[JxK]

Quote:

If your M50 doesn't have good highs, then I would say there is something wrong with them. They are very revealing phones. Desktop headphone amp is the best way to listen to them.
 

 

The highs on the m50 are very well extended, but they are a little recessed relative to the mids and bass. This makes for a revealing, yet unfatiguing  sound. On the other hand, quite a few people - myself included - find such a sound signature to be a little boring.

 

[Slaughter]

Thats why I said a desktop amp is really the best way to listen to these. They respond really well to a good amp. Boring, not sure about that. I guess compared to your Grados, yes, but compared to Beyers or Sennheisers, they are the life of the party. It also depends on the music and quality of the recording. Listen to some well recorded blues or jazz and there is no recession to be found, at all. Listen to modern pop/hip hop/rock, yeah, things are a little recessed.
 
Quote:

The highs on the m50 are very well extended, but they are a little recessed relative to the mids and bass. This makes for a revealing, yet unfatiguing  sound. On the other hand, quite a few people - myself included - find such a sound signature to be a little boring.

 

[lazyjae]

Quote:

The highs on the m50 are very well extended, but they are a little recessed relative to the mids and bass. This makes for a revealing, yet unfatiguing  sound. On the other hand, quite a few people - myself included - find such a sound signature to be a little boring.

I'm not sure what constitutes "boring" just yet but I agree with everything else you wrote.
 
The bass kind of intrigues me though - the way it vibrates and rumbles on my head.
 

 

[JxK]

Yeah, boring is a relative term. I wrote a review of the m50 a little while ago. The gist of it is that technically they're quite competent cans. That I personally prefer a more V shaped sound does not take away from that fact.

 

[Anaxilus]

Boring is the last word I would use to describe the M50.  Of all the IEMs and phones I've heard the M50 is one the most engaging of the bunch.  Odd.

 

[herokurdt84]

should i get these for someone whose never owned a pair of high end headphones before?

 

[lie495fc]

yes you could, but can you list gears this lucky person has? because a good headphone can make rubish sound even worse if you know what i mean.
the general rule is that, a good gift wouldn't be appreciated if the brand is unknow to that person, doesn't look very appealing the product itself, or makes the food taste different than what he used to. in this case is the sound.
for a gift, i would consider Panasonic HJE900 a brand everybody knows, casing made of rare material, and detachable cables that's just fancy.

 

[herokurdt84]

i meant me sorry for the confusion I'd just be using it with an ipod and a fiios e5 and probably using a geetahr amp

 

[Mochan]

I don't get this one either. I've owned the M50 alongside a pair of Grados and lived with them for a long time. The m50s were what prompted me to sell the Grados in the first place, because they beat the Grados in so many areas including the legendary mids. I used to call the M50s the "Grado Killers" because of that.
 
And yeah just like a Grado, they sound great unamped, sound better amped though.
 
Quote:

Thats why I said a desktop amp is really the best way to listen to these. They respond really well to a good amp. Boring, not sure about that. I guess compared to your Grados, yes, but compared to Beyers or Sennheisers, they are the life of the party. It also depends on the music and quality of the recording. Listen to some well recorded blues or jazz and there is no recession to be found, at all. Listen to modern pop/hip hop/rock, yeah, things are a little recessed.
 

 

 

[USCdeacon]

Hey awesome Head-Fi'ers!  Hope I'm not resurrecting a dead thread here
 
In short, get my ATH-M50's in the mail today (hooray!)  But not getting what I expected out of them (Boo~).
 
I love my UE Triple.Fi 10 pro's.. A LOT.  However, they were giving my ears crazy irritation after intense use (yes I've tried all sorts of diff. tips) and so I went on a mission to go from 

 to 

.  After a couple months of researching, reading the plethora of threads here and intense deliberation over the shortlist I eventually came up with, I ended up getting the ATH-M50's.
 
Here's where was taken aback (in the bad way):
 
1.  The bass seems to dissipate quickly, and doesn't have a very "well rounded presence".  My gaming headphones, Everglide S-500's beat them in this regard... gaming headphones!

 I don't consider myself a basshead (actually listen to a lot of acoustic/alternative music), but the bass drum seems really distant in a lot of the songs I've been listening to.  I thought TOO MUCH bass was going to be a problem with these cans :/  Where's the deep extended bass everyone is talking about?

