[reivaj]

I think you have the expectations of a higher price bracket and are let down because of that. Anyways let the cans burn in a little. My initial impression was similar primarily cause my ms1s were my first cans I bought after hopping on here. Funny thing is. I got used to the sound and then I went to listen to other headphones which were hyped and they just disappointed me in comparison. Remember this is the alessandro line which is not as aggressive but its still technically in your face cause the soundstage is surrounding you as opposed to being presented from a distance and for power I think you wanted more bass which... this is a grado.
 
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I'm quite amazed, I got my cans yesterday. That means shipping took 4 days. And that's with economical shipping. Even though it said it'd take 14 days. Got to love swedish consumers protection laws.
 
Anyway, first of all I'd like to say that I'm actually a bit disappointed. The headphones have very good and clear sound, that I can't complain of. However, they don't seem to pack the punch. I can hear the base drum clearly, but it won't really reach me. It's not enough in my face. It haven't got enough power. Not rich enough. Same goes for snare; I can hear it, but it's not really popping out. It's just there. Compared to my Sennheisers, they are less good at giving you the kick that is oh so ever important when listening to metal. Thus, I can't really say why people recommend them as metal headphones. Sharp sound, perhaps, but aggressive? My ass. I admit, I haven't burnt them in, so to say, still have only used them for about 2-3 hours thus far, but that's my instant reaction to the sound straight from the package. Could also be that I haven't been using a good enough source (my cellphone, though it was good enough for the sennheisers). The sound is good alright, but nothing really special. Not powerful. Not rich. Not "in your face". Not aggressive. And that is why I'm disappointed.
 
Do anyone perhaps know any modifications that can be done in order to improve? Or will it be better just by letting them burn in?

 

 

[blacknile]

I had warned you. I kept mine for one month, I really wanted to love them. Burn-in didn't change a lot, so I sold them. Just overpriced mediocre headphones really. "Great midrange" - I don't agree sorry. Unnatural spikes in the treble, a grainy and muddy sound, you can easily do better spending less. Maybe years ago they were ok. But the competition has moved forward. There's better stuff around now.
 
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Anyway, first of all I'd like to say that I'm actually a bit disappointed. The headphones have very good and clear sound, that I can't complain of. However, they don't seem to pack the punch. I can hear the base drum clearly, but it won't really reach me. It's not enough in my face. It haven't got enough power. Not rich enough. Same goes for snare; I can hear it, but it's not really popping out. It's just there. Compared to my Sennheisers, they are less good at giving you the kick that is oh so ever important when listening to metal. Thus, I can't really say why people recommend them as metal headphones. Sharp sound, perhaps, but aggressive? My ass. I admit, I haven't burnt them in, so to say, still have only used them for about 2-3 hours thus far, but that's my instant reaction to the sound straight from the package. Could also be that I haven't been using a good enough source (my cellphone, though it was good enough for the sennheisers). The sound is good alright, but nothing really special. Not powerful. Not rich. Not "in your face". Not aggressive. And that is why I'm disappointed.
 
Do anyone perhaps know any modifications that can be done in order to improve? Or will it be better just by letting them burn in?

 

 

[Wolham]

You say that the competition has moved forward. But what is then then the new "best", or how I should phrase it? That was somewhat my initial question in this thread, or at least part of the initial point, but noone seemed to want to answer that.
 
Also, how much difference can modifying the pads do?
 
And no, I did not have expectations which where aimed at more expensive headphones. If that was the case, then my old HD465 must have been the best headphones in price/prestige ratio to ever exist, cause I actually think they where cheaper, yet they managed to pull off what I sought very well.Or it could just be that I remember  their sound wrong and overappreciate them. Doubt it thouhg.

 

[blacknile]

No idea if there's an absolute best. However all the headphones that I've tried lately, costing less or equal than the Ms1, were better  then them to my ears. On some songs the MS1 have - for the lack of better words to describe it - a kind of 'AM radio' sound. They were embarrassing unfortunately.
 
Some of the headphones I can compare the MS1 to:
 
Cheaper than the MS1:
1)Goldring DR150: similar presentation, more transparent, half the price. A bit more aggressive than the MS1. Build quality not exceptional. 
2) Koss Porta Pro: less detailed than the Ms1 (obviously) but surprisingly good and musical overall.
 
Similarly priced:
1) ATH-M50: better in almost every respect. Much more transparent, clear, full mids, detailed. Imagine a key on the piano. I vividly remember thinking that the MS1 would present you only the "higher frequency" components of the note being struck, while the M50 would present you the note in its entirety. You could see its body with the M50, whereas with the MS1 you couldn't.  Advantages of the MS1: lighter and more comfortable than the M50. The M50 is very heavy and clunky, it's claustrophobic and I can't use it for long listening sessions.
 
2) AKG K240 MK II. I hated these when not properly amplified. These are picky headphones when it comes to amplification. I was about to sell them, then I tried them with the Little Dot MK III headamp I had bought for my DT880. They became STUNNING. Fabulous midrange, like honey. Compared to the M50: slower, less PRaTty..
 
Just my 2c.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

No idea if there's an absolute best. However all the headphones that I've tried lately, costing less or equal than the Ms1, were better  then them to my ears. On some songs the MS1 have - for the lack of better words to describe it - a kind of 'AM radio' sound. They were embarrassing unfortunately.
 
