[DSchwartz88]

 
I've owned the M50s for a while now and have been looking for an upgrade. After searching around it seems like the ESW9As are perfect since they look good, but are most importantly much more portable than the M50s. 
 
But what about sound? Does anyone have experience with both? Is the ESW9A worth the jump in price? I'm very keen on getting these but the couple big multi reviews actually put the M50s sound above the ESW9As. 
 
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks again Head-Fi!

 

[Gwarmi]

Be careful on where you buy them if you do
- plenty of fakes online. The wooden finish
is dull and where the cord meets the cup
the fakes lack the traditional AT rubber boot.

 

[DSchwartz88]

Yeah I know, thanks for the heads up. I'd be picking them up at Adorama in NYC which is an authorized reseller. 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I have both. The ESW9 is a fun sounding headphone, it can be bassy and thumpy, has good mids, and the highs are quite rolled off. The M50 is more bright and has a bit more bass. But the ESW9 has a better sound to me in general for all genres. The ESW9 is a beautiful headphone, it's on-ear though, so keep that in mind. I don't think it's the most durable headphone unfortunately. The M50 is quite a tank, so will take a beating.
 
Very best,

 

[Il Mostro]

Both are good phones, but the ESW9 has a much sweeter and musical character.  It also has a great look.  Although at first glance it does not have a particularly robust look, it is actually very durable.  The M50 is truly built like a tank and can just be folded in/up and stored any way you want, without a second thought.  I recommend the AT "hard" case for the ESW9's -- you can get it from Japan.

 

[gitf03]

I used to own them both. In my opinion the M50 may be good for studio (better: home-producing) purposes since they are more analytical and dry (in a positive manner). But for listening the ESW9 are just more sweet and fun. They are very different. The ESW9 are one of the very few phones I have till now, never thought of selling them and I think they are one of the best headphone buy I ever did. I just love their sound. I sold the M50 after owning them a year or so. 
 
They may be uncomfortable. They clamp a bit if you have a bit bigger head. And one time I was not cautious enough and the ear cup holding part got broken. I then mailed AT US (I ordered them from US since they are not distributed in EU) and got replacement parts very quickly for free.
 
Edit: I forgot maybe the most important difference: While the M50 need an amp to drive them correctly, the ESW9 run from portable sources unamped perfectly. You wont notice any difference amped/unamped. On the other hand the M50 aren't really portable. Of course if you're looking for home phones and you own a good amp you should look elsewhere since the ESW9 are designed as pure portable headphones.