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Here's Why The Audio Technica ATH-M50X is a Terrible Headphone

Max_Settings
On 2018-9-20 at 11:19 PM, Max_Settings said:

10ohm 100db/mw

717FB527-5D90-4717-963B-7A58FE3DDE7A.jpeg.bd0eedd26de12c8ed4357d5e74e5c6b8.jpeg

600ohm 100db/mw 

D04495E4-0F72-4D6B-A845-87016990111E.jpeg.3174a21b8bbc2975d6d95b0dd7d736f3.jpeg

Some Engg. semester-1 physics lecture there.

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@D33PMuch like the M50x, the Philips SHP9500 is overrated. 

 

I own a pair. I haven’t used them in a while. I don’t find them very enjoyable. They have grainy highs, decent mids and almost no bass. It’s just a hard sell IMO. Not for bassheads, and not particularly inspiring in the treble department. I always  find myself increasing the volume to uncomfortable levels just to feel the bass and then the highs bite me. I know they’re open back, but the Sennheiser HD 558 does a better job at producing a more enjoyable and smoother experience. The Philips just sounds bright and harsh in comparison. 

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5 hours ago, kokakolia said:

@D33PMuch like the M50x, the Philips SHP9500 is overrated. 

 

I own a pair. I haven’t used them in a while. I don’t find them very enjoyable. They have grainy highs, decent mids and almost no bass. It’s just a hard sell IMO. Not for bassheads, and not particularly inspiring in the treble department. I always  find myself increasing the volume to uncomfortable levels just to feel the bass and then the highs bite me. I know they’re open back, but the Sennheiser HD 558 does a better job at producing a more enjoyable and smoother experience. The Philips just sounds bright and harsh in comparison. 

senh hd500 series are worst of all dude,midbass hump boomines is insaine on those if your a fan of pearl jam rip ears,i rather take shp9500 grainy highs all day over hd500 series.If you start to analyze headphones under 100euro all of them have flaws,its more which flaws your more tolerant then decide what to get.Under 100euro i think Creative Aurvana Live hits all trades right,the only think cal miss is more soundstage.

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7 hours ago, kokakolia said:

@D33PMuch like the M50x, the Philips SHP9500 is overrated. 

 

I own a pair. I haven’t used them in a while. I don’t find them very enjoyable. They have grainy highs, decent mids and almost no bass. It’s just a hard sell IMO. Not for bassheads, and not particularly inspiring in the treble department. I always  find myself increasing the volume to uncomfortable levels just to feel the bass and then the highs bite me. I know they’re open back, but the Sennheiser HD 558 does a better job at producing a more enjoyable and smoother experience. The Philips just sounds bright and harsh in comparison. 

 

2 hours ago, IFPMaximus34 said:

senh hd500 series are worst of all dude,midbass hump boomines is insaine on those if your a fan of pearl jam rip ears,i rather take shp9500 grainy highs all day over hd500 series.If you start to analyze headphones under 100euro all of them have flaws,its more which flaws your more tolerant then decide what to get.Under 100euro i think Creative Aurvana Live hits all trades right,the only think cal miss is more soundstage.

That's why audio is so interesting, opinions can vary quite drastically, we all perceive sound so differently! Hence, a lot hinges on our hearing and our personal preference. I, myself, like cans that others may find too sparkly....like the HD800 (now improved with the SDR mod) and Grado GS1000i (to name but two). I've heard the M50X a while back and couldn't quite bring myself to like the sound, but oddly enough, I've not tried the SHP9500 so I can't comment on it.

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4 hours ago, IFPMaximus34 said:

senh hd500 series are worst of all dude,midbass hump boomines is insaine on those if your a fan of pearl jam rip ears,i rather take shp9500 grainy highs all day over hd500 series.If you start to analyze headphones under 100euro all of them have flaws,its more which flaws your more tolerant then decide what to get.Under 100euro i think Creative Aurvana Live hits all trades right,the only think cal miss is more soundstage.

When I hear grainy highs on a headphone, I get a little upset. That’s the one thing that ticks me off. It’s like « Great! Now the effin’ cymbal crashes are the only thing I hear ». In a way it kinda mimicks real live performances where all you hear is the drums and guitar, and everything is so harsh, and the singer and bassist may as well hit the bench.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/19/2018 at 11:31 AM, Max_Settings said:

Edit: I just want to clarify for some people who didn't get this. I own these headphones. I am not merely writing a review based off of ignorant opinion of going off a hate train. I bought these headphones and I'm giving my honest impressions. I am willing to admit I messed up and they aren't very good.

