Excellent product. Used mainly with McBook/ipod/iphone with external DAC (ESI Dr DAC Nano) or with Audio technica portable amp (ATH-pha30i). Used in flight as well as at home, in public transportation, ...
Bass are present, trebbles are crisps and mediums are beautiful. Those cans are very well balanced. I would not say bass are muddy or whatever audiophile term is used for sloppy engineered devices. Digital sound makes our ears very sensitive to exactitude and flaws in recordings. Recording techniques are incredibly more accurate than even 15 years ago. Also, the current preference for music/sound is a lot of low meds (not even talking about bass, except for night club sound). Just listen to Al Schmitt's recordings of Dianna Krall and compare that with Sinatra or Billie Holiday or even Harry Connick's from another time. So, in the end, a pair of cans must be able to address 1920's jazz, Mahler or Beethoven, as well as LMAO, DJ mixing or high milage music (electronic lounge stuff). If you listen to noise rather than music (I mean natural instruments), you can use a Monster Dr@$¨!, but if you want to listen to music in any situation, at a good price, then the M50 is the deal.
I wanted the best product for the money. I already was using in ear ATH CK10, after wearing off Shure, Koss and a few others. I also wanted to replace my AKG 240 monitor. I wanted a studio/pro device because if those guys chose such products it means it cannot be all bad, especially in terms of robustness, reliability, value for the buck and neutrality. I checkd the AKG, but finally ended up with ATH.
I listened to better stuff, like Stax or Sennheizer HD 700, 800, 650 with dedicated amplifiers (by Sennheizer), but in the end, considering my usage and (again) the value for money, the M50 came as an obvious choice. I'm not a ATH freak, but I know that japanese take pride into desiging high quality stuff, even if manufacturing in China.
I'm not putting 5 stars because the ratio price/money could even be improved, but I'm not being obnoxious.
Bass are present, trebbles are crisps and mediums are beautiful. Those cans are very well balanced. I would not say bass are muddy or whatever audiophile term is used for sloppy engineered devices. Digital sound makes our ears very sensitive to exactitude and flaws in recordings. Recording techniques are incredibly more accurate than even 15 years ago. Also, the current preference for music/sound is a lot of low meds (not even talking about bass, except for night club sound). Just listen to Al Schmitt's recordings of Dianna Krall and compare that with Sinatra or Billie Holiday or even Harry Connick's from another time. So, in the end, a pair of cans must be able to address 1920's jazz, Mahler or Beethoven, as well as LMAO, DJ mixing or high milage music (electronic lounge stuff). If you listen to noise rather than music (I mean natural instruments), you can use a Monster Dr@$¨!, but if you want to listen to music in any situation, at a good price, then the M50 is the deal.
I wanted the best product for the money. I already was using in ear ATH CK10, after wearing off Shure, Koss and a few others. I also wanted to replace my AKG 240 monitor. I wanted a studio/pro device because if those guys chose such products it means it cannot be all bad, especially in terms of robustness, reliability, value for the buck and neutrality. I checkd the AKG, but finally ended up with ATH.
I listened to better stuff, like Stax or Sennheizer HD 700, 800, 650 with dedicated amplifiers (by Sennheizer), but in the end, considering my usage and (again) the value for money, the M50 came as an obvious choice. I'm not a ATH freak, but I know that japanese take pride into desiging high quality stuff, even if manufacturing in China.
I'm not putting 5 stars because the ratio price/money could even be improved, but I'm not being obnoxious.
