M50x Professional Monitor Headphones Black

Whenever I decide to purchase electronics I always do extensive research into which product would be best for my needs and within my price budget. I review all customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, blog and tech website reviews etc. and where possible, will go to stores in person to try/test things out. I always look at the negative reviews and see if I can spot common themes or problems, I go to the highly positive reviews and try and identify which are genuine. Finally, I go through all the 2, 3 and 4 star reviews as these seem to the be the most informative and have specific reasons as to why they didn't get a 1 or 5 star review. My budget for some over-ear headphones was about £250. I wanted something with a good, reliable build quality and also decent sound. I'm no audio expert but I know what sounds good and what doesn't (they are my ears afterall!). I looked at the B&W headphones (fantastic styling/quality - but overpriced for what you get), Beats (again, you're paying for a name...) and various other 'top end' headphones within or around the £250 mark. As stated earlier, after extensive research I settled for the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X and wow I'm so glad I did. I paid £124 for them and I thought that because of the low price I'd be settling for lower sound quality than some of the higher priced headphones. But I was wrong. And all the positive reviews praising the sound quality were correct and justifiable. Although built with plastic (I'd have maybe preferred them to feel a little more durable - but it means they are light and good to travel with), they feel good to hold, they are comfortable and can be worn for long periods of time. The packaging was professional and to a high standard, very nicely packaged internally also. The three cables supplied with the headphones are extremely useful. They can be swapped depending on what you need. The box does indeed come with the following: Carry bag 1.2m-3m coiled cable 3m straight cable 1.2m short straight cable Gold plated 6.3mm adapter I can sit in my lounge 3 metres away from my TV and watch films with high sound quality without waking up my other half (which was one reason I wanted them!). The PS3 Blu-ray sound on my TV is pretty bad, it's often very difficult to hear dialogue. When your other half is in bed and you turn the volume up to hear people talk, it's not great when something explodes and wakes everybody in the house up! With these headphones the sound is perfectly balanced when using it with the PS3. No mow volume adjustments needed constantly. I've played all sorts of music through them and the sound is crisp and clear. Great bass also. I've been able to hear fine details in some songs that I've not been able to notice in other in-ear headphones. I've also taken them outside with me and travelled around the underground in London etc. and they do a good job of blocking out background noise (without isolating you completely). Overall, I'm extremely happy with the headphones and if you're looking for a decent pair like I was (for any type of use) then these are an absolute bargain. Sometimes it pays to shop around and not settle for what everybody else seems to go for (Beats for example!), and in this case, shopping around has paid off. P.S. I'm writing this review several months after owning them for several months with at least 12 hours usage a week.

I have a background in music technology and degree in commercial music. I have tried many pairs of headphones over the last ten years during my career and we even did a full shootout test at university (which included these AT-MX50s as well as some £600+ Shure headphones); the Audio Technica headphones were the overall favourite by a long way. I've used these for 8+ years now with no major issues. After very heavy, daily use in a studio (and now more for gaming), the headband is just about starting to wear, and I have replaced the ear pads once during their lifetime. You can pick these up for about £15-20 for a pair so no major cost over their lifetime. I will probably buy a new pair in the next couple of years just because of the headband (which can't be replaced), but the current pair will be used as a secondary set for any musicians coming into the studio. For gaming they will give you a flat, but accurate EQ curve which makes the gaming experience very enjoyable. Those of you who like VERY base heavy music/EQ curves probably won't like them as they don't emphasise the low-end like some modern headphones. I recently purchased a SteelSeries Arcticis 7 wireless headset for gaming, but I ended up sending them back and reverting back to the ATs as the sound quality was a significant downgrade (by a long long way; they weren't even close). The only other thing to mention is they do a good job of keeping out unwanted noise and headphone bleed (crucial for recording situations), but they are not as "noise-cancelling" as a dedicated pair of noise cancelling headphones. This is not a major concern for me, and I've warn them on flights to cancel out background noise which was sufficient. In my professional opinion, I am still yet to find a better sounding pair of headphones than the MX-50s, and will be buying another pair when my current one finally dies! Don't fall for paying ridiculous money for hyped headphones like Bose or Beats, when you can buy these which are far better in terms of sound quality and will last a long time. If you really need the wireless aspect, then AT do another version of these called ATH-M50XBT which are the bluetooth version. Just bear in mind you will lose a lot of quality over wireless, but you can also plug them in for when you need the high quality, and use them wireless when walking/flying/listening to music etc.

