[Metalsand]

So I've been doing nothing but researching headphones online for about a week.  I was initially looking into Bose 15's but then I did a u-turn when I saw the MDR-V6's for 1/3 the price and comparable quality etc.  Then, I did more research and found out about the ATH-M50's...from everything I've seen, they are ******* badass. 

So I have a few questions:

1.  How is the noise isolation in comparison to most headphones or if applicable, the Bose 15's?
2.  How have yours been treating you? 
3.  Does it have a built-in volume control? 
 
Plus, anything else you can tell me would be great.  I bought Sennheiser HD 201's as replacements and because of school, have been too busy to get a real set so I am DYING to get another GOOD set of headphones. 

 

[alv4426]

1) I think its good to very good, but I heard others have some issues. Ive never used the QC15 but Ive used an older model and that was better but it has noise cancellation so its not that fair of a comparison.
2)They are still like new for me and they are my oldest headphone and the only one I have not sold. Even though Ive owned many better headphones I just cant bring myself to sell them for some reason.
3)No volume control
 
That being said if you can get the Sony V6 cheap Id get them over the M50 I think its 87-90% as good for less than half price. Are you using them as portables?

 

[Metalsand]

I'd like them to be portable but I'd rather have a good pair over portability, but yes it does help. 

-snip- (question was answered in previous post via edit)

 

[Metalsand]

Ordered the ATH-M50, now time to order a new soundcard!  My onboard is actually pretty damn good for an onboard, but the new headphones demand it!  

 

[finchouse]

if it's not too late, return the soundcard or cancel the order, and get a usb dac/amp instead.

 

[Metalsand]

I hadn't ordered yet, nowadays onboard audio is actually pretty damn good, so I was even thinking of just not getting one at all unless i have spare money to throw at it. 
 
But I'm new to having badass audio, how does a dac/amp improve the audio or my listening experience? 

 

[zeroakuma]

Quote:

  How is the noise isolation in comparison to most headphones or if applicable, the Bose 15's?
2.  How have yours been treating you? 
3.  Does it have a built-in volume control?

1. I don't have the Bose 15's, but as long you don't bump the volume at an extremely high level, then noise isolates fine.
 
2. It was leaps ahead of my old Beats Pro that I gave away and after months of usage, everything sounds that much better. Make sure that you buy a portable Fiio AMP; buy the FIIO 11 or 17.
 
3. Nope.

 

[finchouse]

you'll likely be very happy with the headphones right out of the computer 3.5mm jack. without a new soundcard.
 
my recommendation is that if you're going that route, going with a dac/amp gives you more... versatility.
same concept, different form factor.

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

So I've been doing nothing but researching headphones online for about a week.  I was initially looking into Bose 15's but then I did a u-turn when I saw the MDR-V6's for 1/3 the price and comparable quality etc.  Then, I did more research and found out about the ATH-M50's...from everything I've seen, they are ******* badass. 

So I have a few questions:

1.  How is the noise isolation in comparison to most headphones or if applicable, the Bose 15's?
2.  How have yours been treating you? 
3.  Does it have a built-in volume control? 
 
Plus, anything else you can tell me would be great.  I bought Sennheiser HD 201's as replacements and because of school, have been too busy to get a real set so I am DYING to get another GOOD set of headphones. 

 
1. Isolation is great for headphones.  I haven't compared it to other high end headphones but it's really good compared to cheaper headphones.
2.  Awesome.  I've had mine for over 3 years now and I still love them.  Only thing is the pads start to fall apart after a while.  They get a little sweat on them sometimes, and over time that builds up and they get hard and start to crack (especially if you mess with them).  I just replaced the earpads this year, and also had to ghetto rig a peice of leather onto the headband since the pleather was shredding.  It didn't really start to peel off until I started bringing them to work all the time (about a year).  So yea, no regrets here, $20 for new pads after 3 years isn't bad

.
3. No.  I'm glad it doesn't though.  Volume controls feel cheap and are annoying to me.  Just IMHO.
 
M50 is on a whole different level than cheap senns.

 

[Metalsand]

So then, if you had to replace the pads, how hard was that to do?

Plus, yes, believe me I KNOW those HD 201's are complete ****.  My M50's should be arriving Friday so that will be great.    Too bad my new keyboard with a volume control on it won't be getting here for almost two weeks.  :/  Two day delivery my ASS.
 

