Audio Technica M50 vs AD700 vs HD555 for 5.1DD\DTS movies

Welcome to Head-Fi. 

FWIR - I suggest considering the Pioneer SE-A1000 from Amazon.com for ~$80.

Edit 1:

Just talked myself into buying one and pulled the trigger.

                   ...      ...   

Edit 2:

About those other headphones...

I like a big sound stage for my movie headphones. So I usually use open headphones - except when closed is needed to prevent sound from leaking out.

The SRH840 and M50 are closed - and I recently bought the SRH750DJ over both. I owned the HD555 and AD700, and preferred the HD555 for movies - but I am not likely to buy either again. 

I don't really have an answer for you, however just one thing I would like to mention..........Optical cables run off of light emissions, therefore you can't have a better optical than another one (And this is why there is so much conspiracy over Monster cables, as it is a complete lie). The only situation where high end optical cables are required is when they are extremely long like over 50 feet long. Same goes for HDMI cables, it's a digital signal, not analog. A digital signal either arrives at its destination or it doesn't, you can't have a higher quality digital cable. Again, the only exception is SUPER long cables running all the way across your house where the cable needs a faster speed. It's like trying to convince someone that a $50 1 foot long USB 2.0 cable is vastly superior to a $0.50 1 foot long USB 2.0 cable. It's pure insanity. Just offering some advice.

you may not feel the same, but I don't like the AD700 for movie.  No good bass impact for explosion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkuro 

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundeffect 

you may not feel the same, but I don't like the AD700 for movie.  No good bass impact for explosion.

My question is how closed-back headphones like the M50 deal with sorround sound?

for example, I have the Sennheiser InEar CX300 and I cant notice when the sound is coming from the back or from the front... and I'm afraid to buy a 100$+ headphones that cant deal with sorround properly...

soundstage is less important to me, i prefer to get an accurate sound with a decent bass... is the ADA700 is really lacking of bass?

 

btw, sorry about my poor english :X

 

thanks again guys.

What we are dealing with here then is the quality of surround sound in open vs closed back headphones. Open backed headphones are just closed back headphones that...aren't...closed...back lol. Your going to usually have a wider soundstage which is good, but you will also be bass lacking. The simple truth is stereo headphones cannot ever have TRUE surround sound, it's a simulated effect. There are only 2 speakers, true surround sound uses separate speakers placed around a room to give you a surround effect. In headphones, this must be simulated. Check out some videos on youtube by searching for 'Dolby headphone test' or 'Dolby headphone demo'.

So, here's the bottom line. Is a lack of bass, annoyance to others through leakage, annoyance to yourself through lack of isolation worth it for you to have a slightly better soundstage for simulated non-legitimate surround sound movies? Or would just just prefer headphones that have much better bass, barely any leakage, and good isolation but have a slightly worse soundstage, for simulated non-legitimate surround sound movies.

A similar thread is going around.

My post to that thread which is applicable to a major extent here as well.

Both are great yet very different headphones. I own them both and use them for specific purposes. Please note that the below comparisons are based on my own experiences.

For trance, RnB, hip hop (anything that has a bass beat to it): m50 hands down. The HD555 can't handle bass like the m50 can. 

Loudness: m50

Bass: m50

Soundstage: HD555

Clean sound: HD555 (in particular when listening to acoustic or orchestral music)

Games: HD555

Movies: HD555

Noise Isolation: m50 (because the leather pads seal your ear)

Sound leakage: HD555 leak a lot of sound

I prefer my m50 for music.

I prefer my HD555 for movies and games only because of the soundstage and how clean they sound, especially for dialogues (ALSO virtual surround sound from my sound card works better with open ear HP)

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/524820/100-150-budget-for-a-headphone

This person had a similar question, see my replies there.

Bass is a huge factor for movies.  Depending on your definition of 'clean' my M50 had a blacker, cleaner background than the HD555.  If you don't have control over your M50s bass response and get bleed in to the mids then the 555 and 840 have much cleaner separation in that regard.  

Well, for me songs that require bass are not going to get you going and sometime sound out of place.  Just depend what music you are listen to and for movie the explosion seems to lack fullness and kinda thin.  Don't know how else to explain it, but it's one of those things where you have to hear to know...but just know not to expect too much.  There are bass just lack oomph.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkuro 

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundeffect 

you may not feel the same, but I don't like the AD700 for movie.  No good bass impact for explosion.

My question is how closed-back headphones like the M50 deal with sorround sound?

for example, I have the Sennheiser InEar CX300 and I cant notice when the sound is coming from the back or from the front... and I'm afraid to buy a 100$+ headphones that cant deal with sorround properly...

soundstage is less important to me, i prefer to get an accurate sound with a decent bass... is the ADA700 is really lacking of bass?

 

btw, sorry about my poor english :X

 

thanks again guys.

Well, for games the M50 ate the AD700 for breakfast. I would think it would be similar with movies.

I'm not exactly sure why people say the ad700 are awesome/great for gaming.  My brother who games a lot borrow my headphone and prefer other headphones for gaming.  He told me that they do have good soundstage and pin point accuracy, but other headphones has good enough soundstage and pin point accuracy, but have the benefit of good bass instead of a more hollow sound explosion/gun fire.  In fact, he get accuse of cheating all the time.  I don't know, I never tried headphone for gaming before so yeah take it with a little bit of salt. also of course my brother is only one person.  Just trying to give my insight from what I heard.

  For movie, I prefer the M50 over the ad700.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katun 

Well, for games the M50 ate the AD700 for breakfast. I would think it would be similar with movies.

The m50 is good for gaming if you like to hear sounds coming out of the middle of your head.  They have no soundstage at all.  I also prefer the light bass of the ad700 for gaming because it's easier to hear fine detail int he audio instead of rumbling bass.  

All three of the ad700, hd555 and m50 are great for your purposes. I own two of them and have owned one for a long time. 

My preferences

Gaming: m50 > ad700 > hd555

Movies: ad700 > hd555 > m50

The biggest difference between them is the comfort. When I play fps games, it's usually for less than an hour. When I watch movies, it's all at once. For gaming, it's purely preference between the ad700 and the m50 in terms of proficiency. I liked my sound intimate so I chose the m50 for gaming. Don't take this to mean the m50 has no soundstage, it still has very good depth and manages to not make you feel claustrophobic.

As for sound, I don't have many expectations for bass. It can't be overwhelming and it can be light as long as it's balanced by a large soundstage. The m50 is very adaptable with its bass, having impact when needed but stepping down when not. Drum kicks in acoustic tracks sound clean and maybe a tad bit distracting, but it manages very well. I think I have a newer m50 if that matters.