[FunkDrummer]

The bass was not shallow imo, just slightly elevated. The mids were hollow and I agree. 
The M50's are in fact a fun type of headphone but they are not the best in it's price range. 

 

[pfurey89]

Wasn't super impressed by the m50. Lots of bass, and not shallow though. Worth looking into.

 

[metal571]

To me the M50 has slightly elevated bass which can indeed sound muddy depending on the track, the mids are colored in a strange way around 2 kHz, and the upper treble is on the bright side, and for some it might be fatiguing. Definitely not what I would classify as a good "studio monitor." They aren't even that comfortable either with those small earcups relative to other brands.
 
I always recommend the Shure SRH440 as an M50 alternative with greater neutrality although slightly recessed bass. I A/Bed among a lot of headphones recently including the M50 and the SRH440 was the best from a neutralist, sound quality standpoint. The SRH440 has much more accommodating earcups as well.
 
EDIT: definitely better than the SRH840 as well. I tried the 440 vs. 840 and the 440 won in SQ.

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

Yeah, it's kind of depressing watching people in studios use horrible equipment. Makes you question the purpose of being an audiophile in the first place .

 

[metal571]

Yeah, it's kind of depressing watching people in studios use horrible equipment. Makes you question the purpose of being an audiophile in the first place

.

Well that said the M50s are fine for tracking, but then there are STILL more comfortable headphones for that purpose.
 
If you're checking a mix and referencing on headphones you better be using a $200+ open air in a silent studio room or you just aren't doing it right.

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

Well that said the M50s are fine for tracking, but then there are STILL more comfortable headphones for that purpose.

If you're checking a mix and referencing on headphones you better be using a $200+ open air in a silent studio room or you just aren't doing it right.

I've seen a guy use an M40 for checking his mix . Then again, I've also seen people using an AKG Q701 for the same thing. I guess there is hope for some recordings .

 

[metal571]

I've seen a guy use an M40 for checking his mix

. Then again, I've also seen people using an AKG Q701 for the same thing. I guess there is hope for some recordings

.

To be fair I think it really comes down to knowing what you expect to hear and what good recordings should sound like taking into account the sound sig of the cans. If you know your headphones well enough, most mixes can be tuned using them but some cans are just more revealing of errors than others though to begin with.

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

To be fair I think it really comes down to knowing what you expect to hear and what good recordings should sound like taking into account the sound sig of the cans. If you know your headphones well enough, most mixes can be tuned using them but some cans are just more revealing of errors than others though to begin with.

That's true, but I think if you're going to mix with a pair of cans you should at least but some decent ones. I mean, it's your career, right.

 

[JabJab90301]

I have found my self gravitating towards my Senn 280s or the k240 over the M50.  

 

[metal571]

  I have found my self gravitating towards my Senn 280s or the k240 over the M50.  

Me too, I own both of those. I prefer the SRH440 over both of those even though, let alone the M50. But only slightly.
 
I do some metal guitar covers on YouTube, I'm hardly a professional sound engineer, but the neutrality of the SRH440 is IMMENSELY helpful at getting the tone right from the amp simulator I use. I then double check it across the K240S, and then move onto the superior isolation of the 280 Pro (and the non-fatiguing sound sig) to lay down the track.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

  I got an M50x a few weeks ago and I wasn't happy with them either. I wouldn't say they sounded empty, but It seemed like they had some strange buzzing or crackling distortion with drums and low frequencies. I don't know if they were defective or if they were just accentuating/revealing some detail of my music that I didn't like. I gave them a few days to burn in but it didn't change. I sent them back and bought a Grado SR125i instead, which I am much happier with.
 
Does anyone else with an M50x hear this? In the new Dream Theater album (HD Tracks version), the snare drum sounded really buzzy. I knows that's part of what snare drums sound like, but it was far less pleasant than in my Grados. And in The Eleventh Hour by Fates Warning there was a lot of crackling noise in the first minute of the song with the bass notes. I can hear it faintly in my Grados, but when I heard it in the M50x I thought something was wrong with them.

I listened to M50x samples on Sonic Sense, and the only problem I could hear was artificially boosted bass. M40x seemed perfectly fine.
 
Or maybe you just need a good amp. Like me.