[enthewhite]

Hello all,

I am posting to thank the members of this forum for the valuable information I found and used to purchase my first set of good headphones. I have been very tempted the past few days to create a new "which headphones should I buy" thread, but I resisted and just kept searching. Today I finally went to my local music store and got a pair of M50s for $99. I guess somebody had accidentally taken them out of the box so they were just using them behind the counter for people to sample keyboards. So all I got was the pair of headphones- no box or anything else, but I think I got a pretty good deal.

I just have a couple questions...

The little spring around the cable, is that supposed to be attached to the end? Or is it supposed to be free to slide up and down the cable?

Are there any cheap upgrades/mods/additions that would be worth it for me to consider using with the m50, or should I just enjoy what I have for now and wait until I can spend a lot more money on a new amp/cans setup? (right now I am plugging into either my laptop or ipod)

Ian

 

[Primetime1337]

I got mine last Thursday and I am loving them. The head band was giving me a head ache for the first couple days but today is was not to bad and I wore them for at least 8 hours today. That spring is connected to the end on mine. I am waiting to get a portable amp for mine, no idea which yet.

 

[enthewhite]

Mine gave me a bit of a headache today too. Good to know it stops after a couple days

 

[blackzarg]

I placed a few books in-between my M50s while they were burning in, and they stretched to a comfy position (but still collapses easily).

I have a uDAC that I run the M50s through, but I don't really notice as much improvement as my AD700 headphones - the M50 is a pretty efficient HP.

 

[downsize]

I purchased a RSA P-51 Mustang portable amp to go along with my M-50 and Ipod ... a FANTASTIC sounding combo !

 

[shake]

Yep got mine a few days before christmas and they're really good phones, don't isolate as well as my hd280s though. The spring is the relief, it's used to help prevent damaging the connection between the cable and the plug.

 

[enthewhite]

So would adding a $375 amp to a $150 pair of headphones really improve it that much?

To be honest I was hoping to hear that adding one of those altoid tin $20 amps and a lod from my ipod would be a good upgrade, because that is about all I would be willing to buy right now.

 

[stang]

I personally barely saw much of a difference between unamped and amping my ATH-AD700 and UM3X with a RSA P-51 Mustang. It does add the extra detail but is not worth it IMO. Yes, I was playing lossless files.

 

[HeyItsBattleKid]

I'll let you know when I get a hold of a uDAC! But for the price, I really think these are better headphones than many similar priced sets. I know I will be keeping them for some time. They sound amazing out of the most portable of mp3 players. Not sure what else an amp would open up in their sound, but I'm still curious none the less.

I just really like the thinness to some of the mids and highs in the sound. Not thin in a bad way, but in a revealing way; maybe that is the "quickness" or "speed" that something like a Sony SA5000 has. It's just a kind of headphone characteristic I'm not familiar with, but like it none the less

 

[TheRookie52]

If you want to losen up the fit of the phones you can put it around the pc case of a desktop computer put a couple of textbooks inbetween the cans.

 

[donunus]

I just pulled the trigger on some m50s minutes ago. Hope they are great cans

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just pulled the trigger on some m50s minutes ago. Hope they are great cans

Yep, I'll be curios to hear your impression on the M-50.

 

[donunus]

I was gonna get some gmps (8.300D) by the way but the price including shipping on these are more than a hundred less so I just had to take them since they are only gonna be used for late night listening.

 

[irjoe]

the way I hear it, M-50's are notorious for being perfectly good un-amped. so I don't know if a R-51 is a justified purchase for the level of cost-performance ratio it would actually provide for the cans.

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by enthewhite /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello all, I am posting to thank the members of this forum for the valuable information I found and used to purchase my first set of good headphones. I have been very tempted the past few days to create a new "which headphones should I buy" thread, but I resisted and just kept searching. Today I finally went to my local music store and got a pair of M50s for $99. I guess somebody had accidentally taken them out of the box so they were just using them behind the counter for people to sample keyboards. So all I got was the pair of headphones- no box or anything else, but I think I got a pretty good deal. I just have a couple questions... The little spring around the cable, is that supposed to be attached to the end? Or is it supposed to be free to slide up and down the cable? Are there any cheap upgrades/mods/additions that would be worth it for me to consider using with the m50, or should I just enjoy what I have for now and wait until I can spend a lot more money on a new amp/cans setup? (right now I am plugging into either my laptop or ipod) Ian

The spring is attached there, it's strain relief so the cable doesn't bend too much and break the wires inside.

The box is unnecessary but tis' a shame you didn't get the pouch that comes with it. You need that to keep the cans in pristine condition! Better look for a bag to put it in.

As for upgrades... nothing cheap to mention. I think the cans are very enjoyable as is, I haven't done anything to mine. They are awesome and do not need an amp (they are more sensitive than Grado's!) and work fine out of an iPod.