If you’re looking for a pair of Bluetooth over ears, look no further. Every professional studio has at least one pair of M50X headphones. This is a studio quality pair of headphones at the cost of the low to mid tier competitor headphones. The app even has parametric EQ! They’re comfy to wear even if you don’t have baby ears (I’m looking at you, Sennheiser BT450). They’re a bit heavier than the competitors, but that’s a good thing. They feel (and are) a very rugged, solid pair of cans. The competitors are lighter and feel really cheap. Stop looking. These are the ones.

What can I say... there's no other words that can describe the sound quality and superior build structure. Those 45mm drivers delivers whatever you ask them to do without distortion or clipping. The included AK4331 DAC inside M50xBT2 alone is enough to explain how powerful M50xBT2 sounds like. Want Bass? It delivers... want Treble? It delivers. Anything you throw at it either through Equalizer or AT Connect App EQ will DELIVER!! LDAC? It is included and supported! Leaves wired headphones to the dust. What more do you need? I hate wired headphones and ANC so... M50xBT2 works for perfectly for me👌

Qualidade incrível! Eu tenho/tive outros fones de boa qualidade como Sony Wh1000-xm3, Kuba Disco, Anker, Sennheiser HD 220, mas de longe não tem a mesma qualidade desse (do meu ponto de vista). Amei a escolha. Você escuta frequências que antes passavam despercebidas, eles não isolam como o Sony obviamente pois usa o cancelamento de ruído, mas para a sua finalidade o áudio é incrivelmente melhor no Ath (assim como a espacialidade e conforto), além disso, pude conectar em meus instrumentos musicais como meu piano elétrico e ele ficou excelente, melhor que outros fones. Resumidamente a qualidade e fama desse fone, na minha opinião, são verdadeiras, 10/10.

Let me start off with a disclaimer that I am rather severely hard of hearing (require good hearing aids to hear well...ish) caused by a bout with bacterial menigitis as a toddler, so take the following review for what you will. General Summary: With these, I can hear/feel bass, I can now (occasionally) hear things I couldn't hear before (eg: cymbals/high-hats on drums) and similar sounds (although my headphones are in the dangrously loud range of 85-90db+ range when I do so). Volume is not an issue with these by any means as I can actually turn them up to be loud enough to hurt my ears and force me to turn it back down (though I rarely ever have it that loud as my hearing is damaged enough as is lol). For music: The bass has will actually vibrate my headphones when turned up despite not having EQ tuned more towards bass (it's pretty flat which is another bonus as it gives you a better baseline for EQ control). I can hear certain things I never could before such as things in the "back of the mix", faint adlibs, subtle sounds such as cymbals and hi-hats on drums. For Gaming: Clarity is incredible and I have slightly more situational awareness when in games (though I still miss some things due to my hearing issues). Volume & sound feels rather "full" to me as well. I rarely ever have volume/sound issues in games with these headphones. For movie/video (youtube, netflix, etc): Outside of really soft speaking/whispering, I have absolutely no issue with hearing everything rather clearly (aside from added effects such as distortions of course, but I can barely understand that to begin with due to hearing). Even with distortions though, I can actually hear and understand it a little better than I have ever been able to with any other headphones I've ever used, personally. My previous headset was a Logitech Artimis which was surprising how good it was and until I got these, the Artimis headsets were the best I've ever used (though gaming focused)... Now? Sorry Logitech, but these are even better, however, with that said. Both are surprisingly affordable for their quality and neither use the dreaded "in-line controls" which always the weakest point and when that goes, the headphones stop working so any headphones without in-line controls will always be viewed far more favorably by me in durability... Speaking of... Durability: I've dropped these countless times (by accident... butterfingered klutz problems lol). Have accidentally "kicked" them, pulled a little too hard when there was not enough cord, and other various, minor mishaps common from daily use and they are still working fine with 0 issues or any actual damage. I have one minor gripe although I think that has more to do with my glasses (or me) than with the headphones and that is that sometimes I can't seem to make them sit comfortably on my head, but rotating the cups a little seems to help though it still takes a few minutes to get used to it again but once I do... They are incredibly comfortable and remain comfortable even after wearing them for 12+ hours a day as I do most things on the PC and at my PC most of the day, so I'm wearing the headphones more often than not. These are durable, powerful, and comfortable. The only drawback for me *personally* has less to do with the headphones and more with hardware/software of my PC which is I wish this came with an app that could read db output so I can be more conscious and careful of my hearing for it is more dangerous (for me). Thus it is more likely to cause damage for me as my starting volume is considerably higher by default due to hearing loss as the 70db range is what I need to hear well enough to follow along (I can *hear* the 60db range, but have severe trouble understanding as it's barely whisper level for me due to hearing). but that's really close to 80db range and I can easily cross over into that (and into the 90s) for long extended listening periods which can damage hearing if done for extended amounts of times. All in all, I highly recommend this product whether your hearing is normal or damaged. I have found no legitimate faults with this product. I would definitely purchase again in the future (doubly so if they create and include an app that can help keep track of db levels to add a layer of hearing protection much like apple does with their air pod ear buds and the hearing section of the health app). I would hope that if they do the app, it is free or at least cheap and affordable (like 5-10 USD at most and not something like 50-100 USD). To the person reading this: I hope this review from someone with hearing impairments was helpful in spite of the fact that I have severe hearing damage. Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a great day/night.

