[nonsupremous]

Sounds like your laptop is good enough for the M50. But your Walkman might be an older model. I own an ipod but never listen to music out of it. If you can swing it, buy the Sony S series walkman and kick up your clear bass boost. See how that works for you. The Walkman is going to give you a VERY noticeable difference from your ipods. I will say this, I tried my M50's out of my ipod touch and they were very mediocre sounding. When I plug them into my Walkman they really shine. And when I stick an amp on them it's even better. However, the S series walkman will push the M50's without amping them. I listen to mine unamped on volume 10 and that's perfectly fine. Sometimes I kick it up to 12, but that's really all I need.

 

[Bovice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMike /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you gone back and listened to your $10 headphones lately? While you might think they sound the same, based on your initial impressions, your brain grows accustomed to the new "sound" and going back to the cheaper headphones typically yields an underwelming experience (not always- Koss KSC-75 can be had for around $10-20 and they sound pretty damn good!). I own the M50s and enjoy them very much, however I really started appreciating them when I got the iPhone 3GS. Even better is the NuForce µDac USB Dac ($99). Listening to flac files using bit-perfect payback (thru Foobar using WASAPI output in Windows 7) is addictive on the M50s! I highly recommend the µDac for your laptop audio.

Will uDac be usb powered only (laptop) or can i use it w/ my ipod as well?

 

[Drubbing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bovice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Will uDac be usb powered only (laptop) or can i use it w/ my ipod as well?

No, there's only one product on the market that can bypass an iPod dac. It's expensive and non portable.

 

[robjrock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMike /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you gone back and listened to your $10 headphones lately? While you might think they sound the same, based on your initial impressions, your brain grows accustomed to the new "sound" and going back to the cheaper headphones typically yields an underwelming experience (not always- Koss KSC-75 can be had for around $10-20 and they sound pretty damn good!). I own the M50s and enjoy them very much, however I really started appreciating them when I got the iPhone 3GS. Even better is the NuForce µDac USB Dac ($99). Listening to flac files using bit-perfect payback (thru Foobar using WASAPI output in Windows 7) is addictive on the M50s! I highly recommend the µDac for your laptop audio.

How bigger difference in quality would say there is, between listening to your M50s through an iPod (with 320kbit Mp3s) and through a uDac with lossless files (Flacs etc) ?

Because I'm planning on buying a uDac (or maybe FiiO E7) but I'm concerned at such a low price the uDac isn't going to offer much of an upgrade over my iPhone...

 

[tyty5150]

What is up with people having problems with the M50?
 
I don't know about y'all but I just plug in a CD to my CD player and plug the phones in and boom!  Great sound for a great price.  It has wonderful bass, not boomy or excessive, just right.  Mids a little recessed, and highs good, but overall a balanced phone (from what I know and have anyways).

 

[Anaxilus]

CD into CD player?  Thats way too complicated.  Mid's recessed?  Not to my ears and not from my Sflo2 on normal eq.

 

[tyty5150]

 
Quote:

CD into CD player?  Thats way too complicated.  Mid's recessed?  Not to my ears and not from my Sflo2 on normal eq.

Just a personal preference, I like compact discs and their stationary players, not much of a portable listener.  I respect your method whether you use it for portable means or not, but I just like what I like and you like what you like.
 
I feel the mids seem to get covered up in some parts of songs I know.  In comparison with the other cans I own I mean.  I feel they provide more detail in those areas.  Some instrumentals I have sound great where I can hear all the instruments equally on the AD700s (spaced out too great soundstage) but on the M50s I have to look for all the instruments cause the bass and high keyboards cover up some inner workings.  Just what I hear...
 
EDIT: I do have to say the bass on the AD700s is not as prominent, but maybe it is because of this reason I can pay more attention to detail in the mids on those phones that seem to get lost when I put the M50s on my head.  Although the M50s are the most balanced cans I own, I just feel my other phones do a better job at getting those details in the mids.
 
I did have my CD player on flat, but I've heard different sources and DACs and cables (all the equipment that is not the headphones) make a difference in sound as well as the cans themselves.  So since I've never used the "Sflo2" at all I can't say I know what it sounds like.
 
And LOL, I commented on a bunch of M50 threads and you came right behind me on practically all of them haha.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

 

Just a personal preference, I like compact discs and their stationary players, not much of a portable listener.  I respect your method whether you use it for portable means or not, but I just like what I like and you like what you like.
 
I feel the mids seem to get covered up in some parts of songs I know.  In comparison with the other cans I own I mean.  I feel they provide more detail in those areas.  Some instrumentals I have sound great where I can hear all the instruments equally on the AD700s (spaced out too great soundstage) but on the M50s I have to look for all the instruments cause the bass and high keyboards cover up some inner workings.  Just what I hear...
 
