Gear Review: Audio Technica ATH M50x Headphones

   Audio Technica's ATH M50x headphones are the latest revision to their very popular ATH M50 cans. They represent a professional solution for people using the headphones in a wide variety of scenarios. They are the same great headphones, with those great full sounding drivers, but with a very useful collection of detachable cables. You get standard length curly and straight cables, as well as a long straight one, for those occasional long runs you get. So lets take a closer look.

Audio Technica's Feature List

 - Critically acclaimed sonic performance praised by top audio engineers and pro audio reviewers

 - Proprietary 45 mm large-aperture drivers with rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminum wire voice coils

 - Exceptional clarity throughout an extended frequency range, with deep, accurate bass response

 - Circumaural design contours around the ears for excellent sound isolation in loud environments

 - 90° swiveling earcups for easy, one-ear monitoring

 - Professional-grade earpad and headband material delivers more durability and comfort

 - Collapsible for space-saving portability

 - Detachable cables (includes 1.2m - 3.0m coiled cable, 3.0m straight cable and 1.2 m straight cable)

 - Top choice for studio tracking and mixing, as well as DJ monitoring and personal listening

 - Also available in white (ATH-M50xWH) and limited edition blue (ATH-M50xBL)

Out of the box

   These headphones appear very well built. Audio Technica do specify that they are built rugged; designed for use on the road, on location or anywhere you might care to abuse them. They look pretty good too. Fairly understated, just plain black, with just a silver circle on each earcup to break it up. Actually, they don't look too dissimilar to the, now well established, Sony MDR-7509 or 7506 headphones that a lot of engineers have sworn by since they came out. They fold up fairly small, but not as small as my more travel friendly Bose QC 15's. The folding mechanism does seem a little stiff at first, but I'm sure that it will ease up after a couple months of solid usage.

Sonic Character

   Talking of the Bose QC15's, these Audio Technica M50x's do have a similar, but less hyped, character to the Bose flagship noise cancellers. The M50x's have a similar bass extension, but more definition than found in the Bose's. They seem to present a best of both worlds from my Bose's bass extension, and the detail and precision of my AKG K271 mkII's.

   Here's a graph that should help describe what it is that I'm going on about, provided by headphone.com, which takes a look at four pairs headphones that I own:

   From what you can see in the graph, it could be seen, essentially, as a bass extended version of the AKG K271 mkII, which is no bad thing as they are one of my favourite headphones for both work and general listening. The graph can be misleading though, it doesn't take into account perceptual things like "musicality", "space" between the instruments or perceived detail, neither does it consider practical features, like sound isolation and comfort.

   My personal insight into some of those perceptual features is that this set of cans tick all the boxes for a positive, accurate and useful representation of the audio being passed through them. Superb bass response matched with detail in the highs and mids, does indeed create a kind of space between the sounds. I would say that these headphones sound as close to hearing the music through quality reference speakers as I have ever heard, without losing the usefulness that headphones have in picking out those close details in the upper mids and highs.

Comfort & Practicality

Audio Technica have provided some very comfortable, ear encompassing ear pads, which I must say don't seem to get more uncomfortable the longer you wear them (even with glasses on). They impart a very even pressure around the ear too. This not only makes for good comfort it also improves the sound isolation they provide.

   One of the coolest features of this revised model is the interchangeable cables, much like the AKG models that I've reviewed before. Included here are three different cables. Short (1.2m) and long (3m) straight cables and a stretchy curly cable that extends between those two lengths. They attach through a locking mini jack cable in the left earcup, which works effortlessly and locks very solidly so you never have to worry about a cable popping out. On another note the quality of the cables seems high too. The curly cable is a bit less springy than the one that is bundled with the AKG's; more like that of the permanently fixed cable on the Sony headphones I mentioned earlier.

Loud Enough for iPod?

   Yes, without doubt. These headphones deliver good volume while listening on mobile devices. My Samsung Galaxy S3 manages to coax enough signal out of it to get these headphones loud enough to listen to classical music, comfortably on a noisy commuter train.

   My Roland R26 portable field recorder also manages to drive these headphones very well. Something that is more of a challenge with the AKG K271 mkII's that I usually use. Even with very low level signals running as low as -60dB, I can hear them well if I push the volume wheel all the way up.

   The headphone amps built into the controllers for my PlayStation 4 also deliver plenty of grunt meaning you can get aurally surrounded by audio from your games. (As a side note I'd hugely recommend playing Outlast on headphones, at night, in a fairly darkened room. That game will terrify you once you get so immersed in the feel of the world when the sound is uninterrupted)

Any Negatives?...

   Well, no, nothing really. They cost £159 or thereabouts at the moment, which isn't by any means cheap for a pair of headphones. But for that money I don't think you can get anything else that sounds this great or is built this well. Saying that, they are made of plastic. The Sony MDR7509 and 7506 are made of metal, which some may prefer. But the plastic won't get as cold when you're out in a field, recording sound for that short film your friend wanted you to help out on. There really is nothing negative I can say about them at this point.

(If I find anything that I dislike over the coming months, then I'll be sure to update this accordingly)

The Final Word(s)

   Audio Technica's ATH M50x headphones sound phenomenal. I mean, they sound like your reference monitors, while also imparting the information you would expect from a great set of headphones. They're comfortable and well built.

   I would encourage anyone in the market for a top end pair of high end listening and reference headphones to check these (or their predecessors) out. They sound like music is happening in your ears. My Bose QC15's also sound like that, but with a touch more bass hype and with the added bonus of world class noise cancelling abilities. They are £100 more expensive though. They also have a more appealing character than the AKG K271 mkII or the K240 mkII, if only in the bass response area.



@chazhurst
@AudioTechnicaUK