[jecklc80]

Just wondering if the audio technica ath m50 has a flat sound?

 

[glasslike]

No.

 

[cowjuan]

it should be. they are studio monitor headphones, so they should sound accurate and not "colorful." they have great bass though.

 

[jecklc80]

Quote:

No.

lol thanks for the detailed response. If it's not flat what is the sound like?

 

[dirkpitt45]

I wouldn't call them flat. I would call the DBA-02s I own more flat, but not completely. The m50s have a good amount of bass and only slightly recessed mids (very slightly).  They're very musical, nothing really sounds bad on them, rock is good, dubstep, trance, jazz, and that's all I listen too. Compared to the MS-1s, which are bass anemic almost (and definetly coloured), I can't stand listening to trance or anything with bass on them. But the DBA-02s have less bass, but more forward mids and are much more detailed, and everything sounds even better (to my ears) on them.
 
I've never really heard a truly "flat" headphone though. Not to say the m50s aren't great cans, cause they are pretty awesome for the price. I probably listen to them for ~5 hours a day, and I love every minute of it. 

 

[RexAeterna]

depends on who's listening to them. yes studio headphones suppose to be close to flat or flat but it comes down to the person's own ears to determine if it sounds natural to them or not. it's also very hard to tell if something sounds natural if you never had experience with instruments with multiple different tunings and recording cause lot of factors can come in, as position of the mic,mixer used,ect. can alter a frequency. so basically it's up to your ears if it's flat or not.

if you think they sound flat or close then good for you and enjoy

 

[yifu]

Most "studio monitors" are not flat at all compared to the Eyts. Have a look at the ER4 frequency graphs. That would be considered ruler flat.
 
Quote:

it should be. they are studio monitor headphones, so they should sound accurate and not "colorful." they have great bass though.

 

[shane55]

dirkpitt45 is dead-on. His description of the M50 is how I and most admirers seem to observe their sound.
They are on the warm side of 'neutral', slightly closed-in and 'U' shaped in overall response. They are punchy and sometimes sound a bit 'thick'.
 
That said... I think they are great.

 
A similar can is the SRH840, but for me, their issues were greater than the M50's, but the SRH840 is more 'neutral'. Their mids are more forward, but the bass rolls off a bit. (Also they are more uncomfortable than anything I've ever worn, and notorious for that.)

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

dirkpitt45 is dead-on. His description of the M50 is how I and most admirers seem to observe their sound.
They are on the warm side of 'neutral', slightly closed-in and 'U' shaped in overall response. They are punchy and sometimes sound a bit 'thick'.
 
That said... I think they are great.

 
A similar can is the SRH840, but for me, their issues were greater than the M50's, but the SRH840 is more 'neutral'. Their mids are more forward, but the bass rolls off a bit. (Also they are more uncomfortable than anything I've ever worn, and notorious for that.)

I'd say this is quite accurate. They have impressive presence down in the sub bass regions, but that thickness was a deal breaker for me.

 

[dpaul0720]

Quote:

it should be. they are studio monitor headphones, so they should sound accurate and not "colorful." they have great bass though.

I don't really understand when people say that the sound is colorful. I mean like are the driver eq'd before put into the headphone? I know different drivers produce different sounds but why? How do headphones sound different? how do beats have a whole load of bass while bose doesn't have any?

 

[bigheadhifi]

Quote:

I don't really understand when people say that the sound is colorful. I mean like are the driver eq'd before put into the headphone? I know different drivers produce different sounds but why? How do headphones sound different? how do beats have a whole load of bass while bose doesn't have any?

 
of course they are tuned into a certain type of sound... its not just like playing around with materials on the driver mechanism and use whatever the sound coming out of it.. as for what makes sound different one to another, I dont really know.

 

[iZMXi]

Quote:

I don't really understand when people say that the sound is colorful. I mean like are the driver eq'd before put into the headphone? I know different drivers produce different sounds but why? How do headphones sound different? how do beats have a whole load of bass while bose doesn't have any?

 
Speakers have different efficiencies at different frequencies.  100 mW at 50Hz will not come out at the same loudness as 100mW at 1kHz.  More/less sound out of the same power.  Also, speaker impedance fluctuates depending on what is being played, which raises or lowers the power being received.

The easiest way to make huge changes in the type of sound is in the cans the speakers are sitting in and the way they attach to your ears.  Constructive and destructive interference.  Acoustics. 

Beats cans are designed around setting up resonances in the bass frequencies.  The sounds you hear aren't what came out of the speaker, but they are deep and loud.  For some, that is very pleasing.  And, I can agree that it has a certain allure.  You will never see a SPL car pushing 160dB without using these techniques, and you will never see a perfect SQ system that has not done its best to design a system without interference.  Both are very difficult to do ideally.

 

[cyberalpha11]

ATH-M50 is not a flat headphone in fact it has a well balance frequency response.
It is great for listening to all kind of music.

 

[Fortunex]

I'd say it's not very flat at all. Sounds very V shaped, with recessed mids, and in-your-face bass and highs.

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

ATH-M50 is not a flat headphone in fact it has a well balance frequency response.
It is great for listening to all kind of music.

true, if you EQ the treble