what ever happened to the ATH-M50 craze around here?
Oct 10, 2012 at 8:56 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23

yepimonfire

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now it seems the opposite, everyone saying it's an over rated phone and nobody recommending it like they used to. when i first joined it was the hottest ~100 dollar phone on this forum.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 8:57 PM Post #2 of 23
Probably because there are newer headphones now that are around the same price that are better
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 9:11 PM Post #4 of 23
Quote:
now it seems the opposite, everyone saying it's an over rated phone and nobody recommending it like they used to. when i first joined it was the hottest ~100 dollar phone on this forum.


Heya,
 
Funny how flavors of the month do this.
 
The M50 re-surfaces all the time, then it goes back into the shade. Some how it has more recommendations than most headphones by more people who have either not even experienced the M50, or have not listened to anything but the M50. The M50 & AD700 for example are the two headphones you see riddling every forum being re-posted by everyone, it eats up gaming forums, and headphone forums alike. It's as if nothing else has ever existed or will exist. There are plenty of headphones in the same price range that are better values. But you won't convince an M50 fanatic of this. I say this as a M50 owner, and owner of many, many other headphones. It's just not that special. Blew my mind when I got it only to have the reality check that it's just another headphone in the sea of headphones. But if you have enough people reposting it, it surely must be special.
 
Very best,
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 9:19 PM Post #5 of 23
Quote:
Well they changed the drivers to something slightly more neutral but still not neutral and they upped the price significantly.

any idea if we have a FR graph for the new drivers anywhere?
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 9:21 PM Post #6 of 23
M50 was never flavor of the month, unless by month you mean 3 years. Since this forum started I can't think of a specific headphone that has been recommended more. The M50 still holds it own in the $100-$150 range. All headphones in this range have some pros and cons. I haven't heard a M50-killer in this price range.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 10:19 PM Post #7 of 23
I have had them twice and sold them twice. There's a not so engaging distance to them that kept me from truly enjoying them after a time. Oh and they have a fun bass. Polarizing phones they are. I will take the steady as she goes Shure SRH840 any day.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 11:08 PM Post #8 of 23
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:24 AM Post #9 of 23
Mostly it's been blown over as the flavor of the month.
 
I owned a set and ended up selling them within a few months. They were simply a mediocre non-engaging headphone. The bass extension was poor and sound stage sucked..should mention the clamping force was unnecessarily stiff and the faux leather made your ears sweat like crazy. Add in a price of around $120ish for what they retail now and I have no clue how these were recommended in the first place. They definitely weren't a TERRIBLE set, but they seriously lacked in so much that the price didn't reflect the sound quality.
 
After so many people took the word of so many members here I'm guessing quite a few left disappointed and moved to bigger and better things.


What I would love to see recommended more:

Audio Technica A700. My first set, FANTASTIC sound stage, lightweight design, and a non-fatiguing sound signature.
 
Sony XB500: The basshead can. Has stupid amounts of impact and at $50 you can't go wrong (great for those moving from the iBuds)
 
Skullcandy Aviator: (actually my personal favorite as of now). Great engaging sound, comfy as balls without making your ears sweat, and man they be sexy :p
 
 
those for that $100-150 range. 
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:45 AM Post #10 of 23
So is this the same idea with the D2000's? I mean there are lots of headphones to compete with them at their price range...is it over-hyped like the M50? or is it really as good as they say?
 
I am hoping they are immune to this and are truly best of class headphones....why because I'm auditioning them soon to see how they compare to my PRO 900's...soon i will own either the PRO 900's or the D2000's
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 5:27 AM Post #11 of 23
Quote:
So is this the same idea with the D2000's? I mean there are lots of headphones to compete with them at their price range...is it over-hyped like the M50? or is it really as good as they say?
 
I am hoping they are immune to this and are truly best of class headphones....why because I'm auditioning them soon to see how they compare to my PRO 900's...soon i will own either the PRO 900's or the D2000's

 
Heya,
 
You'll see very quickly that the Denon D2000 is still, and will always be, an excellent headphone in it's price range. There is a lot of competition there in that range. But not if you consider two things: (1) closed back and (2) sub-bass. The moment you say you want sub-bass, it pretty much takes out most open-headphones, they can do it, but they just can't deliver it the way a closed headphone can. The impact is just so different with a closed headphone when it comes to a big bass slam. So even though there are a lot of headphones in the $200~350 range, you'll find that, well, very few of them compare to the Denon D2000. The D2000 has a better sound stage than most other closed headphones, it has a semi-open internal design with a vent going around the outside shell giving it a great sound stage, plus deep cups. The bass is not overwhelming, it's actually simply linear down to sub-bass regions, so when you hear a bass note, it's as present as something in the mids. Think of it more like an audiophile's headphone that is really bass capable. The mids may be technically slightly recessed, but this applies to every headphone with any slightly emphasis on bass/treble, the moment something has more volume in one frequency than the mids, it's automatically recessed and I think it gets unjustly applied too often. That said, vocals, instruments, etc, all sound great in the D2000 (you'll find they are clear, forward and more natural sounding than the PRO900's sound on vocals and instruments). The treble has a good sparkle to it, they're not dark headphones, they're slightly bright, but they're not over the top bright (PRO900's are very bright, too bright for most).
 
I went from the PRO900 to the D2000 to the D5000. Final resting headphone for me, closed back wise, is the D5000. The PRO900 was simply too bright, and it was all mid-bass. The mids were drown out, so vocals just sounded weird, not natural, distant. The D2000 and D5000 on the other hand, the bass is more to my preference, big sub-bass presence, way less mid-bass bloat, the mids are great, vocals and instruments sound normal, natural, engaging, and not distant. Treble is bright, has a sparkle, but it's not spiky bright, so it doesn't fatigue me (it does others, but everyone is different and some are sensitive to all headphones with any brightness at all).
 
Out of all the mid-fi headphones, and I have most of them, the D2000 is still in my opinion and experience one of the best headphones you can get, one of the most complete headphones, because it's signature covers all genres, it's incredibly comfortable, it's incredibly efficient and runs out of anything, and to me does audio more like how speakers would sound than a headphone sounds (sound stage, big sub bass ability). At $200 used, to $300ish or more new (if available), it's just unmatched in the closed headphone category in it's price range to me. There are similar ones, but so far, nothing has really taken it down for me. You can look at my selection to see what it's been put against if you care to.
 
Very best,
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 5:44 AM Post #12 of 23
Always thought it was totally over hyped even when it was $100 ish. I ordered one and thought I had gotten the wrong can it was so bad (yes I really tried to like it, yes I "burned it in" or rather burned myself into it, but I did play it for 150 hours or so in any case, etc). I wouldn't pay $20 for it.
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 5:45 AM Post #13 of 23
I picked up the M50 a few months ago as my first proper cans. Initially I was impressed, but that may have been more because I have been predominantly using IEMs for the last few years. 
 
Sound wise they are just ok. The bass extension is not as good as I thought it would be and they lack detail. I also find my ears to get sweaty after only about 30mins of use. 
 
I have since ordered the HE400 only last week. I have read good things about them and owners here speak highly of them. They have been shipped, so can't wait to get them. Will probably sell the M50, but may look to replace them with something similarly priced and portable. 
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 6:00 AM Post #15 of 23
Quote:
M50 was never flavor of the month, unless by month you mean 3 years. Since this forum started I can't think of a specific headphone that has been recommended more. The M50 still holds it own in the $100-$150 range. All headphones in this range have some pros and cons. I haven't heard a M50-killer in this price range.

 
SRH840
 

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