HELP! My new Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones might be broken.. - Page 2

I very much doubt that the problem is the headphones can't handle the volume. Much much more likely is the amps you are using (the EMU 1820m or the MacBook) can't drive the headphones to the volume level you want without distortion. It would be the amps that are distorting and not the headphones.

A sanity check would be to try the M50 headphones in a headphone out that is known to have more than enough juice and power, maybe a Mackie mixer or anything else you can find that has a powerful headphone out. If the M50 doesn't distort then you know it is the EMU and MacBook amps that are the problem and not the headphone.

The M50 has a relatively low impedance (38 ohms) and a lowish sensitivity (99 dB). That combination means the amp has to supply more current. Some amps just can't supply the necessary current for low impedance headphones and when they can't they distort. The same amp may do fine with higher impedance headphones.

I can get my M-Audio FireWire 410 headphone out to distort if I use a low impedance and low efficiency headphone. The headphone out is just wimpy. I suspect the EMU headphone out is similar. Laptop headphone outs are known to be wimpy as well.

One solution is to get a suitable amp that can drive the M50 properly. Otherwise look for a higher impedance headphone with higher efficiency that may work better with the EMU and MacBook.

I have yet to find any headphone costing more than $50 couldn't handle high volume.

My $20 headphone will make me go deaf before it distorts.

I have the same problem with my new ath-m50... I had them replaced because I thought they were broken, but nope, the problem is still there. I'm hearing subtle static noise (mostly in the left channel) around some frequencies (lower frequencies, especially when the volume is low), it's a little bit annoying.

 

I "heard" that burn-in should fix that, however I'm a bit sceptic... I'll try it, but for now, I'm pretty disappointed by the headphones.

Just for an update : 

 

I tried it at work today, and it was WAY worst. Static noise on every beat... it was ugly, really. However, I tried with the same mp3 on a another identical computer, and it was working perfectly. 

I tried it again at home with a cheap external sound card (bought on ebay for $3), and there was absolutely no more static.

 

So I guess these headphones are pretty sensitive to electrical fields, I might buy a DAC to use at work.

I'm having the same problem. Expect only use them with my Clip+. I was thinking about returing both until I found this thread. A lot of people here use the same exact combo with no problems. What gives? I'm using RockBox, so I'll continue to mess with settings. Really annoying.

They work well and go loud enough to be used as speakers on my J3 and my computer audio interface. No distortion or static in any situation and I know for a fact they can handle whatever sort of deaf-man volume you throw at them, so it's probably another link in your chain.

 

Oh, nice avatar, Cykull.

 

You too, Ham Sandwich.

Edited by Borgbox - 3/8/11 at 8:55am

Isn't that an EQ ?