On my very first auditioning, the first headphone I listened to was an ATH-M50 sample. This display was obviously aged as I see the headband was already tattered. I thought this was a good thing as burn-in wouldn't be an issue (if it exists), and it's tried and tested which shows how sturdy these headphones are (despite the tattered leather). When I listened to it, my 10 minutes impression was bad. Its got bass overwhelming everything else; I actually thought I was listening to an over sized Cowon CE1. So I moved on. On another shop, I ignored their sample of the M50 as I thought I already know how it'll sound like.
Due to frustration of waiting for my headphone of choice to arrive (DT770 250), I bought someone else's ATH-M50 LE. It was the price along with finally having a headphone that got me. The former owner claims he burned it in for about 10-15 hours (white noise along with normal usage). I listened to the headphone through out the night and even today, and I found it's actually decent. Quite lean. And since my ears aren't trained, there's just a little bit lacking in it but I can't point my finger at it. Probably the mids. But the point is, it's definitely not the same sound I heard from the sample I listened to. I read reviews about the LE vs the original. Consensus say they're only cosmetically different. But I'm hearing contradicting conclusions.
So I'm a bit puzzled. I can only assume that perhaps the sample at the shop was just worn out? Am I correct?
