[drambit]

Long story short, earlier this month I purchased the popular ATH-M50 set of headphones. They clamp on my jaw too hard, they don't even come close to fitting my ear inside so they rub on my ear lobes, and the mids are awful, despite the very good lows and highs. 
 
I can still return them to Amazon for a full refund if I want to, but I hate mailing things and want to avoid that if I can, so I just have a few questions:
 

1. I have heard of a lot of people modifying their earcups with cotton balls or other padding material, does that solve the clamping / rubbing issue for people with big ears? Or is it just slightly more cushy?
2. If I return these, is there any pairs of headphones that are known to be better in the same price range now? I remember reading that a few years ago that wasn't the case, and that better stuff has come out in that range now, but I didn't read further into it so I don't know.
3. Anything else I should know?

 
All in all I'm basically just asking if it is worth it to send them back. I imagine most headphones in this price range have their own issues, so it's basically pick your poison, but I'm new to this industry so I can't tell on my own.

 

[bikerboy94]

  Long story short, earlier this month I purchased the popular ATH-M50 set of headphones. They clamp on my jaw too hard, they don't even come close to fitting my ear inside so they rub on my ear lobes, and the mids are awful, despite the very good lows and highs. 
 
I can still return them to Amazon for a full refund if I want to, but I hate mailing things and want to avoid that if I can, so I just have a few questions:
 

1. I have heard of a lot of people modifying their earcups with cotton balls or other padding material, does that solve the clamping / rubbing issue for people with big ears? Or is it just slightly more cushy?
2. If I return these, is there any pairs of headphones that are known to be better in the same price range now? I remember reading that a few years ago that wasn't the case, and that better stuff has come out in that range now, but I didn't read further into it so I don't know.
3. Anything else I should know?

 
All in all I'm basically just asking if it is worth it to send them back. I imagine most headphones in this price range have their own issues, so it's basically pick your poison, but I'm new to this industry so I can't tell on my own.

I returned mine. Did not like them comfort or sound wise. I would take a look at the Senn Momentums.

 

[cel4145]

The M50s are a good all arounder that suit many people, but they are not for everyone.

So seems like you might want a different headphone with perhaps more mid emphasis and different comfort?

 

[drambit]

Not really sure what I want, because I listen to a wide variety of music. I mainy listen to trance, which the M50 happens to be amazing for, but when it comes to metal they are atrocious because voices are way too quiet and recessed. The recessed mids are even obvious when listening to classical because anything that isn't sharp or bassy is just quiet. Any melodic instrument sounds bad.  I'm not looking for mid emphasis, just looking for something that's not bad in that category. Not even sure if it's possible for headphones to have decent bass as well as great mids and highs, but my last two pairs have not (m50 and xb500.) Generally I'm just looking for a good, comfortable, solid, neutral pair of headphones. I'm just not sure that exists in the $100-$200 range. If there isn't a really good neutral pair in that range I might not return my m50. 

 

[WraithApe]

How about the good old Senn HD-25, or HD-25 Alu? I had my HD-25s for about 10 years before they finally needed replacing. At that time, I auditioned the ATH M50 and wasn't particularly impressed. Like you, I felt they sounded a bit recessed, not the nice flat, yet punchy response I was used to from the HD-25.

 

[drambit]

  How about the good old Senn HD-25, or HD-25 Alu? I had my HD-25s for about 10 years before they finally needed replacing. At that time, I auditioned the ATH M50 and wasn't particularly impressed. Like you, I felt they sounded a bit recessed, not the nice flat, yet punchy response I was used to from the HD-25.

I only roll over-ear headphones. Ironically that's one of my biggest problems with the ATH-M50, one of the most popular over-ear headphones ever. It doesn't feel over-ear, it feels on-ear because of how shallow the cups are.

 

[MrMan]

The stock pads for the m50 are absolute trash. Might want to look into buying a pair of branwavz hm5 pads for them.
 
Stock m50 on left and hm5 pads on the right
 
I can't post pictures yet so link.
 
http://cdn.head-fi.org/7/79/350x700px-LL-7970e556_IMG_2648.jpeg

 

[serman005]

From a comfort perspective, the Senn HD598 is hard to top, IMHO--I just don't know how it would be for metal for you. I listen to a fair amount of metal on my 598 and I am quite happy, but, YMMV.