[màj du 05/07/2017] Bon, avant de poursuivre par une longue tirade je commence tout de suite par la conclusion: ce M50X est encore meilleur que son prédécesseur M50. Comme quoi avec un X ça va tout de suite mieux (!) Tranquillement l'air de rien, sans aucune publicité les gens se le procurent et l'adorent. Sans se ruiner. Et malgré moultes gesticulations marketing coûteuses une nouvelle fois la concurrence se prend une baffe! Attention soyons clairs: c'est un modèle de connaisseur, très largement utilisé chez les pros notamment dans les studios d'enregistrement et certaines régies TV. Pour les autres, les amateurs avertis, ses très hauts niveau de technicité et de musicalité sont tout à fait recommandés pour de l'écoute dite "Hi-Res" sur des lecteurs numériques de qualité (DAP audiophiles). Ça passe aussi sur les smartphones mais dans ce cas c'est comme donner de la confiture à un cochon. Mais bon, ça sera toujours mieux dessus que vos intra blanc d'Apple ou votre Beats Pro à 400 EUR dont seulement 13 ont servi à sa fabrication... Avant de poursuivre, bref historique sur les tarifs et modèles: le mythique modèle original ATH-M50 a été produit de 2007 à fin 2014 (dernier prix que j'ai pu voir en fin de série: 109 EUR ici sur Amazon). Il s'en est vendu des palettes entières. En 7 années, plusieurs déclinaisons de ce ATH-M50 sont apparues. Les différences portaient sur deux éléments: la couleur et le type de câble. Ce nouveau modèle ATH-M50X est disponible depuis fin janvier 2014. Lui aussi se décline en versions colorées et cette fois TOUS les câbles sont livrés sur toutes les versions: droit (pour le salon), spiralé (pour le salon/studio) et court (pour le nomadisme). Mon analyse qualitative que je vous rapporte ici, semblable à celles de tant d'autres, est qu'il s'agit de l'un des meilleurs casques d'écoute / monitoring pro qu'il soit possible de trouver sur le marché. Et ça dure comme ça depuis 10 ans. Ce casque est tout particulièrement adapté aux musiques modernes, par essence massivement rythmées par une électronique aux dynamiques compressées. En revanche pour une écoute acoustique, jazz ou classique par exemple, un casque "ouvert" (type ATH-R70X) est à mon sens plus adapté que celui-ci qui est "fermé". Le niveau de cheval dont il est capable est déraisonnablement élevé mais en toute circonstance ce casque offrira à son auditeur une sensation sonore totalement inédite. Bien que nous n'arriverez jamais à le saturer sans perdre 15dB à chaque oreille, quelles que soient les fréquences à reproduire il sera d'une précision chirurgicale dans les transitoires. Sur un casque de même pas 150 euros ça parait suspect et pourtant: l'ampleur et le rendu sonore sont tout à fait sensationnels voire carrément spectaculaires! Son isolation, sans valoir des intra, est au-delà de toute attente et a même été améliorée par rapport au modèle précédent. Son confort est lui aussi plus agréable: cette fois-ci on ne le sent plus. Quant à sa construction, robuste ce casque est à l'épreuve des balles! Attention cependant, mon précédent M50 s'était usé sur le revêtement simili cuir de l'arceau. Soyons donc vigilants à l'avenir sur ce point pour son successeur M50X. Pour résumer: il conviendra