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A Concise View of Why The ATH-M50 is No Longer King
Dec 4, 2012 at 4:36 PM Post #437 of 856
The hype is real... I just bought these because I couldn't resist comparing them against my friends Beyer dt770 / 600 and my Beyer COP that should be arriving soon hopefully. So far, I like the m50 better than the dt770. Gasp! Let me explain. 
In the past year or so I've embarked on a head-fi journey of sorts purchasing all sorts of mid-fi headphones looking for something that would suit every genre and please my ear. So far, I've found one such headphone that will be a mainstay in my quiver, the px100-ii, just fabulous. Haven't been so lucky with other headphones, just check my profile to see which I've tried and sold.
 
Now, the ath-m50.. So much to say, it sounds good with nearly every genre I throw at it. It hasn't made my ear ache with the kind of sibilance I experienced with the dt770 and hfi-580/2200, or the hd25-1. The mids are present, very sweet with male and female vocals. Bass! I have to admit, I like a somewhat dark sounding headphone with attenuated bass.These deliver. Listen to Frank Ocean's "White" with these and you'll know what I mean. Sure, the bass isn't as detailed as the Beyer, but it's not very far off. It's nice. Soundstage is decent, I actually enjoy this smaller soundstage because each detail in the music is more defined. Separation is still fine, not so dramatic as the dt770's which makes music seem thin at times. As an added surprise, I haven't felt the need to add any eq to these which I really like, because I plan to move the Fiio e17 out of my desktop chain soon. So,  If you haven't guessed it yet, these are keepers 
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 One minor gripe, they aren't the most comfortable, but I trust that with more head time they'll begin to adjust. I almost wish I had followed everyone's advice and bought these first, though my curiosity wouldn't have been sated with everyone expressing different opinions about these and other cans.
 
Cheers head-fi,
Jeremy
 
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:08 PM Post #438 of 856
personally i feel that the tonality was nice, the bass was okay, the detail was okay too, treble was prominent enough though has slight slbilance, the mids were also so-so (electronic only listener here) but then the soundstage... NO. it is so very narrow, so narrow it was a dealbreaker for me. 

its just my opinion, and seeing that i got the mid-fi soundstage dominant HD558 it was obvious why my tastes did not suit the M50. 
good headphone still.
 
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:24 PM Post #439 of 856
Quote:
streetdragon said:
personally i feel that the tonality was nice, the bass was okay, the detail was okay too, treble was prominent enough though has slight slbilance, the mids were also so-so (electronic only listener here) but then the soundstage... NO. it is so very narrow, so narrow it was a dealbreaker for me. 

its just my opinion, and seeing that i got the mid-fi soundstage dominant HD558 it was obvious why my tastes did not suit the M50. 
good headphone still.
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For a closed headphone they have a decent soundstage, bests every headphone I mentioned up there except the dt770 and the hfi-2200 (which is open)
 
Dec 5, 2012 at 12:40 AM Post #440 of 856
been out of the forums for a couple years but nice to see opinions still so polarized regarding these cans.
 
i own a pair and from my perspective they are a nice entry headphone into the head-fi scene as they are easily modded (a valuable soldering and earpad replacement lesson for any head-fi enthusiast), offer decent sound that grows better as you burn them in (teaching the valuable lesson of how to listen to the changing nuances of sound characteristics in any dynamic headphone), are robust enough to bring anywhere (including the headphone store so you can do side-by-side comparisons and learn more about other headphone sound signatures) and are talked about ad nauseam (teaching n00bs the valuable lesson of searching the forum).
 
for those qualities alone i consider the m50s transcendent. they are not just cans to be argued over wave tables, they are a right of passage :p
 
Dec 26, 2012 at 8:02 PM Post #447 of 856
Quote:
blackfish said:
So what would you suggest for roughly the same price?
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it really depends what you like, there is no certain 'better' because while the M50 isn't a trash headphone, but it is definitely not an 'outshine all competitors' headphone either.
 
Dec 28, 2012 at 2:04 AM Post #449 of 856
i wonder how it would be like if the youtube community was told that their hero headphone, the M50, is in fact overhyped as well.
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its even more annoying when people always ask in the comments of a sennheiser,beyerdynamic,hifiman etc on how they compare to the Beats Pro or Solos
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Dec 31, 2012 at 6:01 PM Post #450 of 856
This is my first post on head-fi (loooooong time lurker) and I figured this was as good a thread as any to make my entrance.  I just got my pair of  M50s and am quite disappointed in them, as it was all the hype that made me choose them and I don't feel they live up to that hype at all. Sure they're decent, and maybe if they weren't so hyped my disappointment wouldn't be as strong as it is, but I was expected to be blown away (talking value here) and came out of it completely underwhelmed.
 
A little history on me- Home audio professional for 15 years, guitar player, huge metalhead. I currently own Shure e5c and se530, Yuin PK2 with Yurbuds sleeves (best idea I ever had), B+W P5, AKG  k240 and my pride- the mighty Sony z1000 which are absolutely amazing in every regard and are my primary set of cans.  I listen to music from my iPhone5 with a Fiio E11.  All my music is 256aac or higher, most being 320mp3. I do have some lossless files as well.  The Sony's are my newest addition and didn't really consider myself an audiophile until I got them .  I guess I still don't consider myself an audiophile, I just like good sound.  But I digress.  My problem is I travel for work now, and with each trip I realize more and more that I need something that folds, so I bought the M50s hoping they would be the solution to my problem. They're not. I do realize they haven't been broken in, and I am naturally comparing them to the Sony's, but they just don't wow me at all and they actually bother me with how bad they sound compared to the Sony's. I can't really pinpoint what the exact problem is but the easiest way for me to describe it is that they sound cold, hollow, and not very musical.  There is such a disconnect it seems between the bass and midrange, and the treble is so harsh at times (comparatively) that they aren't fun to listen to at all. Also, while I didn't expect any soundstage at all do to them being closed, I did expect somewhat decent imaging and I can hardly call it that.  Clean passages and acoustic recordings (Alice in Chains Unplugged) admittedly sound pretty great, but with heavier stuff it all becomes a muddy mess. These things were just not made for metal. I know I am comparing them to a pair of cans that cost 5 times the price, but I have much fonder memories of my long gone Sony V700DJs that were in the same price bracket. I guess I just expected too much.
 
All that said, does anyone have any recommendations for a folding, closed, circumaural set of cans that won't disappoint? I'd spend up to $300 if that's what's required to get passable sound quality. 
 
Happy new year everyone! 
 
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