 

For those of you who have decided to get into the realm of audiophile headphones you have probably heard of the Audio Technica ATH-M50X. When you say, "I want to get into audiophile headphones and I have a budget of $150 or less." you will most likely get tons of people saying "GET THE M50XS THEY ARE SO GOOOOOOOD" No they are not. I am baffled as to why anyone would recommend these headphones. First let me say why these are popular.

 

These headphones are popular because of a genius marketing strategy that Audio Technica has used. They sent the M50Xs to tech Youtubers who are not audiophiles and in turn gave them rave reviews because they don't know any better. I fully blame this MKBHD review for most of the sales of these headphones. I will tell you that none of the tech Youtubers know anything about audio and you shouldn't take advice on headphones, DACs, Amps, or anything else of that realm from them. This is list includes, but is not limited to, Linus Tech Tips, MKBHD, Unbox Therapy, Austin Evans, Jayztwocents, Hardware Canucks, Tech Source, Tek Syndicate, Dave2D, etc... Now I already know what you are thinking, "That's a bold statement. Why should I trust you over all these massive Youtubers that must know more of what they are talking about than you?" Honestly, I am not going to even answer that question, by that logic why take any tech advice from anyone on any forum because they must obviously know less than the Youtubers. The reason you shouldn't trust them is that they are not audiophiles. True audiophiles will point of the flaws in their audio reviews and the lack of total knowledge of the subject. Take Linus' Sound Blaster sound card review from a few months ago. In that video he didn't explain what an Amp and DAC was properly at all. He didn't even wear the headphones the correct way in the video. You need to take the advice of actual audiophile people when you want to get advice on headphones.

 

The next thing you are thinking is that, "I have a pair of M50Xs and they sound great, so you are obviously wrong." Okay they sound great, but compared to what? If all you have ever used was Apple earbuds and Beats, then yes M50Xs sound amazing. But you have no context. Have you tried other similarly price or even cheaper headphones? If you have no context you can't say that the M50Xs are good. If all you have ever seen for your whole life was 720p, 1080p might look amazing. But there is still 4K and that's better yet. You have to have context of what's available in a spectrum within $100 of where you sit.  I will get into recommendations at the end of this review, but I would take the $5 Venture Electronics Monk Plus earbuds over the M50Xs. I think part of the problem of why the M50Xs are still so popular is the fact that people cannot admit the fact that they made a mistake and bought a bad product. I will fully admit, I am as guilty of this as many of you are. Before I became an audiophile I did watch this same MKBHD video and I bought a set. And just like many of you I thought they were amazing. But then I started hearing other headphones. And suddenly my eyes were open to the utter load of crap the M50Xs are.

 

 

5742982D-1776-484B-B1E1-180F319EA428.jpeg.75554224464aacca1f010cab0dd1d839.thumb.jpg.58d12ca2ecd5d5701d5e2c3c8eef7e49.jpg

Build:

These headphones are of average build at best. The plastics are kind of cheap feeling and the creak a bit. The headband is an alright feeling pleather as are the pads. Speaking of the pads they are a thin 3 knuckle pad. (Build: 5/10)

 

Comfort:

The comfort on these is alright. The padding on the headband isn't much, but it works. Their biggest problem is the pads are thin and your ear hits the inside of the driver. This isn't an issue short term but starts to hurt after about an hour. They are also pretty light which helps a lot. Not crazy comfortable, but they are fine. (Comfort: 6/10)

 

Misc, Wires, Power, and Accessories: 

The M50Xs come with three wires that are all ok. They are all 3.5mm and use a locking 2.5mm for the connecting to the headphone. One is 4ft, one is a 6ft coiled cable that looks to stretch to around 10ft that has a proprietary screw on 1/4in adapter, and the last is a straight 10ft with the same piece for the single screw on 1/4in adapter. These don't come in any presentation box like the HD6XXs do, however they do include a carrying bag which is kind of nice. As for power, these are about the easiest headphones to drive there are. I don't know if any of you ever made a potato battery in school, but that thing could push M50Xs. These will have no problem running off any source you want, be it a phone or a laptop. These are so easy to drive that the tiny bit of sound leakage my Amp has at 0% is enough for almost 25% volume on these, and I can't even hear the leakage on anything else. On my X7S these are anywhere from 8:30 to 10:00 depending on the song, while something like the T50s sits about 3:00-5:00. The M50Xs are also foldable which is nice for travel and the ear cups rotate 270 degrees.

 

Sound:

This is where these headphones suffer the most they just don't sound good and have major flaws.