 

[Joe Garfield]

It really is so subjective - I am certainly finding this out. If you ask a question about sound quality or fit/feel, you will get opposing answers from people with different tastes. My suggestion is to return them, and try to find something you like - that sounds good and feels good.
 
I thought I was going to love the AKG 240, I didn't like the M50 at all, HD598 was comfortable but the worst sounding Senn I've tried (558 was more comfortable and sounded better), all of this opposed the ideas I had before trying them.
 
I am now at the point of ordering online, using Paypal 6mos interest/payment free to try different headphones and keep the one that I like. Right now I am awaiting Beyerdynamic DT880 and Sennheiser HD600. I wanted to spend $60. After loving the Senn HD650 for $400, $250 sounds like a good deal. Plus I get either a free headphone amp or a $25 gift card

 

[drambit]

Wow. I just tried stretching the headband to see what would happen, god damn world of difference. I used to have this problem with these headphones that I couldn't sing along to music under my breath, which bothered my a lot when I first got these in the mail. At first I attributed it to recessed mids making the vocals sound way quieter than expectation, but I think it was just because my jaw was basically clamped in place, all is well in that category now. 

 

[billybob_jcv]

The best headphones in the world are useless if you can't stand wearing them for more than 2 minutes. The first time I put on the Martin Logan ML90 (which are not the best even if they did fit) I thought my brain was going to be squeezed out of my ears like juice from an overripe orange. I would like to meet the guy that can wear those headphones directly out of the box. I suspect he looks like this:

 

[cel4145]

Not really sure what I want, because I listen to a wide variety of music. I mainy listen to trance, which the M50 happens to be amazing for, but when it comes to metal they are atrocious because voices are way too quiet and recessed. The recessed mids are even obvious when listening to classical because anything that isn't sharp or bassy is just quiet. Any melodic instrument sounds bad.  I'm not looking for mid emphasis, just looking for something that's not bad in that category. Not even sure if it's possible for headphones to have decent bass as well as great mids and highs, but my last two pairs have not (m50 and xb500.) Generally I'm just looking for a good, comfortable, solid, neutral pair of headphones. I'm just not sure that exists in the $100-$200 range. If there isn't a really good neutral pair in that range I might not return my m50. 

It's possible to have decent bass, mids, and highs in terms of SQ. But to have emphasized bass, it always has to be emphasized over something else, either mids or treble.

 

[cel4145]

Wow. I just tried stretching the headband to see what would happen, god damn world of difference.

Glad it worked for you, but not cool to do if you still think you might return them.

That being said, maybe you need those for bass heavy music, and another pair for music where you need stronger mids

 

[LNuneek]

If you listen to basically every genre you might have some trouble finding a great all rounder. Basically, if you switch to something with more clarity and mids to appease the rock gods, chances are you are going to really miss that bass and warmth in the 50 that's great for your Trance. In that price range I just don't know of too many headphones that offer the kind of clarity you are looking for with the kind of bass and power you get with the 50's.
 
If you don't mind a slight downgrade in SQ and can deal with strong highs, you could check out the MDR-7506. I find it has a kind of fun energetic sound signature that suits a lot of genres, but the highs can get a little fatiguing at times. The bass response is good. It's a V shaped frequency HP, but it's not like the 50's. You will hear the vocals and such in your music and they will be quite present. It also comes with a non detachable fairly long coiled cord, so that's something to be aware of. They are also significantly cheaper, especially if you live somewhere in the states.
 
Also, if you are finding you can deal with the feel of the 50's frame on your head, but just want a more neutral sound, it might be a good idea to try out the M40X.
 
As a side note, I have velour pads on my M50's and the clamping pressure is the same. Everything is the same except I feel velour on my skin. Changing the ear pads won't change anything like that too significantly.  
 
Keep in mind though, regardless of your choice, you will most likely have to make concessions somewhere. It's about what's best for you when you weigh the pros and cons.

 

[drambit]

I decided I'm returning my M50s because even after a little bit of stretching the clamp is just unbearable, the mids aren't even that bad on the M50s although they are very obviously recessed. I was actually looking to buy the 7506 set before I ended up buying M50s, but I don't know why but they are nigh impossible to find (canada.) I will absolutely consider downgrading if I can find them for a good price. Only reason I went up to 150+ is because usually below 150 everything is ****.