Audio-Technica ATH-M40x Professional Studio Monitor Headphones - Black | High-Fidelity Sound, 90° Swiveling Earcups, Detachable Cables | Perfect for Music Production, Podcasting & Home Recording Studios

I bought these 4 maybe 5 years ago, its my first time investing in a pair of Audio Technica's but i used to own a pair of Sony MDR750's which at the time for the price i did not believe you could get a better pair of headphones for the price range, however after 5 years of use i'm here to tell you that so these have been the best pair of headphones i've ever owned, i use them for everything, in music production, balancing and mixing / mastering, casual listening, and i take them on my 8 mile runs and get them dirty ... Never once have they failed on me, nothing has broken off, and they sound as good as they day i got them, they fit snug over my ears like a glove and they don't abuse my ears after long sessions and honestly if you want even better ear support you can buy custom earcups that'll really bring the experience of owning these ten fold but the standard ones are well built, the sound is leveled and there's not much coloration going on giving you a crystal clear yet loud full surround sound, the clarity is honestly really impressive, in most cases headphones that are acoustically flat that deliver an honest clear sound tend to lack in the low end but these are the exception to the rule, honestly i'm actually thinking of buying a second pair just to stash away just in case but to be honest i don't know when that day will come because no matter the time of day, no matter where i am, no matter what i ask of it ... it steps up to the plate and continues to deliver a quality sound that just blows my mind, i cannot believe the price on these pair of headphones ... I feel like the only person who got cheated here was Audio Technica for the price lol.I've owned these about nine months now. I'm a huge audio nerd, and I love these headphones!Quick points:- frequency response is incredible.- you won't need a DAC -- they're very sensitive (efficient).- sub-bass is present, if a little quiet, but- they can take MASSIVE amounts of sub-bass if EQ'd- great for people who are sensitive to treble- they're really comfortable -- I can wear them for hours, with glasses- their floppiness takes some getting used to- they isolate sound pretty well- you'll want to buy a different cable (there's an awesome 1.2m braided one on Amazon for $12)They sound /so/ flat. ("flat" here refers to a graph of their frequency response, where a "flatter" graph gives a sound that's de-emphasized across the frequency spectrum -- it doesn't make some notes too loud and others too soft, just reproduces them exactly as they were recorded.) They respond to EQ really well, but I don't feel the need to use EQ on any part of the range besides sub-bass (and only for trap, future bass, etc.). Of course, their response isn't the most even and flat (according to professional measurements I've found), but it's really, really great. What is emphasized makes detail (2kHz to 6kHz) just a little more present, without being harsh. To my ears, a lot of headphones in this price range and higher sound too harsh because they emphasize treble too much. I had that concern with these at first, but for my ears, they're right on the edge without going overboard -- just about perfect.You can practically use them as speakers with a mobile device -- they're that sensitive. You definitely don't /need/ to use a DAC with these.I love sub-bass. I listen to a lot of trap, future bass, and misc. edm where the subbass really needs to speak. These headphones start to roll off around 70Hz, but not so drastically to where these styles aren't enjoyable without an EQ. I could go without EQ on these headphones, but I don't. What's great about these is that you can throw all the sub-bass boost you want at them and they still perform superbly. I use as much as +25dB at 31Hz (on a 29-band EQ) and they handle it excellently. In that regard, I give in before they do. I recommend AIMP if you're on Android so you can dial in the bass just how you want it, if you're into that sort of thing.With other types of music and with podcasts, audiobooks, etc, I don't even think to use EQ with these headphones. Acoustic instruments never sounded so good before, or so true-to-life. And with podcasts, you can really hear the differences in the different microphones people use; it's incredible.They're really comfortable for me. I have a large head and I wear glasses half the time, and even while wearing glasses, I can wear these headphones for hours at a time with minimal fatigue. The earpads and headband are nice and soft, and the earpads reach all the way around large ears. My partner has a small head and seems to find them comfortable, though they can slide around a bit on their head. When I'm moving around a lot, I find I need to really tighten them up to get them to grip when I tilt my head down. This became a non-issue for me as I got accustomed to them.Due to the flexible nature of the design, they are especially floppy. You really can't pick them up quite like normal headphones, and putting them on is necessarily a two-handed affair. The first time I picked these up at a demo, they seemed to abandon my hands. You can't pick them up by one earcup and slip them on one-handed. I find I have to grab both cups or both ends of the headband and then put them on. But that's intentional. Sometimes you want to just pick up one ear and listen for just a second, like when you're trying to dial in something in a recording. For that purpose, the rest of the headphones fall to the side out of the way, and it's very convenient. I was actually frustrated by this at first, but after using them for some time in several different scenarios, I'm glad for the flexibility.Other design notes: they seem durable and they've never appeared to even start breaking. I am gentle with my equipment, and I kept from forcing the hinges when the headphones would flop out of my hands for the first week I used them. I absolutely love that they fold up. This is eminently convenient for putting them in bags and taking them places.The sound isolation is pretty good. Even on airplanes I've found that I don't have to turn the volume up too much. They easily block out conversations and even that one guy who doesn't know he talks too loudly. Adding bass seems to help this.The cable situation is pretty bad. It's kind of weird to include two giant studio-length cables with headphones that will also be bought by average consumers. That being said, I bought a compatible braided cable on Amazon for $12, and it's awesome. It locks into the headphones, it's just the right length for everyday use, and it seems really durable. You'll probably want to buy one if you