[darkspark]

Hi Guys,
 
I have long been a lurker here in the forums. Two weeks ago, after reading through miles of posts, I have decided to go ahead any an ATH M50. This is my first foray into better quality HPs, but I have always loved music.
 
I just wanted to ask help from you experts - the first time I listened to the M50 - I really loved the clarity. It is true that you get to discover sounds that were masked by lower quality HPs. However, some bass sounds seemed broken or scattered - I cannot seem to pin it down, but dubstep drops sounded screechy but daft punk sounds terrific, expect when handling heavy bass. All the rest of the sounds are wonderful. However, a part of me feels that I received a lemon just because majority of feedback about the M50 points to good/strong bass. After about 20 hours of use, it has not changed.
 
I just want to know how to tell if this is really how the M50 handles these types of sounds. Can you point me to a material online where I can benchmark the sounds as I am supposed to hear it, or tell me what other steps I can take? Please help me, this has been consuming me since I bought the headphone. I am terribly in love with my M50, I just want to put this nagging feeling to rest that I may have gotten funky unit.
 
Thanks and more power to everyone.  

 

[TMRaven]

90% of dubstep 'drops' are scratchy and not bassy at all to begin with.  They work well with mid-bassy bloated speakers whose resonant frequencies are in the same mid-bass region of the frequency response, but they usually dont do so well with headphones.

 

[darkspark]

That's great to know then. May I request if you can point me to bassy music that really showcases the power of the M50. Thanks!

 

[TMRaven]

Submerged, by synthetic epiphany.  There's a solid 35-40hz there that will showcase the extension ability of the M50.

 

[viralcow]

May I ask what headphones/speakers you were using before the M50s?

 

[darkspark]

just some philips in-ear, ibuds, a plantronics headset. my baseline is nil/irrelevant, you might say.

 

[darkspark]

Thanks! Will try that and let you know.

 

[darkspark]

Quote:

Submerged, by synthetic epiphany.  There's a solid 35-40hz there that will showcase the extension ability of the M50.

 
Thanks! Will try that and let you know.
 
(sorry for the double post)

 

[darkspark]

ok. synthetic epiphany is amazing. i am an instant fan.
 
anyway, the music sounds transcendental on my M50. however, on 1:11 where the first major bass hits, the sound is fractured. it repeats in 2:09 to 2:14 where there is one big boom and a series of drum beats, the bass sounds a bit creaky and congested, not a solid boom of sound. it happens on all instances of this pattern. is that really how it sounds on the M50? if yes, then i am content with my cans, if not, i might have it checked and replaced.
 
just to clarify, altogether, the sound remains beautiful and crystal clear. 
 
thanks again!

 

[TMRaven]

I'm not sure what you mean by fractured and creaky.  Make sure you're playing an actual file of the song and not something like a youtube of it.
 
The bass does trail off and on again in the song, it isn't exactly solid all the way through.

 

[darkspark]

Quote:

I'm not sure what you mean by fractured and creaky.  Make sure you're playing an actual file of the song and not something like a youtube of it.
 
The bass does trail off and on again in the song, it isn't exactly solid all the way through.

Thanks for being patient.  
 
Maybe I just have a different notion of bass - the trembling, solid type which I do not hear from my HP. The bass sounds muffled and thin and incomplete - unless the instrument being used really sounds that way?
 
I guess I have to recalibrate how i define what a good bass? it might take time but i am definitely happy with my M50s; just want to make sure it is not defective in any small way.

 

[TMRaven]

I do not know.  However if you want to know what pure bass tones sound like you can just go into a wavform editor like audacity and generate 20,30,40,50 hz signals.  That's as solid as you'll get.

 

[eriktheg]

If you still have doubts, just open up the M50's put up some pics of the inside driver and someone will tell u if you got a legit pare or not.. there are a lot of chinese ones out there... And lemons are usually broken on 1 side, not both.
Where did u say you bought it?
Excuse my grammar and spelling.

 

[darkspark]

i bought it from the one of largest HP stores in manila, with warranty, so i am sure it is legit. do you think it's a good idea to bring it there and compare with other M50s? they do have a lot of units for audition.

 

[Sonic Defender]

What amp are you using? Not that is likely to be the cause or anything, just curious. My brother has an M-50 which I have had the opportunity to hear. From what I remember they are quite nice, but for certain I remember there was no sound stage to speak of, and while that doesn't have to be a big deal, for me it would be a factor. I'm glad your loving what the M-50 can do. Feed it good quality music (meaning sample rates, preferably lossless for critical listening). There is plenty of bass if I recall on the M-50 which you seem to want so that should be a good thing. Welcome to the head-fi community. Were a good bunch, but we'll make you spend money so resistance is futile! Cheers.