Audio-Technica ATH-M50X Professional Monitor Headphones (Black)

They’ve changed my perception of accurate audio.
6 Year Update:Wow! time really flies. I’ve used Yamaha HS5, Sennheiser HD598 SE, Sony WH-1000XM3, and a few others over the years, but I always come back to these if I need to hear detail in certain tracks. These are no longer my most used pair anymore, partly because I got spoiled by the comfort of Sennheiser HD598 and the Sennheiser veil got to me. I now crave a lot of mid-range in my headphones! These headphones now sound quite sibilant and piercing but this is something that I get used to in a few hours when I switch back to ATH M50x from Sennheiser HD 598 SE.Some observations from long usage:1. Headband is completely ruined. I’ve had to cover it with a woolen cover to prevent it flaking all over my head.2. Earpads were changed twice in the last 6 years. So, each pair lasted 2 years. I tried HM5 earpads but they changed the sound signature and I immediately switched back to stock earpads. Ordered 2 pairs of replacement earpads from official Audio Technica Distributor in India many years ago and have been using them for quite a while.3. Comfort is something that is sorely lacking in these pair. You might get used to it, but you’re always aware they’re on the head.——————————————–4 Year Update:Can’t believe it’s been 4 years. These are still going strong. They are on my mixing desk along with my Yamaha HS5s. For the perfect mixing, these are the headphones. A track mixed with these will never be too sibilant or bass-heavy. It’s just right. I hope it works for another 10 years.——————————————–2 Year Update:Still using these. There’s absolutely no cosmetic damage or degradation. I’d to change the earpads as the old ones wore off. The earpads are Rs. 999 and they are totally worth the replacement. You get the feel of new headphones as soon as you replace them. The old ones got torn off and degraded completely. The sound is still the same there’s no change. However, they get very warm in summer, and wearing them beyond 4 hours is very difficult due to pressure behind the earlobe as I wear spectacles. Still recommended to people who want Closed-back headphones and want to experience audiophile sound. I’d recently got Sennheiser HD 598 SE (which were on sale for 7.5k!) and compared to HD 598 these headphones still have better clarity in high end (treble) and much more punch in the low end (Bass is quite controlled and powerful, you’ll feel the bass on your earlobes!). Compared to HD598 these are not as flat. What these headphones do lack is mid frequencies clarity. HD598 are very good at that. Overall, these headphones might take some getting used to (because of extreme clarity and high-frequency punch, they might be fatiguing to some people).——————————————–1 Year Update:Still using the product and it has been a wonderful experience. Earpads have become a little sweaty but they can be replaced. Sound quality still the same. Headband clamping force is neutral now. There is absolutely no discomfort.——————————————–Original Review from 2015:So far I’ve used this product for 1 month and this is my review of the ATH-M50x headphonesI’d been using Phillips SHP2000 headphones before these and these are my first high-end headphones. I’d already heard the sound of Sennheiser HD518s before (Those are open-back and leak sound and there is no noise isolation).1. Comfort:Compared to Phillips SHP2000, the comfort levels are not so great, but sound sealing is excellent.You might pinch your earlobe after extended use as the driver unit is not deep enough for me. (Phillips driver unit was very deep and airy.Also, due to pleather earpads, your ears will get sweaty after an hour of use.The headband is soft and very comfortable. The clamping force would be high initially, but as you keep using, it will reduce a bit and you’ll get used to it. During my 1 month of use, the clamping force reduced a bit and now they are more comfortable.Update after 5 months of use: After initial breaking into these headphones they get satisfactorily comfortable. In warm environments, you can wear these for 3 hours at a time continuously. And in cold conditions probably an entire day (8 to 12 hours), albeit giving a few gaps during long listening sessions.2. Build Quality:The wires are as thick as ropes and they’ll not wear out anytime soon. The hinges and joints where headphones swivel are also very strongly built. Some kind of a very hard plastic material.Update after 5 months: I wear these daily for at least 2 hours or more. They still look like I’ve unboxed them 2 hours ago. Wires look like they’ll last for a lifetime. Earpads show no wear and tear.3. Sound:Coming from Phillips SHP2000, I was not very impressed with the sound. But then, I was listening to 128kbps mp3s. I then started scouring the internet for flacs and wav files and started replacing my existing music collection with high bitrate files and only then I was able to distinguish how good these headphones are. You will hear every recording artifact and noise made in the studio. You will hear the guitar strings being plucked!!As for the bass, these are just right. Most people have a wrong idea of how the bass should sound like. Usually, the bass is produced by bass guitars that have low-frequency strings amplified by an amplifier. When these strings are plucked, these low frequencies sound as bass to our ears. Now, these headphones have such control over bass that, you can identify strings being plucked even on bass guitar!! Once plucked, the vibrating is what bass should sound like. And that’s exactly what these headphones do. Compared to my old SHP2000s, they had accentuated bass and they started sounding boomy and inaccurate. I used to laud Phillips headphones for sound accuracy (for the money SHP2000s are a total steal) but after listening to these headphones, my perception of accurate sound has changed.Sound Stage is not as open as Phillips SHP2000 but for a closed-back headphone, it’s decent. You will not be awed by it.The frequency response is very well controlled. Before these headphones, I’d never paid any attention to the higher frequency sounds such as cymbals or anklets. But now they are quite apparent, along with the vocals and the lower frequencies such as bass and drums. There is a perfect distinction between each instrument. However, you may not be able to distinguish all these in the first few listening sessions. You need to actively keep listening to a certain instrument and find out if they are present. It takes practice!! (Critical Listening)Stereo Imaging is very very precise. An instrument meant for the left channel will make its presence felt to your ear lobes!. That’s how accurate the stereo effect is (this sentence may not make sense unless you experience it).Update after 5 months: The sound remains the same. Accurate, detailed, and enjoyable.Loudness: I intend to use these headphones for audio monitoring from microphones. For now, my use case is listening to music from my PC or my smartphone. A nexus 5 can very much drive these headphones. At half the volume on any smartphone, the volume is perfect (unless you’re going deaf or you are in a noisy environment). You will not require any external Amp. I myself have Fiio E6 which seems like a waste of money now as these are perfectly driven by any source you have (Note: My friends say I have a very high sensitivity to volume and they constantly keep asking me for the amplifier with these headphones. Either they’re deaf or my ears are sensitive, I’m not certain. But please keep this in mind before buying an amplifier with these headphones).5. Noise Isolation: About 50 to 70 % of outside noise will be reduced if you wear these headphones. However, they are not suitable for use on the road or travel because there’s just noise isolation and not noise-cancellation.Overall, these headphones have changed my perception of what accurate sound should sound like! I don’t think I will ever be able to go back to any other headphones. (Unless I upgrade to Grados or Beyerdynamics—but then it’s a point past diminishing returns).I would recommend these headphones for those who take their sound seriously. For those who wouldn’t want to change their headphones every year or 2. And for those who nit-pick in sound quality and have extreme attention to detail(obsessive) and cannot compromise on anything less than perfect.

