D1001 vs. M50 vs. DT770/80 - Page 2

I tried M50 out of an ipod and a laptop and it sounded lifeless to me, but maybe it sounds acceptable to others, I don't know. Like nealric said, maybe with a better source than my lowly portables it sounds better.
Do you have a home receiver lying around? plug in your source and M50 and you'll hear a big difference compared to unamped, I tried it with several crappy receivers I have and it sounded very good, all this IMO.

Are you in the US? is there a Guitar Center close to you? you can bring your source and ask to try the M50 and DT770, they usually have both in stock. Keep in mind that both improve with burn in, especially the M50.

If you need to be totally unamped all the time and there's no possibilty of amping in the future maybe you'd like to consider HD-25, they're great for metal and are forgiving of bad recordings, just a thought.

Hey D-Sev.

I just got a pair of M50s a week ago, and so far I'm enjoying them. Now they aren't as comfortable as the DT770's velour, but the soft leather is nice. I use them for listening to all types of metal: from Scar Symmetry, Swallow the Sun, Blind Guardian, Nile, Kamelot, etc.etc. Most of my music is "bad quality" (around 256VBR or 320), but it sounds pretty clear/awesome on the M50s.

From your criteria:

Price - I believe these run usually around $140USD, but can be bought lower if you look around (~110USD?)

Closed - They provide quite good isolation. I have to have someone come right up to me and talk to me to hear them, otherwise I hear nothing when playing music at normal volumes.

Comfort - Not as comfortable as velour. I'm not the biggest fan of pleather/leather because of the sweating issue, but these are quite satisfactory. Your ears will begin to get warm after about 20min. I take hour breaks every 2-3 hours. NOTE: My overly angled ears kind of touch the drivers, but I seem to have gotten used to it/positioned the headphones so this doesn't happen. I believe I was wearing them awkwardly before.

Sound Quality - As mentioned, awesome. I believe guitars sound great which you should like. The bass is not overpowering at all. IMO, tight and controlled, but it's there and not recessed. You'll be happy as long as you don't demand bass to the n-th extreme. The cans do not make music sound bland, I thoroughly enjoy headbanging to my tunes.

Aesthetics - They look awesome. Check out some pics from Google. Simple, yet refined. Also the construction is pretty sturdy. The metal extending for the earpad adjustment is an added bonus to make sure the mechanism won't snap.


I'm in the same boat as you my friend. I've done about 4 months of research, and I believe it's led me to the right choice. I'm testing the out v. one other set, and then making a final decision. I'm cheap as well, but wanted a quality set.

A noob can't give you a huge detailed description like a veteran audiophile can, but I would have no quams recommending this to a fellow metalhead.

Do try and go listen to the phones before you buy 'em though, it's annoying to go through 12+ sets, but you've gotta hear 'em before you put a good amount of money down! It'll be worth it once you find the pair that's right for you


EDIT: My impressions are based on the M50s being unamped. An amp should only bring out more life in them.

Another thumbs up for the M50's. The bass is not overpowering at all. I'm not currently amping my phones but I plan to soon. One thing to consider, The M50's are completely cover the ears, The denons don't.