Audio Technica M40X headphone REVIEW

[Krishtrinity]

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INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

Build quality is excellent.

 

 

• This is my second headphone review.M40x is a recent release from Audio Technica,it is a studio monitor headphone,meaning this headphone produces a balanced accurate sound which is useful for those who do audio editing and musicians.For those who are considering a headphone upgrade this review is going to be very useful.Also checkout my sony mdr v55 review which is a very cheap headphone but has amazing sound quality.Audio Technica M40X looks exactly the same as it's brother Audio Technica M50x.I deliberately did not use the terms big brother because both of these headphone have very few differences between them.I will be focusing on the needs of a budget headphone buyer who is looking for best audio quality for the price.I will also be doing a comparison between M50x and M40x in this review.

 

 

 BUILD QUALITY 

 

 

•  Even though M40x is made of plastic,it is build to last.The headphone will fold,swivel etc which makes them ideal for a frequent traveller.Carrying pouch is provided in the box,but i recommend using a better case for your headphone because the provided case can't protect the headphones.This headphone is circumaural which is a headphone term saying the ears will be inside the earcups of the headphone.The headphone feels very sturdy and i am sure that Audio Technica engineers built this headphone considering that the headphone will be thrown around alot being a studio monitoring headphone. Even though headphone can be folded,this headphone is not meant to be used as a portable headphone because it is too big.You will look like someone out if old sci-fi movie if you are wearing this in public,but with the recently changing trend,we are accustomed to seeing people wearing big headphones.Good news for those looking for a headphone with good build quality.M40x will last for atleast 3 years without any extreme abuse.Cables are detachable which is a huge plus considering the M50 headphone does not have this feature.Audio Technica has provided two cables and one 6.5mm adapter.One cable is coiled while other one is a long straight cable. 

 

 COMFORT

 

• This is one area in which my MDR V55 failed because that headphones were extremely uncomfortable for long sessions,thankfully M40X is not even remotely uncomfortable.You will forget that the headphone is in your head after a while of use.You will eventually notice after a while when your ears began to sweat because your ears are in a airtight enclosure.Because of the circumaural design,soundleakage is minimal in this headphone.A.T engineers have have done a fantastic job in making the headphone seal outside noise.It's no means noice cancelling but it will definitely make a difference if you are accustomed to a noisy background.Padding on the earcups is made of leather and is very comfortable for listening to 3 to 5 hours continously. 

 

 AUDIO QUALITY 

 

 

• Finally coming to the most important part of the review is how the headphone actually sound.Considering the price the headphone sound really blown me away.Let me start by saying that i mostly listen to rock,metal,classical and occastion pop songs,i also listen to techno,trance etc.M40X made me listen to all my music collection again and again.I am now hearing instruments in music that i never heard when i used MDR V55 or Klipsch S4.I was actually shocked when i heard caravanserai song by Loreena McKennit that i completely missed an instrument with my v55 and s4.But was perfectly clear in M40X. The longtime kings of budget audiophile  MDR V6 and MDR 7506 is now finally facing competition by M40X.If you have used MDR V6 and are looking for an upgrade,you will be glad to hear that M40X will blow the sony headphones in terms of audio quality.M40x produces a sound which is both fun and neutral sounding.Before being put off by the term neutral sound because it means that you will hear the audio exactly as the musicians intended for us to hear.For non budget audiophiles outhere if you are looking for a headphone which you will use while reading or studying you can forget it.Because this headphone will completely pull you into the music you will be unable to concetrate on anything other than enjoying your music.In fact,i tried writing this review with M40X but i can't barely think anything because the awesome audio,i changed to MDR V55 and now the music is less fun to listen to but i can atlease finish typing this review.Now to the main point,how is M40X compared to M50 OR M50x.This will actually depend on your taste in your music.If you do occasional audio editing or if you are a musician you can't use M50x because the bass is more pronounced in it.For others who are looking for amazing soundquality with good bass,i am not talking about the bass like that of Beats you will be able to hear every instruments in your music collection with M50.Also the instrument seperation is great too.M40X on the other hand has exact same audio of M50 with more neutral bass,that doesn't mean the bass is not good.But there is no skull thumping bass.Another thing to note is that for somepeople long time use of M50 will cause fatigue because of the bass.They are better of buying M40X instead.M50 and M50X is almost similar with the differences being M50X has detachable cables and better build quality,although not by much.M50X is also bit more comfortable,i can't vouch for it though.Overall M40X is best headphone you can buy under 100 to 150 dollars(10000 rs).However choosing between M40X and M50X will depend on your taste in music.I recommend M40X.

 

SPECIFICATION

M50  and M50X has a 45 mm driver while M40x has 40 mm drivers which means M50 produces more bass compared to its 40mm counterpart.M40X has an impedence of 35 ohms compared to 38 ohms of M50 which makes the M40x is louder in theory.Less ohms will lead to more sound to pass through.M40X sensitivity is 96db,M50X sensitivity is 98db does not make a noticable difference.M50x has bit more frequency range than M40X also not noticable because humans can not hear above 20k frequency.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Audio Technica produces best sounding headphones at a budget price,M40x and M50x are the evidence of this fact.

Both are amazing for the price.I prefer M40X because of its accurate balanced sound.Finally the final decision of choosing between the two of them will depend on how you like to hear your music.

 

[helping]

Much words.

 

I find it odd that they still choose to include a curled cord despite this never being something that would be used in a studio.

[ZetZet]

Much words.

 

I find it odd that they still choose to include a curled cord despite this never being something that would be used in a studio.

That and why don't they make a short cable with volume control version since these are foldable and would be great on the go.

[Krishtrinity]

That and why don't they make a short cable with volume control version since these are foldable and would be great on the go.

I wish it had short cable,i heard that a short cable is available online.

[helping]

That and why don't they make a short cable with volume control version since these are foldable and would be great on the go.

I have no idea why they won't. Most people that buy them probably use them as portable headphones, and I'm certain these have that bass hump that would make them kinda sucky in a studio but they still want to ride that "eyyyy these are professional" thing.

[The_Strict_Nein]

While humans cannot hear above 20KHz and below 10/20 Hz, the air pressure change is still there and that change influences the frequencies around it.

 

A different response above 20KHz can affect the tonality of frequencies below that.