Summary: I've had these headphones for only a week, but I have already done a decent amount of burn-in for these. These are not my first quality headphones as I've previously owned a Sennheiser HD 280 as well as Klipsch Image S4 earbuds. Short story short, I had my Sennhesier HD 280s for about 6 years already, and thought that it wouldn't hurt to look for a new pair of quality headphones as I'm a big music person. I pretty much listen to all music genres except for dub"wub"step, electronic variants, and country music.
Sound Quality:
Now on to the review of the headphones, these headphones are nothing short of amazing. I thought that my hd 280s were already good enough, however upon letting the m50s warm up for a good hour or so, the clarity and lows were noticeably better. The mids and the highs were just as good. For the other reviews that comment about its impressive bass, I would like to add that the bass is quite deep, yet refined at the same time. So if you want a more "boomy" bass for your ears, these are not the headphones for you. However, for a guy like me that doesn't want too much bass and listens to a lot of classical music, these headphones are great. I can hear the instruments as the sound is very clear and especially for those that are a fan of violin concertos accompanied by a full orchestra, these pair of headphones really shine. For underground hip hop music, you can hear the background instrumentals well, while being able to hear the artist just as well.
I would like to note, that if you download music off of youtube via youtube to mp3 software, you will notice the huge difference in music quality with these headphones. Thus, I suggest to really buy music CDs (have a decently big classical music collection) as you will really hear the full potential of the m50s that way. For those that concerned with how well it does with mp3 players and smartphones, I would happily like to say that these headphones work great (this was not so much the case for the Senn HD280s, so props to audio technica).
Now for a minor issue, for some music genres, mainly rock and pop music, you will notice that some instruments might sound kind of faint and notice some "recessed" mids. Although it is quite minor, it can be noticed if you pay close attention. However, after listening to the m50s for 30 hours or so, this became less of an issue. For those that are bothered by recessed mids and want possibly a flatter sound, the Shure 840s might be a better choice for some (looks-wise is a bit outdated though).
Comfort:
Now this is unfortunately somewhat of a mixed bag to me. On one hand, it fits well and covers my ears. However, after two or so hours of constant use, my head and ears will start feeling tired from the small pressure points experienced while wearing these headphones. Another thing to take note of as other reviewers have already mentioned, your ears start to get hot after 30 minutes of use. Thus, I would recommend people that decide to buy these pair of headphones to take them off for a minute or two every thirty minutes. Other than these two small, but noticeable issues, this doesn't really affect the great listening experience.
Build Quality:
The build quality to the m50s are top notch. I won't go too much detail in this area as others have already noted its build quality properties, but the one word I would go to describe the m50s build quality is: solid. Every feels refined, with the nice audio technica logo, the strong metal head-band, and most notably the spring that covers the cord near the end of the headphone connector.
Price:
There was a time where you could get the m50s as low as around $100. Unfortunately due to the growing popularity and huge praise that the m50s get from the general audiophile community, Audio Technica has since then decided to raise the price to around $150. Even at $150, there are not too many other alternatives I would consider. If I were a consumer considering the m50s, I would wait till they are around $135, which is the price I paid these for. Other alternatives that others may consider that are cheaper are the Shure 840s, grado sr80i, Koss dj series (get the ones just under $100). Other note-worthy brands are Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Ultrasone, Roland, Firscher, Phiaton, Denon, but their good headphone models are moreso in the $200 and up range.
Overall (90/100):
These headphones deserve the praise that it gets constantly among the audiophile community as these are truly great sounding headphones. The lows, mids, and highs are all great and the sound is quite flat with the only minor issue being slight recessed mids. For those that want quality headphones around $150 and want to listen to how music was supposed to sound like. The jump from the Sennheiser HD 280s to the m50s are a noticeable albeit not a big jump going from terrible stock apple earbuds to the Senn HD 280s. If you already have decent quality headphones like the HD280s, you may want to consider keeping those until they are around 5 or so years old (ear pads start to get really worn out). Thus, I would recommend knowing what exactly your allowable price range is. For the other note-worthy brands that I listed under the "Price" section of this review, be wary that you will be paying quite a bit more. If you're an average joe like me that wants to listen to music clearly with good lows, mids, and highs, and do not care too much for soundstage or replicating "concert" quality sound with all the other expensive sound equipment needed to do so, then the m50s are the headphones for you. Overall, I highly recommend these headphones to anyone who have only had $50 and under headphones. For those that already have quality $100 and up headphones like the Senn HD 2808s, it may not be totally worth it.
Note: I suggest you have to check for cheap price of these headphone at: www.headphonereviewsbuy.com/buy-audio-technica-ath-m50/
I hope this review is helpful.
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Audio-Technica ATH-M50