 

[bleudeciel16]

Quote:

I hadn't ordered yet, nowadays onboard audio is actually pretty damn good, so I was even thinking of just not getting one at all unless i have spare money to throw at it. 
 
But I'm new to having badass audio, how does a dac/amp improve the audio or my listening experience? 

 
that's a misconception. onboard still sucks.  people just see "8.1 surround etc etc" and assume it's good but it's still crap.
 
i recommend the fiio e7.  computers are noisy so it's best to use an external dac. it's fairly cheap too

 

[Metalsand]

Just got my headphones today, and I love them, but I HATE the cord.  I had to get an adapter for my computer and I almost broke the onboard audio port because the cord had too much resistance on the coil.  Had to pull some cord, then tape it onto the case lol.  It's comfy though. 

 

[bleudeciel16]

Quote:

Just got my headphones today, and I love them, but I HATE the cord.  I had to get an adapter for my computer and I almost broke the onboard audio port because the cord had too much resistance on the coil.  Had to pull some cord, then tape it onto the case lol.  It's comfy though. 

 
nice! glad you like them. they make a non-coiled version of the headphones.  my pair is the coiled and since i have an amp on my desktop, i don't have to worry about the length.
 
oh, and you'll hate this news, but you didn't have to buy that adapter.  the jack on the ath-m50's come with an adapter on it already.  it screws off lol.  when you screw it off, there's a 3.5mm plug underneath that should plug straight into your computer without an adapter

 

[finchouse]

I'm amazed sometimes by the number of people that buy tech and don't read the manual, or at least the features list on the box.

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

So then, if you had to replace the pads, how hard was that to do?

Plus, yes, believe me I KNOW those HD 201's are complete ****.  My M50's should be arriving Friday so that will be great.    Too bad my new keyboard with a volume control on it won't be getting here for almost two weeks.  :/  Two day delivery my ASS.

It's pretty easy.  Just pull of the old ones and put on the new ones.  It is somewhat of a tight fit, but it's no big deal.
 
And lol, two weeks is no big deal.  Actually that reminds me, I use autohotkey to bind volume  up and down to unused buttons on my keyboard.  Pretty convenient if you don't have volume buttons.  In my case, volume up is insert, volume down is delete, but they only change the volume when scroll lock is on.  So I get volume controls and still get to keep all my keys.  Plus I make use of a totally useless key.  If you want the script I'll post it here for you

.
 
*edit* rofl is it bad that it took me a good 10 minutes before I realized that didn't say AS5? (arctic silver 5)

 
Quote:

 
that's a misconception. onboard still sucks.  people just see "8.1 surround etc etc" and assume it's good but it's still crap.
 
i recommend the fiio e7.  computers are noisy so it's best to use an external dac. it's fairly cheap too

 
I mildly disagree.  Onboard doesn't suck, but it's not great either.  I've tried decent soundcards, even a emu0404usb and yes they are cleaner etc but it wasn't a big enough difference for me to NEED to upgrade right away.  My onboard still sounds good.  The dac just added that extra cleanness.  I'm not saying don't upgrade, in fact im planning to upgrade soon.  What I'm saying is, I've been happy with my onboard for the past couple years since I built my computer (oh...I guess I'm not supposed to say that around here...mods plz don ban me

).  I've been planning an upgrade since then, but haven't gotten around to it (I was going to build a DIY dac).
 
As for computers being noisy, yes it's true, but plug them into the back of the computer and that gets rid of any annoying buzzing you hear.
 
(I will say, my laptop onboard does suck though, but that's because it was designed for business, not personal use

).
 
Quote:

Just got my headphones today, and I love them, but I HATE the cord.  I had to get an adapter for my computer and I almost broke the onboard audio port because the cord had too much resistance on the coil.  Had to pull some cord, then tape it onto the case lol.  It's comfy though. 

 
Yea, I wouldn't suggest keeping them were you need the cord to be stretched all the time.  Wear them where they're close to the 4ish foot range of the source (unstretched length of the cable).  The coiled cable is nice so if you have to reach something it can stretch, but it's not good if you need to be far away all the time.  You may want to get a 3.5mm extension cable.  May make your life easier.