Will wear out 
by Damon Leibert from Boston, MA, April 2008
Music Background:  audio engineer, pro musician.

Four years and all four pairs's protective film is flaking off. Good sound, comfortable. The textile padding is covered in a thin film that from wear and tear (perhaps sweat) has deteriorated. Its now peeling off like paint on my clients heads. I've tried to remove most of it, but it doesn't want to come off with help. I won't buy any more of this design. Don't put them in a road case with other things, the top part can buckle permanently.

  $10 sound in a $80 headphone 
by Scott Sumner from Detroit MI, April 2008
Music Background:  Recording engineer,Studio Owner

I bought three of these to save money instead of sony 7506. Had to use them so I had to keep em. I had to EQ my headphone amp to make them sound usable.
They sound like tin cans. midrange mud peak. good isolation though.

  Think: pancake. 
by Robert Allen from Harriman, TN, April 2008
Music Background:  Recording Engineer, Live Sound Engineer,

Wow. These phones are spectacular. I've had them for almost 2 years, so I'm not just gushing about them. I've mixed on them a lot, and everything I've done has translated well. I've even had some engineers ask me what kind of monitors I was using to mix! Also, get ready to fall in love with your favorite music all over again if you plan to use them for recreational playback!

My ONLY complaint is a small one - the 1/4" plug mentioned by others, which doesn't have a small 1/8" adaptor. However, the only time I use really 1/8" connections is with my laptop on the go.

  Very disappointing 
by Daniel from TN,USA, February 2008
Music Background:  Recording and Live Sound Engineer

I am afraid I was very disappointed with this headphones. Being the most expensive A-T headphones in store and for its price, I was hopping to get a sound quality near the SONY MDR-7506. But I did not.
CONS:
- Sound is dull.
- Bass has no impact.
- The 1/4 connector does not convert into a 1/8 as other models.

PROS:
- Incredible comfortable.
- Very long cable.
- Sturdy.
- Good insulation from outside sounds.

I would recommend anyone to expend $20usd more, and get something better like the MDR-7506. So far, the best I have used.

  Best by a long shot 
by Justin from Wilmington, NC, USA, January 2008
Music Background:  Hobbyist, musician

The ATH-M40fs are the best headphones I have. They sound great with nice flat low end responce. Before these I used a more expensive design but with smaller ear pads. I hated them. The M40's are much more comfortable to wear.

  Problems others forgot 
by picker from San Francisco, April 2007
Music Background:  Session Musician

WARNING!!! I agree with just about everyone else that these are great for the price range. BUT!! They are NOT as flat as others have said. There is definitely a little bass to them. ALSO!! They are not the most sound proof, meaning if you are recording vocals or an something in front of a mic they will bleed a little. Otherwise they are great. I have had them for about a month and have used them up to 14 hours straight with no discomfort. And I haven't had any of the issues with the liner and padding falling apart, yet.

  High Quality Phones 
by Brad from Parkesburg, PA, January 2007
Music Background:  Amateur Recording Engineer

I have been looking for a decent set of phones for monitoring during recording and mixing. These fill the bill! The sound quality is excellent, and you can clearly hear every part of your mix. For the price, excellent. I don't have a ton of experience with more expensive sets of headphones, but i have been training my ears for a few years now, and i like what i hear.

Excellent headphones.

  Excellent Reference 
by Stephen L. Noe from Chicago, November 2006
Music Background:  mix for TV.

These AT M40fs headphones are really the best you can get for the price range (and really a couple of price ranges up). They reveal everything about your mix as well as your noise floor and are comfortable to boot. I've had them for about a year and replaced a set of AKG's and Sony's. There is no doubt that these headphones are worth every penny.

  As good as my Grados 
by I'd rather not say from New Orleans, November 2006
Music Background:  career musician

These are fantastic zero reference cans. I've been a professional musician for 35 years and studio production is a big part of what I do. These compare favorably with my thousand dollar Grado cans...sad but true. Mix results I would compare to mixing with Auratone near-field monitors. If you struggle to get quality bottom end in your mixes these will help. Well made, field replaceable cord and pads, comfortable for reasonable durations..4-5 hours. Incredible price for this level of audio quality.

  Im addicted to these 
by Peter LaGrasse from Rhode Island USA, June 2006
Music Background:  recording Engineer

Im sure there are better headphones out there, but not for the price. The ATH-M40fs have been my mixing reference phones for about 4 or 5 years now.
Im actually going to buy another pair. Ive gotten so used to them with their relatively flat frequency response. My only issue is that the plether material around the padding does deteriorate over time, leaving little black flecks chipping off.

Uncomfortable to wear 
by Justin from Santa Clara, CA, February 2006

Obviously this review is based on my experience with these headphones, so take it for whatever it's worth. I purchased the ATH-M40fs' recently and was pleased for the most part with the audio quality. Used in a project studio situation, working with DJ gear and samplers/workstations. I soon discovered, however, that they began to physically hurt my ears after about 20 minutes of wearing them. Now I'm not talking about the kind of hurt you get from blasting music through them (I don't listen too loud through my cans)... I mean the way they fit onto my ears, they literally and physically are uncomfortable to wear. They have a circular ridge (either plastic or rubber) on the inside of each ear (under the mesh) that protrudes a bit too far. On my head, this meant that they smashed into the structure of my ear and caused undeniable discomfort. It was too bad because otherwise I would have kept them.

great 
by Daniel from Newark, California, October 2004

Disclaimer: I'm not an audiophile, and I completely lack experience with these things. I can barely tell CD apart from good mp3, but then again, I suppose if I tried, I'd get annoyed.

I picked these headphones up, and they're very solid and rugged design. Nothing flashy about them, and they don't need to be. They have a really nice reproduction of sound, and you can really juice up the volume with no problems. They have a generous length of cord (which I sometimes manage to trip over) and gold plugs, and swivel ears (I heard these are very popular with DJ's because they reproduce sound very exactly).

The only problem I have with them, is I don't like to have my ears baked inside them for long periods of time. I don't mind the pressure, because they're comfortable that way, they just get hot. There's also no sound from the outside that get's in the way.

Spec-tac-ular! 
by Ben Holt , March 2004

My wife bought these for me about 3 years ago, and they are amazing: incredibly clean sound, comfortable even for very long periods (20+ hours occasionally!), and total isolation (I can't hear ANYTHING else, and no one know how much damage I'm doing).

I could not possibly be happier with them! (or with Sweetwater, for that matter...)

Write Your Own Review!
We all love gear, and we all love talking about gear with our friends and bandmates. Why not share your thoughts with the hundreds of thousands of customers who regularly visit Sweetwater.com? Write your own customer review on this product! To begin, just Click Here!