The Audio Technica M50 studio monitor appreciation thread - Page 70

Quote:

Originally Posted by babagaga 

 

i got the the coiled ones, they're not that heavy afterall, and anyways i lay them on my table and so the length was perfect for me. nice modding thread, pity the photos are gone. will take a look next time. 

hmmm... actually i'm not entirely sure what 'mids' mean. do they mean 'detailed clear sounds'?

Mids are the midrange of the frequency response.  Mids are things like vocals, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdahm519 

Mids are the midrange of the frequency response.  Mids are things like vocals, etc.

I'm ok with the mids i'm getting from the M50. what music and how long do u guys burn them in? or should i just listen to music as per normal and hope they turn out better after few mths? i only listen to music at most 1 hr day. i listen to mostly electronic music like downtempo, trip hop, chillout and lounge. music which needs a bit of bass in them.

I absolutely hate my Audio Technica ATH-A700, in fact I don't ever use them. I'm so pissed that I bought them over the M50's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by babagaga 

I'm ok with the mids i'm getting from the M50. what music and how long do u guys burn them in? or should i just listen to music as per normal and hope they turn out better after few mths? i only listen to music at most 1 hr day. i listen to mostly electronic music like downtempo, trip hop, chillout and lounge. music which needs a bit of bass in them.

I just burned them in the first 24 hours after the first listen. After that, I just listened to them normally.

I suggest you don't burn in too much, it's more of an experience to hear the changing sound and let your 'brain burn in'.

Hello peeps

So I have the SRH 940 and HD 598 headphones, both are which are great, the SRH 940 for acoustic/vocal songs (Someone Like You by Adele sounds wonderful on these) and the HD 598 for general music and movie watching, but both of these cans are kinda light on bass so after a bit of research I decided to get the Audio Technica M50. I was worried that since the M50 is cheaper than the SRH 940 and HD 598 it wouldnt sound nearly as good as them, but the moment I plugged them into my E7/E9 amp and started playing music through them, any fears I had that these wouldnt compare to my other cans were put to rest. They sound decent even without any burn-in, unlike the other cans when I first got them, and the bass that is missing in the other cans is definitely present in the M50. I can only expect that the sound will get even better from here on out as they burn-in.

I think I can stop headphone hunting now. :-)

Has anyone tried DT 770 pads on this? I know DT 770 pads are larger, they are loosely fit; but they are such nice pads, I just wonder whether they will work well?

Hi everyone. I'm rather new to the hi-fi sound community, but I have a habit of shopping around for the best bang for my buck. Even though I'm still a teen, I really appreciate nice sound, and I finally got around to buying a nice, shiny pair of headphones. For the price I paid, I must say that I absolutely love my ATH-M50s - I've had them for about 2 months now, with a solid 100 or so (probably more) hours on them. I started out with mixed opinions - although the sound quality was easily dozens of times better than the $25 IEMs that I got from Target, these cans were heavy, tight, and had way too much cord. However, I have to admit, over time I noticed a burn in, getting so much more quality than before. Also, wearing the headphones and doing very light stretching before putting them on has made them as comfortable as air - I've literally forgotten I've had these on for hours at a time. Finally, the cord turned out to be even more useful than I imagined, since it comfortably stretches across my desk when I need to grab something, and I can adjust the length of the band easily using a rubber band.

The only things I don't like about these headphones now is that I can't take anyone who listens to Beats seriously anymore... but of course, they like heavily branded products, unlike me. Also, the connections between the cord and the headphones, along with the joints between the headband and the cups, are slightly noisy, constantly making me paranoid of damage of some sort, even while they are perfectly fine.

However, as a relatively poor student, I haven't used these headphones with amps. I've only used them with my laptop and iPod Touch 4g, which have so far done perfectly fine for me, but I might get a small amp later. 