Some of the headphones I can compare the MS1 to:
 
Cheaper than the MS1:
1)Goldring DR150: similar presentation, more transparent, half the price. A bit more aggressive than the MS1. Build quality not exceptional. 
2) Koss Porta Pro: less detailed than the Ms1 (obviously) but surprisingly good and musical overall.
 
Similarly priced:
1) ATH-M50: better in almost every respect. Much more transparent, clear, full mids, detailed. Imagine a key on the piano. I vividly remember thinking that the MS1 would present you only the "higher frequency" components of the note being struck, while the M50 would present you the note in its entirety. You could see its body with the M50, whereas with the MS1 you couldn't.  Advantages of the MS1: lighter and more comfortable than the M50. The M50 is very heavy and clunky, it's claustrophobic and I can't use it for long listening sessions.
 
2) AKG K240 MK II. I hated these when not properly amplified. These are picky headphones when it comes to amplification. I was about to sell them, then I tried them with the Little Dot MK III headamp I had bought for my DT880. They became STUNNING. Fabulous midrange, like honey. Compared to the M50: slower, less PRaTty..
 
Just my 2c.

dude comparing them to the m50s is foolish. they have an msrp of $200. your going by the street price which is incredibly hard to find outside of the united states. the alessandro ms1 is $99 what were you expecting. that's 1/2 the msrp of the m50s. here is my question for you. is the m50 good for heavy metal? from what i heard they are not the ideal sound for them. they would sound a lot like my shure srh840 and my shure srh840 is terrible for heavy metal.
 
to the op give it a few weeks to get used to them. most people aren't 100% satisfied with them when they arrive. unfortunately mine haven't arrived yet though so i can't pitch in my experiences. but from what i understand the alessandro is bang for the buck at $99.
 
also there is no way this will sound as bad as an am radio signal.
op don't buy ath m50s if your on a budget and your outside the usa. good luck finding them for under $250 including shipping. plus all the brokerage fees. it's not worth your time.

 

[blacknile]

So let me get this right: you're discussing them without even owning them?? Just recommending headphones based on "from what I understand", "from what I heard" and "there is no way this will sound like.." is not going to be very helpful is it?  Would you mind sticking to what you own?
 
Also: ATH-m50 used to cost 100$ until a few weeks ago. If you knew where to look you'd get them for a similar price even in Europe. Maybe something more. If you add in custom charges for the Alessandro MS1, well yes to me they are "similarly priced".
 
Were my M50 worth the 20% cost over the MS1? Yes.
 
Was I recommending the M50? No.
 
I was comparing the MS1 to the headphones I own, to frame them into some kind of context. With all the music I listen to (jazz, acoustic, classical, 60s/70s rock. thrash metal, funk) the Alessandro were disappointing to my ears. They sounded cheap and unrefined. "am radio" was an exaggeration aiming to describe what I didn't like about their sound: lack of body and detail.
 
Also: if you read my post I was also comparing the Ms1 to cheaper headphones that perform comparatively well.
 
Alessandro Ms1 bang for the buck? Absolutely not, imho.
 
Quote:

dude comparing them to the m50s is foolish. they have an msrp of $200. your going by the street price which is incredibly hard to find outside of the united states. the alessandro ms1 is $99 what were you expecting. that's 1/2 the msrp of the m50s. here is my question for you. is the m50 good for heavy metal? from what i heard they are not the ideal sound for them. they would sound a lot like my shure srh840 and my shure srh840 is terrible for heavy metal.
 
to the op give it a few weeks to get used to them. most people aren't 100% satisfied with them when they arrive. unfortunately mine haven't arrived yet though so i can't pitch in my experiences. but from what i understand the alessandro is bang for the buck at $99.
 
also there is no way this will sound as bad as an am radio signal.
op don't buy ath m50s if your on a budget and your outside the usa. good luck finding them for under $250 including shipping. plus all the brokerage fees. it's not worth your time.

 

 

[reivaj]

interesting as always. I own both the ms1 and the m50 and I prefer the ms1 to the m50. However, I do give the m50 props for the bass and detail. I just enjoy the engaging nature of the ms1 and bass speed over the m50. Even when I bought the m50 not too long ago. I still used my ms1 more just cause it fit my music more. Granted the m50 does take the cake on rap but not on anything with acoustics or just metal. I do find the AM comment to have been over the top as they sound far from cheap.

 

[Wolham]

I'll have to retract my earlier statement, listening to my old cans again to compare I realized that sure, my old cans had way better base, but they sound unsharp and muddy. After doing this comparison I actually became quite more satisfied with my headphones. I still agree on the no body thing (or well, insufficient, rather), though.
 
 
Also, blacknile, there are no toll fees/custom charges when importing something to Sweden that you already purchased. I payed the 109$ the MS1i cost, and not a dime more! Furthermore, I don't think Koss is a price-wise good option to the MS1's, because in the time I wear out one pair of MS1's I will have passed at least five porta-pro's already. I know this from both personal experience and from friends who used Koss. Actually, I only know one guy who gave them a critical inspection and turned out happy with them, and that's because he could use them as a less-feminine headband.
 
Oh, and BCasey, I have to agree with blacknile. Please refrain from doing aggressive argumentation based on other peoples statements, and not your own experience.
 
 

 

[blacknile]

I should also add that mine were the plain Ms1. Not the "i" version. I haven't listened to the latter, and I'm prepared to accept they sound significantly different than the basic ones.