The Song Fight Bulletin Board

My wife's birthday is coming up. She likes the Sennheiser 280 pro (which I think a lot of people around here have used) but she wants something... with color.

Any recs for something in that price range with similar noise blocking ability and sound quality?

The ATH-M50x comes in white, and those are my favorite headphones in my growing collection of headphones. They sound way the hell better than the Senn 280, as well.

They also have some "limited edition" versions in other colors but they cost a lot more.

Some people really like Skullcandy but I've never listened to their over-the-ear headphones (I've got a pair of their earbuds that I got for free around here somewhere and I remember them being decent but not mind-blowingly phenomenal, certainly not as good as my Polk noise-canceling earbuds or my Shure in-ear monitors).

Thanks fluffy! I checked out the specs and decided to go with them.

It's funny - despite the whole rise in Beats popularity, it doesn't seem like studio-quality headphones come in any varieties other than black.

fluffy wrote:The ATH-M50x comes in white, and those are my favorite headphones in my growing collection of headphones.

They also have some "limited edition" versions in other colors but they cost a lot more.

I love how these feel though they're still a bit low-end heavy for me (bass reduce EQ on the iPhone helps).

I think the lack of nonblack for studio headphones is down to "put all my money into the driver please". Until you look at audiophile headphones which then get all wood-grained and shit-- like Grados and whatnot.

I'm gonna look at those ATH thingies, as my Sony 7506's are getting up there... (1998 I think?)

Sony 7506 are hands down the best. Except for that god damn cord. Absolutely hate that cord. I'm convinced Sony doesn't make a version with a swappable cord so they can sell the crappier phones for more $$ which essentially subsidize their amazing studio phones. I don't know why that made sense in my head but if they'd just get rid of the fucking coiled cord I'd be happy.

Should I have another beer?

roymond wrote:Should I have another beer?

Probly not. I think you're hallucinating colors on those black headphones.

Joking aside - I kind of want to keep the white ATH-M50x for myself and buy flowers instead. Those things are sexxy.

Just get a matching pair. :)

Is that input jack 1/8"? Could I put a bluetooth receiver dongle on it and never deal with cords again?

Yes, and probably. Interesting idea!

Cool! Just checking because the picture on Amazon looks like the ends of the cord might be different sizes. I've had a lot of success using bluetooth receivers in my car (lol old technology - it's like the modern equivalent of cassette-CD conversion).

Seems like maybe my studio needs to be upgraded to be cordless.

Edit: seems likeit actually is smaller a smaller input but there are plenty of tutorials about converting this particular pair to bluetooth so not too concerning...

oh, I've only used the included cables but they looked like ordinary 1/8" with a specific twist-lock connector. Never tried a regular 1/8" in it though.

I found some tutorials that show opening up the ear, removing something that stops normal connectors, and then getting a 2.5->3.5mm connector. So, a little D-I-Y but not prohibitively so. With the right bluetooth receiver, these headphones might be the best option for high quality bluetooth audio.

Yeah, although be careful of that in studio use - bluetooth audio can be pretty laggy, especially if there's a lot of wireless saturation near you. It's probably fine for mixing (even with the lossy compression that Bluetooth adds) but I would be very careful about trying to record that way.

True - I'm still a little skeptical of bt quality. I was thinking vocal recording, cuz that's when I move around the most and cause cables to get tangled every which way. I nudge my vox around so much that a tiny delay wouldn't impact anything. For everything else I'd use open-ear headphones or monitors.

roymond wrote:Sony 7506 are hands down the best. Except for that god damn cord. Absolutely hate that cord. I'm convinced Sony doesn't make a version with a swappable cord so they can sell the crappier phones for more $$ which essentially subsidize their amazing studio phones. I don't know why that made sense in my head but if they'd just get rid of the fucking coiled cord I'd be happy.

Ugh, the cord. Too true.

On the note of cords, the big selling point of the ATH-M50x over the normal ATH-M50 is that it has a swappable cord, and comes with three for different use cases. I mostly use the long studio cord (which is straight and ridiculously long) but it also comes with a coiled cord and a shorter portable music cord.

Modding the Sony 7506 to have a longer, non-coiled cord shouldn't be too difficult, if you don't mind voiding the warranty anyway. Here's someone modding theirs to put in a 3.5mm jack:


EDIT: why isn't my video showing up gdi

EDIT2: fixed the youtube embed code YET AGAIN wtf phpbb

Yeah, I have the ATH-M50x. I love the short straight cord as I use these mostly out of the house, on the subway, etc. Thus my rant on long coiled cords.

I've tried soldering a 3.5mm jack on my old Sony 7506 but it's really hard with the ceramic wire shielding and whatnot. I should try again because for me that's the holy grail. Plus you can get them for $80 now which is amazing.

Hadn't seen this till Fluffy mentioned it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcaoQ-DEJu0

I just verified that the M50x's internal connector is 2.5mm, not 3.5mm. Oh well!

Yes, and it's recessed with a twist lock thing so I suspect it'll be hard to mod.

However, I got a $4 jack at radio shack and installed it with the help of a dremel. Took about 30 minutes, and it's GREAT to have MDR7506s with a comfortable cord!!!

Here are the pictures and some helpful hints.

Radio what?

So I ended up getting a pair of MDR-7506 recently, and I have to say they sound pretty great! I haven't done a proper side-by-side with the ATH-M50x but these are really nice for high-quality portable listening. I won't be doing a bluetooth mod on it but now I understand why people keep on saying how great these are. Really comfortable to wear as well.