Also, I have one question - would a laptop's headphone jack be able to damage the ATH-M50s drivers? Unfortunately, my mother is not very tech-savvy. She was watching shows online while I was away and, noticing that the computer's sound was particularly quiet, blasted the volume to 100%. I had the headphones connected directly to the jack without an amp, and she said that she watched shows for about an hour. As of right now, I can't hear any distortion, popping, or clipping, but they sound a little quiet and... well, a little punchier and detailed than before. The quietness is probably from the fact that I was in a rather loud location for a few hours (not hearing-damaging), and I'd understand if being on full-blast for an hour loosened up the drivers. However... are there any other symptoms of driver damage that I should listen for? I told my mom to always check if the headphones were unplugged, so assuming that nothing happens, my headphones should never be above a safe listening level for a prolonged period of time again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XenoPenguin 

Hi everyone. I'm rather new to the hi-fi sound community, but I have a habit of shopping around for the best bang for my buck. Even though I'm still a teen, I really appreciate nice sound, and I finally got around to buying a nice, shiny pair of headphones. For the price I paid, I must say that I absolutely love my ATH-M50s - I've had them for about 2 months now, with a solid 100 or so (probably more) hours on them. I started out with mixed opinions - although the sound quality was easily dozens of times better than the $25 IEMs that I got from Target, these cans were heavy, tight, and had way too much cord. However, I have to admit, over time I noticed a burn in, getting so much more quality than before. Also, wearing the headphones and doing very light stretching before putting them on has made them as comfortable as air - I've literally forgotten I've had these on for hours at a time. Finally, the cord turned out to be even more useful than I imagined, since it comfortably stretches across my desk when I need to grab something, and I can adjust the length of the band easily using a rubber band.

 

The only things I don't like about these headphones now is that I can't take anyone who listens to Beats seriously anymore... but of course, they like heavily branded products, unlike me. Also, the connections between the cord and the headphones, along with the joints between the headband and the cups, are slightly noisy, constantly making me paranoid of damage of some sort, even while they are perfectly fine.

 

However, as a relatively poor student, I haven't used these headphones with amps. I've only used them with my laptop and iPod Touch 4g, which have so far done perfectly fine for me, but I might get a small amp later. 

 

Also, I have one question - would a laptop's headphone jack be able to damage the ATH-M50s drivers? Unfortunately, my mother is not very tech-savvy. She was watching shows online while I was away and, noticing that the computer's sound was particularly quiet, blasted the volume to 100%. I had the headphones connected directly to the jack without an amp, and she said that she watched shows for about an hour. As of right now, I can't hear any distortion, popping, or clipping, but they sound a little quiet and... well, a little punchier and detailed than before. The quietness is probably from the fact that I was in a rather loud location for a few hours (not hearing-damaging), and I'd understand if being on full-blast for an hour loosened up the drivers. However... are there any other symptoms of driver damage that I should listen for? I told my mom to always check if the headphones were unplugged, so assuming that nothing happens, my headphones should never be above a safe listening level for a prolonged period of time again.

Wait your mom watched the show with the M50's acting as loud-speakers?

Anyway, if you don't hear any distortions then it should be ok. How loud is your M50's when you turn the laptop vol to max (can you still, even if barely, be able to wear it with something playing)? As long as it's not so loud that you can't get it near your ears without damaging your hearing, it shouldn't be an issue.

If you are primarily listening to music from your laptop, I'd recommend you getting an external DAC, more than an amplifier (the main culprit of bad / weak sound quality is due to your laptop's sound-card, and a DAC overrides that). For example, the FiiO E7 works wonders on the M50's clarity, smoothness, and punchiness. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by XenoPenguin 

 

However, as a relatively poor student, I haven't used these headphones with amps. I've only used them with my laptop and iPod Touch 4g, which have so far done perfectly fine for me, but I might get a small amp later. 

 

 

I have the E7/E9 which I use with my laptop, it pretty much pushes my M50 to output great sound, compared to when its connected directly to the headphone jack of my laptop. Although I'm started to get the feeling that the E7 is hindering the quality of the sound and I'm looking at getting a new DAC, this time its going to be one of the really high end ones like Schiit or HRT Streamer or something. However, if you are using the M50 with your iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad, I have to recommend the SRS Labs iWOW-3D Audio Enhancement Adaptor which can be had for $35. The iWOW adaptor dramatically improves the sound quality of the iPod in all aspects: bass, highs, mids, lows, vocals, clarity, detail, soundstage, loudness, etc, it easily rivals the E7/E9 setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

Wait your mom watched the show with the M50's acting as loud-speakers?

