Review on Get Tangle-Free Audio Bliss with the V-MODA Crossfade Wireless Over-Ear Headphone by Shahed Cleveland

I wanted a physically strong Bluetooth headset with good range and sound and was glad to find them on sale for $100. The good news is that the V-Moda crossfade delivered reliability, range and tone; Battery life was great too. The bad news is that this device had a defect, but more importantly I don't like the user interface. I'm returning this pair because of an intermittent problem with the volume up button: it unpredictably becomes very difficult to press and/or squeaks, perhaps more frequently, when you press the narrow part of the button. This does not happen with the other two keys. This appears to be an isolated case that won't happen to others so I could have come back for a replacement but I didn't. The reason I'm trying something different (Pioneer SE-MS9BN-B) is because I found the Crossfade headphones' UI to be disappointing. The biggest disappointment for me is that when Crossfade connects via Bluetooth, it plays a surprisingly long and rather rich sound clip - loud. In fact, every time it connects, it resets the volume to what I consider high (5 steps above minimum) just so it can play an exuberant sound clip out loud. I guess I could live with that, but I didn't like the rest of the interface either - and I'm not just saying I didn't like the rest of the sound clips (although, to be honest, I didn't) There are three buttons at the very top on the right earcup, next to or even partially covered by a metal cage that connects the cup to the headband. On other headbands, the controls are located at the bottom of the headband instead of at the top next to the moving parts. Also, the power button is more of a slider than a button, which means the device can't turn itself off if it's in standby mode for a while like other headphones do: the user has to remember the switch to physically move. The UI issues don't reach criminal levels, but these are $200 headphones. I think that $200 headphones should not only be physically robust, sound great, have good range and long battery life, but should also be a pleasure to not only listen to but also to communicate with. By the way, it looks like the crossfade UI (including volume increase for each act of fullness) is retained in the Crossfade 2 series. For the simple UI, I like the JBL E50BT, which has a four-stage rocker plate on one ear. Cup: You can press the top or bottom of the plate to increase or decrease the volume, and the front/back edge to control calls and other functions. Switching on/off is done with a quick press of a convenient button on the edge of the ear pad. This user interface does what it needs to do unobtrusively, without unnecessary gimmicks like touchpads. Unfortunately I can't continue to use these headphones due to the plastic parts of the earcup sliders turning to dust, so I'm aiming for long-lasting headphones.