Audio-Technica ATH-M50 by IMAWriter
Interestingly, there was no exact category on this esteemed website for this most essential piece of studio gear.
Headphones (and speakers) may be THE most subject item in our studio, and thus any review has to be taken for what it is...personal opinion based on that person's physiology, age, head shape, and musical genre most involved with, to name just a few factors.
AUDIO QUALITY
In my SITUATION, I work with many different genres, but not so much hip hop/rap, electronic, etc.
Thus, even after 30 hours of of continuous burn in utilizing pretty much EVERY genre of music, I still find these headphones audio scale tipped significantly towards the lower frequency spectrum, generally. I mean DEEP bass, to MY ears frequencies below 70hz. Remember my opening statement...this is to MY ears.
This is not to say the mids and high are not well represented.. They are, and presented in a very musical front forward MANNER, ideal for vocalists, and I'd wager drummers and bass players.
There is the tiniest "crispiness" way up around 10-12k, I'd say, not unpleasant, perhaps with more time that will settle down a bit.
Personally, I NEVER mix with headphones, and IMO these would not be any different. However, as they say, YMMV. The sound stage is wide, pretty accurate (for headphones), and I especially like that with certain types of music, there is a speaker-like sound stage, almost as if your speakers are on. Pretty cool, actually!
Because they are closed back, expect very little bleed from vocalists, etc.
These AT's are available with either a coiled cord, or straight cord. (with an "s" designation at the end of the straight cord model #)
BUILD QUALITY/COMFORT
The cans are beautifully put together (in Taiwan, not Com China), and are IMO are one of the best looking sub $200 headphones available.
On a scale of comfort, I'd say an 8 out of 10, because I wear glasses, and NOTHING feels real good after more than an hour!
I've deducted a point from the features category for the M50's lack of detachable cord.
In my nearly 40 years of recording vocalists, it seems some headphones just help singers maintain pitch better (with both cups on (the far less durable Equation RP21's being in that category).
After several vocals recorded this past couple of weeks with the AT ATH m50's, i can confidently put them right up there with the Equations, and the AT's have a far better quality factor.