Headphone Reviews

Sound Quality
Here's where the M50 shines. With very few exceptions, sealed headphones below $200 tend to have at least one fatal flaw. Way too bright on many; way too boomy on many; finding a headphone with balanced performance is difficult. That's where the M50 hits a sweet spot, at their worst they're only mediocre, and at their best they do things pretty well. That's remarkable for a $150 full-size, sealed headphone.

Getting good lows on sealed cans is quite difficult; I'm often struck by how bloated and one-note the bass can be when makers try to emphasize the bass on this type of headphone. The bass on the ATH-M50 is deep and strong. Though a bit loose, it does retain ample clarity for satisfaction. I find it one of the better bass responses in headphones of this price/type.

The treble is slightly more emphatic than I prefer. I hear a bit of edge to the tunes (many headphones fail far worse in this regard), but the highs are otherwise clearly articulated and without confusion.

The midrange of the M50 is better on paper than it is in the ear. By itself it is uncolored and quite natural sounding, but juxtaposed against the slightly strident highs and full bass the mids seem a bit withdrawn. This was where I ended up preferring the more mid-forward sound of the Sony MDR-ZX700, even though it's bass response wasn't as good.

Overall I hear the Audio Technica ATH-M50 as a little uneven and somewhat calling attention to both the bass and the treble at the expense of the mids, but relative to the competition at this price, remarkably well behaved.

Measurements

Raw frequency response bass consistency shows headphones sealed reliably and were positionally insensitive to seal problems. Compensated FR curve shows a headphone that should be somewhat mid-centric, but listening tests did not bear this out.

Bass response is well extended though somewhat bumpy, indicating ports to extend bass. 30Hz square wave is significantly scooped out going below zero also indicating phase shifts in the lows from porting. THD+noise graph shows increasing bass distortion typical of headphone with poor seal, and sometimes indicates lack of tightness in bass.

Treble has a peak at 10kHz which is somewhat normal for headphones, but the energy level above 10kHz looks a bit excessive. Large spike at the leading edge of the 300Hz square wave and jagged front end of impulse response indicates a headphone with a bit of bite.

Impedance response shows a headphone with low reactance (easy to drive), and at around 37 Ohms needing 41mVrms to achieve 90dBspl the M50 will be driven by portable players to solid listening levels.

Summary
There's good reason the Audio Technica ATH-M50 is one of the most commonly recommended headphones in the world of headphone enthusiasts. While the highs are a bit bright, and the bass a bit loose, the M50 delivers remarkably well-balanced performance for headphones in this price range. Other cans to try would be the Shure SRH440 for bigger lows, but with slightly brighter highs as well; and the Sony MDR-ZX700 for a more midrange-centric headphone, at the loss of some bass and highest treble octave response.

The ATH-M50 is a great headphone to step up and away from consumer grade cans without spending a lot of money. I think they would serve very well as a general purpose traveling, studio, and around the home headphone. Yes, I'll happily recommend these cans.

Big thanks to the folks at HeadRoom for the loan of the headphones! Resources after the video!

Resources
Audio Technica ATH-M50 page and introductory press release.
Head-Fi ATH-M50 review thread.