tout aussi bien au DJ (niveaux de puissance/sensibilité élevés et faible impédance sans aucune saturation ni distorsion + système de pivot d'écouteurs très utile pour la pratique du DJing), au musicien dans son home-studio, au mélomane dans son salon bien sûr et quoiqu'un peu lourd (et encore ça se défend), au nomade (on en voit de plus en plus dans les transports). Mais quand même: grosse marade que de voir ces rayons "hi-tech" spécialisés toujours aussi saturés de casques scandaleusement onéreux et médiocres face à ce ténor! Il détrône haut la main et sur tous les plans les fameux cabassets au plastique brillant arborant un petit "b" fashion outrageusement tape à l’œil, affichés de partout à plusieurs centaines d'euros, markétés à l’excès par un docteur bien connu puis repris aujourd'hui par une marque tout aussi connue répondant à des critères marketing identiques. Ce docteur qui, au passage, avait lui-même adopté l'ancêtre M50 du temps de son job en studio... Je ne parle pas plus de l'autre américain, vous savez, celui avec un grand "B" suivi de 3 lettres que l'on voit partout dans les transports! Car tout comme petit "b", grand "B" a lui aussi honte de fournir les specs de ses casques tellement ils reproduisent mal la musique. Non mais on rêve, soyons sérieux tout de même! Pour ceux qui se seraient décidés à acheter cette merveille japonaise, sachez qu'un Audio-Technica a besoin de temps pour mûrir. Cela dit j'avoue que ce nouveau modèle M50X est quasi mûr out-of-the-box (belle la box à propos). Je vous conseille cependant de le faire fonctionner quelques heures à un niveau normal/soutenu d'écoute, de manière à façonner définitivement le son de ce nouvel ami (je parle ici du "headphones burn-in", le rodage quoi). Le plus simple est de passer la musique que vous écoutez. Certains conseillent même de jouer des fichiers de bruits "colorés" (blanc, rose ou marron) ou de forme sinusoïdale logarithmique de 5 à 30kHz. Bon OK, je l'ai fait moi-même sur ce M50X. Fichiers facilement trouvables sur le net ou bien à générer soi-même par des softs d'édition audionumérique (audacity est simple et gratuit). Bon OK et ensuite? et *seulement* ensuite? Et bien vous y êtes: sentez, goûtez, écoutez, et redécouvrez la musique. Car au final, c'est bien de musique dont il s'agit! Audio-Technica, premier fabricant de casques au Japon, grand spécialiste du microphone et des cellules pour platines vinyles des premiers "get down" des 70's est surtout très présent sur le marché pro, même s'il se fait désormais connaitre auprès du grand public par une gamme très large d'équipements. Comme ce fut le cas pour son grand-frère, ce M50X se classe lui aussi n°1 sur critères qualitatifs par des milliers d'utilisateurs. Jugez vous-même: sur un "review site" bien connu, dont le nom commence par "test" et fini par "freaks", les utilisateurs du M50X lui attribuent une note moyenne de +4.9/5 pour +2500 votes (M50 en 2014: +9.4/10 pour 775 votes). Aucun autre casque au monde n’obtient de note aussi élevée avec autant de votes; même pas les hauts de gamme de chez Focal, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser ou Beyer Dynamic... Aussi bien à ce prix? Réponse simple: ça n'existe pas. Musicalement