Audio-Technica ATH-M50xGM Professional Monitor Headphones, Gun Metal

One of the best headphones for quality, fit, music production, games, etc. It is very confortable. It works amazing.

I've looked at and seen M50x's in the wild I don't know how many thousands of times. A good chunk of my favorite streamers and YouTubers use them, I see them out in public commonly, and every time I look at headphones on amazon, they always pop up near the top. I really hadn't written them off until I - foolishly - wore a pair of the M50xBT's at my local Best Buy, and was surprised at how uncomfortable the headband was. It felt like a 5 pound headphone was placed on my head, and I almost immediately took them off. That was somewhere in the 2019 - 2020 time period and I recently decided to give them another chance with the regular wired version, and I couldn't be more glad that I did.There had to have been something wrong with the one I tried on at Best Buy, maybe one too many people had flattened the headband out or something, I don't know.Comfort: The headband and the very light weight of this headphone make this possibly the most comfortable headphone I've ever used with a solid headband. When you see photos of this headphone, you would think there isn't very much - if any - padding on the headband, and while there isn't a massive amount, the cushion still somehow makes this thing feel more comfortable on my head than HyperX's Cloud series headsets, which are known for their comfort. The weak point on their comfort surprisingly comes from their earpads. The earpads, while tolerable for now, are absolutely going to be swapped out with Dekoni Audio Choice Leather earpads. The earpads are extremely shallow, and the ear opening in them is one of the smallest I've seen, with only the Astro A10 Gen 2 and the Picozon headset (don't even look it up, it isn't worth the 10 bucks) coming in smaller. The clamp, while tight, is also comfortable. I've had a pair of Drop x Sennheiser HD58x's since about August maybe September 2020 and have been using them commonly since then, and these don't clamp as bad as they do but it does get close. So, if you do think about buying these, maybe invest into some Dekoni earpads, or some Brainwavz earpads (since Dekoni gets EXPENSIVE)Sound: So I'm just gonna say this right now, I am no where near an audiophile and make no claims to be one, however I do know the sound signature that I like. Since I got these, I've ran these off an FX Audio DAC-X6, an iPhone 13 with the Apple Dongle, and a PS5 Dualsense controller. When I first plugged them into my PS5 controller, I was taken off guard a little by the tinny sound, but figured they just needed to be broken in a little, so I decided to break them in with the only way I know how to. Playing Black Ops Cold War. I played for a few hours, and they sounded a lot better, but still not how people have described them, so I did what people in the audio community suggested for me to do and plugged them into my amp and played white noise through them overnight and until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. That put them where I wanted them. I could hear everything clearly and with no problem. I could hear details in music that I was never able to hear before just because of the headphones I was using. I could hear footsteps in Cold War that I wouldn't have with my A40's. My only complaint about them is that the bass isn't nearly as good as my XM4's, but I wasn't expecting it to be, and I can still EQ them.Tl;drThe M50x's are an extremely comfortable headphone, and combined with some break in time, are some of the best closed back studio/gaming headphones you can get for under 175.

I use these headphones for PC gaming. I recently switched to these from "gaming" branded headphones, and the difference is mind blowing. I have a $160 SteelSeries headset, as well as similarly priced headsets from other brands (Sennheiser, Razer), and I can't believe what I was missing. There are sounds in games that I didn't even know existed in these games. I'll avoid the more studio-oriented review parts as there are plenty of glowing reviews of people using these headphones in amateur and professional settings.I did a TON of research on headphones and audio, and finally settled on these due to the overwhelmingly good reviews across the web. A lot of review sites put these on par with high-impedance headphones that are several times the price. The thing you need to understand about monitor headphones is that they are designed to play audio as unbiased (true to performance) as possible. Most consumer headphones, especially gaming headsets, have very distinct V-shaped sound, which means they put a lot of emphasis on the highs and lows and reduce the mids. The most noticeable example to describe what monitor phones do is that the vocals in music will be much clearer and easier to hear, and the whole audio track will sound more "balanced". You'll notice this in video games too, as you'll hear a lot of things much more clearly and distinctly, and you'll actually hear sounds that you didn't hear before (this is due to the smoother signature).If you are looking at these headphones for gaming, stop thinking and hit the buy button. I won't sugar coat it, the sound these headphones put out will come as a shock, and you may not like it at first. I personally loved it, but I have some experience in recording studios and knew what to expect. If you have mostly been using gaming headsets or common consumer headphones these will sound really weird for a while. But listen to some of your favorite songs on them for a while (or play for a couple of hours on your favorite game), and then switch back to your old headphones. You'll realize just how terrible sounding your old ones are, and will wonder what else in life you are missing out on.I only have one major complaint about these headphones, and that is the ear pads. I don't know why headphone manufacturers refuse to invest in good ear pads, but they just don't. Luckily, there exist after-market ear pads that I would recommend and use EVEN IF these ones were awesome. No matter what headphones you use, pick up some Brainwavz Hybrid Memory Foam ear pads, they are life changing. (If you are a hardcore audiophile, these will slightly alter the sound stage, but not necessarily in a negative way).Another consideration worth noting is the intended use of these headphones: Studios and DJs with dedicated audio equipment. These headphones will work fine just by plugging them into the back of your computer or iPhone, but they will absolutely SHINE if you put a good DAC or audio interface between these headphones and the audio source (I use a Roland Rubix 22, highly recommend).Obviously these are headphones, and not a headset, so they lack a microphone. If you are considering these, you may need to consider an external microphone in your budget. As you can imagine, between a good audio interface, a mic, peripherals, and these headphones, you can sail right past the $160 price tag on these headphones just to get to where you were, functionally, with a similarly priced gaming headset (I spent almost $800 to replace my $150 SteelSeries Arctis 7's). So my final thought would be to thoroughly research the ENTIRE audio set-up you want before hitting the buy button on these. You'll need to get good equipment and properly budget to maximize your sound experience, but it is a life-altering experience, so if you can swing it, do it.

Each week I spend about 20 hours creating and editing a podcast. I recently decided to upgrade from the ATH-M20X (great entry level headphones). These new ATH-M50X headphones are worth every single penny of the cost.First off, build quality is excellent! They should last forever. Secondly, I ordered the gunmetal version and they came with a nice hard shell case and they match my MacBook which is sick. Thirdly, the sound quality is full, rich and unaltered which gives me confidence that my podcast editing will sound exactly the way I want. And finally, the comfort is unmatched. I have worn these for marathon editing sessions (6+ hours) with zero ear pain and zero sweatiness.Buy with confidence!