After having a lot of Headphone models including AKG 271, Beyerdynamics DT-880, KRK KNS 8400 I was looking out for a headphone showing a little bit more love for the low end, so I can hear and trust what happens <100 hertz. Long story short, the ATH M50's can exactly do this job and they do it very well.

This leads to the most important part for reviewing headphones...

SOUND QUALITY

The ATH-M50's have a overall good sound. So I rate the Sound Quality with 8/10. I am no Low end Junkie and also like the analytical sound of the AKG's but if you want to hear what your bass, your 808's or Kickdrums are doing this one is the right choice. It's still sounding flat and not boosted though, but you can really get an idea of the low end when listening or mixing a track. Sometimes If i wear the phones I wonder if the monitors are running and check...but NO, it's all coming from the M50's.

BUT...even if this is the best low end I heard on headphones I can't give it a sound quality rating with 10/10. The good the bass is the more it lacks in the mids. The mid frequencies seem to be too far away, so the sound is not really knocking. I prefer the mids of the KRK and AKG'S much more.But then again, I want to use these phones to check my low end since I dont have a treated room with accurate speakers. Don't get me wrong though, the mids are not bad at all, just not as good as their low and high frequency accuracy. The Highs have a little "hiss"but it's pleasant to the ears. So that the mids are really the only factor I rate the sound quality just 8 out of 10 which is very good in my opinion.


Comfort (ease of use)


I found these headphones not very comfortable unfortunately. They are pretty heavy and have a worrying pressure on MY head and ears. I can't wear them longer than 30 minutes. So this is really a big minus for me.


Overall Quality (Features)

They are build very very well. It really feels like a High Quality product. The cable is long enough and seem to have a long lifetime. Same goes for the phones itself. You don't have to worry if they fall on the ground etc.


Bang for the Buck

All together the ATH M50's are a pretty good choice of headphones. They are not cheap, but they offer high quality.

For what I use them (referencing, monitoring the overall sound of mixes, especially the low end) they are perfect. For longer tracking or mixing sessions during the night they would not be my 1st choice. I would go for the AKG 701's.

The strength of the M50's is the deepness in the sound quality and this compensates the lack of comfortability to a certain amount.


If you're looking for geadphones for reference & mixing you should always consider these pairs to be at least in the top 5!

My saucy title aside, these are very nice headphones.
I have historically abhorred closed back headphones, but these have changed my mind. The bass extension is in the "wow" zone, and the soundstage is very impressive for closed back cans. I've had more headphones than I can remember, and some of my favorites have been the Grados and believe it or not the AKG stuff; These sit comfortably, no pun intended, with my Grados for their frequency response. I gotta say, I could see using these for mixing, even though I bought them as tracking headphones.
Oh yeah, these are practically "noise cancelling" in their insulation from outside noises.
I don't know what else to say, these are excellent. They compete with my Grado Sr 325i cans. The Grados have a wider soundstage, but they're open back.
I also had a pair of Sennheisers that were very nice, but they were from the cold war era, so I don't think that counts..
These headphones are simply excellent. I'm not sure what the impedance is but I can drive them way harder than my other headphones at the same volume level. I can't imagine a better set of phones for the price AT is asking for these things. It verges on ridiculous.
Love em. You will too, I'd wager.

I have m50. While I like the sound, it doesn't translate well to any of the speakers I have including a5x.
I feel m50 might have too much lows and highs.

I purchased these headphones just because the low-end reference is spot on. The low end accurateness makes mixing 808 much easier.

Worth the price of admission alone if you are producing/mixing trap, r&b, hip hop etc...

Low end... check.

i also got a pair of the ath-m50 and both are worth the money. Like mentioned above they are produced in taiwan but there are unforunately also copied versions from china which you should take care of not to buy. I bought mine here and they are original Don´s Shop - ATHM50
There is a pic where u can check if your headphones are real or fake. This one is real with a transparent to brown pcb color and golden circuit:
(Fake headphones have a green pcb-plate)

I got these today and instantly put them to work in conjunction with my Prodipe Ribbon 5 studio monitors.

The reason I have given these headphones a 5/5 star audio quality rating is because they have allowed me to hear my music, and all the other music I've listened to in a completely different light. They are terrific for mixing, because they show up the parts of the track that really do sound bad. My Prodipe Ribbon 5s have an excellent sound, but it may be quite flattering compared to these. These M50s are very accurate across the audio spectrum, and using them for a second reference whilst mixing with monitors has proven most useful. On a side note, I'm now going to be mixing lots of my tracks again having heard them through these.

Ease of use is 5 stars as they really couldn't be any easier to use.

The features have five stars as the headphones can spin on an axis. They can face towards your ear, front, and back. Couldn't ask for more in this area really.

I've put the price as 5 stars, as $130 for such a useful tool in the studio is one of the best deals of the century.