Audio-Technica ATH-M50S Studio Headphones Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,601
Audio-Technica ATH-M50S Studio Headphones Review - A-T's M50S studio heapdhones are designed to reproduce the aspects of their source audio with extreme accuracy. We will tell you how this product's sound signature affects your PC audio experience when paired with a dedicated sound card.
 
I bought these for my studio work and love them. I also use them for mumble and gaming and find the sound clarity to be awesome. While I'm not familiar with the Creative sound card in your system, I'd wonder how you would rate them coming out of a better source amp. For $150(you can find them under $100) you'd be hard pressed to find a better pair of cans.
 
I have the m50's as well. However i re-cabled them using canare star quad cable and ran a direct wire to the other can. The bass and mids opened way up.

I love mine :D
 
Major_A said:
I see all these high dollar headphones (DJ style) and wonder how it stacks up to something much cheaper. It seems like with headphones you're paying more for the name than anything else. Grab a pair of these headphones and give us the real low down.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10823&cs_id=1082302&p_id=8323&seq=1&format=2
Click to expand...

To be fair, the M50S are studio monitors and are targeted to a different crowd. It's made to be flat across the board so the sound isn't colored in any way when you're mixing. Then during the mastering you can touch up and enhance the eq so you end up with a nice sounding balanced track that should sound good on a wide range of end user audio equipment. For the purpose they serve, they are generally known as amazing values.

That being said, I prefer the AD series personally. I fell in love the emphasized highs and the wide ass sound stage. Perfect for pinpointing footsteps far away and on certain music it's like you're in the room because each instrument is separated apart from each other.
 
Tbird87 said:
To be fair, the M50S are studio monitors and are targeted to a different crowd. It's made to be flat across the board so the sound isn't colored in any way when you're mixing. Then during the mastering you can touch up and enhance the eq so you end up with a nice sounding balanced track that should sound good on a wide range of end user audio equipment. For the purpose they serve, they are generally known as amazing values.

That being said, I prefer the AD series personally. I fell in love the emphasized highs and the wide ass sound stage. Perfect for pinpointing footsteps far away and on certain music it's like you're in the room because each instrument is separated apart from each other.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I'm sure these are excellent Studio Monitors. But for listening to just about anything I'll take my ATH-AD700s. And the number one reason is comfort...

I'll be honest. My hearing (after years of gunfire and jet engine noise) is not what it used to be. And I've had other Headphones that were closed back and used 'pleather' cushions. Yes they sounded great, but I had trouble wearing them for extended periods without my ears getting too hot.

@Major_A - I've had inexpensive headphones like you linked. And I thought I was getting a good deal. But after trying different headsets from Sennheiser and Audio-Technica. I'm convinced there is a subtle, yet discernible, difference in sound quality that you'll never get with a $35 pair of headsets. I can hear it, even with my partially damaged hearing...
 
I had my friend compare these to his powered Beats headphones (I can't remember the model number) and he was amazed on how well these compared to his $250+ set of cans.
 
Cannydog said:
Agreed! I'm sure these are excellent Studio Monitors. But for listening to just about anything I'll take my ATH-AD700s. And the number one reason is comfort...

I'll be honest. My hearing (after years of gunfire and jet engine noise) is not what it used to be. And I've had other Headphones that were closed back and used 'pleather' cushions. Yes they sounded great, but I had trouble wearing them for extended periods without my ears getting too hot.

@Major_A - I've had inexpensive headphones like you linked. And I thought I was getting a good deal. But after trying different headsets from Sennheiser and Audio-Technica. I'm convinced there is a subtle, yet discernible, difference in sound quality that you'll never get with a $35 pair of headsets. I can hear it, even with my partially damaged hearing...
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's no doubt that there's some great bargains out there if you're on a budget... I think the JVC RX700 are even better than the MP linked above for just a couple bucks more... But there's certainly plenty more to experience and enjoy at higher price points.

Whether it's worthwhile to anyone in particular is a whole other story. Headphones in general can be a very subjective thing, and you absolutely get less and less value for your money as you ramp up the price (as with most audio gear).

It's certainly worth trading up, so to speak, at some point tho; just to see what you may or may not be missing. A lot of people tend to invest a lot on their displays, hardware, storage, and even peripherals but then cheap out on audio without ever knowing any better... /shrug

Nice review Earl, about what I would've expected from the M50 given their rep.
 
I love my M50's. I only paid $50 for them so I can't complain at all.
 
Maxx_Power said:
Love my Audio Technica ATH-AD700s and Sennheiser HD555s and Beyerdynamic DT231s.
Click to expand...
Those open headphones are all excellent, but for a small closed pair, these were one of the best surprises I have heard for their $120 price. Many of you listen to music on your gaming rigs (when you are not gaming, which should be never) and these are just a great go-to set.

I have found these were exceptional for mixing with a friend on his indy movie project as well.
 
I've heard these were really solid and sound great but I also heard their soundstage is pretty bad and don't work well for games
 
seanmcloughlin7 said:
I've heard these were really solid and sound great but I also heard their soundstage is pretty bad and don't work well for games
Click to expand...


Well they are closed which hurts the soundstage size (not necessarily directional accuracy. I prefer closed headphones for games myself), and AFAIK drivers are close to ears which affects it even more.
 
EarlKeim said:
Those open headphones are all excellent, but for a small closed pair, these were one of the best surprises I have heard for their $120 price. Many of you listen to music on your gaming rigs (when you are not gaming, which should be never) and these are just a great go-to set.

I have found these were exceptional for mixing with a friend on his indy movie project as well.
Click to expand...

Well the Beyers I have are closed. But the other two, HD555 and AD700, I paid about 120 bucks new for both. The M50s costs 180 bucks in some stores here.
 
The M50's are great for anything that doesn't heavily rely on sound staging. But for gaming they would not be my first choice. Solid review.
 
I'm getting some sennheiser 598's, would a better soundcard in my PC actually affect the sound quality? Or will my headphone amp and DAC be adequate?
 
Aon Zen said:
I'm getting some sennheiser 598's, would a better soundcard in my PC actually affect the sound quality? Or will my headphone amp and DAC be adequate?
Click to expand...

If you're running TOSLINK or SPDIF out to the DAC or it's a USB DAC then it doesn't matter what soundcard you use really, you're just streaming bits raw to it. In that case, no, replacing the soundcard will not affect sound quality at all.

Of course this is assuming you have a good quality DAC and amp; if you don't, it's possible a high end soundcard with a dedicated headphone amp and high quality built in DAC will sound better than your current setup.
 
Good set of headphones. I never noticed the sound stage being bad, but I have no imagination for sound stage in any headphones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top