 

Overall Sound:

If you ever hear anyone say M50Xs are flat and are great for monitoring, you should instantly know they don't know what they are talking about. These are the most V shaped headphones I've ever heard. Now these are not like most headphones that are V shaped where it is somewhat even, these are the most lopsided V I have ever heard. This graph is honestly what they sound like. Slightly elevated bass, garbage mids, and just the most murderous treble you've ever heard. (Overall Sound: 3/10)

5a95f2bd70d44_M50XGraph.png.5885b43345d1b6dc23e620ace78f181a.png

Mid Range:

The mid range on these headphones is absolutely awful. I don't know how no one realizes this. It is also confusing to me. The M50Xs are somehow mid focused and muddy at the same time, which is a weird combination. The vocals no doubt sit forward in the music, they aren't veiled like something such as the HD650s, but the vocals are so muddy. They have no clarity and sound unbelievably muddy and distorted. It's almost hard to describe, but they do vocals incredibly poorly. (Vocals: 3/10)

 

Treble:

Oh boy here we go. These are the second highest treble headphone I've ever used falling just short of their bigger brother the ATH-M70X. But that doesn't make them any better. The treble on these headphones is absolute murder. This is outside of the range where you could argue treble sensitivity, this is too much for any human being. I'm going to link a few tracks later on for people with M50Xs to listen to and it will show you how insane and unbearable it is. It truly hurts to listen to and there are some songs that I flat out can't listen to. It feels like someone is stabbing a knife in you ears.....actually no that would hurt less than these do. Talk about fatiguing to listen to, these are about the most fatiguing headphones there are. And the sad part is the treble isn't even good. There a ton of it and it is super pronounced, but it has no sparkle or clarity, it's very dull. Listening to the same tracks through my 6XXs, Mayflower T50s, and 1997 pair of HD500As, all have less treble, but they all have some crispness that these do not.  (Amount of Treble: 10/10) (Quality of Treble: 4/10)

 

Bass:

This is the M50Xs best category, but they still don't do great. They have some bass for sure, more than HD650s, but not quite on the level of the T50RPs. Still though more than enough for EDM and gaming. Now the bass itself is also average. You hear it, but it is not focused and is very loose. Bass should have a boom or pop sound, while these have more of a blah sound (very technical audiophile terms right there xD). They aren't bass monsters like some people like to think, but they are alright in this category. (Bass Amount: 6/10) (Bass Quality: 5/10)

 

Imaging:

These headphones don't image well either. They have some, but it is very vague. I wouldn't even give them an average score. (Imaging: 3/10)

 

Sound Stage:

These have no sound stage. Nothing ever sounds like it comes from outside of the cups and they have some of the narrowest sound stage I've ever heard just shy of the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. (Sound Stage: 2/10)

 

Gaming:

These are the headphones that I am sad to say I've used the most for gaming of any headphones. I've owned these fore years and I have played a lot with them. Once again I lacked context.  They have the low end, but they don't really have the sound stage or imaging for foot steps. I wouldn't recommend these for gaming either because they don't fit into either category of gaming headphone, either the crazy bassy fun headphones, or the super accurate footstep headphones. (Gaming: 4/10)

 

Test Tracks:

Here are a few tracks that I think show off the flaws of the M50Xs, particularly the treble. If you own a pair try and listen to these songs loudly and see if you can stand it, I certainly can't.

 

I am not going to do any direct compaisions in this review because I don't have any headphones that I would consider true competitors. The closest thing I have are my T50RPs, but they have had some modding done to them and are now twice the price of M50Xs so that's not a fair comparison.

 

Conclusions:

I don't know why these headphones are popular and who they are for. Everyone must have bought into the marketing because they are terrible. They aren't bass cans, so not for bass heads. Their mid range is absolutely horrendous and muddy, so not for vocal people. Their treble is ear bleedingly too sharp and impossible to listen to.They aren't monitoring cans because they are V shaped and are not neutral like you want monitoring headphones to be. They aren't for gamers because they don't have the bass, imaging, or sound stage to meet either of the two categories of gamers. They also do a terrible job at producing micro details. Now the ones that they do produce they are super intense and just bash them into your head and are super fatiguing. I know a lot of people would say, "The M50Xs are overpriced and if they were under $100 they would be pretty good." I disagree with that 100%. I don't think these headphones are good for basically any price. Their treble is so insane I just can't use them. As I said the $5 Venture Electronics Monk Plus earbuds, are better than M50Xs. Before you call me crazy, go buy a set and see, they are $5 you have nothing to loose. The M50Xs truly are terrible headphones and none of you should ever buy them. If you own a set, try and sell them I will give some recommendations of other headphones that are alternatives to M50Xs around the same price. All of these are going to be $150 or less

 

Closed:

Audio Technica ATH-M40X:

A thing that's hard for people to grasp is just because something has a bigger number doesn't mean it's better. Let's look at Lamborghini. The cheaper Huracan is quicker to 60 MPH despite less horsepower because of a better transmission. Similarly the M40X is a much better headphone than the M50X. However they just need one thing done to them, they need HM5 pads added to them. So if you add the $22 pads to the $80 M40Xs you get a headphone that has more sound stage than M50Xs, less highs, better mid range, and comparable if not slightly more low end. They are an awesome gaming headphone and also great for music.

