Read this, its from another forum. So ljokerl put HD 25 at the top and AT M-50 at second position. According to this review AH-D1001 tops M-50 both in terms of sound and comfort.
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on: December 07, 2010, 12:32:28 AM »
continued from Ed8 review...
I did not want to end this review by giving out the wrong impression that the D1001 is a bad headphone that is really veiled and flawed in the way it produces sound, etc. Do remember it is a sub-6k going up against something above 60k headphone. In this sense, it really was no match. Therefore to give the D1001 a fighting chance, I was lucky enough to borrow the M50 of Hanz and match them up side-by-side. I myself was a big fan of the M50 and chose it as my first headphone ever. I am very much still a fan and recommended Hanz himself to by it as well. There are downsides especially the v-curve sound presentation which in my opinion, is its biggest flaw. When I heard Ed's D1001 however in the CBTL meet, I was really impressed by the sound it churned out and thought it really had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, I brought the DT150 that day and not the M50 but finally, I am now able to compare them side-by-side. Though this review is scary because both are what I would consider very good entry level priced cans and I would also assume a lot of guys who are thinking of headphones would start with these, I did try my best to just describe both and summarized my preference in my opinion.
Audio Technica M50 - Php 5,400.00 with shipping from Amazon
Denon D1001 - Php 5,850.00 (plus modifications) from Listening Room
I had 10 songs selected but stopped after the 7th for reasons revealed below. It was a simple A/B switching sometimes M50 first then D1001 of the same track and sometimes the other way around.
Hifiman 602 > Solid Copper IC > RSA Hornet > M50 / D1001 (Ed modified)
Anytime - Brian McKnight
M50 - more laid back. Bass is more but slightly shallow because of the recessed mids. Vocals sounding a bit metallic due to presence of highs but recessed mids. There is a sense of separation though. The D1001 was more engaging. Bass better, deeper, slightly tighter. More balanced on the M50 especially the mids. Sound is a bit more muddled and lesser air compared to M50. The presentation of the lows I prefer the M50 over the D1001. M50 also wins for at least better separation but at expense of recessed mids. The vocals therefore sound thinner
The isolation of the M50 however comes in as a big factor of making the sound more intimate. The D1001 is a bit more engaging due to drivers even closer to the ears but overall due to the bass quantity, I might give a really very slight edge to the M50. This however can easily become a debate on personal preference. This was the hardest track to decide on and I had to repeat it three times before giving a fair judgment. Even now, I still would want to have another go at listening to both but M50 is now gone!
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
D1001 takes this due to the more neutral sound presentation. Nothing sounds overly bright. The detail on the mids and guitars are beautifully controlled and more elegantly presented compared to the M50. The D1001 is also smoother in its transitions and the vocals are beautiful and more engaging than the further back presentation of the M50. D1001 does however gets robbed a tad bit of details on highs. The M50 takes advantage of that aspect, again I would assume, due to recessed mids. The vocals on the M50 sounds like it is behind all the instruments which in the D1001, hits you all at the same time. The vocals are front and center but not too forward.
Feelings - Jerome Etnome
D1001 takes this one for musicality alone. The musicality is more engaging and the piano sounds more engaging. Again in defense, the M50 has separation taken again. It may be slight for this track that only has one piano working but because of this separation, the sound is less muddy compared to the D1001. Also the M50 has slightly more sibilance on the high notes compared to the D1001. The piano notes sounds fuller and more musical in the D1001 but perhaps the M50 is better on the piano notes played as a group. It however suffers due to a slightly darker therefore less engaging presentation. I will give this to the D1001.
Hallelujah - Paramore
D1001 takes this track. Much more engaging. Sounds full. Beautiful electric guitar. Vocals are more natural. M50 again on better high note details but the vocals sounds thinner and too much of a recording. Even the bass on the drums are fuller and more powerful on the D1001. This is hands down to the D1001. It makes itself sound twice the price of the M50. Harmony is better overall and the presentation itself is more powerful and energetic that complements the song.
