Audio-Technica Studio headphones

For the price, the ATH-M40FS headphones are a steal. Over the years I've used many different headphones offered by a variety of high dollar big name companies. I was sold on the Audio Technica's immediately, They far surpassed many much more expensive headphones that I had used. With the M40FS you get a really flat response from well below the 20hz range to well above the 20kHz range. I've recommended these heaphones to several friends, both listeners and engineers, and all of them have been impressed. I've been using this model of Audio Technica headphones for just about 12 years now. I've put them through the wringer, turned way, WAY up to make a drummer comfortable with his headphone mix, abused by dropping, cord snags, you name it. These headphones are truly deserving of a workhorse reputation. The drivers on these headphones can handle tons of abuse, but the earpieces? Well, let's just say that over the life time of these heaphones they'll probably enounter enough sweat, friction, or something else that will degrade them, however, after 8-10 years of hard use you really should expect any product made by any manufacturer to be in less than perfect condition. But, here's the great thing, not only has this particular model been in production for many, many years, Audio Technica still sells refurbishing items for them. If that doesn't speak volumes for the quality of the drivers and the quality of Audio Technica's products I really don't know what does. As an engineer, I have to tell you, I've been using the same set of these since 2000-2001, the next pair of headphones that I will buy, if I really need to, will be another pair of Audio Technica M40-FS's. Buy them!!

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20's are unbelievable. I say that not because they themselves are incredible headphones; in fact, I find them unbearably (for me) flawed. When I went to my friend's to try them on for the very first time, one quality absolutely dominated my attention: They were tight. Very tight. Unbearably tight for my purposes. Granted, this accomplishes a couple of things. They help prevent a lot of sound leakage, and they stop them from falling off. These are two nice qualities that I would prefer to be accomplished by better design, rather than brute tightness, but for $20, it's a quality that other headphones can't really touch. Unfortunately, the headphones still leak quite a bit, especially when the volume is turned up past a low-medium level. As I review these, I have to keep in mind to mention the mundane things that I, an owner of higher-end headphones, have begun to take for granted. The first is the coiled cord. This is a hugely wonderful thing, as it makes the cord only about as long as they need to be. The tension in this cord is a little much when using it to listen to an iPod or a lighter device, as it pulls the device along. With heavier studio equipment however, this becomes a non-issue. Of course, most people who would use these pair of headphones all the time likely don't own a bunch of heavy equipment, so it would have been nice to see a looser cord. The outputting to a 1/8" with a 1/4" adapter is nice, as it facilitates consumers not having to deal with the hassle of an adapter if they choose to use it for more consumer-oriented things like computers and mp3 players. As for studio use, its tightness is wonderful; if wearing while recording, there's just about no fear of them falling off. I would never use them to mix however. Even if you get over the disadvantages of not having monitors, the Audio-Technica ATH-M20s are not at all suited to it; the higher-tier models will be better all-around for that. However, since this sits right in a consumer price point, the Audio-Technica ATH-M20s are FANTASTIC value, and if you were doing a lot of this, I would not hesitate to grab a pair of these at all. If you were in a studio, I'd say shell out a bit more for the next tier up, the ATH-M30's. If you had money to spend, the ATH-M50's are unfairly good. But that's a whole different ballpark. The ATH-M20's are a great pair of headphones.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50's are a set of high quality studio headphones. They're perfect in a recording studio setting or anywhere else where you might need a great sound coming through directly to your ears. The ATH-M50's can be used either for monitoring during recording or for simple listening and playback purposes. I'm not sure I'd try these for mixing, as in general this isn't always the best idea. However, if there was a set of Audio Technica headphones that you could mix on, these would be it. The headphones feel very sturdy and definitely professionally made and they fit on your head nice and snug as to insure very little bleed coming out of them. They've got a closed back and on the end of the wire is an 1/8" connection which also includes a screw on adapter for turning it into a 1/4" connection. As far as sound quality is concerned, these are definitely a top notch sounding set of headphones. I've really only used them for monitoring during recording, but judging from this sound, I think they'll be useful more or less across the board. I don't know if Audio Technica has a set of headphones that are of a higher quality or more expensive, but these are definitely the best that I've seen from them. The price doesn't make them the cheapest pair of headphones out there but, but nonetheless they're a pretty good deal when you compare them to most of the other headphones in the price range. I don't know how well they'll last over time, but again they seem like they're made very well and should last a while as long as you treat them properly. If you're looking for a high quality set of all purposes studio headphones, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50's definitely need to be on the list to check out.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M30's are a set of closed back studio headphones. I've used these headphones solely for monitoring during recording and nothing else really. Judging from using them in this fashion, I don't think I'd recommend using them for anything else other than this application anyway. They feel okay in terms of being comfortable, but aren't the most comfortable headphones out there that I've used at all. They fit on my head and stayed there just fine, but don't have the tightest grasp, which could be a positive or negative thing depending on how you look at it. As far as the sound quality is concerned, these are sub par at best in my opinion. They lack a sufficient low end response, but do provide an adequate enough sound for monitoring during recording. However, I wouldn't use them for any other sort of using, and of course not for mixing or any critical listening. In general I wouldn't do any mixing on headphone, and especially not of these. Audio-Technica has plenty of headphones to choose from in all price ranges, but it seems like the ATH-M30's should be a bit cheaper than they are. In my opinion you can definitely get a better set of headphones for this price, but I guess in the end these aren't all that bad. I just wouldn't recommend them if you're in the market for a set of mid level recording studio headphones, as I'd go with something like the Vic Firth Isolation Headphones over these any day. I'd also encourage you to check out other headphones made by the likes of Audio Technica and Sennheiser, as the Sennheiser HD 280 Pros will cost you a bit more than these, but they're in a whole other league in my opinion. If you want a set of headphones that will last you a while and are a bit more versatile, I'd spend the extra money and go with the HD 280 Pros, but if you don't want to spend that much I'd still recommend going with a pair other than the ATH-M30's.