Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

8owners with an opinion

83%of verdicts positive

2/0positive/negative since 2024

10 yrslongest happy owner

1happy after 3+ years

Praised for sound and reliability; criticized for ease of use and portability.

What people wrote

Recommends itOwned 10 years

> here's hoping that someday headphones without pressure (e.g. active/passive noise cancelling) will make a comeback, too What do you mean? There are tons of wired headphones that don't do noise cancelling at multiple price points. I can still pick up a new pair of headphones that I started using 10 years ago (AudioTechnica m50x if you want the recommendation).

Neutral

Porta pros specifically seem to be a subjective thing, many describe them as a bit muddy, while some like that as an easy listing mode. The KSC 75 though really impressed me, for me they replaced the ath-m50x. Less base (partly because of no clamping pressure, I read, so changeable with a headband). I do have a cheap chinese hifi IEM I do like and would understand if someone preferred that one to the kSC 75, to further complicate things, but I stuck to them. Also read positive things about the moondrop old fashioned, to mention an alternative to the porta pro in a very close form factor, not the strange ear clips that are the KSC 75

Likes it

I see where you're coming from. I feel it's more like: you've never heard of a product. All of a sudden every YouTuber is shilling raycon earbuds. Well that's the only place I ever hear of them. They all say they're great! I've never seen them or had anyone else attest to it except ads that all came out of nowhere. Seems like a play to make big moves in the headphone market. They sure did spend a lot on marketing, I hope enough went to design to make em actually good. Now, I don't own any raycons because as I said seeing this behavior makes me skeptical of the product. Meanwhile the main headphones I use I've never seen an ad for once. A friend recommend the m50x's when we were djing. I tested em and loved em. After getting them I notice they are basically an industry standard for audio which is my work. I suspect the quality product with savvy ads in appropriate places lead to this situation. No doubt in audio magazines audio technica runs ads. When every YouTuber has done an incogni, nord, raid shadow legends, or a few others, I have to suspect they spent more on marketing than they did their product which makes me think(and has been shown a few times) that these products kinda suck.

Likes it

Do you own a pair of AirPods? My Gen2 AirPod Pros are what I consider to be the best purchase I have made in the last 10 years. The small package and ANC is fantastic. Before purchasing AirPods I would walk around with ATH M50X (Great headphones; not fashionable) and these have replaced that.

Neutral

Someone on hacker news recommended this mic before and it's much better than this sample (and sounds closer to podcast quality). https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Comm... I use it with ATH-M50x which can be modded to use it if you add a 3.5mm female to 2.5mm male adapter.

Likes it

> wired, I hate wireless things, I never want to think about batteries It's funny, I feel exactly the same. When friends have asked me to explain why, I struggle to justify it. It's just a minor feeling of security -- one less thing to maintain. The only piece of hardware I've considered moving to wireless is a headset for gaming with friends, but it hasn't happened thus far. Maybe if the End Times come and my ATH-M50x stop working.

Doesn’t like it

I found I was just getting sick of the faff and bulk with my wired ATH-M50x + FiiO A3 amp. I have tried most of the big bluetooth buds (Airpods 3, Buds Pro, XM4, Audio Technicas), I absolutely hated them. I've ended up using the FiiO UTWS5 (over ear bluetooth hooks that connect via standard IEM connectors) + Moondrop Katos, the setup is sublime. Fantastic sound quality, very reliable and great battery life with no faf and can fit it in my pocket. If you still want wired, the Apple dongle actually has a DAC/amp that is regarded surprisingly highly in the audiophile headphone community. Just remember to charge your phone. I think most of the mainstream options for wireless stuff will make hi-fi enjoyers miserable, you just have to look at something a bit more interesting. The only disadvantage is you don't get so much of the supporting features. Ambient mode isn't great, there's no ANC (I don't really care about these things), and it doesn't have the fancy pair-switching integrated stuff, so wouldn't be great if you switch between laptop and phone. But for audio, we've reached a point where it is absolutely excellent.

Likes it

The three best noise cancelling headphones right now are: 1. Sony MDR-1000x 2. Bose QC35(or Bose QC25) 3. Senheiser PXC-550 Apparently, the Sony MDR-1000X has now beaten the Bose on noise cancellation. It has a lot of cool features, such us letting you turn off the noise canceling by touching the right earphone (I believe) and touch controls. In addition, it beats the Bose with amazing sound quality. Caveat: Expensive, if bought new. There is a build/quality issue at the moment -- where the plastic in the earphone is developing cracks. So buyer beware. The Bose QC35 is/was the standard noise cancellation. I personally think this may be the best recommendation since it has been proven to be a quality product, very comfortable to wear. I personally chose the QC25 over the wireless version (to save money) and also because the QC35 battery is non-replaceable, after certain years if it dies, you cannot replace it and you are out of luck. Whereas, the QC25 batteries are AAA that you can get anywhere. It is wired version, but I am happy with it. Caveat: I own the ATH M50X, and let's just say Bose sound quality is a couple of notches below. But, if you don't know any better, you probably won't notice. The Senheiser PXC-550 has also been getting really great reviews and has pretty comparable noise cancellation as Bose (a notch below). Great sound quality. Lots of cool features like the Sony. Caveat: More expensive than Bose if bought new. I don't like that you have to position the hea

Doesn’t like itDoesn’t say they own it

You're wrong. Here is the ranking based on aggregate sales to studios: 1. Audio-Technica ATH-M50x 2. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 3. Sony MDR-7506 4. Sennheiser HD 600 / 650 These are used in different situations. Most of the time headphones are used for tracking, which is listening to the live recording of one track. What most people call "monitoring", which is listening to the studio mix, is done on speakers, not headphones. Furthermore, items 1-3 represent quite distorted and inaccurate sound signatures, and people only buy these because it's their reference headphone, something they're used to. They're not actually the best sounding or accurate headphones, like say >1k Focals. Most of the music is absolutely, definitely, is not mixed and mastered on headphones, let alone Sonys. Any decent mix requires speaker monitors for proper soundstaging. Mixes done without speakers sound quite wrong. This has been true since stereo recordings existed. I'm sorry, but you're regurgitating cliches, and probably don't have deep knowledge of this subject. You should get some Airpod Pros, you might like them.