super-wide low-mid boost result in an unusual, mids-forward sound, that is very uncharacteristic of headphones. All in all, these are nowhere near the worst offenders when it comes to sound coloring, but since their curve is so unique, there’s little use in referencing your work on them, as there really is no other headphone model that sounds alike M-200.

All pairs we measured consistently showed the same 3dB channel mismatch from 200Hz downwards, which reminds us of Audio Technica’s ATH-M50x. Given how consistent the channel difference is, it appears that it’s not just that we got unlucky with a bad batch of headphones. It’s likely that every single one of the M-200’s out there suffers from this.

Regarding the extended session comfort, none of our testers were fans of the M-200. A big factor contributing to that is the increased clamping force that on the other hand helps to isolate you from the outside world and also keeps the sound from leaking, thus making them a suitable option for tracking.

The €350 price tag places the M-200’s in the premium category and while the build is pretty solid and THD performance great, these strengths do not overpower the shortcomings and make them a hard sell.