I ordered the AT-M50s for work less than a week ago.  I wanted something easy on the wallet that wouldn't require amplification beyond my uDAC-2.  My coworker found a $95 special on SlickDeals and I couldn't resist.  I have owned a pair of AT-M40 for a long time prior to my head-fi days and SQ obsession, and I used to think they were "nice".  After getting HD-650s and pairing them with Bifrost/Asgard 2 I realized the HD650s were in a different universe of clarity, soundstage and overall SQ.  I decided to give Audio Technica another chance however.  ...

I got my Asgard 2 about a month ago, and it has been great so far.  I was initially nervous because I had heard people complaining about trafo-hum.  Let me assure you, unless you have a severely defective unit, there is none.  I press my ear against the unit and I can faintly hear it, which is not indicative of a problem, nor audible in any other situation.  The Asgard 2 is Class-A, so it does get quite toasty, just hot enough that you wouldn't want to hold your hand on the right side of it where the power transistors are mounted.  Not ideal, but not...