Audio Technica ATH-M50X Review (Closed Headphone)

[Linus]

I really like mine for what I use them for. Netflix on iPad or late night gaming plugged in my PS4 controller with the 1.2M cable. The 3m straight cable is always near my guitar amp.
Comfortable, cheap and no listening fatigue. It’s also closed back.

 

[RickSanchez]

A product on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5 stars?

 

[Overseas]

I use mine with the Fiio BTA 10 adapter and it sounds better than wired.
After I put my hands on the Meze 99 Classics, M50x became secondary option.

 

[PeteL]

Maybe slightly off topic, but are there any live sound engineer here? I don't do this full time now but getting back to it occasionally. In my world Yamaha digital mixing board are just about everywhere, and their headphone out impedance is 15 ohms, don't ask me why. Yes brining a headphone amp is an option, but really, anybody that does this job knows how unconvenient this is it's in the way, extra cabling, you don't know where to put it, and it's quite critical in festival style event since you don't have time and more and more you're only allowed a headphone sound check.

Basically I'm on the market for highish impedance closed back with good sensitivity and good isolation, I know it's not these, but I'm quite surprised at how many fellas use this or 7506s in this situation and frankly they sound like cr*p with this kind of output. Or maybe I just don't like them and it's a bias and I put too much value to this impedance mismatch.

Weirdly most of the pro targetted headphones have low impedance, but the Beyers 770 or 1770. My question, is that it? Is there simply no shopping to be done and it's the only decent option for PFL monitoring? I find the 770 ugly, and I find the 1770 expensive.
I'd like to see those measured one day, if possible, but not that it's such a criteria but Beyer didn't get much love here when some where evaluated, I am just surprised that there would be no competition. Or maybe I am missing a gem that some knows about? Do people, despite the technical apparent mismatch do love the m50s for PFL monitoring?

 

[Ron Texas]

I have a pair of these, but only use them for noncritical listening.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Was planning to send mine with the next DIY speaker. I bought at the annual warehouse sale because they were a deal and family had worn out some comparable Sony ones. I rarely use them much. They sound ok, but are rather bulky. When I use headphones (not often) prefer my old Sennheiser noise-cancelling ones.

 

[JohnBooty]

I have the original version of these (the M50, not the M50X) and I've always really liked them.

Supposedly they are similar for the most part.

I always felt a little guilty -- in the audiophile sense -- for enjoying them as it was clear there was a bit of a "boosted bass and treble" response rather than some kind of dead flat studio monitor response.

ASR taught me that is the Harman target curve response and I don't need to be ashamed any more.

::cries, blows nose into hankerchief::

No really I'm fine... I'm fine... these are happy tears... it's ok...

 

[ishouldbeking]

Goes to show how much subjective experience can vary from user to user, and actual preferences may not always align with the preference curve. I've had the original M50 (which measures similarly) for something like 13 years and really never liked them. My impressions line up with the measurements more or less: bloated upper bass swamping low mids and some irksome treble that presents as particularly grainy for some reason. These are a good case study in "tuning isn't everything", as the overall curve looks at least palatable but they always came off as congested, claustrophobic (in the soundstage sense), and not particularly detailed. Perhaps that's a function of frequency response on its own, or maybe it's colored by my unfavorable reaction to the incredibly uncomfortable pads and deteriorating pleather on the headband; who knows. I do appreciate the aesthetics and functionality of the folding cups, however.

 

[weasels]

I would recommend the AKG 371s over these every time.

 

[saint_louis_bagels]

It’s nice to see these reviewed. Are they the same sound/tuning as the original ATH-M50? It was my first headphone in my audiophile journey and I initially thought they sounded great. But after a couple of years, I got acclimated to the AKG Q701 and the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80. Now whenever I listen to the M50, I just think they sound so awful. Especially the bass - it muddies up everything. I prefer budget headphones and earbuds (think: Skullcandy) over these.

 

[SwampYankee]

I briefly owned the M50x, but the emphasis on upper bass frequencies reminded me of the little Tivoli clock radios that were popular 10 or 15 years ago. It got annoying pretty quickly after I brought them home. The M40x suits me better and I kept that pair. They sound good when I put them on and don't make me want to throw them across the room after an hour.

I use Sennheiser HD 598CS more often that the ATs because I prefer the midrange and they're more comfortable. The M40x are better if you want to get rowdy.

 

[JohnBooty]

Now whenever I listen to the M50, I just think they sound so awful. Especially the bass - it muddies up everything. I prefer budget headphones and earbuds (think: Skullcandy) over these.

Wow, and I've always thought of Skullcandy as "the folks who invented the 'just add craploads of bass... quantity over quality'" formula that Beats later took to even greater extremes.

