Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

These are solid headphones. A modern day boombox. Insignia reminiscent of the Illuminati. Too cool to explain the meaning to the uninspired.This is the future, or is it the present...or past. I don't know. Trapped in a desolate world like a black box that stretches to infinity in all directions. Plugged into the multiverse of beat. Torn between Zen and Chaos she is versatile. A shark that cannot stop moving. 
 
It's hard to compare from memory because memory lies but the highs have been tamed slightly compared to the old M50's. They are still very clear, if not more robust. It's a little picky about sound quality. It will let you know when you have a bad recording. I laughed when it said Professional Monitor headphones on the box remembering my previous go around with the M50's, but now I see that they may indeed be useful if not for all recording but at least some modern genre's. 
 
The Mids. See V-shaped in dictionary.
 
Bass. Magnificent as always. You're still there. Seems like you gained some sub-bass but whatever. As long as you don't cross this line we won't have any problems. You even add .00001 db more of bass and you have to change your name from "ATH-M50X Professional Studio Monitor" to "ATH-M50X-Take That Beats". But I am slightly exaggerating. None the less for me this is the upper-most echelon of acceptable Bass accentuation and it is magnificent.
 
Soundstage. I thought it was smaller in the old ones. Now it seems significantly better. It is still clearly nothing special but at least it's somewhat outside your head. Must be the slightly different pads. 
 
Are these worth 120 dollars? Yes, but there are many out there, many young lions without big names that can fight and put an end to M50's dynasty. But they are barbarians, unrefined and uncivilized. These are solid headphones, heralded and unwavering. 

*Not an audio professional review, only my user opinion*
 
After listening to lots of headphones inside this price ranger I decided on these. I was first worried cause lately I was reading lots of people say they're not actually that good but my fellow friend convinced me that I won't be dissapointed if I go check them out. And he was right.
I'm a huge fan of Audio-Technicas design but normally they don't sell ATH's here so when I had the chance to listen to these and maybe even buy, I asked my wallet and he was okay with it.
Compared them with Sennheisers 558 and 600, Beyerdynamic DT 880/990 and AKG K701 and brought my own music so I got to listen just what I was going to listen at home too.
After years of using DT 770 600 ohm my ears yearn for bass, which of course is a good thing with electronica. Started with Sennheisers they both sounded great, then switched to Beyers and Oh boy did they sound better for the music, I realized neutral headphones are not my thing. AKG K701 were also fine but maybe I'd pick em up for something more metal.
Then I was handed these, I put them on and to my surprise they look and sound absolutely fantastic. It reminded me of my DT 770 at home which I so love, but with different kind of taste.
Next day I wake up as new owner of white ATH-M50x.
 
Value: Value for me personally was good, but I also hear lots of good things from other headphones in the price range like Shures which I didn't have the chance to try. I paid 151 euros which translates to 192 dollars, you can get them cheaper in US.
 
Audio Quality: The bass has some serious kick in it. Soundstage is good, maybe little close to the ear but that's to be expected from closed headphones and I personally prefer that to the airy sound of open headphones. 
 
Design: Detachable cable, they turn to almost every direction and even fold, what's there not to like? Only downside to this is that they're plastic and sometimes plastic worries me that it's going to crack like my early HD 555 did, but these are built very well and I can se them last me long time.
 
Comfort: Has good clamp on your head, if you don't like that you can do the stretch mod lots of people prefer. I like that clamp and I don't think it's too strong even straight out of the box, feels like Beyerdynamic on your head just smaller cups.
 
Overall I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking headphones that work well with bass-centric music, I won't throw my DT 770/600 ohm away as I enjoy both of these and not like you can ever have too many headphones, right?

Im probably like you right now, I was once reading reviews a bunch of comments, watching a bunch of videos of what to purchase... and everyone kept suggesting the ATH-M50x, so in a frantic search you are checking out reviews. I can honestly say that this was one of the best purchases. This headphone is great for studio use and I can easily convert to casual use. It plays great with all my songs even the ones I would like more bass with. I can easily get a flat sound while mixing. Excellent dynamic range, I can get songs down to very low frequencies without distortion. I can feel all the sub-bass frequencies , with no need for an amplifier. However, with the amplifier I sometimes felt my jaw shake! Everyone says the mids are recessed and its true, the mids arent as loud and present as the highs and lows, yet they do a great job. There is excellent separation between three aswell. The bass is never bleeding into the mids and the highs are not bleeding with the mids at all. I can play any song I want with the highest fidelity. I purchased the ATHM50XLE and still a great choice.

Got these headphones in blue limited edition and first of all, I must say that they look absolutely fantastic. Sexy in style and design. Not only that, the sound is amazing too! High, mid lows are all crisp and the bass is just enough for all you bass heads out there. Last but not least, the comfort of these headphones is beyond this world! You can literally wear these for the whole day and you head won't hurt even a bit. It's definitely one of the best headphones that is worth every buck of its price! The hype on these cans definitely isn't all for nothing. I really recommend this!

Before receiving M50x, I thought my review of this new updated version of a legendary M50 model going to be just a basic short comparison since the main advertised change was a removable cable with everything else remaining the same. Once I received it and had a chance to spend some time with it, I feel this pair of headphones deserves a full review - all over again! I really do feel Audio-Technica guys were a bit too modest downplaying the changes since beside the cable I can also hear sound improvement. Let's take a closer look at what I found.

