RockStar2005
Headphoneus Supremus
I just purchased the very highly-rated Master & Dynamic MH40 (Gunmetal color) wired headphones, in order to see how they stand up to my current and very mighty AKG K553 Pro headphones. The MH40 are considered portable, since they have smaller & oval ear cups and also a detachable cable, where my K553 is considered full-size (I don't think they're THAT big, but whatever lol) with round ear cups and a non-detachable cord. Anyway, here's how it all went down.
Build & Design: As mentioned above, the MH40 has a more portable design to it. The ear cups are smaller and oval, and it's got a detachable cable. It actually comes with 2 cables, one is a longer 10' cable, while the other is a shorter 6' cable with an-line remote geared more towards iPhones (though it'll probably still work with Android, etc). I used a 4' cable (no remote) I already owned since I prefer that length. It also comes with a hard case for the cables which is very nice, as well as a soft case for the headphones. The box itself is very premium in design and definitely makes the $399 price tag more understandable, but that certainly is not why these cost that much. (Note: I bought my K553 for $170 on Amazon.)
The headphones are very premium and original in design. They have a very "retro with a new twist" look to them which I really love. There seems to be no plastic on these headphones.....just anodized metal all the way! Anodizing the metal (which I believe is aluminum) makes it more decorative, durable, and corrosion-resistant. The MH40 are also put-together by hand, which makes them even more desirable. The right side of the MH40 has a unique, new, and not to mention handy feature.......... a mute button. Instead of having to look for the pause button on your phone or device, you simply just push that mute button, and then do what you need to do. Also, the sheepskin earcups are magnetically attached to the headphones, and come off with just a little tug. I think it's great that they make it so easy to replace them, if and when necessary (I'm not even sure I can replace my K553's earcups?). I really have to commend Master & Dynamic here for their forward-thinking approach to making headphones, especially since this is their FIRST!
Comfort: I found the MH40 to be quite comfortable. The cushioning on the headband was about the same as on my K553, but my K553 has a metallic headband, where the headband of the MH40 is made of cowhide and not hard. The sheepskin cups are very comfortable too. The earcup adjuster stretches from a 0 to a 4. I found that at 4 it was pretty comfortable with a good seal too, but I think they should've bumped it up to a 5, just to make it more well-rounded for the general public.
Sound Quality: I pitted the MH40 against my K553 over two separate listening sessions. My main criteria was comparing the bass, mids, highs, clarity, and soundstage/sound separation of the two headphones. I used various hard & soft rock songs for the sessions.
Bass: The MH40 are somewhat slightly bassier than the K553. Not by much, but enough to notice.
Mids: The mids were pretty clear and present here, at least when the bass part wasn't up too high (more on that below).
Highs: The highs sounded great and had a shine or sparkle to them, which to me is very important, though again when the bass part was higher up, it (the highs) wasn't as audible (below).
Clarity: I found the clarity of the MH40 to be very good to great, but not perfect like on the K553. The K553's bass is more neutral and therefore less bassy, so when the bass is higher up on a certain part of a song, it NEVER overshadows or spills into the mids or highs, EVER. I sort of noticed this even in the first session, but it was during the second session that I really noticed it on a particular track, Fleetwood Mac's "Crystal" (one of my all-time favorite songs). During the first chorus of the song (0:45 - 1:17), there's a particular acoustic guitar "fill" that can be heard in the background in between each line sung (sounds kinda like the "bell chime" you hear when a cash register is opened), which sounds really nice. On the K553, the fill is VERY clear & audible, but on the MH40, the bass somewhat overshadows the fill. Unlike the Blue Lola headphones which I last tried out vs. my K553 about a month ago, the MH40 still HAS that high-end sparkle to its rendering of acoustic guitar sounds (the Lola didn't, but was even better IMO at isolating the bass from the mids & highs). So the sound is there, and is somewhat clear and audible, but not as much as on the K553.
Soundstage/Sound Separation: The K553 has a wider and deeper soundstage than the MH40, but I will say the soundstage on the MH40 is still REALLY good! They definitely did not sound closed-in like the Audio-Technica M50X headphones that I'd once tried out did. Sound & instrument separation was great too, but since the K553 has a better soundstage, which to me automatically equates to better instrument separation as well, I didn't think it was better than the K553's. (Note: The K553 has 50mm speaker drivers, where the MH40 has 45mm ones. Of course, there is more to soundstage than just speaker driver size.)
Conclusion: I bought the MH40 knowing it would probably not outdo my full-size K553, but I'd read more than enough complimentary reviews to consider giving it a listen. I really wish AKG would've made their K553 Pro come with a DETACHABLE cable and not one that was 10 feet long (which I have to tie up), but about 4 feet would've been great (and no in-line remote please, don't want it). It's not a big deal, but it's still something I would care not have to deal with anymore. I'm hoping their next K55X headphones will have the same great sound, but have my requests granted on it as well. This was my main reason for wanting to try out the MH40.........portability. The smaller ear cups are nice too, but the cable issues are a bigger deal to me (but still not a "big deal" per se).
The MH40 are a GREAT pair of headphones! In terms of design and arguably comfort even, they outdo the K553. In terms of sound quality however, they come very close to the K553, but do not outperform them. To me, a big soundstage is very important, and even more so is clarity. I like some good bass as much as anyone, but never ever at the expense of the mids & highs. NEVER. That is why I'm returning the MH40 and keeping my K553 (now 4 mos in). My K553 have a pretty premium build & design themselves (barely any plastic on them), so it's not like I'm keeping something ugly just because it sounds better. Quite the opposite actually!! And with a price tag difference of about $230, they're an even better option to consider!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!