I've heard a lot of cheap headphones with giant bloated bass and never felt the M50 (original, not M50X -- haven't heard it) was even remotely in that sort of category, much less a step below it.

Of course, I've only heard one or two Skullcandy headphones. And that was 10+ years ago. Whatever Skullcandy product you're thinking of is almost certainly not the ones I heard.

 

[raistlin65]

It’s nice to see these reviewed. Are they the same sound/tuning as the original ATH-M50? It was my first headphone in my audiophile journey and I initially thought they sounded great. But after a couple of years, I got acclimated to the AKG Q701 and the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80. Now whenever I listen to the M50, I just think they sound so awful. Especially the bass - it muddies up everything. I prefer budget headphones and earbuds (think: Skullcandy) over these.

Tyll Hertensen, a well known headphone reviewer who also provides measurements, loved the M50 and the M50X. And he addresses the differences in his review of the latter
https://www.stereophile.com/content/legend-continues-audio-technica-ath-m50x

 

[infinitesymphony]

Maybe slightly off topic, but are there any live sound engineer here? I don't do this full time now but getting back to it occasionally. In my world Yamaha digital mixing board are just about everywhere, and their headphone out impedance is 15 ohms, don't ask me why. Yes brining a headphone amp is an option, but really, anybody that does this job knows how unconvenient this is it's in the way, extra cabling, you don't know where to put it, and it's quite critical in festival style event since you don't have time and more and more you're only allowed a headphone sound check.

Basically I'm on the market for highish impedance closed back with good sensitivity and good isolation, I know it's not these, but I'm quite surprised at how many fellas use this or 7506s in this situation and frankly they sound like cr*p with this kind of output.

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, 380 Pro (used), or 300 Pro (supposed to be the 380 replacement).

But my preference is to use IEMs for live gigs. If I need even more isolation, I can throw on a pair of safety muffs.

If it's a small enough gig, I'll get a basic mix going with earplugs half-in and mix the rest with them in.

 

[markanini]

M50 was released at a time when companies, like Beats, just started releasing headphones with a high bass output. In that context Audio Technica did a pretty good job with their tuning. Whereas competing headphones for audio professionals had a low-end roll off common with headphones since at least the early 90s. These days the AKG K371 have pretty much overtaken them.

 

[LightninBoy]

BTW - the Marantz MPH-2 that I own look nearly identical to these. So I'm guessing its just a rebrand. The MPH-2 often go on sale at Musicians Friend for $30 (they are normally around $100).

These measurements mostly fit my impressions of the MPH-2, which is further evidence of a rebrand. I was, however, expecting more distortion as I find the high end of these sound artificial - for example - cymbals that I know were recorded with real cymbals sound like they are fake or have some lossy compression. Maybe its just that spike at 5K that is causing that.

I think I'll give the EQ settings a go and report back.

 

[Davidbraham1983]

These were my first "serious" cans too and they are still my favourite ones, though I've ended with HD 800S. With some basic equalization they sound pretty pleasant and detailed and yet their biggest strength is enormous driver SPL capability: I can boost the bass to some insane levels and they won't distort. I still occasionally use them with some equalization (removed upper bass and boosted subbass are parts of it) when I want to appreciate deep rumble and hard kicks in EDM tracks.

 

[thehun]

I have the original version of these (the M50, not the M50X) and I've always really liked them.

Supposedly they are similar for the most part.

Tyll of the now defunct Innerfidelity site did measure them and they were very close if not exact the same. AT claimed at the time of release of the X that there was no difference. I have both but the old 50 have different pads on so it would make no sense to compare them now, but in any case Wavelet and Sonarworks has different compensation curves for each model for what it worth.

 

[SwampYankee]

I started with Grado SR80s - the opposite end of the headphone spectrum. The Grados sound very bright to a lot of people, but I loved them. I initially thought my reaction to the M50x was a matter of going from open-backed to closed headphones with much stronger bass. That impression didn't last very long once I started listening for longer periods. The m50x sounded artificially boosted to me. It was more annoying because they clearly were capable of producing deep bass, but even that was drowned out by the hump around 100 to 200 hz. I spent a lot of time listening to friends/family raving about their Bose Acoustimass(?) systems and the ATs reminded me too much of that bandpass bass sound. That's not really fair to the M50x, but once the thought stuck in my head, it was time for me to move on...

 

[amirm]

These measurements mostly fit my impressions of the MPH-2, which is further evidence of a rebrand. I was, however, expecting more distortion as I find the high end of these sound artificial - for example - cymbals that I know were recorded with real cymbals sound like they are fake or have some lossy compression. Maybe its just that spike at 5K that is causing that.

I too had some discomfort with the quality of the highs but there was nothing concrete I could put my finger on other than too much of them.