[MorbidToaster]

Eh. Everyone's ears are different, and that's honestly a great price for them (I'd take a pair for $60 and happily listen to them). I think the ProDJ100 is my pick for 'budget' cans, but you didn't like it. That's fine.
 
I also don't like Grados. But they're definitely more love and hate than M50s are.
 
Quote:

 
ProDJ00 is one of the worst headphones I have ever had the displeasure of hearing. I would take Senn HD280 or Audio Technica T400/AD500 or Superlux, or any Samson oem product over it any day of the week. In fact I did, until I got my hands on a second-hand M50.
 
I don't think I'm on Head-Fi anymore.
 
I got my M50 for $60, $21 less than I spent on my Grados.
 
If Grados are universally herald as the entry in to audiophillia, and M50 is the obvious step up, why are people saying they aren't good? Nobody is saying they are the end-all. In fact, I regularly demo flagship systems, and they are very obviously only a marginal upgrade to what I currently own.

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

i actually read a lot of stuff on innerfidelity, never knew the guy's actual name.

 
I had read plenty from Tyll on innerfidelity as well though I'd never watched any videos.  Tyll has quite the personality.

 

[stevenswall]

I agree that the Pro DJ100 is worse than the HD280, because I've directly compared both 3 times at a local B-Buy when it wasn't busy. The DJ100 has some really bad sounding treble. It's like it can't reproduce all of it evenly, so it goes for the tinny thin sound instead.

The midrange seemed higher on the DJ100, but that was probably due to the relatively low deep bass and silly treble nonsense. The HD280 on the other had adequate treble, a neutral midrange, and some pretty nice bass in the lower regions. It was warmer, lacked the poor treble, and was something I actually enjoyed listening to.

The DJ100 on the other hand seemed only a bit better than the iPod earbuds I found in the back of the family van a few weeks earlier, though the earbuds actually didn't sound nearly so crappy in the treble region. Neglecting the lower bass registers, The DJ00 almost sounds a little like a Grado headphone... if Grado's had a massive comb filter on the treble, garbage soundstage, and some boosted mid bass.

...and then we have comfort, isolation, and cost. The HD280 trounces the Koss DJ100 on all three counts.


The shark-toothed silliness of the Koss DJ100s treble:

 

[CrystalT]

The hd280 trumps the dj100 in every category.

The Ath t400 which is less expensive than both the dj100 and the hd280 in every category, both sonically, and in terms of comfort.

Used to low end? I regularly demo top tier equipment. Get the **** out with that bs.

Can someone show me quantitative proof that the m50 isn't any good?

 

[crossjeremiah]

grados are just very bright sounding headphones. virtually no sound stage. just very airey. i can understand people not liking them because they aren't really balanced headphones, just highs all day, for i like the colors and how fun they sound, but i recently switched to dt-1350 and Westone4s and i won't be going back.

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

 
that's funny, you go regularly to demo stuff, shopkeep must really like you.
but no, you are used to low end stuff. demoing just means you tried them for 15 min. you only really begin to understand why you like a pair of cans after a while of listening which i would say is a few weeks of listening for a couple hours a day.
can anyone give you quantitative proof on anything based on perception? you can look at graphs, but even those seem relatively useless.
you're satisfied with low end stuff, great for you, others are not and you don't see anyone typing "You should delete your account if you don't own a flagship, cause you're not an audiophile".
tl;dr keep your ridiculously skewed and biased viewpoint to yourself.

 
I'm pretty sure the original point has completely been thrown out and this has been turned into a superiority debate.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I found the DJ100 more comfortable, less fatiguing, and overall more fun to listen to. I've owned both.
 
Just goes to show that opinions differ I guess. There's quite a few Head-fiers around here that love them. Myself included. 
 
I do wonder though...Were you guys listening amped? While both benefit from amping the DJ100 gets significantly better in my experience with a decent portable amp.

 

[TwinQY]

Back on topic, I just managed to convince 3 people today to order a pair of the 8320s after having them listen to it. Sort of impressed at first, then I told them to switch to something more vocal/midrange oriented, as that's where they excel at. Many jaws were dropped today, gentlemen. 
 
Favourite part of the convo - "Why does everything sound so large?"
                                                 - " That's called soundstage"
                                                 - " Oh. Can I buy these off you now?"

 

[ZetsuBozu0012]

Quote:

The hd280 trumps the dj100 in every category.
The Ath t400 which is less expensive than both the dj100 and the hd280 in every category, both sonically, and in terms of comfort.
Used to low end? I regularly demo top tier equipment. Get the **** out with that bs.
Can someone show me quantitative proof that the m50 isn't any good?

A few things:
1. I generally agree with you in that the HD280 is better than the DJ100, though the former has a bit too much bass for my tastes (auditioned the both of them a long while back, so I may be mistaken).
2. No one's saying that the M50s aren't any good, at least not based on how I'm reading the last few pages; people are just saying that they're overhyped and that there are a lot of contenders that outperform them, price notwithstanding. 
3. No need to call BS, though it may be true. Feel free to correct people if they make any wrong assumptions, but please try to do it in a way that doesn't raise others' blood pressure. It kinda derails the thread.
 
P.S.
How are the mids (treble is reputedly OK, and I'm a bit indifferent towards bass nowadays) on the ATH-a700x compared to the M50? Curious as to those cans, and I'm using the M50s as reference since I'm more or less familiar with them, and because they're from the same manufacturer. Better if you can compare them to the AKG 240/242HD. Thanks in advance!

 

[beaver316]

A couple of years ago before i was in the audiophile game i bought the Senn HD 280 pro. At the time i though they were awesome. My mom wanted to know what all the fuss was about so i played her a song that i knew she always liked. After s few seconds she started to cry tears of joy.
 
Well of course now i think the HD 280 pro sounds like poo but whatever.

 

[KodaO]

I played The sad puppy song, Angel, for my air through my 940's. She was in tears as well, said "that song has never sounded so beautiful."

 

[jazzerdave]

Can we try to move the whole M-50 debate to the appropriate thread?  There's already a ridiculously long thread on the "M50's overrated?" topic:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/548578/m50s-overrated/705#post_8808364

 

[ProjectDenz]

I used to think the HD600 was over-rated, but then I got a more proper source and amplifier.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

Removed.

I showed my hd800 portable rig setup to a friend at school and he said he didn't hear any difference between the hd800 and his beats.

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

You know you're an audiophile when room acoustics play a role with your open back headphones

 
Wrong thread there mate