A Concise View of Why The ATH-M50 is No Longer King

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

8 million headphones later, and I still love the M50s.
If that isn't saying something about how good they are even after having spent many times more than it's price on other headphones, I dunno what else to say. The M50s are great all arounders. They don't have to be the BEST, or the KING. they simply are what they are: A headphone with a good price that many people love.

But, do you still own them? If they were that good, you'd still have a pair. Not sure if you do. I'll admit I got rid of many closed headphones due to preferring something open.
 
To me, the best headphones are the ones i've owned the longest (in most cases) and use the most.
 
Somehow my HD-598, Q701 and DJ100 have stuck around. People tend to say so and so headphones are the best ever, but then a year later they have their next new headphone. I do this too.
 
Seems like the best headphones would be ones that people have kept for the longest without complaint.
 
Maybe i'll finally make it past a year with the Q701. It's been 10 months so far

2 years with the DJ100 already and i've been through 6-7 pairs. That's crazy.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Lol, they were my first closed headphone. So no, I don't own them. Also, they are pleather. That is pretty much an automatic dismissal from me, even if they are comfortable for pleather pads.

I love the D7000, yet I don't own them. I loved the DT880, 990, HE-4, ES7, etc, yet I don't own them. Upgraditis, overall changes, and keeping my list of headphones to a bare minimum.

If the D7000 sounded the same with velours, they would be my only headphone. Well, maybe not, as I have an obsession with the HE400, and feel they are the most perfected phones I have heard and gives me no need to hear anything else.

 

[LazBro123]

Quote:

Oh and because sooo many people hate the M50, this makes it bad?
Why is it bad then? Please explain.

The thing is, is that I owned them for a year, and did not like them at all for the last 6 months I owned them (because I looked at headphones in the same price bracket, like the SRH 840, HD 380 PRO, HFI 580, K271 etc.). I am not saying they are bad headphones , I am just saying that they are immensely overrated and used to be overpriced (at $160, but now the straight cable version are $110 at BH, which is a very reasonable deal). I just found the M50s, when compared to headphones in its price bracket, to be shrill in the highs, lacking in the mids, have underwhelming detail and have quite a bit of muddy, bloated bass. It's not like I did not own the M50 and just went with the trend. I have actually owned the M50s and tried many headphones and own and have owned quite a bit of headphones. Look, maybe they are not that great in my opinion, but when I look through the threads, many people did not also like them.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Lol, they were my first closed headphone. So no, I don't own them. Also, they are pleather. That is pretty much an automatic dismissal from me, even if they are comfortable for pleather pads.
I love the D7000, yet I don't own them. I loved the DT880, 990, HE-4, ES7, etc, yet I don't own them. Upgraditis, overall changes, and keeping my list of headphones to a bare minimum.

 
What's real funny is that I owned a pair of Bose AE1s for 3 years as my first "real" headphone (don't say it). Now they should be my favorite right?

They kept falling apart and I got tired of it. I was kind of clueless and was using them from a portable CD player. Had no clue about sound really and I was coming from $10 earbuds. Of course they'd sound good! Back then nobody used mp3 players and  rarely bought online. I was like the guy who walks into a Best Buy and see the $300 Monster Beats and must think they're the best due to being the most expensive headphones in the store. Luckily I got smarted than that. Now $150 headphones is no big deal.
 
I tried them a year ago when I bought a used pair from ljokerl on here. Sounded pretty good still. Relaxed mids and almost too much treble, but non-bloated bass.Gave them to my mom and she loves them. Worth $40 and not $100. The AE1/2 don't measure too poorly I think.
 
Thankfully i've not bought a headphone in 6 months now. Must be some sort of record for me.
 
Lately i've been loving any headphone that doesn't annoy my ears. The 598, DJ100 and HD-580 are fine in this area..the Q701 is a little worse in this area, but still good.
 
BTW I'm not a huge fan of the M50, but if I were ever to be asked for a suggestion for someone that wanted a little more than neutral bass and good treble extension, the M50 might be a nice match. I prefer slightly more forward mids, less bass and less treble. Strange, I know.
 
I previously used the SRH-840 and side-graded to the M50 for half a year.
 
Also, it seems that for me it often takes me a full month to figure out if I love a headphone or not. I got tired of the HD-650 and HD-600 right about after one month. That also happened to me when I bought the K702 and was comparing it to the K601. It's so stupid to do that.
 
