[Player1josh46]

Okay so last week i visited my cousins for vacation and I told him about how I got the M50s. He looks at me like that's cool I got the beats by dre studio. I said oh that's interesting i wonder if we can compare yours and mine and see whats better. He says fine. So when i first see it, the screws on the headband are broken. Bad sign already. Bad durability. Anyway, I look at them and i see that they LOOK pretty cool and hip. But again i notice another thing. The earpads are really small and contracted. My M50s have earpads that fit my ear but the beats studio earpads almost fit right on my ear like the beats solos did. Might just be my ears but it does make it feel a little weird. They were comfortable though ill give them that. Now he used the song Won't back Down on his ipod and put the volume the same and switched b/w both headphones. He said that my m50s sounded really good but that they sounded a little muffled and not as loud as his beats. He didnt change the volume at all. Now he said that the m50s were good, but that the beats were what you pay for. He said that they were overpriced, but that they are worth alot anyway. Now I listened and to me the beats had more bass but muffled the sound a little bit. I decided to sneak his beats onto my head while he was out and listen to some other non-rap songs and I chose Alligator Sky. At first I thought Alligator Sky sounded kinda better for some reason on the beats. I could hear more instruments and tunes as well as vocals. But then i switched back to my M50s and it sounded more clear and lively. These were my thoughts on the beats vs m50s battle. 
 
 
Side note: I was actually thinking on buying beats by dre studio on colorware and make my own custom colors for around $550 and was about to do it until I found out about the M50s(b/c of all the recommendations) and decided to get those over the beats and i can now say that I've grown to love them. I don't think they isolate background noise all that well but they aren't noise cancelling headphones. I prefer SQ over gimmicks.  

 

[FatalSylence]

I really dislike how the beats look. If someone wants to have headphones simply because they look cool, then by all means, go ahead. But SQ wise, you can get myriads better for a fraction of the cost.  I hated the beats when I listened to them.  But I love the M50's.  Night and day difference. 
 
Also, do you happen to know what bitrate the songs were that you listened to? Having a low bitrate could explain why certain songs sounded muffled.  Also, if you still think they sound muffled even with a good source and bitrate quality, check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/551679/how-to-make-m50-s-mid-less-recessed-increase-soundstage-56k
 
Super simple mod that IMHO, improves the SQ a good amount. Very easy to do. Takes like 5 minutes. 

 

[Player1josh46]

Quote:

I really dislike how the beats look. If someone wants to have headphones simply because they look cool, then by all means, go ahead. But SQ wise, you can get myriads better for a fraction of the cost.  I hated the beats when I listened to them.  But I love the M50's.  Night and day difference. 
 
Also, do you happen to know what bitrate the songs were that you listened to? Having a low bitrate could explain why certain songs sounded muffled.  Also, if you still think they sound muffled even with a good source and bitrate quality, check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/551679/how-to-make-m50-s-mid-less-recessed-increase-soundstage-56k
 
Super simple mod that IMHO, improves the SQ a good amount. Very easy to do. Takes like 5 minutes. 

I did that mod and it did open up the clarity noticeably. I don't think it is a night and day difference but perhap i just needed more time with them beside each other. I don't know what the bitrate of his was but mine was 320kbps. I had to upgrade all of my songs to the highest bitrate i could find for each one b/c they sounded bad on the m50s unless they were higher quality. Nevertheless, My M50s were almost half the price of his beats so i still think i had the better outcome. 

 

[pooder]

the beats by dre are extremely overpriced, same with all monster products.

 

[FatalSylence]

I did that mod and it did open up the clarity noticeably. I don't think it is a night and day difference but perhap i just needed more time with them beside each other. I don't know what the bitrate of his was but mine was 320kbps. I had to upgrade all of my songs to the highest bitrate i could find for each one b/c they sounded bad on the m50s unless they were higher quality. Nevertheless, My M50s were almost half the price of his beats so i still think i had the better outcome.

What do you mean exactly by upgrade? Did you just convert it to a higher bitrate or did you re-rip the CD or buy it from Amazon MP3 or something?
 

 

[Player1josh46]

Quote:

What do you mean exactly by upgrade? Did you just convert it to a higher bitrate or did you re-rip the CD or buy it from Amazon MP3 or something?
 

I just found new files of each song on different mp3 websites which had higher bitrates for almost all of them
 
 

 

[TMRaven]

I found the M50 a bit cluttered and muffled as well-- particularly because of its poorer soundstage.  You know the soundstage is bad when not even dolby headphone can give it a bigger perceived soundstage.

 

[FatalSylence]

I found the M50 a bit cluttered and muffled as well-- particularly because of its poorer soundstage.  You know the soundstage is bad when not even dolby headphone can give it a bigger perceived soundstage.

I switched out the OPA2227 on my CMoy with an LM4562 and it seems to have increased the soundstage a bit. Still seems a little limited though.
 

 

[fabio-fi]

Changing the pads on your M50's may increase soundstage as well. Try some velour pads. 

 

[Player1josh46]

Quote:

Changing the pads on your M50's may increase soundstage as well. Try some velour pads. 

I heard they make the SQ worse so i dont think ill get any.

 

[soundstige]

You should buy the CDs.
 
Quote:

I just found new files of each song on different mp3 websites which had higher bitrates for almost all of them
 
 

 

 

[Player1josh46]

Quote:

You should buy the CDs.
 


 

I would if I could but I got no money to spend at the moment. I know that if I listened to a CD with the M50s then they would sound godlike. But I'm stuck with mp3s and I heard lossless takes up more space.
 

 

[TMRaven]

Internet mp3s are more than enough, you don't really need lossless, or even cd rips.  CD rips are just more convenient.

 

[FatalSylence]

I would if I could but I got no money to spend at the moment. I know that if I listened to a CD with the M50s then they would sound godlike. But I'm stuck with mp3s and I heard lossless takes up more space.
 

Yeah man, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as the MP3's are 256Kbps (or even lower depending on the song), you won't really notice a difference. My opinion though.
 

 

[Player1josh46]

Went to Best buy today and tried all of the Beats headphones. Here were my thoughts on them:
 
Beats Solos: Horrible. Bass overpowered everything. Very Muddy. 3/10
 
Beats Studios: A little better than Solos. Head Shaking Bass and Very Sharp Treble that is slightly irritating. Vocals were alright but a took a backseat to instruments. Mids were fairly recessed. 6/10
 
Beats Pros: Best out of them all. Everything was more balanced. Bass wasn't there as much as Studios or Solos. Still everything sounded slightly recessed.
 
 
Final Thoughts: I see now why the Beats are hated. I was comparing them in my mind to my ATH-M50s the whole time and realize that I liked the M50s far more. Less Muddy and Just enough of everything. I didn't test them with my ipod because they wasn't a Pro one, and the Studio one was broken. I only tested the Solos with my ipod using different genres and they still sucked all the same.
 
 
Player1josh46