 

Takstar Pro 82:

These headphones are cheaper and have a very balanced well rounded sound. Not a ton of sound stage, but are unbelievably comfortable. They do a great job at producing micro details and have spectacular imaging. They also have a 3 way bass switch and will satisfy the needs of all you bass heads out there. Also they come with a crazy nice case.

 

Status Audio CB-1:

Another well rounded headphone. Good sound stage and imaging. Good bass with controlled high and good mid range. Very comfortable, but not the best built headphones ever.

 

Audio Technica ATH-WS1100iS:

Technically these are semi-open. These are a much prettier, much a better built set of M50Xs. They don't have the INSANE BASS like claimed on the box, but they still have more than the M50Xs. Their highs are still a bit high, but tolerable. Mid range is ok, but not spectacular. Not much sound stage, but these are a great gaming headphone. They even come with a mic for all you who want to use them as a gaming headphone. For music these should be tubed to make them sound amazing. These are what the M50Xs should of been and they are basically the same price.


Monoprice Retro: This is another one where you are going to call me crazy for saying $25 headphone are better than M50Xs. Believe whatever you want to, but these are amazing. Insane bass and sound stage. Their highs and mid range is also shockingly good for a $25 set of headphones. These are one of the best gaming headphones there are just because of that hilarious low end and sound stage. Imaging is also shockingly good. They do however benefit from some Brainwavz XL Pads if you have a bit more money to spend. When these come back in stock I'm buying a set.

 

Open:

Phillips SHP9500:

One of my always go to headphones. They sound a lot like HD600s with a bit more sound stage and low end. 

 

Sennheiser HD559:

If you are looking for gaming headphones take these over the more popular HD598. They are not as clean overall, but have more low end which makes them a bit better for gaming. They have that classic easy to listen to Sennheiser sound.

 

Sennheiser HD598:

These are very popular headphones. Probably some of the best under $200. They are a bit more than M50Xs, but often can be found on sale for around $100. These are just a step below something like the HD6XX or K7XX.

 

Hifiman Edition S:

These can be used open or closed with removable covers, but are better open. These are a portable headphone and have the foldability like the M50X. These are surprisingly good. They aren't on ears like they claim, they are small over ears. They do have some sharper highs, but are very fun with good low end and good imaging. 

 

 

Thanks for reading my review. I know it's long overdue. I hope I have opened your eyes as to why the M50Xs are terrible and hopefully prevented someone from buying them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly, great review. Very in depth and informative. 

 

I have owned these headphones for three years now and I do not consider myself an audiophile. However, I am a musician. 

 

I would suggest that the type of sound people prefer is quite subjective. I am not discounting your point of great marketing, however, I can clearly tell the difference between a pair of skull candy's (that are quite similar to some of your cheaper suggestions) and the M50x. But that in itself is subjective and the sounds I am looking for in the music I listen to, are easily heard by my ears with m50x. Obviously, there are loads and loads of options and all those options offer different qualities. I wouldn't call these the "best", but I would not hesitate to call them sufficient. Specifically when it comes symphonies, sonatas and eastern classical music. Again, I would like to emphasize, that this is just my opinion on the matter. Keep up the reviews!

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  • 1 month later...

Well, I guess Chris Martin (Coldplay), James Hetfield (Metallica), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Joe Bonamassa and a ton of other uncontested musicians must be freaking unlucky for not knowing about the existence of this review.

 

I mean, WHO are they, anyway, to know anything about what's good enough for recording their albums, when we have "Max_Settings" to tell otherwise, right? And just a heads up: they're not using M50xs for marketing purposes, like those plastic musicians who use Beats for the sake of trending. They RECORD things with them. I guess they must be on a budget, those poor unknown artists.

 

But hey, let's just show them your "better" options with a bunch of graphics and a clearly tendentious taste about the M50x's sound! Right? :)

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1 hour ago, Floydsound said:

Well, I guess Chris Martin (Coldplay), James Hetfield (Metallica), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Joe Bonamassa and a ton of other uncontested musicians must be freaking unlucky for not knowing about the existence of this review.

