Audio-Technica ATH-M50S (Straight Cable) Reviews

4.6/5.0 based on 21 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Zach Bailey

Audio-Technica ATH-M50S are my go-to headphones for everything. Whether it's recording in the studio or mixing a live band, these are always on my head. They have the perfect amount of bass and are super-comfortable for hours of wear. I would recommend these headphones for anyone looking for a great representation of what they're working on.

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Customer Reviews

Scott
from West Virginia
May 5, 2013Music Background:
working pro for 40 years

Buy these heaphones!!!

Way beyond my expectations! The low end was so solid I thought I left the subwoofer on.......it wasn't.

Peter L.
from Long Island, New York
January 4, 2013Music Background:
Hobbyist

Absolute Steal!!!

I have tried and owned tons of headphones over the years, and these are by far the best you can get in this price range. They are even superior to headphones more than twice the price!! Definitely try these before spending a lot more money on headphones.

Star
from Rapid City, SD USA
December 29, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Excellent headphones

I've tried three standard headphones for my studio to date: The Ultrasone, audio-technica ATH-M20, and the Anniversary 50th that I got from Sweetwater and I like the 50th the best. Good sound and nice to have on thy fit sung.

Marvin Glenn
from United States
December 11, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Review of Audio Technica ATH-M50 Headphones

This headset my Audio-Technica has great low end broad and deep while satisfying my need for high end clarity. I'm completely pleased with this headset and its' solid construction.

Richard Johnson
from VA, IL, IN
October 31, 2012Music Background:
Producer, Engineer, Drummer

Buy These You Won't Be Sorry

I wanted to get more expensive headphones cause I thought they would be better boy was I wrong. These sound great and for less than half. They have great bass response and great highs, I can wear them all day and I do, and what I hear is what I get. Honestly these will be the only headphone in the mixing booth.

Paul Hartmann
from Hyde Park, NY
July 17, 2012Music Background:
Musician and luthier

absolutely amzing

There are a number of headphones in this price range, so I was unsure which choice to make. The reviews consistently pointed to the ATH-M50 phones, and man were they right! These are super comfortable, they fold up into a compact, stable bundle, but most importantly, they sound FANTASTIC! I use them to run a guitar amp through an attenuator with a phones out jack. The sound is clean, balanced, not ice pick-y like less expensive phones get. Through a stereo, the sonic imaging is simply unbelievable! In this price range, you just can't go wrong.

from Puerto Rico
January 11, 2012Music Background:
Producer

The best!

Want a set of professional quality headphones? this are the ones! Cant go wrong with this item!

from
November 20, 2011

Wow

After they burn in (few days of music/pink noise) the clarity really comes through. Unlike the Senn 280 it has a nice low end presence. Best in class for the money.

casey
from United States
October 28, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

amazing cans

amazing once burnt in. so much better than the beats. everything sounds amazing in these. for 160. i dont have any complaints. thanks sweetwater!

Dan S
from The Woodlands, TX USA
September 26, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Audio-Technica Rocks

I hadn't ordered headphones in quite a while and needed a good quality sound at a reasonable price. This pair of headphones is over the top in sound quality and comfort. The clarity is absolutely amazing!

Lovemonkey3833
from Chicago
September 21, 2011Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Pro Musician

These Cans Rock

WA said it all. But gotta add my 2 cents.
Had problems with the Sony's leaking into vox mix too much.
Didn't want to edit in the mix so had to get some new cans.
Crystal is all I can say, superiour isolation.
Awesome!

Jose
from USA
June 14, 2011Music Background:
Music lover, Headphones collector.

Exellent Closed-Back Headphones.

I am using this for listen music from my Laptop and this headphones get loud and the sound is clean and balance compere to the Sony MDR V-6 that I also have. They are realy comfy in my head and I been wering them for hours with no trouble. Compere this with the V6 and I think those are more balance.

