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ATH-M50s burnin question

post #1 of 34
2/4/10 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
For those of you who have these, just how long do they take to burn in? I've had them for a week now, and still not noticing much diff from my $10 headphones. They sound better, but not by much. Also, I keep reading about ppl saying these have a bit more bass than they like, but my bass is almost non existent.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Audio-Technica ATH-M50S
post #2 of 34
2/4/10 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bovice View Post
For those of you who have these, just how long do they take to burn in? I've had them for a week now, and still not noticing much diff from my $10 headphones. They sound better, but not by much. Also, I keep reading about ppl saying these have a bit more bass than they like, but my bass is almost non existent.
It's a matter of taste. Some people refuse to listen to headphones until the headphones past the 300 hour burn in mark, others listen to them right out of the box. If you can't hear a difference between the headphones, then:

A) The quality of files you're using is quite low
B) Your ear isn't as sensitive as others
C) Your $10 headphones are quite good

It may be a combination of all three of these or maybe just one, but with all things audio, everything is relative. What's fantastic to one person is like eating mud to another.
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post #3 of 34
2/4/10 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bovice View Post
For those of you who have these, just how long do they take to burn in? I've had them for a week now, and still not noticing much diff from my $10 headphones. They sound better, but not by much. Also, I keep reading about ppl saying these have a bit more bass than they like, but my bass is almost non existent.
What source are you running them out of? I agree also that the files might not be of great quality.

I have over 100 hours on mine, and I'll be frank, I haven't really noticed a difference between hour 1 and hour 100. I started listening to them straight out of the box also. Perhaps there have been some subtle changes that I just have not noticed.

As for the bass....perhaps you read too much into some of the comments. The bass is "slightly" over emphasized compared to the mids and highs. They are by no means boomy or thump. They hit hard when called upon. Other than that, they do an adequate job of delivering low end.

People should definitely understand that these are not like the Sony XB series or like some Ultrasone models. The comments on the M50's are really hot and cold. Some people think they thump and others think they are anemic.

But I would recommend giving them some more time and make sure your source and files are quality. They may kick in for you. Hopefully anyway. I know I really like mine.
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post #4 of 34
2/4/10 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
My 2 sources have been my mp3 player, mp3s and .wavs (converteed from .flac) and from my laptop, plugged into the the headphone jack, playing .flacs with foobar media player and even between them, I can't tell a diff that i'm on my mp3 or laptop.
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post #5 of 34
2/4/10 at 11:26pm
Well the files are certainly good enough. BTW, there is a guy that posted a "bass reduction" mod for the M50. Check it out. That may be the key to your listening bliss.
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post #6 of 34
2/5/10 at 12:04am
If you like your $10 headphones just as much, I would sell the M-50s and find another hobby to sink money into.
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post #7 of 34
2/5/10 at 1:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nonsupremous View Post
Well the files are certainly good enough. BTW, there is a guy that posted a "bass reduction" mod for the M50. Check it out. That may be the key to your listening bliss.
I don't think the bass is the problem (though I did read that thread) tbh. I can barely notice any bass as it is.


As for the post above, not satisfied w/ the $10 headphones to begin with, which is why I wanted to try some HQ phones, but I just honestly can't tell the difference as of yet.
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post #8 of 34
2/5/10 at 5:09am
What type of music do you listen to? I listen to mostly classical, and find the bass a little overbearing. If you're a rap/hip-hop guy, it's possible the M50s just won't cut it.

How come you are using WAVs instead of FLAC? FLAC is the same as WAV, only in a smaller lossless file format.
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post #9 of 34
2/5/10 at 6:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jageur272 View Post
It's a matter of taste. Some people refuse to listen to headphones until the headphones past the 300 hour burn in mark, others listen to them right out of the box. If you can't hear a difference between the headphones, then:

A) The quality of files you're using is quite low
B) Your ear isn't as sensitive as others
C) Your $10 headphones are quite good

I
D) Your sources are poor and can't take advantage of more expensive phones? Laptop sound sucks.
E) Your expectations far exceed what the headphones are capable of?
F) You just don't like the particular sound of these phones.