EDIT: I do have to say the bass on the AD700s is not as prominent, but maybe it is because of this reason I can pay more attention to detail in the mids on those phones that seem to get lost when I put the M50s on my head.  Although the M50s are the most balanced cans I own, I just feel my other phones do a better job at getting those details in the mids.
 
I did have my CD player on flat, but I've heard different sources and DACs and cables (all the equipment that is not the headphones) make a difference in sound as well as the cans themselves.  So since I've never used the "Sflo2" at all I can't say I know what it sounds like.
 
And LOL, I commented on a bunch of M50 threads and you came right behind me on practically all of them haha.

Hehe, that was sarcasm about the CD player.  Many discman sound better than most DAP's.  I see now you didn't really mean recessed, you meant there was more cross frequency bleeding.  I agree with that.  Recessed would mean the mids would be less discernible even w/o the intrusive bleeding.

 

[tyty5150]

Quote:

Hehe, that was sarcasm about the CD player.  Many discman sound better than most DAP's.  I see now you didn't really mean recessed, you meant there was more cross frequency bleeding.  I agree with that.  Recessed would mean the mids would be less discernible even w/o the intrusive bleeding.

Oh well I apologize for not clarifying exactly what I meant originally, and I have to agree with what you said, it makes more sense to me now.  Sorry, still at bit new here, but I am enjoying the learning process!

 

[S0onZai]

I have a couple of questions in my head. Hope you all can clear my doubt.
 
1. Is there any saying that what genre of songs is most preferably to burn with ATH-M50? Jazz? Bassy? Normal clear tunes? & Do i need to burn with an amplifier or without it?
 
2. What is the optimum EQ that can be set through foobar player to obtain the maximum tendency of this headphone?
 
3. Source of music(flac / 320kbps mp3) >Laptop with integrated dac> foobar > Ordnance .22 amp> ATH M-50. Do the sound quality will enhanced if pair with uDAC as my laptop's integrated dac is below par level?

 

[S0onZai]

What DAC can u all recommend to pair with ATH-M50 headphone? I heard that fiio E7 paired constructively and well with this headphone. How bout Fiio E9 and uDAC when compare to fiio e7?

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

What DAC can u all recommend to pair with ATH-M50 headphone? I heard that fiio E7 paired constructively and well with this headphone. How bout Fiio E9 and uDAC when compare to fiio e7?

I can only speak for the fiio e7 but it's a great amplifier/dac combo. It should do fine for what you need it for.
 

 

[ViralRazor]

Quote:

You don't know they take one hour or less as much as you claim no proof of the phenomenon.  Tyll measured differences and even did a DBT but of course that wasn't enough for people that need to be right all the time.

Fail. He never claimed it proved burn in and he used TWO different headphones of the same model. Talk about manafacturing differences anyone? What he should have done, which nobody seems to ever do or bother doing, is to TEST the headphones straight out of the box, burn them in x hours then measure them again. What he did was in no way objective nor accurate. He has not proved/nor disproved burn in. He hasn't even proved if manafacturing differences occur or do not occur due to his method. In essence, he has proved NOTHING.
 
Also I'm pretty sure it was only single blind test.

 

[Currawong]

I've pruned the flamebait and argumentative nonsense out of this thread. If you wish to argue with each other, take it to PM or start your own thread.

 

[Parall3l]

Quote:

I have a couple of questions in my head. Hope you all can clear my doubt.
 
1. Is there any saying that what genre of songs is most preferably to burn with ATH-M50? Jazz? Bassy? Normal clear tunes? & Do i need to burn with an amplifier or without it?
 
2. What is the optimum EQ that can be set through foobar player to obtain the maximum tendency of this headphone?
 
3. Source of music(flac / 320kbps mp3) >Laptop with integrated dac> foobar > Ordnance .22 amp> ATH M-50. Do the sound quality will enhanced if pair with uDAC as my laptop's integrated dac is below par level?

I don't know what happened before I came here but I'll try to answer your questions. 

1 Burn in is not exactly proven but many believe it exists, I personally can't tell if it exist or not. Any music should be fine although some people use pink noise. An amp is not needed

2 What do you mean by tendency ? If you meant the best it can be, EQ is not needed unless theres a part of the headphone you don't like, sound is a subjective thing so what to do with the EQ settings depends ONLY on your preferences

3 I'm not familiar with the uDac, Ordance .22 or your laptop so I can't give an answer that I am sure would be correct.