[DJ The Rocket]

I've bought and subsequently sold several sets of M50x's, as I'd miss it when I didn't have one, then feel unfulfilled by it when I did. Then the other day I came across an M50 at a pawn shop marked down to $30. At that price I was getting it no matter what, but I tried them on and was blown away by the midrange, which wasn't anywhere near as recessed in every M50x I've heard. In fact the mids are downright forward in my M50.

People always say they sound the exact same, have the exact same drivers, etc. But this is not my experience, or anywhere near it. I've known lots of M50x sets, so I'm confident I know what they're supposed to sound like, but I've only ever heard this one M50.

Then after many hours listening to them, I discovered how amazingly detailed the M50 is, and I'm starting to think maybe I've found the perfect set for me personally! I'll concede it's possible the forward mids just make me perceive that there's more detail just from being more forward, but I honestly feel that they are not all that far behind my Etymotic HF5s in fine detail reproduction, and at least equal to my Beyerdynamic DT880 250 ohms, if they're not actually superior as I suspect.

So what's going on here? Is it possible a difference this dramatic is subjective? Seems like a stretch. I can't imagine anyone saying they sound the same, to me it's seriously night/day. Does anyone else think so?

 

[nraymond]

People always say they sound the exact same, have the exact same drivers, etc. But this is not my experience, or anywhere near it. I've known lots of M50x sets, so I'm confident I know what they're supposed to sound like, but I've only ever heard this one M50.

 
From what I've read, the M50 went through at least one silent revision during it's run. This is mentioned here:
 
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brands-a/
 
"It should be noted that the later versions are considerably ‘flatter’ and sound much better. The later versions are still a bit on the bassy side of things but not nearly as much as the earlier versions. Hard to pin a date on the changes (and what they actually are) but I suspect around the start of 2012. The looks haven’t changed so when buying second hand you might end-up with the older version."
 
What's not clear to me is how different a late-edition M50 is vs. the M50x, and if the M50x has yet undergone any silent revisions the way the M50 did.
 
Also interesting is this review of the ATH-M50x from a software audio calibration company, which talks about what that headphone sounds like uncorrected and corrected (which makes it more suitable for use in a studio):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c4E2LbrT_I

 

[DJ The Rocket]

From what I've read, the M50 went through at least one silent revision during it's run. This is mentioned here:

https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brands-a/

"[COLOR=333333]It should be noted that the [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]later versions[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] are considerably ‘[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]flatter’[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] and[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] sound[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] much [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]better[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]. The later versions are still a bit on the [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]bassy[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] side of things but not nearly as much as the earlier versions. Hard to pin a date on the changes (and what they actually are) but I suspect around the start of 2012. The looks haven’t changed so when buying second hand you might end-up with the older version."[/COLOR]

What's not clear to me is how different a late-edition M50 is vs. the M50x, and if the M50x has yet undergone any silent revisions the way the M50 did.

Also interesting is this review of the ATH-M50x from a software audio calibration company, which talks about what that headphone sounds like uncorrected and corrected (which makes it more suitable for use in a studio):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c4E2LbrT_I

Thanks for the excellent info plus citations! It's great to find I was right about that.

The other night I was rocking out to some German EDM (specifically Crussen's klangextase.de sets, since 320k mp3s of them are easily downloadable from soundcloud), thinking about how this is how all M50s ought to sound.

My first "real" pair of headphones were M50x's, and I can't help but wonder about how my journey to and through audiophilia might have been different had I gotten a pair that sounded like this right off the bat. I wouldn't have been so eager to try something else, that's for sure. I might still be happy today with just the one pair, or maybe the M50 plus something open like a Grado sr225e or Beyerdynamic DT880. I got both not too long after realizing that the M50x's weren't doing it for me.

I wonder why Audio Technica doesn't make everything in the Mx0 line balanced like this. You can tell the M50x has the ability to play this clearly, it's just held back by that insane V shape. Or if AT insists, give us a choice! Anyone who likes that V can have it; anyone else wants the balanced version can get the M50b or whatever.

I haven't heard anything else in Audio Technica's Monitor line. Is the M40x close to a balanced M50?

 

[HalloweenJack]

After reading about the silent revision of the M50 I bought a New Old Stock original ATH-M50 in the blue/white box with flip-cover, and I can confirm that there are 3 different versions of M50/M50x:

v1: 2007-2011/12 (?): blue/white box with flip-cover: Significantly more bass than v2, otherwise similar to v2.
v2: 2011/12-2014: white/grey box: Less bass than v1, more neutral.
v3: (M50x): 2014 -> : Much less mids than the other two, bass on par with v2

I'm not that good at describing sound signatures, but these 3 are markedly different and everyone can hear the differences.

I prefer the original one! (v1)
Can anyone pin an exact date when the started selling v2 ?