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ATH M50Xs not sounding as good as I expected

spencermehta
Go to solution Solved by creatip123,

The M50X do sound better than the Siberia V2s, it's just they don't sound that much better

 

TBH, if you ask me, I wouldn't say the M50 is waayyy better than the V2, though. I'd say it's just about 1 level above (yeah, M50 lovers gonna hate me for this, but that's what I think). V2 is 'average', and M50 is a tad above average. You're gonna get that wow factor when you're upgrading to a headphone a few level above the original. 

 

Like I said, I'd rather prefer the AD700 or AD700x, than the M50 (tried them all). 

 

Well, just give it time, you'll grow accustomed to the sound. Who knows, after a while, when you tried the V2 again, you'd actually hear a bigger difference.

 

BTW, this is a good exercise for your ears, and at the same time will get your ears accustomed to the M50: google 'philips golden ear challenge'. It's a series of quizzes on sounds. Keep doing it until you reach at least golden ears stage, and you'll sharpen your ears to distinguish minor differences in sounds.

streaming music is usually below 100kb/s

 

not a good source of music

especially if you want to enjoy good headphones

 

FLAC/ALAC all the way.

if you would do look it up, or hell even read all the posts down below i even said it. spotifly is 160kbp, while pandora is 64. i was wrong in my other posts by saying 96. 

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Yeah found that then used VLC to listen and i didn't feel any difference..

 

For starters, VLC is a video player. You should switch to something like Foobar 2000 for music. VLC might not even support high bit-rate audio for all I know, I've always used MPC-HC for video.

 

Second, what exactly did you download, and where?

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What do you mean?

 

The file would still be Song.mp3 or Song.flac. The bitrate you'll find in the file's properties.

 

 

 

What about dis 

 

QCTsIiX.png

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if you would do look it up, or hell even read all the posts down below i even said it. spotifly is 160kbp, while pandora is 64. i was wrong in my other posts by saying 96. 

it depends on connection.

 

doesnt really matter thou, even at full 160kbp it's still crap

If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking it's stupid.  - Albert Einstein

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Cool, I personally have no use for lossless files.

neither do I, but I got bored and found super audio rips and said why not. spoiler. I can't tell the diff when I re-encode it to acc/mp3

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Placebo.

 

 

We did a double blind trial in the recording studio at school. 4 out of 5 of us could tell

Feel free to message me if you want to chat!

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We did a double blind trial in the recording studio at school. 4 out of 5 of us could tell

The fuck are you guys using some shitty mp3 vs master tapes? Nevermind the fact a recording eng will know the diff since they're trained to know and using very high end stuff in a studio.

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The fuck are you guys using some shitty mp3 vs master tapes? Nevermind the fact a recording eng will know the diff since they're trained to know and using very high end stuff in a studio.

 

We have Logic Projects of songs recorded in the studio. We bounced down two versions of the song. One .flac (1000+kbps) and the other .mp3 (320kbps). We were listening through a pair of Genelec 6010Bs in an acoustically treated control room. Bear in mind the 5 who were tested, including myself were relative noobs at the time, so were not 'trained audio engineers'.

Feel free to message me if you want to chat!

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We did a double blind trial in the recording studio at school. 4 out of 5 of us could tell

We have Logic Projects of songs recorded in the studio. We bounced down two versions of the song. One .flac (1000+kbps) and the other .mp3 (320kbps). We were listening through a pair of Genelec 6010Bs in an acoustically treated control room. Bear in mind the 5 who were tested, including myself were relative noobs at the time, so were not 'trained audio engineers'.

 

Oh, in that case yeah, you'd be able to tell the difference.

 

Although if we're talking OP with some ATH-M50 on his own personal computer, then no, he wouldn't be able to.

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Fake ATH M50s exist. It's possible that M50x fakes exist too and you weren't lucky. Try listening to some lossless music on your new and old headphones.

Pretty sure they're not fake since I got them directly from Amazon.

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What source are you testing them with? You won't notice a difference with say 120kbps mp3s for example. 

I tested them with listening to various online radio stations and YouTube.

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I tested them with listening to various online radio stations and YouTube.

thats the problem. A shitty source can make apple earbuds and a $1000+ headphones sound the "same".

 

And if you still can't tell the difference, then you have no need for high end headphones i guess lol, but then you are missing out.

