Sorry for reviving this thread. It's not too long to quickly glance over and there's just something for me I think feedback would be very meaningful for.
All this time ago, I decided to go with the ATH-M50's. I'll be honest. I gave them a lot of time, and being stuck with them, I truly realize and can't deny that I hate them. Without going too in depth and not letting emotion get the best of the description, simply put, on their own or relative to other random headphones I randomly put on, their soundstage is puny, they sound dead, and bass is simply "audible". They seem to try to FORCE a flat EQ. That's something very different from being neutral and being able to produce any sound in the spectrum at any level of dynamics. If there's a techno song with thumping bass, a sound in that range without any sort of impact does not professional make. I imagine a snobby know-nothing sitting there pondering how others could possibly not enjoy such an "accurate" and "analytical" sound. Finally, they're also EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Not a single person has found them to be so and immediately mention that by the way. It's obvious why too and their build quality is total crap. To describe them from a neutral perspective, I guess they sound ok, just, completely uninteresting and feel like they're just reproducing the frequency ranges in a clean manner without any dynamics or acoustics - like it's built with a cheap compressor.
Anyway, I recently found out about the FA-003 cans which I found priced at $150 and I'm surprised nobody mentioned them here. It seems nothing would really sound like "a better version" of my beloved "Brainwavs M2 IEM's" but the FA-003's sound great. I learned about them through the newly released Brainwavz MH5 cans which are speculated as being very similar. They're even cheaper so I actually just took the leap and pre-ordered them for the amazing deal at the time which was $100. From everything I read so far, I feel they have great potential for me to enjoy them if they're as good as reviewed.
I've gotten a great deal of help when it came to IEMs and I haven't seen the same when it came to monitors or just full-sized headphones in general. I'm confused as to why. People seem less descriptive of their sound through a "feel" kind of perspective. For instance, Joker chipped in a lot with my IEM decision and I'm thankful to this day for his suggestions and determination.
It's just confusing because people keep praising the M50s in so many regards and I see absolutely none of that in them. It makes me feel like everything in existence is total BS if they in fact have the best bass while still being balanced, you know, have amazing this, amazing that, etc... I find it hard thinking of things that I like about them truthfully. I prefer my IEMs over them on almost all accounts. Obviously I can't use the IEMs for real detailed listening though and it's just more comfortable at home to use the M50s. Can anybody provide their opinion on whats going on here? Try to assume the best in terms my audio comprehension abilities. I can try reinforcing my confidence in my own perceptive skills but I feel that'd only come across as conceited or arrogant.
EDIT (from post #43): Are there any suggestions LOOKING PAST the M50's? Back and forth can go on forever about them. Point really is, based on what I don't like and maybe what some other people are saying, without irritatingly throwing other examples, what are honestly other good pairs of headphones which can measure up to other people's liking other than those who the M50's satisfy? Once again, it's really seeming like there's nothing and I just don't think it could be that. I would imagine there's something of every possible combination that would be considered good for its intent.