 

Anyway, if you don't hear any distortions then it should be ok. How loud is your M50's when you turn the laptop vol to max (can you still, even if barely, be able to wear it with something playing)? As long as it's not so loud that you can't get it near your ears without damaging your hearing, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

If you are primarily listening to music from your laptop, I'd recommend you getting an external DAC, more than an amplifier (the main culprit of bad / weak sound quality is due to your laptop's sound-card, and a DAC overrides that). For example, the FiiO E7 works wonders on the M50's clarity, smoothness, and punchiness. 

 

 

Yeah, she was using them as loudspeakers. I just checked what they sounded like at a high volume (for about a second), and they were still wearable, although the sound seemed distorted. I'm assuming that my mom wasn't playing a constant stream of sound for the most part, which may have saved my cans a little. 

I never blast my headphones or put them above a low listening level, normally. 
 

Thanks for the suggestion, too. I was looking to see if I wanted to get a DAC or amp, since I wasn't too sure about the difference. I've heard a bit about the E7, so I might look into that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAndroid 

 

I have the E7/E9 which I use with my laptop, it pretty much pushes my M50 to output great sound, compared to when its connected directly to the headphone jack of my laptop. Although I'm started to get the feeling that the E7 is hindering the quality of the sound and I'm looking at getting a new DAC, this time its going to be one of the really high end ones like Schiit or HRT Streamer or something. However, if you are using the M50 with your iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad, I have to recommend the SRS Labs iWOW-3D Audio Enhancement Adaptor which can be had for $35. The iWOW adaptor dramatically improves the sound quality of the iPod in all aspects: bass, highs, mids, lows, vocals, clarity, detail, soundstage, loudness, etc, it easily rivals the E7/E9 setup.

 

 

Good to know. As of right now, I'm still looking at the E7 since I do most of my listening from my laptop, although that might change later. How portable exactly is the E7? I don't do much moving about with headphones on, but I use them for trips and sometimes I have to move around a little.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XenoPenguin 

 

Yeah, she was using them as loudspeakers. I just checked what they sounded like at a high volume (for about a second), and they were still wearable, although the sound seemed distorted. I'm assuming that my mom wasn't playing a constant stream of sound for the most part, which may have saved my cans a little. 

I never blast my headphones or put them above a low listening level, normally. 
 

Thanks for the suggestion, too. I was looking to see if I wanted to get a DAC or amp, since I wasn't too sure about the difference. I've heard a bit about the E7, so I might look into that.

Good to know. As of right now, I'm still looking at the E7 since I do most of my listening from my laptop, although that might change later. How portable exactly is the E7? I don't do much moving about with headphones on, but I use them for trips and sometimes I have to move around a little.

 

E7 = basically the size of an iPhone, maybe a bit thicker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XenoPenguin 

Good to know. As of right now, I'm still looking at the E7 since I do most of my listening from my laptop, although that might change later. How portable exactly is the E7? I don't do much moving about with headphones on, but I use them for trips and sometimes I have to move around a little.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

E7 = basically the size of an iPhone, maybe a bit thicker.

 

The E7 comes with a rubber band thing that is meant to hold your iPhone together with the E7 when they are used together, but to me its an inelegant and flimsy setup. You still have to get a line out jack for your iPhone if you want to use it with the E7. so iPhone + line out jack + E7 = hot mess. Its not really something you would want to be carrying about or even put inside your pocket because of the different wires and everything, and the rubber band would obscure part of the touchscreen. The E7 is an OK DAC for desktops, but for portable use, its not really nice.

Acquired the M50 out of need of well isolating closed back headphones and paired with my Stello DA100 -> Violectric V200, sounds absolutely heavenly. Compared to unamped sound, there is tighter bass, bit more body to the mids, and smoothing out of the highs. Love it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAndroid 

 

The E7 comes with a rubber band thing that is meant to hold your iPhone together with the E7 when they are used together, but to me its an inelegant and flimsy setup. You still have to get a line out jack for your iPhone if you want to use it with the E7. so iPhone + line out jack + E7 = hot mess. Its not really something you would want to be carrying about or even put inside your pocket because of the different wires and everything, and the rubber band would obscure part of the touchscreen. The E7 is an OK DAC for desktops, but for portable use, its not really nice.

Completely agree