Audio-technica Ath-m50 Studio Monitor reviews – what do others think about Audio-technica Ath-m50 Studio Monitor?
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207 of 218 persons found the following review helpful.
One of the finest headphones period.
By Karlton D. Lynch
I’ll say this primary off: I don’t record, DJ, or do any mixes with this headphone (no prosumer work). These Audio Technica M50′s (straight cable) are applied rigorously for listening to my music. One phrase comes to mind with regards to these cans: O MiE GaWd!
I presently own these and the Beyerdynamic DT-770 pro (80 ohm), and have owned everything beneath the sun from Bose’s headphone offerings; except their noise-canceling variants, though I’ve heard those as well. The M50′s overall are the best sounding amount of time that I’ve heard yet. They sound so ridiculously good that I can’t even imagine if I need, let alone want to listen more pricey offerings.
Highs 5/5 – Imagine a devoted tweeter per cup. The highs are PERFECT. Sirens, cymbals, piano notes, you name it comes in crystal clear with a pristine pitch. No harshness or fatigue comes with it. No roll-off or sibilance either, even if you crank it up to stratospheric levels.
Mids 5/5 – Like 2 miniaturized, mid-range drivers for your dome piece. When I heard Bose, I thought I HEARD everything, which was very nice. With the M50′s, YOU WILL HEAR EVERYTHING. There were concealed voices and notes that even the Bose’s missed in songs that I knew by heart. Voices came out clear and articulate. No recessed mid-range here. It’s all up in your grill with delighting authority and with the natural fullness that is to be expected with your tunes.
Lows 5/5 – I wish I could rate this higher. No other headphone (that I’ve heard) may touch this. Take two, high quality, sealed sub woofers. Shrink them, and in some manner stuff them into the M50′s. Then listen. Your brain will become grits. Your eyeballs will shake furiously. Your jawbone will uncontrolled vibrate. The bass in this headphone may resurrect the dead (and then some). The bass notes come in with such passion, that you instantaneously fall in love. It is highly textured, laser-accurate, and tightly controlled with ZERO distortion. There is no need to crank up the EQ on this. You can, but you’ve been warned. The bass is the best percentage when it comes to the M50. It is FLAWLESS.
Soundstage 4/5 – For a studio monitor, the soundstage is very good. There is a wide sense of space and depth to the sound. Nevertheless, they aren’t as open-sounding as others such as the DT-770 pros, which have a closed design as well. This may at times take you out of the “scenario” when watching movies or playing games, which is why I use these primarily for music. I use the DT-770 pro’s for movies and games, which those excel in this area.
Detail Retrieval 5/5 – Plain and simple, if it’s in the audio track, you will listen it with no problem at all. Every nuance, sound, intricate detail, and mouse-fart will have a direct line to your eardrum for your listening pleasure. No complaints.
Value 5/5 – You need a pair (no, not those) of Audio Technica M50′s. These are more than worthy to add to your headphone stable. Comfort is likewise rather excellent. Other studio monitor headphones pinch too tight for me (I also wear glasses), these are just right. Not too loose or constricted. The Beyers beat these in this area though (those are like Serta pillows 
.
The cord is terminated into a slick-looking, metal housing, with a flexible end connected to a 1/8″ plug, that also may be mated to a screw on 1/4″ adapter. In other words, you may plug the M50′s into whatsoever device you want; Ipod, home receiver, amp, etc., right out of the box. Durability is also the best I’ve seen yet. Can’t see these breaking in any way, even if it’s in the hands of a toddler.
Audio Technica M50′s = A slice of musical heaven with whipped cream.
UPDATE: 4/8/09 – Burn in unquestionably changes the sound. Other owners have suggested 40 hours of cooking. The headphones sound more distinct, clear, and the instruments have better separation. Even the bass is more lively and the soundstage is more expanded. All said, don’t judge yet until you’ve pumped tunes through them for numerous hours. Which then, the end result will surely be a smile on your face.
66 of 68 people found the following review helpful.
One of the best headphones under $100
By triode fan
I own a pair of Grado SR80 for years using a Grado headphone amplifier in my office. The Grado serves me well except it is not the most comfortable pair of headphones. The other problem is the open design which leaks out sound which may trouble my officemates.
I have been searching for a substitute on and off for a while. Finally, I read sufficient reviews and jumped on eBay and scored a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 for underneath $100 shipped.
Without burn-in, I would say these compare in truth well (at par) with Grado SR80. Although I think the sound stage staged by SR80 is wider may be due to the open design. M50 with the closed back design seems a tad closed in. But, nevertheless, the sound right out of the box is actually good.
I may say a good pair of headphones may surely beat loudspeakers that cost 10x even 20x. My Dunlavy SCII with Velodyne DD15 will timid away in comparison with M50. Very neutral and elaborated sound stage. The fitting is a bit tight. I plan to stretch it out using my desktop PC while doing a lot of burn-in.
