V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones review (Gunmetal Black)

The stylishness extends to the Crossfade LP headphones' detachable cables, which are coated in a patterned gray and black cloth and terminate in what has become V-Moda's signature hose nozzle plug. The cord is extra thick (and reinforced with Kevlar) and the plugs are gold-plated, which adds to the overall feel of high-quality construction. In addition, the package includes a quarter-inch adapter, a carabineer clip, and a heavy-duty hard-sided case. Unfortunately, the Crossfade LP headphones do not fold down at all because of V-Moda's durability concerns, so transporting them is a bulky affair.

Up to the point where we actually started audio tests on the Crossfade LP headphones, they were quite living up to their $250 price tag. Sadly, the sound quality is not as all-encompassing as some other sets in that range are. In fact, our $80 Creative Aurvana Live headphones offer cleaner, more-balanced audio than the Crossfade LPs.

It took us a bit of tinkering to identify the problem, but we initially discovered that the treble in these headphones is repressed. Using the treble boost on our test iPod improved audio considerably, so you may need to play around with the EQ quite a bit to get just the right sound. But there was another quality that we couldn't quite identify during initial testing that eventually became clear: the Crossfade LP sounds as if someone has turned on the Club setting of a Walkman's VPT surround sound feature. The result is that music has an airy and echoy essence that doesn't necessarily lend itself well to all genres. For example, we found that bass sounded slightly deficient for many rock and downtempo tracks, even though the low-end is wholly encompassing for dance tracks. As such, we most enjoyed the headphones for that type of music, and would recommend them to DJs and other clublovers over those who prefer to sit in a quiet den and listen to classical.