Burn in is not a magic pill. Plenty don't even believe in it. Your headphones will not sound all that different after 100-500 hours. You might get more familiar with them and appreciate what they doing, but don't expect them to turn into something else.

I would find a decent stereo to try them on. If they don't sound any better to you then stick with something a bit cheaper.
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post #10 of 34
2/5/10 at 8:25am
Laptop headphone jacks are no way to get the best out of your headphones. You'll need a DAC to fully maximize the potential of your headphones.
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post #11 of 34
2/5/10 at 1:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drubbing View Post
D) Your sources are poor and can't take advantage of more expensive phones? Laptop sound sucks.
E) Your expectations far exceed what the headphones are capable of?
F) You just don't like the particular sound of these phones.

Burn in is not a magic pill. Plenty don't even believe in it. Your headphones will not sound all that different after 100-500 hours. You might get more familiar with them and appreciate what they doing, but don't expect them to turn into something else.

I would find a decent stereo to try them on. If they don't sound any better to you then stick with something a bit cheaper.

My laptop sounds pretty good, actually. Sounds pretty bland regularly, but it has a button called "Cinema Pro", which drains up a lot more battery, but supports up to 7.1 surround, but I don't have anything to compare that to, so you guys are the audio pros here. While not what I was expecting, they DO sound better than my other headphones on my laptop, where as on the mp3, I can't really tell a diff.

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackzarg View Post
What type of music do you listen to? I listen to mostly classical, and find the bass a little overbearing. If you're a rap/hip-hop guy, it's possible the M50s just won't cut it.

How come you are using WAVs instead of FLAC? FLAC is the same as WAV, only in a smaller lossless file format.
I listen to about anything. I got hip-hop, jazz, pop (fk what anyone says i can get down to Miley), j-pop, videogame music, ect.

As for the .wavs, my mp3 player doesn't support .flac, so I just convert them to .wav so I can put them on my mp3 player.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeroblade View Post
Laptop headphone jacks are no way to get the best out of your headphones. You'll need a DAC to fully maximize the potential of your headphones.


My friend wanted to borrow them for a day and sent me a text saying they sound amazing on his Iphone. Would this fall into the category? I'm pretty new to this stuff, so I'm not really sure. I'll be listening to his iphone though when I come to pick them up.

If those go well, would you suggest I get an Ipod? I've been looking to replace this mp3 player anyways, as it only has 4 gigs (sony walkman). Would Ipod classics sound as good as Iphones (like do they have the same hard/software when it comes to sound). If so, i'll pick up a classic (more to my liking than I touch, as I won't have to take it out of my pocket anytime I want to change song and can get a much larger memory size.
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post #12 of 34
2/5/10 at 2:24pm
iPods have a pretty decent DAC, I think. There are others that switch the parts out, but I think the stock iPod would work well enough for you; I certainly had no complaints for when I used them. At least, before one broke down and the next got stolen half a month in lol
Laptop jacks are generally the integrated soundcards from the motherboard, and producers will do anything to save a buck or two - this includes putting crappier integrated soundcards in the motherboards. An offboard DAC component really brings out the best in your setup.
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post #13 of 34
2/5/10 at 3:12pm
Can you find the exact model number of the integrated sound in your laptop? Many recent integrated sound cards aren't bad at all.
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post #14 of 34
2/5/10 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arctia View Post
Can you find the exact model number of the integrated sound in your laptop? Many recent integrated sound cards aren't bad at all.
How would I go about doing this?

Edit: If it helps, this is what I have
MSI Notebook Official Website
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post #15 of 34
2/5/10 at 3:49pm
Have you gone back and listened to your $10 headphones lately? While you might think they sound the same, based on your initial impressions, your brain grows accustomed to the new "sound" and going back to the cheaper headphones typically yields an underwelming experience (not always- Koss KSC-75 can be had for around $10-20 and they sound pretty damn good!).

I own the M50s and enjoy them very much, however I really started appreciating them when I got the iPhone 3GS. Even better is the NuForce µDac USB Dac ($99). Listening to flac files using bit-perfect payback (thru Foobar using WASAPI output in Windows 7) is addictive on the M50s! I highly recommend the µDac for your laptop audio.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Audio-Technica ATH-M50S
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