 
2. I LOVE the clarity, esp. in the upper end with the ATH-M50's.  Unfortunately, I'm getting some sibilance, esp. with female vocals.  I'm hoping this is a recording issue and not exposing a flaw with the phones :/ 
 
3. I'm currently burning them in, only 6 hours in so far, but I've got to be realistic and not believe that burn-in is going to magically fix everything.  
 
The one thing I can't complain about is that there seems to be excellent instrument separation here.  I can easily differentiate between the different tracks.  
 
Did I just pick up the wrong pair of cans?  Maybe I'm far too use to my TF10's (I've been using them exclusively for about a year).  Don't want to beat a dead horse (even I myself was getting over all the ATH-M50 threads popping up on here), but figured any insight from you awesome Head-Fi'ers on my specific case would help me make a decision as to keep/return/sell ;]
 
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

 
3. I'm currently burning them in, only 6 hours in so far, but I've got to be realistic and not believe that burn-in is going to magically fix everything.  
 

Uh huh.  Come back after another 50-70 hours of burn-in and and repeat that.  Sounds like someone who said the same thing 2-3 weeks ago and now loves his over the HD555.  He was determined to return his for two weeks.  Might want to check your source and settings too.  Put them away, play music at listening levels and forget they exist for a few days to a week.  Go outside and look at the pretty trees.  

 

[Region2]

Quote:

Boring is the last word I would use to describe the M50.  Of all the IEMs and phones I've heard the M50 is one the most engaging of the bunch.  Odd.

Oddly, I'm on the opposite of it.  It's probably the headphones I use the least.  I find them to be hot and uncomfortable and the bass is rather bloated.  Then again I hated the HD555 and I've seen people compare the two.  I wanted them as another pair for portable use but they are horrible for insulation.  I had to have the volume fairly loud which I found fatiguing.
 
They do have a bit of bite in the midrange and I find them to have a good response, but the discomfort on my ears (they get very hot) has banished them off to my TV cans.  I only use them when I'm watching a show and don't want to wake the lady.
 
I don't find them to be the most engaging of headphones I've heard, but then again I'm firmly for electrostats so that might make all the difference

 

[USCdeacon]

 
[size=medium]

 
Quote:

Uh huh.  Come back after another 50-70 hours of burn-in and and repeat that.  Sounds like someone who said the same thing 2-3 weeks ago and now loves his over the HD555.  He was determined to return his for two weeks.  Might want to check your source and settings too.  Put them away, play music at listening levels and forget they exist for a few days to a week.  Go outside and look at the pretty trees.  

 ​

[/size]

hahaha pretty trees!  I love it.
 
Sigh* Guess I'll do that.  I think B&H's return policy got me on edge and wanting to make a decision as quickly as possible.
 
I think I was too tripped over my purchase.  Gonna' keep the drivers driven and see if it sounds better in a week.  Will report back... like I said, hopefully going from 

 to 

 and not 

.
 
For the record, have these connected to my Macbook Pro via NuForce uDAC (the first one), playing ALAC/320kbps mp3 files, so I think the source shouldn't be a problem.  Thanks again for the sobering message Anaxulus! 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Oddly, I'm on the opposite of it.  It's probably the headphones I use the least.  I find them to be hot and uncomfortable and the bass is rather bloated.  Then again I hated the HD555 and I've seen people compare the two.  I wanted them as another pair for portable use but they are horrible for insulation.  I had to have the volume fairly loud which I found fatiguing.
 
They do have a bit of bite in the midrange and I find them to have a good response, but the discomfort on my ears (they get very hot) has banished them off to my TV cans.  I only use them when I'm watching a show and don't want to wake the lady.
 
I don't find them to be the most engaging of headphones I've heard, but then again I'm firmly for electrostats so that might make all the difference

Stats have their place.  Not like they are Orthos or anything special.  

  So your ears sweat and you couldn't get the balance mod to work for you.  Oh well, nothing $2k can't fix.  

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

For the record, have these connected to my Macbook Pro via NuForce uDAC (the first one), playing ALAC/320kbps mp3 files, so I think the source shouldn't be a problem.  Thanks again for the sobering message Anaxulus! 

Yeah your source should be fine.