Last week I finally ponied up for some nice headphones. I wanted a nice high-end pair but I didn't want to go too crazy on price. The same cans kept popping up in all the tech and audiophile sites...the
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. MSRP is around $200 but Amazon had them for less than $150. For years I had read that suckers by Beats, audiophiles buy the AT's. The Audio-Technicas had a reputation for much better sound quality than Beats but for a lot lower price. Beats, all the sites repeated, sold based on hype and marketing. The Audio-Technica ATH-M50x were the phones you found in studios used by professionals.
So after casually browsing reviews for a couple of years and seeing the AT's mentioned time and time again I decided to take the plunge. And I was nervous. I know there are $600 sets out there but $150 is still a good-sized investment for me.
But my gosh, they deliver. They are the real deal. UPS had them on my porch last Saturday. I carefully opened them. I first decided to listen to Blue Train by John Coltrane on my current pair of $75 Sonys which I had been using for several years. Then I plugged in the Audio-Technicas.
WOW.
I mean WOW.
The hype was real. The bass is powerful but not dominating. I heard riffs I had never heard before in a song I've heard a million times. These headphones are designed to play the music as intended by the artist. They don't add unnecessary mixing. Nothing is obscured by mix-happy sound engineers. You get the music as it was meant to be heard. Or as close as possible.
I always thought my Sony noise cancellation headphones were decent. They are dozens times better than ear buds. But they sounded hollow and cheap in comparison to the AT's. I couldn't believe the difference. With the AT's I felt as if I was standing in the middle of Coltrane's quintet as they were playing.
So I tried out different genres and styles. I listened to Beethoven and Radiohead. I gave Weezer and the Beatles a spin. I listened to Thievery Corporation and M Ward. I switched between my old Sonys and the AT's and was continuously astounded by the brilliance of the sound in my new Audio-Technicas.
It was almost like hearing music for the first time. I am not exaggerating. Well, maybe a tiny bit. But they are unbelievably great.
The new ATH-M50x's feature three detachable cords (two straight and one curly) of varying lengths. I don't plan on using these a whole lot on the go. They are big but comfortable. I will mostly use them at home and maybe for long trips on a plane or car. For everyday trips to Walmart or wherever I will still use my measly Apple earbuds. They also come with an adapter to plug into your home system and a nice leather bag.
So I don't care whether or not the new iPhones have headphones jacks or not. These new headphones will make the phone adapter worth it.