 

Personally, with higher quality sources, the most noticable difference for me is the fine details which would otherwise be masked in the background. And since I listen to alot of songs with high emphasis on vocals, their voices seem much more vivid rather than flat.

 

Suggestion: pick a song you know and heard a lot. Find a high bitrate source of it, play it on your V2s, then use your M50x.

You should be able to pick out differences immediately. And listen to it with a dac/amp, if not your computer as that will probably have better built in audio components than something like your phone.

 

 

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Maybe his onboard soundcard is really shitty. You can try an Audiointerface on your pc ;)

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Everything above, Plus you will need to let them burn in. I had the same feeling about my first good pair of headphones.

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There are a few possibilities.

 

First, why do you say the M50x is worse than the Siberia V2? I mean, what sound are you comparing it at? A song? A game or something? Assuming you still got your V2, try various sounds, songs, games, CDs (if you still got those), even DVDs/movies. 

 

Second, the V2 is open backed, I think. So it maybe because you're used to open backed sounds. When going from open backs to closed backs, usually the first thing people will notice is how 'closed' and constricted the sound is. Personally, I can't enjoy any closed backs anymore ever since my ears are used to open backs sounds. Feels too 'claustrophobic' for me. Well, unless higher end closed back, though.

 

Third, maybe just because it's a new thing, so your ears haven't adjusted yet. Give it time. Listen to the M50 a few hours a day, for about a week, and see if it sounds better to you. Don't switch back and forth between the M50 and the V2, as it would defeat the whole idea.

 

Fourth, TBH, the M50 isn't something 'very special'. It sounds decent, but that's that. I'd prefer AD700 or AD700x than the M50. In other words, it's not for everyone's taste. I can understand if there are people who love the sound, but maybe you're in the group that doesn't like the sound?

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The mixer could potentially cause issues, but probably nothing dramatic. Also , some people simply don't notice the difference with their first pair of "real" heheadphone - give them a good solid week listening only to them, then switch back to the Siberias, and it should be like night and day.

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Everything above, Plus you will need to let them burn in. I had the same feeling about my first good pair of headphones.

Difference is typically very small when measured by Nwavguy and Tyll. If a person can't tell a difference between two headphones, they're not going to be able to hear small changes in FR from burn-in.

 

thats the problem. A shitty source can make apple earbuds and a $1000+ headphones sound the "same".

 

And if you still can't tell the difference, then you have no need for high end headphones i guess lol, but then you are missing out.

 

Personally, with higher quality sources, the most noticable difference for me is the fine details which would otherwise be masked in the background. And since I listen to alot of songs with high emphasis on vocals, their voices seem much more vivid rather than flat.

 

Suggestion: pick a song you know and heard a lot. Find a high bitrate source of it, play it on your V2s, then use your M50x.

You should be able to pick out differences immediately. And listen to it with a dac/amp, if not your computer as that will probably have better built in audio components than something like your phone.

Gross exaggeration. It's kewl to have non-crappy quality tracks, but to say that the difference is so extreme it renders a $1000 headphone equivalent to cheapo earbuds is plain wrong. Even with the crappy streaming of online radio it is very obvious the difference between a shit pair of earbuds and a very good headphone.

 

Does spotify count?

No. All streaming services are out. We're thinking, actual music files on your computer, you know, old fashioned style. Youtube doesn't count either.

 

What source are you testing them with? You won't notice a difference with say 120kbps mp3s for example. 

Should still be able to.

 

how does lossless music help? if anything try pandora to spotifly, pretty much 96 kpbs on pandora vs spotifly 192ish kpbs or download some music an encode it from 320 to 96 and try to tell the diff. you won't hear the diff from mp3 to flac unless you have super ears or very high end headphones.

Lossless sounds same to proper MP3 files for 99% of people as demonstrated over and over and over and over with proper listening tests, taking out placebo and expectation bias. However, Spotify does not count as a proper mp3 file. It is very possible for people to hear a difference between Spotify and a good mp3 file.

 

 

Lossless music has a very high bitrate. 1000+kbps. It's very easy to tell the difference between 320kbps mp3 and lossless. To my ears anyway

Why don't you do a proper abx test and then tell us how you failed it. You could take FLAC and ramp up the compression to lower the bitrate, it'll just eat more CPU cycles to play the song. Quality is unchanged. Guess what, if you get a 24/96 rip it'll have even higher bitrate, but it'll still sound identical.