Don't get me going on this mistake of "upgrading" my SR-225i to the 325i. Oops. I heard the 325is on day one and was like "this sounds better" and sold my 225i. I was later kicking myself.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I've still yet to hear a Grado. Lol. I think it'd be either SR80i (for the midbass hump), or SR225i (with comfies). My problem with the Grados is that they're always recommended with the uncomfortable pads, which is why I never went for them. Comfort comes first, THEN sound for me.

 

[LazBro123]

Quote:

I've still yet to hear a Grado. Lol. I think it'd be either SR80i (for the midbass hump), or SR225i (with comfies). My problem with the Grados is that they're always recommended with the uncomfortable pads, which is why I never went for them. Comfort comes first, THEN sound for me.

I heard all the Grado SR line and my favorite of them are the 225 because of their value and great sound. I like 325, but the highs are really harsh. I did not like the SR 60 and 80 for some reason. The sound was just not for me. The SR125 sound like an upgraded SR80. The 225 are really comfortable.

 

[LazBro123]

The 325s were actually amazing in mids and lows and really enjoyable to listen to, but the highs were really harsh at high volumes, but at half-3/4 volume, the highs did not sound that harsh. At full volume, the highs got really harsh.

 

[jjacq]

Good review. I went straight ahead to the HD25-1's when I started my audio journey and I haven't looked back. I've tried my friend's M50's and I was glad that I made the $50 more purchase. I think it was really just examiner's bias but I like my HD25-1's more than his M50s.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

The thing is, is that I owned them for a year, and did not like them at all for the last 6 months I owned them (because I looked at headphones in the same price bracket, like the SRH 840, HD 380 PRO, HFI 580, K271 etc.). I am not saying they are bad headphones , I am just saying that they are immensely overrated and used to be overpriced (at $160, but now the straight cable version are $110 at BH, which is a very reasonable deal). I just found the M50s, when compared to headphones in its price bracket, to be shrill in the highs, lacking in the mids, have underwhelming detail and have quite a bit of muddy, bloated bass. It's not like I did not own the M50 and just went with the trend. I have actually owned the M50s and tried many headphones and own and have owned quite a bit of headphones. Look, maybe they are not that great in my opinion, but when I look through the threads, many people did not also like them.

See..that's how my first M50 sounded. Although not quite as bad as you've described. The latest white boxed version sounds much better.
It's bass is much better (not so bloated) and it's mids are still kind of recessed, but not too badly. Never had any issues with it's treble.
Actually my first pair was kind of dark! No joke.
 
It's detail and soundstage is really held back without a good computer DAC. People say the M50 doesn't improve with an amp and computer DAC much, but I definitely disagree. With the right music, the soundstage of the M50 gets much larger with my HRT DAC. Don't ask me how.
 
The M50 holds up quite well to the KRK KNS-8400, SRH-940/840, DJ100 and some other headphones. I think I gave the M50 overall an 8/10 for sound and the SRH-840 an 8.5. Kind of stupid to award scores to headphone though.
 
BTW it doesn't really matter if other people hate them. I also don't understand how you only stopped liking them for the last 6 months. You can't just suddenly not like a headphone once you find something better. There was some nut here who was raving about the SRH-940 then suddenly acted as if they were the worst headphones in the world when he compared him to his other headphones. What the heck?
 
I didn't magically hate the HD-600 when I found the 598. My opinion of the SRH-840 did go down a bit when I found the DJ100 and KRKs though.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

LazBros. I heard different. That the 225i with stock pads that they come with) aren't comfy.

And Tdock, I agree about people hating on their older headphones once they've upgraded. It's so damn silly.

If you like a headphone, you should still like it even after hearing better. That's why I still love the CAL, M50, ES7. They get outclassed by a bit with the higher end stuff, but they are still stellar on their own merits/price.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

I've still yet to hear a Grado. Lol. I think it'd be either SR80i (for the midbass hump), or SR225i (with comfies). My problem with the Grados is that they're always recommended with the uncomfortable pads, which is why I never went for them. Comfort comes first, THEN sound for me.

 
I would have probably said they were overrated a year ago. I owned an SR-80 for quite a while and it sat in my closet forever. It's mids sounded similar to my DJ100, except a little thinner. People kept saying the 225i would only be like a 1% improvement over the SR-80 so I skipped it. How wrong those people were..
 
I did make the jump to the gold SR-325i(not IS) from the SR-80 at one point years earlier but it was the nastiest sounding headphone ever. I clearly remember it sounding like someone was banging pots and pans together next to my head. I was only using it from an Ipod Video though I think. The treble was just so painful. I even had a K701 and DT-990 at the time!
 