Industry standard for a reason!
TLDRBetter than the M40x for critical work in the sense that it is more revealing and arguably more accurate. What that essentially means is that there’s nothing better than the M50x under ₹20k. The better beyerdynamic ones are more expensive than 20k. Just friggin get it. I don’t think with the increased price of the M40x (at the time of writing the review it’s selling for about 9k) the M40x is a good value anymore. Also, get the brainwavz sheepskin pads. Stock pads are trash. Skip to the end for the scores.Sidenote, amazon really ruined the packaging in the delivery process. On top of that, it was just lying there in the so-called “final destination” hub that’s like 5km from my home for 4 days. The amazon packaging as well as the M50x box got absolutely wet and wrecked. Really disappointed, Amazon (it was Amazon Transportation Services, mind you). This however is also a testament to the built quality of the headphones as they were in perfect condition despite the heavy beating the packaging received, and hence won’t be returning them. I just don’t have the time to wait another month for amazon to replace the thing. I need to get my work done.SOUNDAlright down to business now. If accurate is the word you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. The M50x has excellent reproduction and it’s immensely revealing. More so than the M40x. The sound stage is wide for a closed back headphone. The major improvement over the M40x would be the excellent imaging which was quite mediocre in the M40x. Instrument separation is excellent as well. Even the most intricate producing trickeries that most headphones in this price point can’t even reproduce become crystal clear. If you’re upgrading from something cheaper or the dreaded skullcandy or beats headphones, you’ll be surprised how much you were missing out on. If frequency response graphs are anything to go by, M50x is supposed to be more flat compared to the M40x but to my ears, the M50x seem to have a very slight emphasis on the lows. I was surprised to see that Audio-Technica has done away with the foam sheets that they used to put in between the driver and the earpad and actually tweaked the driver design, which is a good thing. You don’t have to worry about the thin foam sheets while changing pads. Not having to rely on those is always a good thing. I didn’t notice any drastic change in the sound quality with the change in pads. Perhaps slightly better sound stage.BUILD AND COMFORT With the stock pads, the comfort isn’t anything to write home about. But it’s not bad. The pads are still pleather so they’ll last 2 years at most, though it does depend on how rough you use them. I already had the sheepskin pads from my M40x, which recently broke. Not the headphone’s fault. A certain person had borrowed them from me for a few days and he managed to break the thing somehow, at an age of 4 years. Rest in Peace, my dear M40x. Ah, right. The M50x. Excellent build quality, mediocre comfort with the stock pads. With almost any pad, it’ll get hot and sweaty during summers unless you’ve got everything air conditioned. The clamping force is a bit high but not uncomfortably so. It WILL loosen up a bit with time and become really comfortable. The folds and turns feel solid and the fold-in mechanism is satisfyingly clicky. The bottomline is I wouldn’t worry about it breaking on me unless I was a very rough user. If you’re one of those, you need some industrial construction equipment, not the M50x… or loads of cash to buy spare headphones. The top layer of the pleather does tend to wear off though, but it’s universally the case for all pleather. Not a big issue. Once it starts happening, just take half an hour to peel all of it off. The bare grey Velor kinda material looks way sleeker in my opinion.SCORES Sound: 9/10 Comfort: 7/10, 9.5/10 with the pads replaced Build: 9/10 Soundstage: 7/10 Imaging: 9/10 Separation: 10/10 Sound isolation, passive: 7/10, 8/10 with the pads replaced.

I use these headphones in a professional studio setting to record music. These are the best bang for your buck when it comes to quality, sound and overall experience. Audio-Technica is known for delivering some of the best quality products in the game and the ATH-M50x is no stranger to their signature touch.Amazingly long cord, beautiful carrying case included, and overall comfy on-ear/head.They will last you a lifetime. Zero regrets.

Los Audio-Technica M50X son auriculares de monitoreo con una excelente relación calidad-precio. Ofrecen un sonido claro y bien balanceado, con bajos potentes pero controlados. La construcción es sólida y cómoda para largas sesiones. Además, su diseño con cable desmontable es una gran ventaja, ya que permite reemplazarlo fácilmente si se daña o cambiarlo según la necesidad. Son una opción ideal tanto para producción musical como para disfrutar de la música con gran fidelidad.