Review on 🎧 ATH-M50 Professional Headphones by Audio Technica by Thomas Drew

Purchased in late 2013, never tested as I was abroad at the time. I don't have $1,000 Denons or Audeze headphones, a turntable, or a lot of amps. It's been 2 years and I'm still going strong. For their track record, 2 years is a break-in period. During this time I have changed 2 pairs of ear pads which I also reviewed here, 1 is BrainWavz and the other is Bluecells. I prefer the latter, the former worsens the sound quality more than I would like, but at the expense of significantly more comfort. Build Quality: These are tanks. They're plastic, but generally don't feel cheap. It's solidly built. I've used them in the C130 and C17 and they were scattered in my luggage without a case like the V-Moda and they wiped everything and carried on. 10/10 Aesthetics: Simply put, these aren't the prettiest things around. Unless you think the 300-pound midfielder is good-looking, and even then you'll have a hard time saying it to his face. The leather ear pads are surprisingly comfortable for less than 3 hours of continuous use. Also, they ask too much of you. Predominantly plastic with a metal strap only visible if you need to adjust the strap wider, with a top strap also wrapped in faux leather with a more than ominous AUDIOTECHNICA lettering at the top to tell nearby airships what whatever it is. Repeated listening, rest assured, sounds fantastic. 7/10 Sound: Bass, right? Nobody talks about these highs, give me highs. Of course not. Low frequencies are quite sharp, fast and loud enough. These are not Basshead cans. The barrel hits hard but not too hard, more than enough to let you know it's there. And with some EDM/chillstep, it also keeps letting you know with a rumble in your ear cup. 10/10 mids, slightly recessed. Not where they're bass-heavy, muddy, or unintelligible. But less vulnerable. It feels like the ups and downs are protecting him from something. It is, but it's not directly about that. At the same time, the separation between medium and low frequencies is large. You can highlight almost any instrument or voice on a track. Just don't expect them to be right in front of you in their presentation. Mittens are second here. 8/10 highs. Brilliant. 90% of the time they sound extraordinary. then there's that 10% where they border on too bright, not quite whistling, but definitely teasing to think they are. However, 90% of the time they are clear and concise. They can be separated as if standing in front of you, tangible and eloquent. 8/10 It's my inexperienced ears that I'm talking about money. It's awesome. I had an AKG 550, V-Moda LP2 and M80, Bose Quet Comforts and a sad but true Beats Studios set. I always come back to them and the others really remind me how much I love them.