 

I mean, WHO are they, anyway, to know anything about what's good enough for recording their albums, when we have "Max_Settings" to tell otherwise, right? And just a heads up: they're not using M50xs for marketing purposes, like those plastic musicians who use Beats for the sake of trending. They RECORD things with them. I guess they must be on a budget, those poor unknown artists.

 

But hey, let's just show them your "better" options with a bunch of graphics and a clearly tendentious taste about the M50x's sound! Right? :)

You do realize you can use literally any headphone to record things right? What I am talking about is music listening. You really need to know what you are talking about so you don't sound stupid.

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1 hour ago, Floydsound said:

Well, I guess Chris Martin (Coldplay), James Hetfield (Metallica), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Joe Bonamassa and a ton of other uncontested musicians must be freaking unlucky for not knowing about the existence of this review.

 

I mean, WHO are they, anyway, to know anything about what's good enough for recording their albums, when we have "Max_Settings" to tell otherwise, right? And just a heads up: they're not using M50xs for marketing purposes, like those plastic musicians who use Beats for the sake of trending. They RECORD things with them. I guess they must be on a budget, those poor unknown artists.

 

But hey, let's just show them your "better" options with a bunch of graphics and a clearly tendentious taste about the M50x's sound! Right? :)

Dr. Dre - Beats. Drake - Beats. XXXTentacion - Beats, *every rapper ever* - Beats.

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15 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

Dr. Dre - Beats. Drake - Beats. XXXTentacion - Beats, *every rapper ever* - Beats.

Rap? What kind of parameter does a mostly linear (technically) musical style represent to measure a headphone's total quality? Are you really trying to compare, for example, Porcupine Tree's absurdly complex music to RAP just to put Beats in that poor statement? (And did you really put "XXXTentacion" in that list? Was that supposed to give your statement some credit? Jesus Christ...)

 

And, by the way, the rap industry is WELL KNOWN for exalting big company brands, "fashion" (I wouldn't call it that) trends and overall ostentation. Hell, Dr. Dre gives his NAME to Beats and you try to argue by pointing out the fact that he uses Beats? What's that supposed to mean?? Please, tell me ?

On 2/19/2018 at 4:31 PM, Max_Settings said:

These headphones are popular because of a genius marketing strategy that Audio Technica has used. They sent the M50Xs to tech Youtubers who are not audiophiles and in turn gave them rave reviews because they don't know any better.

So, what you're trying to say is:

 

1) We have to start from a premise concerning, basically, a conspiracy theory which would involve ALL youtubers, including a TON who actually KNOW what they're talking about, since Audio-Technica didn't send M50xs to EVERY youtuber who did a review about these headphones - that's factually out of their control. And we have to believe in all of that because... You're saying so? I think I'll just go with "no" on that one. You know, for knowing these headphones and for actual logical reasons.

 

2) We have to ignore an infinite number of positive reviews from outside of youtube, including a LOT of incredibly extensive and detailed analyses with graphics, dismantling, technical measurements, comparisons etc. All because of a blatant tantrum you have with these headphones (or simply because of a bad apple you got there), which ended up with you mixing up objective facts about the M50x's sound and your personal sound taste.

 

You know, it's just embarrassing that you even TRY to get away with that with such a huge post.

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16 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

You do realize you can use literally any headphone to record things right? What I am talking about is music listening. You really need to know what you are talking about so you don't sound stupid.

No, you're not talking about music listening in this review. You're talking about everything. Are you really trying to contradict yourself in your own post, with everything you said being publicly available for anyone to read?

And of course you CAN use any headphone. Where are you trying to get with this statement? It's like saying I can travel in any old iffy car, even while owning a Ferrari. Doesn't mean GOOD musicians will actually use crappy headphones to record their albums, especially legendary musicians who actually CARE and are PASSIONATE about sound perfection, not some industrialized rappers who will do anything for their ostentation money at the end of the day.

 

"*every rapper ever* - Beats.", what a GREAT argument, wow.

*Joker claps*

 

But oh well, who am I trying to talk sense into, right? Someone who got absolutely obliterated by an electrical engineer and producer in this topic, but didn't have the guts to admit being wrong. I know the type. You know, the type that doesn't know what he's talking about and sounds stupid.

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On 2/19/2018 at 11:49 AM, Connor Price said:

Not saying you're wrong here because I know very little when it comes to audio, but I've seen top artists use these headphones. 

