Opinions on Audio-Technica ATH M50s as a first time buy?

[Tezmo88]

 
Hey everybody,
 
First post after joining as a member, and was just wondering if anyone would be kind enough to provide me with some feedback on whether ATH M50s' seem like a good buy for me.
 
 
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Technica-ATHM50S-Audio-Technica-Ath-m50s/dp/B004ZG9TMA/ref=pd_sim_ce_1
 
 
Situation
 
Im currently working full time in N.Ireland, though not earning very much. This includes commuting for 2.5 hrs a day. The majority of the commuting is via bus and walking down noisy streets. After doing some research i've decided to delve into buying a pair of over ear / closed headphones for the first time, as i hear they provide much better quality than your average ipod/IEM headphones, so could potentially make my commuting much more enjoyable.
 
I would be using the headphones with an Ipod Nano, and primarily listening to rock/pop rock and some softer acoustic guitar/piano music. Could anyone provide insight into how these would perform with this sort of Genre? I've heard the headphones are bass heavy, will this ruin some of the acoustic / piano heavy songs?
 
Another point is that the headphones work well without the use of an Amp. Could anyone confirm this?
 
My budget is somewhere along the lines of £100 - £175, and ive found these for around £135. I'm looking for closed/over ear headphones that will block out background noise nicely, and that won't require an amp to function decently. If anyone could suggest alternatives that might suit my taste of music/situation better, please let me know.
 
One final point (almost seems silly to ask)..... Will outdoor use (e.g. in heavy rain) be likely to damage most over ear headsets? Ive seen some with lots of cabling throughout the headset, and couldnt help but wonder?
 
I would do the sensible thing and find a place to test these headphones/others with my Ipod, but after searching online, there doesn't seem to be any stores anywhere nearby that sell them. Cheers for any help.
 
Terry
 

 

[Coq de Combat]

1) I didn't find them particularly bad with any kind of music. They don't excel at any genre either; they will work with mostly everything.
 
2) It's a good set of headphones. For the money, you could do far worse.
 
3) They're not particularly bass heavy, although they do have bass. If you're afraid of EQ:ing with your portable device, then you could EQ the bass down or up as you change the music.
 
4) I never use "better" headphones in heavy rain. I know that some do, and they don't seem to suffer from issues from doing so. However, £135 is a lot of money - wanna take the risk? Not me..
 
5) Isolation wise, I think you should look at IEMs as well - there are a plethora of IEMs with REALLY good sound quality. If you come from cheapish headphones/earphones, no matter what headphone/IEM you choose, you will probably be impressed by it's sound quality.
 
Other cans to look at:
- Ultrasone HFI series
- Shure SRH series
- Some Sony cans
- Sennheiser HD25-1 II (or Adidas version if you like the blueish look)
 
Edit: Oh, and one more thing: you should take a look at a cheap AMP, such as the FiiO E6 for instance, since us europeans have crippled portable devices because of a volume cap due to EU regulation. The FiiO E6 would also make the sound a little bit better IMO, than running straight through an iPod nano.

 

[Tezmo88]

Cheers for taking the time out to reply I've heard of some of the other prospects you stated to look at, though will definetly need to take a closer look at some IEMS. Could well end up having a pair of IEM's for rainy days (2/3 of the year here lol), and a pair of closed headphones for the summer.
 
I'll have a look into the amp aswel, although i was hoping to avoid them overall. As thing stands i'll probably order a pair of ATH M50s from amazon along with the amp you stated and test them out, if im unhappy with either i can always send them back. 
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[daigo]

I only spent about 20 minutes with the M50's, but they isolated fairly well in a noisy store.  They have decent bass being played by the store's audio system, but they weren't able to tell me what kind of source or amp (if there was one) was powering it.  I was able to unplug it and play it out of my iphone 3gs without any issues. 
 
However, they are pretty bulky and do not fold up so it might be difficult to carry around unless you have a large backpack without much stuff in there. 
 
EDIT:  Coq de Combat corrects me in that they do fold up decently. 
 
I would look at some IEM's as well though.  They will be easier to play out of an ipod and to carry. 

 

[Coq de Combat]

Quote:

However, they are pretty bulky and do not fold up so it might be difficult to carry around unless you have a large backpack without much stuff in there. 
 

They fold up. Like this:
 

 

[shane55]

Quote:

I only spent about 20 minutes with the M50's, but they isolated fairly well in a noisy store.  They have decent bass being played by the store's audio system, but they weren't able to tell me what kind of source or amp (if there was one) was powering it.  I was able to unplug it and play it out of my iphone 3gs without any issues. 
 
However, they are pretty bulky and do not fold up so it might be difficult to carry around unless you have a large backpack without much stuff in there. 
 
EDIT:  Coq de Combat corrects me in that they do fold up decently. 
 
I would look at some IEM's as well though.  They will be easier to play out of an ipod and to carry. 

I really like my M50's. Have had them for a very long time... but I agree with my friend diago. For your purposes... long commute, possible rain, portability; IEM's seem like a better 'fit'. There are many great ones for the same price or less that should suite your tastes. This of course, assumes you don't object to things in your ears.
 
 

 

[wormsdriver]

The M-50's are a great first pair of nice cans, but personally, I think they're a bit much as a portable. If this will be your primary use(portability) I would go with iem's or something on ear that many people recommend like Sennheiser HD 25 I  II or similar.
....Oh, I see you decided to order from amazon...I'm pretty sure you'll like 'em, and doubt you will return them!

 

[joeylw]

The ATH M50 was my first set of "real" headphones. I got them a few days before Christmas and absolutely love them.

 

[garbage88]

I was lookin to buy a m50 as well but if i was u id wait for a while for the new sennheiser amperior coming out sometime in march /..They are based on the hd25 
 
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/01/sennheiser-amperior-headphones-are-dj-cans-for-the-street/

 

[Dazedy]

I got the m-50's about a year and a half ago, they're still going strong after a fair amount of abuse, such as being shoved into a backpack half-folded, being worn in the rain, dropped numerous times on concrete, etc.  Frankly, i'm surprised at how well they've held up, the only sign of age that they're showing is the pleather ear pads cracking a bit - they still work fine and are plenty comfortable.  These things are made like fisher-price toys: you'd have to want to break them in order to do so.  
 
The m-50's were my first pair of real earphones as well, and I haven't found any music that they sound bad with.  Most of the songs that sound bad on these phones wouldn't sound good on anything real (poor mastering / ripping for example).  The bass can be a bit muddier than higher-end headphones, but then again, you get what you pay for.  If you're coming from crap headphones, the bass will sound perfectly fine.  It doesn't bleed into the mids or cover up the highs, and it can pack a punch if it needs to.  
 
For isolation: they'll do fine for almost anything barring air travel.  They still work for air travel, but you have to crank them up a bit (around 85% on my iphone 4 instead of the normal 40-50% I usually listen to them).  
 
Portability: like the others have said, these are headphones, so they take up space and are a bit bulky.  Go for IEM's if you want to listen to music while jogging or something. For commuting to / from school or work though, they've worked fine for me.  A 2.5 hour commute may be pushing it though..
 
One thing that many people have noted, and I can confirm it, when you get the headphones, the headband literally clamps onto your head.  It's recommended to stretch them out over a tissue-box or something overnight.  Also, because they are relatively tight to begin with, they tend to insulate heat, so you might end up with sweaty ears.  I'll walk around in weather around 28C and my ears will be cozy in these.  Indoors, I generally need to give my ears a 5-10 minute break for every hour or two of listening.  This probably contributes to the "rapid deterioration" of the headphone pads (cracks showing the the pleather surface after maybe 8 -12 months)