Subliminal
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2011
- Posts
- 9
- Likes
- 10
I joined the forum so I could share my experience with the Beats by dr.dre Pro and the Audio-Technica ATH-M50's.
Beats by dr.dre pro - (cost me £280 but RRP is £350)
Audio-Technica ATH-M50- (cost me £70 but RRP is £130+)
I have owned the Beats Pro's for quite a while and have always enjoyed listening to them. Recently though I decided to buy some M50's to see if they are really as good as people on here say they are. Well tonight they arrived and I'm listening to them now, I got them at a good price used because they were the model on show at a shop (so they should already be well broken in). Now these are obviously a lot cheaper than the RRP of £350 for Beats Pro so going from the price alone they shouldn't stand much chance right? Well as most of you on head-fi probably know, they do actually compare! I'm not going to start talking about mid's/high's/lows/soundstage etc because I'd probably be talking crap, I'm no audiophile. However I can describe how they compare in my own way...
First of all the Pro's no doubt win in the bass category, which I'm sure you are all expecting anyway. And for me the bass is very important. When listening to Three 6 Mafia with the Pro's you can feel the bass right through your skull and the headphones are vibrating away like mad. But surprisingly with the M50's it's like the bass in that song just isn't there? Even after playing around with an EQ I still couldn't get the M50's to bring out the bass in that song.
But moving on from the bass which the M50's were never going to be the best at being reference headphones, they seem to play a lot of songs almost identical to the Pro's. I honestly can't believe how similar they sound forgetting about the bass. They sound a bit more balanced than the Pro's which is great for some songs that I listen to. Being more balanced and not having such aggressive bass/treble, it allows the M50's to play some sounds a lot more clearly and accurate. I'm finding quite a few random sounds in songs that I have never really noticed so much with the Pro's as the bass most likely covered it up.
For build quality and looks, the Pro's obliterate the M50's. The Pro's aluminium/leather design is stunning and they feel like they could last forever and take a huge beating. The M50's just don't do much for me appearance wise and they don't feel half as sturdy or well built as the Pro's. Comfort is an odd one, when I first got the Pro's they felt heavy and put quite a bit of pressure on my head. But after a while, whether it be because they loosened up or I got used to them - they feel great! I can wear them for hours on end without any problems. My first thoughts of the M50's are that they are incredibly lightweight and don't add hardly any pressure to the head but for some reason I just prefer having the Pro's on my head and I can't put my finger on why.
I have come to the conclusion that the Beats Pro's could be M50's but the M50's couldn't be Pro's. What I mean by that is, you can change the EQ of the Pro's to make the bass less powerful and bring out more detail from the songs (effectively turning them into reference headphones) but you can't really give the M50's more aggressive bass/treble so you can thump out some great dance/dubstep/electronic/hip-hop songs, it's just a much more better listening experience with the Pro's for them types of categories no matter what you do with the EQ on M50's. Don't get me wrong; the M50's do have bass but in comparison to the Pro's they are on completely different levels.
But honestly I am more than impressed with the M50's, for such a lower price they are almost on par with the Pro's depending on your personal listening preference. If you are reading this and are thinking of purchasing some Beats headphones soon, whether it be the Solo's/Studios/Pro's then you have to try the M50's first to get some headphones for less than half the price with similar sound quality (if not better for the solo's/studios).
Also this review is a good read comparing the Beats Pro's to the likes of similarly priced Grado's and other stuff like P5's.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20024049-47.html
Thanks for reading!
Beats by dr.dre pro - (cost me £280 but RRP is £350)
Audio-Technica ATH-M50- (cost me £70 but RRP is £130+)
I have owned the Beats Pro's for quite a while and have always enjoyed listening to them. Recently though I decided to buy some M50's to see if they are really as good as people on here say they are. Well tonight they arrived and I'm listening to them now, I got them at a good price used because they were the model on show at a shop (so they should already be well broken in). Now these are obviously a lot cheaper than the RRP of £350 for Beats Pro so going from the price alone they shouldn't stand much chance right? Well as most of you on head-fi probably know, they do actually compare! I'm not going to start talking about mid's/high's/lows/soundstage etc because I'd probably be talking crap, I'm no audiophile. However I can describe how they compare in my own way...
First of all the Pro's no doubt win in the bass category, which I'm sure you are all expecting anyway. And for me the bass is very important. When listening to Three 6 Mafia with the Pro's you can feel the bass right through your skull and the headphones are vibrating away like mad. But surprisingly with the M50's it's like the bass in that song just isn't there? Even after playing around with an EQ I still couldn't get the M50's to bring out the bass in that song.
But moving on from the bass which the M50's were never going to be the best at being reference headphones, they seem to play a lot of songs almost identical to the Pro's. I honestly can't believe how similar they sound forgetting about the bass. They sound a bit more balanced than the Pro's which is great for some songs that I listen to. Being more balanced and not having such aggressive bass/treble, it allows the M50's to play some sounds a lot more clearly and accurate. I'm finding quite a few random sounds in songs that I have never really noticed so much with the Pro's as the bass most likely covered it up.
For build quality and looks, the Pro's obliterate the M50's. The Pro's aluminium/leather design is stunning and they feel like they could last forever and take a huge beating. The M50's just don't do much for me appearance wise and they don't feel half as sturdy or well built as the Pro's. Comfort is an odd one, when I first got the Pro's they felt heavy and put quite a bit of pressure on my head. But after a while, whether it be because they loosened up or I got used to them - they feel great! I can wear them for hours on end without any problems. My first thoughts of the M50's are that they are incredibly lightweight and don't add hardly any pressure to the head but for some reason I just prefer having the Pro's on my head and I can't put my finger on why.
I have come to the conclusion that the Beats Pro's could be M50's but the M50's couldn't be Pro's. What I mean by that is, you can change the EQ of the Pro's to make the bass less powerful and bring out more detail from the songs (effectively turning them into reference headphones) but you can't really give the M50's more aggressive bass/treble so you can thump out some great dance/dubstep/electronic/hip-hop songs, it's just a much more better listening experience with the Pro's for them types of categories no matter what you do with the EQ on M50's. Don't get me wrong; the M50's do have bass but in comparison to the Pro's they are on completely different levels.
But honestly I am more than impressed with the M50's, for such a lower price they are almost on par with the Pro's depending on your personal listening preference. If you are reading this and are thinking of purchasing some Beats headphones soon, whether it be the Solo's/Studios/Pro's then you have to try the M50's first to get some headphones for less than half the price with similar sound quality (if not better for the solo's/studios).
Also this review is a good read comparing the Beats Pro's to the likes of similarly priced Grado's and other stuff like P5's.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20024049-47.html
Thanks for reading!