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
Katy again sounding thin in the M50. The D1001 however is sounding darker in this track compared to the M50. The M50 sounds livelier with the vocals becoming the main problem. The D1001 however sounds too intimate for this song and a bit too closed. Switching between the two, the D1001 will sound darker but fuller. The M50 will sound thinner - and rescued only by the amount of lows it bring from the bass drums - but more spacious. There is more air but a bit more metallic. A balance in between by both headphones would really be perfect to be honest. I find this track very tricky actually and for me, the M50 beats even the DT150 in overall presentation of this song. For this one... between being darker but fuller versus thinner but livelier, I would go with the M50 because the emotion of the song jives better especially on the chorus when it is more of an "everyone go wild" kind of message.
Moon River
D1001 again hands down on this track. Vocals front, center, intimate, engaging, full with body. Cello are more controlled. Slightly tighter with more musicality as with the piano. Cymbals sounds elegant and soft. The D1001 this time makes the M50 look really really thin in its sound presentation. The air doesn't even come across as something positive on the M50 for this track. It simply made the M50 package sound like something cheaper.
When You're Mad - Neyo
Again this one goes to the D1001. Better vocals, better lows, smoother, more full in presentation. And all these little improvements translate to a much better overall experience. I left this track at the last hoping the M50 would shine but I am really surprised by how the D1001 handled itself.
Conclusion
The M50 indeed has bass. I won't say loads of bass but I think it is still its strength. For me however, as I've learned in this review, bass does not tell the entire story for the sound presentation on the lows. The mids especially low mids have a significant effect on presentation of the lows including smooth transitions. For the M50, this also happens to be its greatest weakness. I was expecting this review on R&B tracks to be completely won over by the M50 but surprisingly, the D1001 presented itself a good enough contender and on some tracks even beat the M50 at its game. This was done not by churning out even more bass but by simply bringing out the mids and making it extend beautifully to the lows. Hence the overall experience of the lows becomes smoother, more powerful even and tighter.
The M50 also has a thin sound experience in some tracks that is very noticeable even for a non-audiophile and this was also my biggest complaint with the M50 from my early days of owning it. As I have commented, manufacturers sometimes do this on purpose to create the illusion of space and a wider soundstage plus slightly more detailed highs - this one went overboard. The M50 compared to the D1001 also feels a bit less intimate (I won't say less engaging as this would depend on the song and how it was meant to engage the listener) and closer. For me my guess is simply because the drivers in the D1001 are just much closer to the ears as compared to the M50. This might be too close for some but when your ears settle, it really won't notice it at all. As far as engaging, both are exciting cans to listen to its just that the excitement is delivered differently. The M50 did win on one track (Teenage Dream) that I think up to now, even my DT150 or the Ed8 can't beat on overall presentation wise. I would go as far to say that the D1001 is still more exciting overall.
Not to rub more salt on the wound but for me, not only does the D1001 trump the M50 on sound quality, it also wins it over on comfort. The M50 may have better isolation but it feels heavy and bulky and of course, the pleathers heat up fast (like 15 mins fast). The D1001 pleathers will heat up but never as warm as the M50 and it always feels light on the head. Build wise, the M50 is more of a tank but can be folded (which is really a nice feature). I prefer the coiled cable but it is a bit heavy when you are walking. Ed's modified and sleeved cable is way too stiff though. The M50 also looks and feels much more durable than the D1001 which feels flimsy. So, do we go spend $27 more on the D1001 over the M50? Hanz upon hearing the D1001, said to me that it sounds like 10k phones. I agree. The M50 is a bargain to be honest at 5k but the D1001 for me is the 5k headphone that sounds like 10k. It really sounds at least twice better than the M50. On another topic however, (hehe), if you had 10k, go get the DT150 because unfortunately for the D1001, the DT150 is the 10k headphone that sounds like 20k (thoug I've never heard a 20k closed can I think).
PS: For all the loyal M50 fans, don't kill me yet!
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Last Edit: December 07, 2010, 12:43:15 AM by sherwino »
If it was my review there wouldn't be a single Sennheiser on the list, every one I listened to I didn't like. I've never listened to HD800 though. I'm not sure why you call D1001 treble de-emphasized, to me HD25 had less treble, at least off my iphone. One of the reasons I love D1001 is because it has just right amount of treble to be able to listen to it for hours without getting tired. I always preffered bright sound, so if it didn't have enough treble I wouldn't like it. My HFI 780 has more detail than D1001 and still I prefer D1001 over it. Even though HFI 780 just keeps getting better and better with burn in. It turns out that it really needs some 300+ hours of burn in for treble calm down and for mids to improve.