 

And hmm i listened to a song now with VLC and it sounds the same ._.

Surprise!

 

The mixer could potentially cause issues, but probably nothing dramatic. Also , some people simply don't notice the difference with their first pair of "real" heheadphone - give them a good solid week listening only to them, then switch back to the Siberias, and it should be like night and day.

I think after spending a day, if a person can't tell a difference then they can't tell a difference, more time won't help. If his headphone is still within return period though, might as well use the new gear for as long as possible before deciding.

 

First, why do you say the M50x is worse than the Siberia V2? I mean, what sound are you comparing it at? A song? A game or something? Assuming you still got your V2, try various sounds, songs, games, CDs (if you still got those), even DVDs/movies. 

Second, the V2 is open backed, I think. So it maybe because you're used to open backed sounds. When going from open backs to closed backs, usually the first thing people will notice is how 'closed' and constricted the sound is. Personally, I can't enjoy any closed backs anymore ever since my ears are used to open backs sounds. Feels too 'claustrophobic' for me. Well, unless higher end closed back, though.

Third, maybe just because it's a new thing, so your ears haven't adjusted yet. Give it time. Listen to the M50 a few hours a day, for about a week, and see if it sounds better to you. Don't switch back and forth between the M50 and the V2, as it would defeat the whole idea.

Fourth, TBH, the M50 isn't something 'very special'. It sounds decent, but that's that. I'd prefer AD700 or AD700x than the M50. In other words, it's not for everyone's taste. I can understand if there are people who love the sound, but maybe you're in the group that doesn't like the sound?

One real possibility we can't discount is that maybe the OP just can't hear or be bothered to hear a difference. In which case he should probably spend his energy elsewhere. Higher end audio isn't for everybody and money is limited. It takes an independent mind to say, "I can't hear a god damned difference, and I'd be happier if I spent my money elsewhere."

In Placebo We Trust - Resident Obnoxious Objective Fangirl (R.O.O.F) - Your Eyes Cannot Hear
Haswell Overclocking Guide | Skylake Overclocking GuideCan my amp power my headphones?

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First, why do you say the M50x is worse than the Siberia V2?

The M50X do sound better than the Siberia V2s, it's just they don't sound that much better

i7 4790K, EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC w/ACX, MSI Z97 Gaming 7, NZXT Phantom 530, Samsung 850 Pro 512GB, BenQ XL2411T 1080p 144Hz, BenQ GL2250 1080p 60Hz, Razer Arctosa, Logitech G400s, Roccat Savu, Audio Technica ATH M50X, Behringer Xenyx 1204USB Mixer

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The M50X do sound better than the Siberia V2s, it's just they don't sound that much better

If my brother (who is older than me, he's not a random 10 year old kid) were to test the two headphones, he'd tell me they're the god-damned sound, I guarantee you. That's after he actually tries to hear a difference. For some people  a little better is fucking night and day. Some people don't give a high priority to sound. Once you've accounted for all possible mistakes, all that's left as I've noted to Creatip, is to say "I can't hear a god damned difference, and I'd be happier if I spent my money elsewhere." Which is ok, higher end audio isn't for everyone. 2 cents.

In Placebo We Trust - Resident Obnoxious Objective Fangirl (R.O.O.F) - Your Eyes Cannot Hear
Haswell Overclocking Guide | Skylake Overclocking GuideCan my amp power my headphones?

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The M50X do sound better than the Siberia V2s, it's just they don't sound that much better

 

TBH, if you ask me, I wouldn't say the M50 is waayyy better than the V2, though. I'd say it's just about 1 level above (yeah, M50 lovers gonna hate me for this, but that's what I think). V2 is 'average', and M50 is a tad above average. You're gonna get that wow factor when you're upgrading to a headphone a few level above the original. 

 

Like I said, I'd rather prefer the AD700 or AD700x, than the M50 (tried them all). 

 

Well, just give it time, you'll grow accustomed to the sound. Who knows, after a while, when you tried the V2 again, you'd actually hear a bigger difference.

 

BTW, this is a good exercise for your ears, and at the same time will get your ears accustomed to the M50: google 'philips golden ear challenge'. It's a series of quizzes on sounds. Keep doing it until you reach at least golden ears stage, and you'll sharpen your ears to distinguish minor differences in sounds.

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