Initial comparison with Grado back to back, I noticed the following:
1. At same volume level, M50 plays louder than SR80
2. Sound isolation of M50 is finelooking good, plan to use it on airplane
3. The sound stage of SR80 is wider
4. M50 has better bass than SR80
5. Highs and mids are very close with slight preference for M50
6. Fit and ease of M50 is better but I hope it will loosen up a bit after use
7. Build quality is much better for M50 – plainly SR80 foam cushion is deteriorating after a few years of use
I’ll update this review when the burn-in is complete.
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Update after 100-hour burn-in
Sound updates:
I equated to my office-mate who owns a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. Right off the bet, we both noticed how much more open the ATH-M50 sounded. This is before the burn-in.
I am even more impressed after the burn-in. The close-in that I commented before comparing to my Grado SR80 is now gone. The bass also improves rather a bit.
Off course, my home scheme with Velodyne DD15 packed a better punch but this is not a reasonable comparison.
Comfort:
Stretching for 100 hours likewise loosened up the fit so it is very comfortable. My only gripe is the top of the headband still has a pressure point. I might just bend to provide a better fit.
All in all, if you are buying goods for a sub $100 headphone, you cannot go defective with this one. Highly recommended!
80 of 85 persons found the following review helpful.
Best Closed-Back Headphones beneath $100
By Audio_Aficionado
First of all, under $100? Yes, I found more than a few marketer stores retail these phones (both straight and coiled cord) on eBay for beneath $100. These are permanent stores with fixed prices, not auctions, so hopefully you could find them for a similar price. But anyways…
I expended closely a month looking for the “right” pair of headphones for my home mixing. A month is in all likelihood a long time to spend when you aren’t planning on spending more than $100 anyways, perchance $150 tops, but it gives me a warm fuzzy sentiment inside to recognise that my cash has been well spent. And it surely has been!
I ought to have read a thousand user reviews of dissimilar headphones, and those from audio websites like Headroom, [...] and pro-oriented internet sites like MusiciansFriend. I tried out most of the more well-known headphones in this range, including Sony MDR-V6 and MDR-7506, V700DJ, Sennheiser HD280, HD485, HD515, HD595, Bose Quietcomfort 3, “over-ear” headphones, AKG K240, Grado SR80i and SR125, as well as the Audio-Technica AD700, A700 and m40fs. It took a beauteous damn long time.
Okay, I’ll willingly say that amidst so galore dissimilar headphones it’s hard to say what “best” actually means. Some headphones unquestionably have a “flavor” that humans prefer but which might be annoying or distracting to others. Since I was looking for monitor headphones, I wanted a very flat response and I personally prefer a little passive isolation (i.e. closed-back phones). Also, my head is somewhat more prominent than average, and the Sennheisers and Grados were uncomfortably tight. Even the M50s were snug at first, but of the ones I tested they have one of the nicest, sturdiest-looking bands so I wasn’t afraid to stretch it over my computer case overnight. I’d heard that the Audiophile phones of the AT line (the AD700s and A700s) were a little big, and true to that statement they fit beautifully and the “wings” floated closely weightlessly on my head. However, they were a little more “flavored” than a genuinely flat response (they are, after all, marketed as audiophile headphones, not monitor) and I couldn’t find them for beneath $100 so that ruled them out. Ironically, at the time of this writing Amazon apparently has them on sale for $87 with free shipping. Huh.
To say a few brief things regarding the other pairs I tried, the Sony’s and the AKG’s were disappointing taking into account all the good things I’d heard in regards to them – it leads me to suspect that some of their acclaim is due to the valued status of their “classic” predecessors, rather than exclusively based on the product itself. That’s just my impression. The m40fs was very good, the m50s were just more or less better and in my budget. The Sennheiser 485′s were candidly terrific, they were the only Sennheisers that didn’t hurt my head and they had a very impressive sound, which I in a great deal of ways preferent to the venerable HD280s. Still, they were open-backed and still just not rather as outstanding as the M50s. Bose ease was great but after listening to all of the above their sound quality was a joke. Then again they’re not incisively marketed to the professional audio crowd, that I’ve seen.
In either case, I was VERY impressed with the sound quality of the M50s, specially the bass. As other reviewers have said, the bass is exceptionally clear and “punchy”, present without being overemphasized. This is exceedingly idealisti for monitoring, NONE of the other headphones I listened to were as faithful. The ranges perhaps ~2 octaves above middle C and higher (I’m a piano player so that’s what I think in terms of) are just a very miniscule touch bright, but then again I only have ~5 hours of burn-in as of this writing and I’ve heard that changes.
There are a couple of substantial divergences among closed and open-back headphones, which is why I called this review “best closed-back headphones beneath $100″. But that’s incisively what they are. Sound clarity and separation, stage and retrieval are *at least* equivalent to headphones two or three times this price. A friend of mine who runs sound tech and owns a pair of A900s visited me the other day and was so impressed by the quality of these phones vs. the price he went out to buy a pair himself. I’d commend that any person looking for a great pair of phones go and do the same!
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