You know little about marketing as well, "Top Artists" do not bring headphones to a recording studio. they use whatever is on hand that the studio owns. On the street sure they may go buy headphones but most celebs and artist are gifted many trinkets by PR and marketing departments to get publicity and name recognition to the public. watch the Beats documentary. they gave away tens of thousands of units and viola! 

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19 hours ago, Floydsound said:

Well, I guess Chris Martin (Coldplay), James Hetfield (Metallica), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Joe Bonamassa and a ton of other uncontested musicians must be freaking unlucky for not knowing about the existence of this review.

 

I mean, WHO are they, anyway, to know anything about what's good enough for recording their albums, when we have "Max_Settings" to tell otherwise, right? And just a heads up: they're not using M50xs for marketing purposes, like those plastic musicians who use Beats for the sake of trending. They RECORD things with them. I guess they must be on a budget, those poor unknown artists.

 

But hey, let's just show them your "better" options with a bunch of graphics and a clearly tendentious taste about the M50x's sound! Right? :)

using google image search i see chris martin in 50 brands of headphones including the premium delights in the picture, hetfeild i cant find not wearing sony, and see my other post, artist wear whatever the studio provides. 

chriszaneloweahfod.jpg

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On 11/13/2018 at 6:54 PM, itsup said:

using google image search i see chris martin in 50 brands of headphones including the premium delights in the picture, hetfeild i cant find not wearing sony, and see my other post, artist wear whatever the studio provides. 

chriszaneloweahfod.jpg

Are you trying to prove your point by showing Chris Martin using Beats in a BEATS INTERVIEW about Coldplay's album? https://twitter.com/beats1/status/669591890753363968


Sorry, but you're gonna have to try again, mate ? Maybe like THIS: 

 

Or THIS:

 

On 11/13/2018 at 6:42 PM, itsup said:

You know little about marketing as well, "Top Artists" do not bring headphones to a recording studio. they use whatever is on hand that the studio owns. On the street sure they may go buy headphones but most celebs and artist are gifted many trinkets by PR and marketing departments to get publicity and name recognition to the public. watch the Beats documentary. they gave away tens of thousands of units and viola! 

By that logic, one would certainly assume that, of all musicians out there, Dr. Dre would use Beats in his studio, right? Well, not exactly ? https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/3195140.jpg

 

Alan Parsons is also well known for having used M50s in the studios. You know, Alan Parsons, the legendary audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Do you think he needs any studio owner saying what he should wear on his ears? I don't think so.


And who is Neil Peart again, to use these headphones on STAGE, right? https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/1330552.png

I mean, at the end of the day, people will just bring out Beats when it comes to rap/hip hop/pop artists who are publicly known for being market sluts anyway:
https://www.complex.com/music/2014/07/blatant-beats-by-dre-product-placement-in-music-videos/or-nah

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10 hours ago, Floydsound said:

Someone who got absolutely obliterated by an electrical engineer and producer in this topic

You mean the guy who showed up, wrote 2 posts and failed to respond to @Max_Settings post about how sensitivity is the real factor behind the power needed to drive headphones?

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2 hours ago, Lathlaer said:

You mean the guy who showed up, wrote 2 posts and failed to respond to @Max_Settings post about how sensitivity is the real factor behind the power needed to drive headphones?

I mean the guy who transcribed the MATHEMATICAL FORMULA proving the OP was unequivocally WRONG, to what the OP timidly responded, trying to divert from an indisputable matter (it's mathematical, there's only one correct answer): "You must of went to online college because you have no clue what you are talking about. 2 headphones with the same sensitivity require the same amount of power".

 

It's like saying to a chicken "Look, this is the formula and this is Mathematics, so there's no other correct answer to what you're trying to mistakenly stand up for". And the chicken says "Cluck!".

 

And then comes a guy like you trying to defend that "cluck" ? It's just unbelievable.

 

But hey, just keep on unable to respond to everything else I justified here. Lack of real arguments was no more than I expected.

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Just now, Floydsound said:

I mean the guy who transcribed the MATHEMATICAL FORMULA proving the OP was unequivocally WRONG, to what the OP timidly responded, trying to divert from an indisputable matter (it's mathematical, there's only one correct answer): "You must of went to online college because you have no clue what you are talking about. 2 headphones with the same sensitivity require the same amount of power".

 

It's like saying to a chicken "Look, this is the formula and this is Mathematics, so there's no other correct answer to what you're trying to mistakenly stand up for". And the chicken says "Cluck!".

 

And then comes a guy like you trying to defend that "cluck" ? It's just unbelievable.