Ernest Buckley
from Brooklyn, NY
December 22, 2010Music Background:
Porfessional Musician

The NEW STANDARD

I have owned several well known headphones in the last 15 years: AKG240s, DT990s, HD280s, Sony 7509s, the ATH-M50s are far more superior in all aspects than all of these former studio workhorses. I`ve been using the ATH-M50s for a year and they have dramatically improved the sound of my mixes.

My advice with all gear is to audition all of it and see for yourself. I`m not a fan of bright sounding headphones like the Sony 7506s or the HD280s. The DT990s sound great but they cannot handle loudness w/o breaking up. The 240s are still a great purchase and I still use them for referencing but again, the ATH-M50s give me everything: balance, loudness, construction, comfort.

M.G.
from California
April 18, 2013Music Background:
Hobbist,Performer,educator.

Great stuff you must have!

***ATH-M50S sounds great and works with any studio project.
It's loud enough to hear every detail and quality is excellent. I will buy
again from audioTechnica.***

Emmanuel Adu
from Conroe, TX, USA
April 4, 2013Music Background:
Recording Engineer

ATH-M50S

I love the balanced sound with tight bass. It's very comfortable and on budget.

Adam Somers
from Scotts Valley, CA
May 3, 2012Music Background:
Electronic Producer, Plug-in Software Engineer

Great value

Nice construction and design, great spectrum coverage, especially in the low end. Low impedance means they can be driven from a wide variety of sources at high volume. They can handle extreme levels. I use these in conjunction with AKG-k702s, which I use for clarity and accuracy, and these for bass and high-volume applications. For the price I have no problem gigging with these as well. Great product, very pleased.

Phillip Monserrat
from Australia
October 6, 2011Music Background:
Professional Songwriter/Producer

ATH_M50S

Love it! Good even response. Helps a lot when checking and comparing final mix between Near Field Speakers and Headphones.

from Seattle, WA
December 15, 2010Music Background:
Recording engineer

Good cans

I own several pairs of the Sony MDR-7506, which are my #1 reference headphone. I love them except they don't isolate outside sounds as well as I'd like for live concert tracking. This lead me to try out some other headphones.

The problem I have with most headphones -- even very expensive "pro" models -- is very uneven midrange, and a ~250 Hz resonance that makes the mid-bass sound muddy. I tried Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (80 ohm version), Ultrasone models (seriously disappointing), and Shure's $99 cans (truly horrible sounding -- why would they put their name on that??).

Then I alighted upon the ATH-M50S. They are larger than the Sony headphones, more comfortable, more isolating, and sound almost as good!

These headphones are great to listen to, as they have a fuller mid-bass than the Sony (too full for accuracy, but nice to listen to), and a bit more of a relaxed upper-mid. When switching between these and the Sonys, the Sonys started sounding peaky and harsh in the upper mids. The Audio Technicas, to my ears, actually sound better with classical/symphonic material. The sound is very pleasing. When I show a mix off to someone using my MP3 player, I had them these headphones rather than the Sony... It gives them that "wow" factor.

These are a very worthy headphone, with good isolation, a nice, heavy-duty plug and plug adapter... Scratch that, the whole headset is rugged!

Recommended.

Michael Ray Davis
from Orlando, FL
July 14, 2012Music Background:
Voice Over Professional

ATH-M50S

Not quite as noise cancelling as I thought, though for the price I am still quite satisfied. Real issue is angle of phones to clip. The head clip feels like it's too close to my forehead, just a weird angle. But they do have sharp clear playback sound, so overall is great.

Matt
from Pittsburgh, PA
October 13, 2012Music Background:
Producer

Decent

Highs are a bit tinny for my liking.

Ron Kingery
from Mt. Vernon IN
April 3, 2013Music Background:
22 years as a recording engineer in Nashville TN

Bad cable

These sound great. However, right after the warranty ran out , they crapped out due to the weak hard wired cable connection to the cup. Headphones of this caliber and price should have a cable that can be easily unplugged and replaced.