[PL4Y3R 0N3]

This is what I keep hearing by many of the more experienced reviewers. I have never auditioned them for myself, but it seems the M50 seldom impresses those who've heard a wider range of quality phones.

I can certainly say that they didn't impress me. I would spend about $20 more and get the k553. But Bobtrinity has me broke for now. XD

 

[Ancipital]

  I would not spend less than 45$-65$
just because it is affordable doesnt mean it has to sound bad

 
I dunno, Koss Portapro come in a hair under $40, and sound remarkably good- and are easy to drive. You can pay a lot more for worse sound.

 

[Music Alchemist]

This is what I keep hearing by many of the more experienced reviewers. I have never auditioned them for myself, but it seems the M50 seldom impresses those who've heard a wider range of quality phones.

 
Quoting myself here, as it's relevant.
 

  Here are some headphones I got for $150 or less that sounded better to me than the M50x:
 
Audio-Technica ATH-AD700
Audio-Technica ATH-M30x
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x
Koss KSC75
Koss KTXPRO1
Koss UR40
MartinLogan Mikros 90
Philips SHP9500
Pioneer SE-300
Sennheiser HD 590 Prestige
STAX SR-30
Yamaha HPH-MT220
 
The Sony MDR-7506 & MDR-V6 also sometimes sounded better.

 
(And that doesn't even get into more expensive headphones.)

 

[Viqor]

were the HE-1K's worth it? Not at this point, I needed more headphone variety so I can appreciate their differences more.

This is actually a really interesting point, and one that I hadn't considered before. Once you start moving past the point of diminishing returns (wherever that line may be), a certain amount of experience is probably required to appreciate, for instance, why you might prefer one much more expensive headphone over another that has a "style" of sound. Simply saying that one is "better" than the other to your ears is a perfectly valid observation, but if you're interested in making Headphones a hobby, rather than a means to an end, it's probably more interesting to be able to articulate why you feel that way.