 

But hey, just keep on unable to respond to everything else I justified here. Lack of real arguments was no more than I expected.

Yeah but he did provide data that prove it's essentially the same amount of power or do you dispute that?

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3 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

Yeah but he did provide data that prove it's essentially the same amount of power or do you dispute that?

You're saying it makes more sense believing a couple of random images taken from God-knows-where and the absolute lack of answer from Max_Settings to Wielded1's formula (really, tell me where's Max_Settings' answer to that), rather than believing an actual incontrovertible mathematical formula?

 

Yeah, I dispute that.

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Just now, Floydsound said:

Yeah, I dispute that.

You can play around with a calculator, it's not that hard.

 

https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

 

See what happens with power needed if you set sensitivity to one number and play with impedance.

 

You seem like just another guy who somehow found this review and got triggered so much that you just had to go and write here.

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1 minute ago, Lathlaer said:

You can play around with a calculator, it's not that hard.

 

https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

 

See what happens with power needed if you set sensitivity to one number and play with impedance.

 

You seem like just another guy who somehow found this review and got triggered so much that you just had to go and write here.

And you can also go to college, become an electrical engineer, actually KNOW what you're talking about through real Mathematics, stop believing in "online calculators" and stop embarrassing yourself in public forums. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

You seem like just another guy who takes Google for an answer for your health problems too. Well, that's what they say: ignorance is bliss.

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19 hours ago, Floydsound said:

And of course you CAN use any headphone. Where are you trying to get with this statement? It's like saying I can travel in any old iffy car, even while owning a Ferrari. Doesn't mean GOOD musicians will actually use crappy headphones to record their albums, especially legendary musicians who actually CARE and are PASSIONATE about sound perfection, not some industrialized rappers who will do anything for their ostentation money at the end of the day.

I think it has more to do with familiarity than anything else. The original M50 was the perfect headphone released at the perfect time, and quickly became the standard for monitoring. If it works, it works, and there's no reason to switch things up. After all, from a pure production point of view, knowing how a piece of equipment should sound is better than having something better-sounding but less familiar.

 

Same reason the Yamaha NS-10 is so popular in mixing environments; it's not the best speaker out there, but it works well enough and it's a common reference point that most people can relate to. No need to make the playback setup more of a variable than it needs to be.

 

I still disagree with most everyone else here that the M50X is terrible. Overpriced and overhyped as a personal audio device? Sure. It's still nice and flat in the frequency domain; for pure monitoring purposes it does its job well. For enjoyment I'll agree with the others; the harmonic distortion is low but the rest of its response leaves a lot to be desired.

7 hours ago, Floydsound said:

You're saying it makes more sense believing a couple of random images taken from God-knows-where and the absolute lack of answer from Max_Settings to Wielded1's formula (really, tell me where's Max_Settings' answer to that), rather than believing an actual incontrovertible mathematical formula?

 

Yeah, I dispute that.

It's been a while since I've visited this thread, so I hadn't noticed that conversation. Lots of issues there.

  1. Decibels are logarithmic, not linear. Sensitivity, with units of dB SPL/mW, cannot be linear. In these units, headphones with a sensitivity of 115 require 32x as much power as those with sensitivity 100 to reach the same volume, a far cry from the 1.15x @Wielded1 suggested.
  2. dB SPL/mW is a literal description of how loud the headphone is at 1mW input. The effects of impedance on power are already baked into this number.
  3. P = V^2 / Z is a thing, yes. Note that power is inverse linear with impedance, not a square term. Doubling impedance results in half the power assuming a constant input voltage, not a "like 66%" difference. Holding power constant results in a 2 factor increase in voltage, which is where impedance actually becomes useful – and even then, at a much smaller level than previously argued.
  4. Even if the power requirements were to triple (which it doesn't), this would result in a difference of less than 5dB, far from the 60dB argued. Once again, dB SPL/mW is not remotely linear.
  5. The equation linked has little to do with his argument. For a competently designed amplifier the output impedance is negligible and the circuit is already in simplified Thevenin form (no need to separate the Thevenin and load terms). And those are equations for complex analysis, which isn't at all necessary given the assumption of a resistive load. Stripping away the unused terms and simplifying produces the familiar P = V^2 / R.

