V-Moda Crossfade LP Review

Performance

We found the Crossfire LPs to be a pretty comfortable pair of headphones. Though they do tend to exert an above-average amount of pressure in on the head, the super soft ear-cups do a good job of easing the pressure to maintain a comfortable feel that makes them a decent choice for long-term wear.

The Crossfire’s over-the-ear design allows for a useful amount of natural sound isolation. We found that the generally distracting hustle and bustle of our local coffee shop’s operations were subdued enough for us to enjoy listening to the headphones without annoying interference. Of course, this isolation can come as a liability when using them on a phone call. We found that being isolated from the sound of our own voice caused us to speak a little louder than necessary when on a phone call.

As a phone talking device, we found the Crossfire LP’s came in with an average rating. Voice quality through the on-board microphone was on par with others in this price slot; which is to say it was slightly muffled in comparison to our iPhone’s built-in microphone, but perfectly acceptable otherwise. We did appreciate the microphone’s close proximity to our ear/mouth and the easily distinguishable three-button remote was much easier to use than most of the Crossfire’s competition

Sonically, the Crossfire LP’s have a very distinctive bass-in-yo-face attitude. They are unapologetically bass heavy and while that may be a big bonus to listeners with a healthy bass appetite, one can’t help but notice that this sonic boom response is getting in the way of most of the other frequencies.

We’ve tested quite a few “street style” headphones recently and, generally speaking, super hot treble comes along with the big bottom bass, but the Crossfire LPs were thankfully much more subdued than their competition. We never felt as if the treble was metallic or thin but, due to the huge bass response, we didn’t hear the treble all that distinctly, either.

The same can be said for the midrange response, only here the coloration of the sound caused by the bass output was much more obvious. Instead of having an open, clear midrange sound, vocals, horns and strings tended to sound as if they were being funneled through a megaphone. On less midrange intensive recordings, this wasn’t as big a problem. Most of the house and techno tracks we used sounded big and club-like. This sort of response led us to conclude that the Crossfire LPs will appeal most to those who enjoy dance-club style music most.

We connected the Crossfire LPs to a variety of sources with an eclectic selection of music and movie soundtracks. We were surprised to find that the Crossfire headphones tended to sound the same regardless of source or material. They just aren’t all that revealing in the midrange and high frequency areas. This attribute actually made our more compressed, low quality music tracks sound a bit fuller and with a less noticeable compression sound. We also felt that the Crossfire headphones did better with movies than music. Their bombastic bass and subdued treble response made them particularly suitable for movie enjoyment, although dialog was occasionally drowned out by corresponding action sequences. We did appreciate the Crossfire’s efficiency, which allowed them to be played at very loud levels, even with low levels of power from some of our portable media players.

Conclusion

The V-Moda Crossfire LP headphones are big on style and bass, but leave something to be desired in their overall sound quality. While this set of cans won’t pass muster for audiophiles or any other picky audio enthusiast, we do feel that their comfortable feel, big bass and unique style will appeal to listeners that want a slick looking pair of headphones that offer big sound to go with their flashy appearance. In this price range though, there are better headphones to choose from.

Highs:

• Comfortable
• Hip and Modern look
• iPhone talk/control
• Handy accessories and storage

Lows:

• Lackluster Sound Quality
• Inconsistent build quality
• Not collapsible/foldable