Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Studio Monitor Headphones

Comment: Okay, I'm not one for typing massively long reviews, nor do I normally type reviews at all. These headphones are great. Their not designed to block out external sound - so don't buy them on that premise. But they do block out a lot of sound. If you wear glasses, they make it difficult for your glasses to move up, but this is again due to the nature of this style of headphone. I'm not mixing or doing anything amazing with these headphones, I just appreciate quality. I've only listened to Hard house so far and have yet to make it to the Rock, Metal and Easy listening parts of my music collection but reproduction is good so far. These do need burning in for 50+ hours I'd read in other reviews and I'd echo that. I also watch Movies and play Games, so I hope they're pretty multi-faceted. I don't have access to an Amplifier currently but plugged into a PC or Laptop they work fine. I've not tried my iPod yet though. So far, really happy, and I recommend buying these if you want to improve your listening experiences of whatever you love!

Comment: After trying on several pairs of headphones at a local professional audio store, I finally settled on these. What I like best is that they are comfortable, even when wearing glasses, which was a major concern. Even after several consecutive hours of listening, I felt extremely comfortable.

Although I am not an audiophile, here is my best critic's review. As I type, I'm listening to an extremely high quality Mozart concerto: High notes sound crisp and clear with being 'tinny'. Mid-tones also sound fantastic. Bass is also quite good; I've become used to the deep booms and now even my untrained ears cringe at the sound of simplistic speaker systems.

Going from a set of cheap $10 earbuds to these was definitely a shock to me. Most apparent was that I could hear subtleties in the music (even in songs I'm intimately familiar with) that had completely eluded me before. At first it was disconcerting, but now that I'm used to it I'm not sure it I can go back.

Also of note is how well they block out sound. They sport no advanced sound-cancelling technology, but they don't need it. With music going all but the loudest of outside noises are drowned out. The first time I listened to my music I didn't notice someone attempting to attract my attention until they got to within 8 feet and shouted at me.

The sound-blocking quality works in both directions, too, so at 80% volume people sitting right next to me can't hear a thing as long as you're wearing them. For an idea of what I mean, I told a friend to wear them and turned on a rock song at near full volume. He turned to me and yelled, "THIS IS AWESOME!" I replied (loudly), and he gave me a confused look, took them off, and immediately began talking at a normal volume, completely unaware that he his previous sentence could be heard halfway down the street.

From a hardware standpoint, I am extremely satisfied. So far they appear immune to standard wear and tear, surviving plane trips and typical abuse with no noticeable degradation. I'm not sure of the technical term, but the 'slinky-style' wire viewable in the picture is terrific for keeping the chord in good condition and out of my way.

Overall, these headphones pack excellent quality and durability in an affordable package. While they may not please those with more refined ears, for someone like me looking for a comfortable upgrade to better-sounding headphones, you really can't go wrong.

Comment: These are pretty cool headphones, they feel very durable and I can tell that they are high quality. I bought them about 3 weeks ago and have been using them everyday and not really had any problems. The sound quality is great and makes all of my music sound amazing, almost as if it were surround sound. I was really impressed with the bass, but I really haven't been able to compare it to anything else. But for my tastes, the bass is great. It's also really great that they are foldable, making them compact enough to transport in a backpack. Also, its ability to fold makes it less prone to damage when packed.

One complaint that I have is that sound seems to leak both ways. When you turn the volume up, everyone else can hear the music you are listening to, which can be disturbing for them. Because of this, I am always very aware of the volume level as to not disturb the other people working near me. Also, when I took it on the airplane, it was difficult to hear anything unless the volume was all the way up, so I ended up not listening to them because I was afraid of damage to my ears. So, if you're looking for headphones to wear on airplane trips, maybe a pair of noise-canceling one would be a better choice.

Overall, I am very happy with them.

Comment: Each year it seems another musician friend recommends upgrades to my equipment and the one I'd resisted longest was a set of high quality headphones. I finally broke down and spent the money and it has made a huge difference in the sound quality of my work.

Be warned, these won't make listening to your favorite CD's or MP3's sound great, unless they already are great. That's simply because these cans don't color the sound - you get a straight out flat response, so you're hearing what is really going down.

If you make the mistake of buying say the Bose Tri-Ports, well you may enjoy The Beatles' White Album a lot but you'll make mistakes in your own recording work since Bose purposely changes the sound contour to make it more pleasing.

So - end of ramble - you want accurate flat response - use these. They're comfortable for long sessions, the cord length allows you to roam your studio and I even like listening to The Beatles on them. But if you're looking for cans for simple music enjoyment, you'll do better with the types that are designed to do that.

Comment: I've used a wide variety of headphones, both inexpensive and high-grade, and count the ATH-M50 among my favorites. Don't make the mistake of making a quick judgment about them just out of the box. When I first tried them they were not very exciting-sounding, giving the impression of a rather weak, colorless midrange and grainy upper range. They really do need a long period of burning-in. I hooked them up to an FM tuner and let them play rather loudly for about 200 hours straight, after which they started sounding considerably better. Even after all that, the midrange and upper range still seem to be gradually improving as I use them, so I would guess that even more than 200 hours of burn-in would be of benefit. But at this point they sound good enough to become quite a favorite of mine.

I also run the digital signal from the CD player through an Alesis digital EQ before it gets converted to analog and sent to the Grado RA1 headphone amp I'm using, just to tweak the sound slightly for my own taste. The music I listen to is almost exclusively classical music consisting of large symphony orchestras, sometimes with chorus or vocal soloists. The result, to my ears, is quite excellent. The high frequency need not be boosted to excessively bright levels in order to get nice detailed, textured sound. The buzz of bows hitting the strings of double-basses comes through, as well as bright little details like a triangle or harpsichord in the sound mix, and the midrange is now more airy and colorful. But the most striking attribute of these headphones is their low-frequency capabilities, which sets them apart from all the other headphones I've used, even some costing several times as much. Very challenging passages in some recordings containing pipe organ or bass drum whacks, which would cause the Grado RS1 that I like so much to distort, are handled easily by the ATH-M50. It is so sensitive to ultra-low-frequency sound in a recording that you will on rare occasions hear ambient rumbles from the recording site that you never suspected were even in a recording, and that the vast majority of listeners would never even know were there. Listening with these headphones, you get an idea of how few recordings actually do have very low frequency sounds in them, but when you come across one that does......wow, do you ever hear them!!!

Being "closed" headphones they do not have quite the spaciousness of some of the better open-air phones I've used, but their detailed, well-balanced, and colorful sound goes a long way to counteract that. The best ones I have, in that regard, are the newer Grado Statement GS1000, which are astounding in terms of creating an accurate and spacious impression of a soundstage, but they don't match the ATH-M50 in terms of low frequency sensitivity. If a headphone could combine the low-frequency performance of the ATH-M50 with the spaciousness of the Grado GS1000, they would be the most amazing super-headphones imaginable. Oh well, maybe some day.