[audioKyle]

Ive been looking for some new headphones. I owned the klipsch s4, monster turbine and sennhieser hd203. I want some nice comfortable headphones that sound good for the price. I only have $150 to spend. I can get the CAL for around $50, klipsch for $60-$70, and m50s for $125. I heard a lot of great things about the m50s. The only headphones out of these that I've heard are the klipsch which I thought had a little too much bass but for the price on amazon isn't bad. I listen to mostly bands like the script, train, one republic. Mostly rock music. I also listen to some rap, hip-hop and dub step. I like clear sound with deep but not overpowering bass. I like to feel the kick drums and such.

 

[Crossfire23]

I own the M50's and I can say that they do a great job at bass. The bass is perfect and the cans produce crisp and basically beautiful sound.  Buy these if you want a good pair of headphones, that perform like expensive headphones that provide good bass, without compromising sound quality and having good isolation.  They definitely shine in hip hop/rap/dub step though I don't listen to much rock so I can't really vouch for them in that genre though I have heard many say they sound great in different types of rock as well. For $125 you really can't go wrong at that price, they are great headphones all around in terms of sound quality, comfort, and durability.

 

[audioKyle]

Yea I was leaning towards this one as well. Can the m50s be driven easily by say an iPod touch?

 

[Crossfire23]

Quote:

Yea I was leaning towards this one as well. Can the m50s be driven easily by say an iPod touch?

Yes, that is one of the great things of the M50's, an amp is pretty much unnecessary due to their low impedance (though they can still benefit from one) and they still sound great.

 

[Coq de Combat]

I'd go with the M50s out of those mentioned based on my own preferences. Main differences between M50s and the CAL: Bass goes deeper on the M50, has more power to it, the treble isn't "laidback" and they are better built. The CALs have a slightly "bigger soundstage" and a little more comfort (however, they don't isolate as well and are pretty flimsy in their build).
 
I'll leave the recommendations for other cans to others.

 

[Han Bao Quan]

I owned both the CAL! and the M-50. To my ears, the CAL! sounds more lively and more balanced. The M-50 only has more bass in quantity, but not in quality. It's like a jack-of-all trades, does everything well not excel in anything. I sold the M-50 and still keep my CAL!.
 
Build quality is better on the M-50, and comfort is better on the CAL!
 
I'd recommend the CAL! over the M-50

 

[audioKyle]

I'd go with the M50s out of those mentioned based on my own preferences. Main differences between M50s and the CAL: Bass goes deeper on the M50, has more power to it, the treble isn't "laidback" and they are better built. The CALs have a slightly "bigger soundstage" and a little more comfort (however, they don't isolate as well and are pretty flimsy in their build).
 
I'll leave the recommendations for other cans to others.

How does the sound from the klipsch image one compare with the m50s?

 

[Bill-P]

I audited the Klipsch Image One, and made comparison to my M50S. To my ears, the M50 sounded wider and deeper, had better treble extension, lower bass, more punch, and was generally more enjoyable. The Klipsch Image One had smoother and more forward midrange, but I didn't like their in-your-face presentation.
 
Not sure about CAL, though.

 

[audioKyle]

 
Quote:

I audited the Klipsch Image One, and made comparison to my M50S. To my ears, the M50 sounded wider and deeper, had better treble extension, lower bass, more punch, and was generally more enjoyable. The Klipsch Image One had smoother and more forward midrange, but I didn't like their in-your-face presentation.
 
Not sure about CAL, though.

 
Can you hear more details and such with the m50?
 
 

 

[DjAmTraX]

Is the Creative Aurvana Live a good headphones?  Heard that it's the same as a Denon, but don't know which model.

 

[Crossfire23]

Quote:

Is the Creative Aurvana Live a good headphones?  Heard that it's the same as a Denon, but don't know which model.

They use the same drivers as the Denon 1001.

 

[Bill-P]

Quote:

 
Can you hear more details and such with the m50?

It depends largely on the recording, but yeah, in general I noticed more details with the M50. But I should also note that my M50 is the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition one. Even though I've read that it should not be different compared to the regular, I can testify that mine is quite different compared to my dad's regular M50 with coiled cord in terms of sound signature. My M50 is more detailed, with less bass.

 

[ConXept]

I have to disagree I have listened to all three, and the best beginner headphone of the three is the CAL!,  They are so well balanced, have perfectly tuned bass, and after a good break in they sound quite phenomenal.   I have also modded them and they now sound like good high end ($300 and up) headphones. Not to mention, they're incredibly comfortable.

 

[jaguor]

I had the CAL! for over half a year and I can say that the differences in sound quality between them and the M50 are pretty small and not at all worth the $75 (over double the price) more you'd pay to get the M50. The CAL! has quite an amount of bass but as far as I can remember, it is not overpowering in any way as you'd like. I'm not so sure about the newer M50 but I do remember the older version had more bass to the point of being overpowering to me, which gives you a good indication of the amount of bass the CAL! has compared to the M50. The CAL! very noticeably puts vocals forward while I found the M50 to be largely bass and the other frequencies felt a bit recessed because of that. You will hear slightly more detail with the M50 but the actual difference in sound quality between them is very minimal (to me it was at least, and IjokerI's review thread seems to state the same) and not at all worth over double the price of the CAL! if you'd rather save on money. With the sound quality of both headphones being only slightly apart from each other, it more comes down to the sound signature you want.
 
For other aspects, the CAL! is extremely comfortable, but the build quality and isolation aren't very good. The headband is pretty thin and the cups are glossy and tend to get scratched fairly easily, and the cable also comes from both cups if that matters to you. The M50 on the other hand isn't as comfortable (although still pretty comfortable), is built pretty tough (and is much larger in size) and has better isolation. The cord of the M50 comes only from one side but is pretty long so it is not the most ideal for portable use, and it is also fairly thick, especially in comparison to the CAL!

Regarding your music tastes, I do listen to The Script and OneRepublic and I am confident in saying that I would have preferred the CAL! for rock music over the M50. They also worked fine to me for genres dubstep and drum & bass. This of course is only a comparison to the old M50, which is something to keep in mind, but I doubt the new M50 would be even more than a bit better in sound quality compared to the old M50 and only seems to have a different sound signature as far as I have read.