Build & Design: As mentioned above, the MH40 has a more portable design to it. The ear cups are smaller and oval, and it's got a detachable cable. It actually comes with 2 cables, one is a longer 10' cable, while the other is a shorter 6' cable with an-line remote geared more towards iPhones (though it'll probably still work with Android, etc). I used a 4' cable (no remote) I already owned since I prefer that length. It also comes with a hard case for the cables which is very nice, as well as a soft case for the headphones. The box itself is very premium in design and definitely makes the $399 price tag more understandable, but that certainly is not why these cost that much. (Note: I bought my K553 for $170 on Amazon.)
The headphones are very premium and original in design. They have a very "retro with a new twist" look to them which I really love. There seems to be no plastic on these headphones.....just anodized metal all the way! Anodizing the metal (which I believe is aluminum) makes it more decorative, durable, and corrosion-resistant. The MH40 are also put-together by hand, which makes them even more desirable. The right side of the MH40 has a unique, new, and not to mention handy feature.......... a mute button. Instead of having to look for the pause button on your phone or device, you simply just push that mute button, and then do what you need to do. Also, the sheepskin earcups are magnetically attached to the headphones, and come off with just a little tug. I think it's great that they make it so easy to replace them, if and when necessary (I'm not even sure I can replace my K553's earcups?). I really have to commend Master & Dynamic here for their forward-thinking approach to making headphones, especially since this is their FIRST!
Comfort: I found the MH40 to be quite comfortable. The cushioning on the headband was about the same as on my K553, but my K553 has a metallic headband, where the headband of the MH40 is made of cowhide and not hard. The sheepskin cups are very comfortable too. The earcup adjuster stretches from a 0 to a 4. I found that at 4 it was pretty comfortable with a good seal too, but I think they should've bumped it up to a 5, just to make it more well-rounded for the general public.
Sound Quality: I pitted the MH40 against my K553 over two separate listening sessions. My main criteria was comparing the bass, mids, highs, clarity, and soundstage/sound separation of the two headphones. I used various hard & soft rock songs for the sessions.
Bass: The MH40 are somewhat slightly bassier than the K553. Not by much, but enough to notice.
Mids: The mids were pretty clear and present here, at least when the bass part wasn't up too high (more on that below).
Highs: The highs sounded great and had a shine or sparkle to them, which to me is very important, though again when the bass part was higher up, it (the highs) wasn't as audible (below).
Clarity: I found the clarity of the MH40 to be very good to great, but not perfect like on the K553. The K553's bass is more neutral and therefore less bassy, so when the bass is higher up on a certain part of a song, it NEVER overshadows or spills into the mids or highs, EVER. I sort of noticed this even in the first session, but it was during the second session that I really noticed it on a particular track, Fleetwood Mac's "Crystal" (one of my all-time favorite songs). During the first chorus of the song (0:45 - 1:17), there's a particular acoustic guitar "fill" that can be heard in the background in between each line sung (sounds kinda like the "bell chime" you hear when a cash register is opened), which sounds really nice. On the K553, the fill is VERY clear & audible, but on the MH40, the bass somewhat overshadows the fill. Unlike the Blue Lola headphones which I last tried out vs. my K553 about a month ago, the MH40 still HAS that high-end sparkle to its rendering of acoustic guitar sounds (the Lola didn't, but was even better IMO at isolating the bass from the mids & highs). So the sound is there, and is somewhat clear and audible, but not as much as on the K553.
Soundstage/Sound Separation: The K553 has a wider and deeper soundstage than the MH40, but I will say the soundstage on the MH40 is still REALLY good! They definitely did not sound closed-in like the Audio-Technica M50X headphones that I'd once tried out did. Sound & instrument separation was great too, but since the K553 has a better soundstage, which to me automatically equates to better instrument separation as well, I didn't think it was better than the K553's. (Note: The K553 has 50mm speaker drivers, where the MH40 has 45mm ones. Of course, there is more to soundstage than just speaker driver size.)
Conclusion: I bought the MH40 knowing it would probably not outdo my full-size K553, but I'd read more than enough complimentary reviews to consider giving it a listen. I really wish AKG would've made their K553 Pro come with a DETACHABLE cable and not one that was 10 feet long (which I have to tie up), but about 4 feet would've been great (and no in-line remote please, don't want it). It's not a big deal, but it's still something I would care not have to deal with anymore. I'm hoping their next K55X headphones will have the same great sound, but have my requests granted on it as well. This was my main reason for wanting to try out the MH40.........portability. The smaller ear cups are nice too, but the cable issues are a bigger deal to me (but still not a "big deal" per se).
The MH40 are a GREAT pair of headphones! In terms of design and arguably comfort even, they outdo the K553. In terms of sound quality however, they come very close to the K553, but do not outperform them. To me, a big soundstage is very important, and even more so is clarity. I like some good bass as much as anyone, but never ever at the expense of the mids & highs. NEVER. That is why I'm returning the MH40 and keeping my K553 (now 4 mos in). My K553 have a pretty premium build & design themselves (barely any plastic on them), so it's not like I'm keeping something ugly just because it sounds better. Quite the opposite actually!! And with a price tag difference of about $230, they're an even better option to consider!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!
AKG K553 Pro:
Master & Dynamic MH40:
Master & Dynamic MH40:
