Topic: Need new cans - Audio Technica ATH M50 or Beyer DT770?

[goodcooker]

Anyone have any recommendations for or against either of these two sets of headphones? To be used sitting at mix desk for post work and for home studio tracking in spare bedroom studio.
Been using Senn HD280 for years but I left them for the GF to use for practice at the digital piano when I moved.

I have a really big head so if anyone has used these and experienced the clamping effect I'd like to know.

[noahbickart]

Anyone have any recommendations for or against either of these two sets of headphones? To be used sitting at mix desk for post work and for home studio tracking in spare bedroom studio.
Been using Senn HD280 for years but I left them for the GF to use for practice at the digital piano when I moved.

I have a really big head so if anyone has used these and experienced the clamping effect I'd like to know.

I have a pair of 770’s. The 250 ohm “pro” Version (these are said to be less bass forward than the 32ohm version, which I’ve never heard.

I run them with an old Creek obh-11, and have for a decade. I wrote my doctoral dissertation with then. Shoved them into a bag every day for a year to use in the library. They’re indestructible. They have great isolation and sound great. I wore them 8+ hours a day with no discomfort. They’re not light, and your ears might get hot in the summer time.

These days I listen to open backed cans at work and at home. But my 770’s are at my bedside table, connected to the creek feed by a Chinese dac. When my wife wants to listen to a “meditation” when going to sleep, I get high fidelity and she hears nothing.

Highly recommended.

I also own a pair of the over ear foldable sennheiser momentum. Not quite as good, but much more
Portable. See my sig for the gear I use and (subjectively) prefer.

[robeti]

I have a pair of AKG K271 MKII

I thought about getting the Beyerdynamics, but the AKG's are much more natural sounding.

FWIW

[Sebastian]

I have the DT770 80 Ohm version on my laptop at work (where I listen to a lot of music) and the DT880 at home. I just love the sound of the Beyer cans. Tried AKGs and Sennheisers in the past, but was never too impressed with those. The Beyers do just what I personally want my music to sound like. And they're selling all parts separately, so they should be easy to fix should anything ever break.

[DavidPuddy]

I own the M50s and don't find them to be neutral sounding for EQing and such. They're great for playback though.

[pohaku]

I have the ATs and have bought several sets over the years.  I recollect that there is a newer version out which may be better than the older model that I have.  All in all, nice sounding but not neutral.  I have moved to the Sennheiser HD 25 Monitor Headphones for tracking and post.  An on the ear rather than an over the ear phone, but seals well.  Smaller and lighter.  I did find that the headband on the older ATH M50 degraded and flaked overtime.

[Ben Turnbull]

I worked w/the Senn 280pro cans for a long time on their supposed high isolation numbers. Then I went to AT M50's for a couple three years and liked them well enough to give the 280's away. I felt the M50's, which lots of TS'ers have recommended were a little crisper on the whole. Isolation about the same but it was no longer a factor.

Then I picked up the Senn HD650/HD6XX from MassDrop, (now just Drop). Wow.  Nice jump for not much more $$$ Which is something you don't state as a controlling factor.

(The following weigh in between $140 and $220.)

While the bass of the Senns is not too forward, I think they are pretty well balanced. Open back & over ears is OK by me. I don't know how to rate them for a "big head" but as an adult male they're comfy for me.

I ended up wondering about their "re-rolled" HD 58X Jubilee offering, as its signature was reputed to be a bit more bass colored, and they are... but not drastically so. I haven't done a lot of A-B listening with my Senns but if pressed, I'd say the 6xx is more balanced and "musical" while the 58X is a bit more on the fun and slightly brighter side. They require less power as well at 150 ohms, but the 6xx. at 300 ohms, blossoms with an amp.  Both share the same form factor and parts and alt ear pads are available.

Drop also sells the Beyer DT770 PRO and the DT880 Premium cans which I've yet to listen to but, as you know, have large followings. These are not "X" versions that I can see unless they fiddle with cable options or such. I think the prices might be somewhat lower since they may be acting as an aggregator for Beyer and can make somewhat regular large orders.

Finally, I'm a bit of a can slut lately    , I really like the MassDrop treatment in the Meze 99 Noir. Lovely lite pressure on the head fit, a couple of ear pad options and they sound like butter with a nice low end presence. They went for a vanilla version of the Meze 99 Classic cans which sport lots of gold accents and such. These look swell to me. I don't use them for mastering since they are obviously colored but they have a well behaved curve and I don't find them fatiguing. I've got them plugged into my home theatre and my two channel vinyl rig.


Lots of comments and user reviews on Drop for all these cans.

If you follow this link you'll find the Drop Audiophile offerings. Many are ready to ship, more or less, others may be subject to meeting a "drop requirement" of a specific number of orders. They tout other lines such as Fostex, AKG, AT and HiFiMan as well as many IEM brands and phone amps.

Good Luck!

[mjwin]

Since I've been using a par of ATHM50X as my main monitoring cans for about a year, I'll chime in.

Firstly,I should say that I'm not a great lover of headphones, if there's any alternative.  I dislike the feel of them on my head & ears, I dislike the fact that they shut out the sonic ambiance & I dislike the "in your head" presentation of most recorded material (binaural excepted)!

But when sealed headphones are needed to do a job, I find the M50Xs to be a pretty good all round choice.  They have good isolation, they're lightweight & fairly comfortable - they fit firmly, but  without pressing the frames of my eyeglasses against my largish ears.  They fold up into a kind of ball (a bit like the Sony MDR7506) & are fairly tough, with a choice of chunky cables and & locking connector. Mine are constantly in and out of my bag & have been dropped quite a few times without problems. The money seems to have been spent on making them functional & there's no bling. Nor are there any loops of delicate cable  to get caught on things.   

Of course, if you're using them at a desk, most of this portability talk won't matter much.  Sound-wise they're quite pleasant to listen through. They're fairly open sounding, yet don't have a "tipped up" frequency response, although there's some peaking at the top end @ 10kHz or so. The midrange can sound a bit recessed, but it's ok. The biggest gripe which I have with them is the unpleasant hump in the 100-200Hz bass region.  It's not that kind of boxy resonance which a lot of closed cans exhibit, but a wider hump which just sounds as if someone's nudged a fader on  a graphic eq.   (Actually, you could probably eq this out, but that's another conversation...) 

It's a while since I've heard DT770s, but I remember them as overly bright, & a bit scooped in the midrange.   What else is there which hasn't been mentioned?  I used to use DT250s. Still do sometimes. Flatter midrange, but much more enclosed sounding.  The oval shaped pads pinch my ears & they don't fold up.  MDR7506s might be as good in the midrange, but they're painful at the top end.   HD25s, beloved of film & TV PSMs, are great in the midrange dialog region, quite dynamic, but excruciatingly painful (physically) on the ears.    A set of the HD25 drivers in an M50 shell would be just perfect!

I'm not sure if there's such a thing as a truly accurate closed back headphone.  Is isolation that important to you when mixing?  HD600s would be my choice if I had to use cans for critical eq or balance adjustments.  But they're open back & more money!

I think it's a case of ask 10 people, and get 20 different answers. But maybe there's a consensus emerging...

[heathen]

I've got a set of barely used Beyer DT880 (600 ohm) just sitting in a closet.  Make me a reasonable offer and they're yours.