So 3 years or so later I got the SR-225i and loved it. I was addicted to it for a full week straight just out of a portable player. The bass and soundstage wasn't that good, but I loved it's mids. Due to being light it was fairly comfortable.
 
The SR-80's treble bothers me, but the treble of the 225i doesn't.
 
I actually spent hours researching all the models to upgrade too and almost bought a used RS2, but ended up with the 325is. Luckily it was better than the old 325i, but I felt like I had given up some of my mids for more bass and treble!
 
I need more headphones with the mids of the DJ100 and SR-225i. Don't know of any others at the moment, but i'll keep trying.
 
Sorry a bit off-topic. Now i'd love to hear if the SR-125 is more like the SR-225 or the 325. I'm worried it's a fancy version of the SR-80 (same driver possibly).

 

[LazBro123]

Quote:

See..that's how my first M50 sounded. Although not quite as bad as you've described. The latest white boxed version sounds much better.
It's bass is much better (not so bloated) and it's mids are still kind of recessed, but not too badly. Never had any issues with it's treble.
Actually my first pair was kind of dark! No joke.
 
It's detail and soundstage is really held back without a good computer DAC. People say the M50 doesn't improve with an amp and computer DAC much, but I definitely disagree. With the right music, the soundstage of the M50 gets much larger with my HRT DAC. Don't ask me how.
 
The M50 holds up quite well to the KRK KNS-8400, SRH-940/840, DJ100 and some other headphones. I think I gave the M50 overall an 8/10 for sound and the SRH-840 an 8.5. Kind of stupid to award scores to headphone though.
 
BTW it doesn't really matter if other people hate them. I also don't understand how you only stopped liking them for the last 6 months. You can't just suddenly not like a headphone once you find something better. There was some nut here who was raving about the SRH-940 then suddenly acted as if they were the worst headphones in the world when he compared him to his other headphones. What the heck?
 
I didn't magically hate the HD-600 when I found the 598. My opinion of the SRH-840 did go down a bit when I found the DJ100 and KRKs though.

Did I get a defective pair of M50s? I got the white boxed version, but my m50s did not keep up with the 840s at all...It sounded worst than the 440s! No joke. Well, about the 6 month thingy, I suddenly did not like them after trying other headphones in the same price bracket, because it was so depressing how my m50s sounded compared to them. The ones I tried (with the exception of the Aiaiai TMA-1, Vmoda Crossfade LP and Sony XB line expect the XB1000), were so much better than the m50 in every way possible. About the 940 thingy, that sounds exactly like my experience with the m50s lol, except I did not compare them to my other headphones. I am like that when I find something new. I have to stop that lol, it's ridiculous. Have never tried KRK headphones but the DJ100 are a solid pair of headphones. Never compared them with 840 side by side. Of course you did not magically hate the HD 600 when you found the 598, because the hd 600 are better headphones lol! 

 

[LazBro123]

Quote:

LazBros. I heard different. That the 225i with stock pads that they come with) aren't comfy.
And Tdock, I agree about people hating on their older headphones once they've upgraded. It's so damn silly.
If you like a headphone, you should still like it even after hearing better. That's why I still love the CAL, M50, ES7. They get outclassed by a bit with the higher end stuff, but they are still stellar on their own merits/price.

Really? I thought they were really comfy. More comfy than the HD 558 IMO.

 

[BRSxIgnition]

The M50's have been my main headphone for the past 3 years - and now I'm upgrading to either the V-MODA M-100's, or the DENON AH-D600's. I have to say, I love the M50's for what they are, a great all-rounder, entry level hifi headphone - but they are getting a bit dated, and the v-sound signature is really grating on me.
 
I wonder when Audio Technica will create a new line, or even just make a successor/step up from the M50's? I'd love to see what they could do with that as a base plan.

 

[LazBro123]

Quote:

LazBros. I heard different. That the 225i with stock pads that they come with) aren't comfy.
And Tdock, I agree about people hating on their older headphones once they've upgraded. It's so damn silly.
If you like a headphone, you should still like it even after hearing better. That's why I still love the CAL, M50, ES7. They get outclassed by a bit with the higher end stuff, but they are still stellar on their own merits/price.

Maybe the comfort was due to the headband being stretched or something. How people call these uncomfortable is pretty surprising to me. I have a relatively small head, and that's probably another reason.