I always start with a packaging because I find presentation of the product very important and always imagine if it would capture my attention if I see it on the shelf in the store. With M50x model the packaging was completely redesigned where instead of open view display now it's a sealed slick box with a main focus on the high quality image with a detachable cable. I can only imagine how much feedback AT received to push them over the edge to update their best selling model with this small, yet very significant change while leaving the rest of the design details the same. Typically a cable attachment is a weakest point in a design due to stress at the joint to earcup. Adding detachable cable extends the longevity of the headphone and adds flexibility for different replacement cables.

Audio-Technica included 3 different cables to make everybody happy. You get a straight 1.2m cable, a straight 3m cable, and a coiled cable which extends from 1.2m to 3m. Since the later two are intended for a more professional use, their 3.5mm connector side which goes to the audio source has a threaded connector for 1/4" adapter, included with accessories. On the other side attached to a left earcup, you have 2.5mm connector with a groove for interlocking twist connector. It is proprietary, but I'm sure it won't be too long before we going to see an aftermarket cable, perhaps even with in-line remote/mic. I have found myself using M50 while watching movies on my smartphone quite often in the last 6 months since I got it, so being able to pickup a call might be a good option as well.

In addition to 3 removable cables and 1/4" adapter, a storage drawstring pouch was also included which is a perfect size when M50x folded inward for the most compact storage. For those who would like a better case to protect your M50/M50x headphones, I would highly recommend Slappa Hardbody Pro Headphone case (http://www.amazon.com/Slappa-Sized-H...dp/B009NE7B06/) which is even more convenient to use now since you don't have to bend a cable and can just disconnect it for a long term storage or when traveling. Alternatively, you can place M50/M50x folded inside with a room for your DAP or DAC/amp.

Regarding the overall design, it remained the same - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The headphones are build like a tank, though most of the material is quality plastic. Thanks to a double-joint connection mechanism between headband and y-fork two-point connection to earcups, these can swivel and rotate 180 degrees to accommodate any head shape, to wear in DJ-style, to keep them around your neck with earcups flat, or to place them flat on any surface. The headband adjustment still has a precious click. Also, it's still has a very compact inward fold which significantly reduces a footprint for storage. The headband has a soft inner padding for comfortable extended period of time wear, and a decent clamping force which doesn't put too much pressure while still providing good passive noise isolation. Now, here comes something new. The earpads have been redesigned and now have a much softer pleather with a thicker padding feel. Another change I noticed was "ATH-M50x" label being stamped on y-fork of each side instead of being printed outside of earcups shell like with M50.

At this point, I would have concluded my review saying M50x has the same neodymium 45mm dynamic drivers, with the same frequency response and impedance and max input power rating. All of this looks the same on the paper, but once you start listening and doing A/B comparison between M50 and M50x you will quickly hear that a tuning is slightly different and improved! It's still a well balanced warm sound with a great bass response which extends down to fast mid-bass punch and low sub-bass layer - great in both quality and quantity. It still has a nice upper mids details and clarity, and crisp treble without being too bright and harsh, and without a hint of sibilance. But when compared very close to M50, the sound is less veiled and the bass is more detailed. Keep in mind, this is just a relative comparison since M50 is great to begin with, but M50x sounds brighter and more clear to my ears which I found to be a nice bonus in addition to removable cable and new earpads. Both still have a wider than average soundstage, and in general great for non-fatigue extended listening.

Overall, I was very impressed with this update and completely justify price difference between M50 and M50x models considering improved design with a set of 3 removable cables, a more comfortable earpads, and an improved sound signature tuning. Sometimes it's a risk to take a winning formula and try to change it or to update it, but in case of ATH-M50x this change was a definite success!
 
Here are the pictures.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
With Slappa Case.
 

 

 

 

I bought these to replace my Sennheiser HD25-I as they were quite uncomfortable to use for extended periods of time.
 
Whilst these are incredibly comfortable, the sound isn't something I'm used to. The highs are quite tinny no matter the genre. They need some wearing in, I suppose, but for $169, they're a great headphone.
 
The main reason I love them is because of their cables. They're thoughtfully designed and allows me to use it on my phone without having to remove the case. 

I was looking for closed headphones with a pricetag up to €200 that could be used without an amp. After some research and listening sessions I bought the M50x. There's really not a lot to say about these headphones. They are the new version of the well known M50/M50s with a few improvements. Such as a detachable cable and I also noticed a slightly improved soundstage and tighter bass. On top of that I found there was a little less sibilance than I experieced with the M50. The improvements in sound may be marginal, but they exist nonetheless.

The M50/M50s were great and now the M50x is just a little bit better. I wouldn't upgrade if I already owned the M50/M50s, but if you don't I think the M50x are the best closed headphones you can buy for up to €200 at the moment.

Basically an ATH M50 with the long awaited detachable cable. It ships with 3 different cables: 4 foot straight, 4 foot coiled and a 9 foot straight. However, you have to use Audio Technica cables since it has a twist lock mechanism. If you are looking for good quality audiophile/studio headphones, these are great. They are slightly more expensive than the original M50s but definitely worth it. On the other hand, if you already own the M50s, it is not worth upgrading to the M50X.