 

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Nimrodor said:
  1. Decibels are logarithmic, not linear. Sensitivity, with units of dB SPL/mW, cannot be linear. In these units, headphones with a sensitivity of 115 require 32x as much power as those with sensitivity 100 to reach the same volume, a far cry from the 1.15x @Wielded1 suggested.
  2. dB SPL/mW is a literal description of how loud the headphone is at 1mW input. The effects of impedance on power are already baked into this number.
  3. P = V^2 / Z is a thing, yes. Note that power is inverse linear with impedance, not a square term. Doubling impedance results in half the power assuming a constant input voltage, not a "like 66%" difference. Holding power constant results in a 2 factor increase in voltage, which is where impedance actually becomes useful – and even then, at a much smaller level than previously argued.
  4. Even if the power requirements were to triple (which it doesn't), this would result in a difference of less than 5dB, far from the 60dB argued. Once again, dB SPL/mW is not remotely linear.
  5. The equation linked has little to do with his argument. For a competently designed amplifier the output impedance is negligible and the circuit is already in simplified Thevenin form (no need to separate the Thevenin and load terms). And those are equations for complex analysis, which isn't at all necessary given the assumption of a resistive load. Stripping away the unused terms and simplifying produces the familiar P = V^2 / R.

I appreciate your input on this. Finally someone who actually seems to know what he's talking about, unlike Max_Settings (who didn't have the qualification to technically answer Wielded1's post) and Lathlaer. I'm sure the vast majority of the readers (me included) couldn't understand or technically confront Wielded1's mathematical argument, and it's reasonable to assume he knows SOMETHING about the subject. Well, you're the first person who seems to be able to confront those arguments technically, and I respect that.

 

Anyhow, this thing about Max_Settings X Wielded1 was a simple detail among everything of real importance that I said (and Max_Settings still wasn't able to answer technically). It doesn't change what I think about the topic and the OP's partiality regarding the M50x, as I exhaustively pointed out in the previous posts.

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So, basically what you're saying is that anyone who doesn't have the technical qualification is not allowed to expressed an opinion? It sounds to me like you want to 'win' arguments with technical aspects only, you dissed the opinions of others and will only accept answers from technically qualified persons, am I right to say that? It's like you wanna present yourself as a technical expert with years of study in a given subject, participating in an open forum, yet when someone else's opinion don't jell with yours, you fall back on this technical argument stance to 'win' your argument. Regardless, there's a simple solution I'd suggest to Max, 'ignore' option is your best friend, I've just exercised that option myself.

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11 hours ago, GamerDude said:

So, basically what you're saying is that anyone who doesn't have the technical qualification is not allowed to expressed an opinion? It sounds to me like you want to 'win' arguments with technical aspects only, you dissed the opinions of others and will only accept answers from technically qualified persons, am I right to say that? It's like you wanna present yourself as a technical expert with years of study in a given subject, participating in an open forum, yet when someone else's opinion don't jell with yours, you fall back on this technical argument stance to 'win' your argument. Regardless, there's a simple solution I'd suggest to Max, 'ignore' option is your best friend, I've just exercised that option myself.

1. When did I say "people without technical qualification are not allowed to express an opinion"? I think you're deliberately ignoring that, between a layman and a technically qualified person, it's OBVIOUS for any normal human being to give more credit to the last one. So I don't see where you got that assumption from.

 

2. I don't want to "win" arguments with technical aspects only, I simply point out that technical arguments are undeniably more relevant than the non-technical ones. It's not about "winning", it's actually a no brainer, and it's unbelievable that you're not able to see that.

 

3. It's nothing like I want to "present myself as a technical expert with years of study in a given subject". I'm just a rational person who, in the context of a technical subject, gives more points to what technically qualified people have to say than to what non-qualified people have to say. WHEN did I try to present myself as that? Please, amuse me ?

 

4. If you're talking about the M50x, I provided a myriad of reasons why the OP exaggerated A LOT in his review. With FACTS, not opinions. And if you're talking about the mathematical subject, I'm no expert to say who's technically right (therefore no one else's opinion has to "jell with mine"). I'm just not stupid to consider non-technical answers as right when I do have technical answers under my nose — ESPECIALLY answers which Max_Settings didn't have the knowledge to reply TECHNICALLY.

 

5. Well, IF you really had exercised that "ignore" option, you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself with a sequence of illogical (actually stupid) and wrong accusations, would you? I mean, any normal human being chooses technically qualified arguments over the non-technical ones. But not you, God knows why... ?‍♂️

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My 2 cents: 

 

- It looks like people here are trying so hard, really hard, to convince people that the M50 is absolutely awful

- IMHO, that doesn’t accomplish anything. Because the people who own the M50 like them. Some professionals even use them because they’re used to them and know what to expect. 

- IMHO, the other alternatives are more or less equally flawed. It’s not like a night and day difference. It’s just that the M50x is overpriced compared to the competition. 

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