ever move your headphones from your desk.I really love these headphones, and I highly recommend them for all purposes.I've purchased 2 pairs of these so far and they both broke in exactly the same place and both just a few months after the 2-year warranty expired.Sound quality is great, they felt really "tinny" when I first started using them, but that had more to do with me being used to really bass boosted headphones before.They're pretty comfortable for extended use, although I did replace the ear cups with velvet ones because plastic ear cups have never been my thing.I'd say it's a good purchase, if you don't mind replacing them every 2 years.Audio-Technica doesn't disappoint with these, great flat sound, frequencies are very discernable one from the other. Surprised by how well they cancel the noise. I like the detachable cable, although would have liked it more if it was on the right ear instead the left, for some reason most of the cans I've had before had the cable on the right.They are accurate and good studio headphones. They don’t have much bass, but everything sounds good regardless. Replaced the pads since I have glasses and I can wear them forever and they are still comfortable. They don’t have a particularly fun tuning but they are accurate without being bright. I enjoy these for rhythm games because of the sound accuracy. If you game, it’s nice to have an actual pair of headphones rather than “gaming” headphones that bass boosted to hell with horrid bass.This is my second pair of this particular model after my 5 yr old ones broke at the pivot/hinge point right where it connects below the band connector on the left can. Just figure it became a weak point as it's a split piece of plastic were the wire runs through to loop around to the right side. So after 5 years of being stressed through usage it failed at a small point that wrecked the whole old unit with a failure. Otherwise the old pair was fine except for some wear on the pads, figuring I'll get another 5 years hopefully out of this second unit. Needed the replacement so didn't have time to look at other models so just did a overnight shipment on this new one.One thing I forgot but painfully realized as I put the news ones on is they are extremely tight fitting/pressuring at first. So I just took a old large towel, rolled it up some and left them on there whenever I wasn't using them. Took about a week to become comfortable enough to not notice the pressure anymore.Audio Technica M40Xs are good quality headphones. They output clear audio with a reasonable amount of bass while also providing a moderate amount of noise cancellation to your surroundings. I am not a professional sound engineer, I use these for everyday listening of music and other media. The headphones tend to constrict the head quite a bit at first, making them to be uncomfortable for long periods of time when first worn. Luckily, after a few months of breaking in, I either got used to the tension or the headphones weren't constricting as hard as it was in the beginning; allowing longer listening periods. Because I was using these for everyday use, the cords provided are quite long (6 ft.). The coiled cord seems to be the best default cord for the headphones, otherwise I'd recommend buying a separate 3 ft cord. The plastic around the jack is also quite large on the default cords (about 1 cm [3/8 inch) and can be difficult to stay plugged into some phones due to the phone case (iPhone 5S does not have a problem with this, but my old ipod case had troubles keeping the jack in).After a year or so of owning these headphones, they broke (picture provided). After emailing Audio Technica with pictures about my broken headphones, they instructed me to send them and any accessories I had to them in Quebec. Unfortunately, I had long lost a few of the accessories that came with the headphones, but I was assured it wouldn't be a problem and to send what I had. When I finally had the time, 4 months later, I got around to shipping the broken headphones to them. I had shipped it on the Thursday, and received a package on Tuesday (today) with a brand new set of M40Xs. Accessories and all. I have to thank Audio Technica for their hassle free support, it was very appreciated.Simple: Audio Technica M40X superó de manera simple y fácil el 90% de los auriculares en estas tiendas. El 10% restante es discutible y cuestionable. Estoy hablando de un sonido equilibrado y neutral, y todos se tratan de equilibrio, con un precio muy, muy equilibrado, si no muy barato para lo que obtienes.Muchos auriculares están diseñados con una impedancia más baja para que los dispositivos móviles puedan ejecutarlos fácilmente, con un sonido más alto. La mayoría ha ajustado el sonido, para uso comercial, todos los días. El acento en un bajo más pesado y más pegado está en todas partes, y en la mayoría de los modelos que he probado.Así que debes ser claro contigo mismo: qué te gusta y qué quieres, qué tipo de música escuchas en su mayoría, movilidad, calidad, etc.Atm, los estoy probando con "Greyhound" de Swedish House Mafia = el bajo es muy bueno, profundo, preciso y punzante. Casi perfecto, exactamente como me gusta. Las agudas son hermosas: nítidas y cristalinas, las medias y bajas son ligeramente más bajas, pero principalmente porque estoy tratando de ser muy crítico con ellas. Las voces son increíbles, la guitarra acústica y el jazz suenan simplemente brillantes. Algunas cosas con mi Bose QC 15 definitivamente no se pueden escuchar sin un amplificador y un volumen más alto.Mientras hablamos de Bose, los probé todos: el QC 25 sonaba muy bien, pero el bajo dominaba la experiencia del sonido y AT 40x tenía una etapa de sonido más nítida y clara. La cancelación activa de ruido es donde Bose brilla, pero a mí nunca me ha gustado esa tecnología, siempre sentí que tenía claustrofóbicos en la cabeza.Al final, mi elección más restringida fue Sennheiser Momentum on ear. Están a un precio especial de 139 euros en Saturno, y debo admitir que estaba muy cerca de comprarlos. Se ven hermosos y el sonido es muy elegante. El bajo estaba sobre ti, pero muy bien controlado y equilibrado y toda la etapa de sonido fue impresionante. Más escuchaba, me estaba enamorando más de ellos. Pero de alguna manera, el M40X sonaba como más me gusta, además de que Momentum está en los auriculares y la comodidad era mi principal preocupación. Estaban muy cómodos, pero aún así comencé a sentir algo de presión sobre mis oídos después de menos de una hora. Pero sonaban muy bien.La calidad de construcción de M40X es muy sólida, he visto muchos modelos con el doble de precio y no tenían esta calidad. Están construidos para durar, por todos los medios. La comodidad es donde Audio Technica ha mejorado mucho en todos los modelos "X" y son ligeros y se sienten muy bien. Los cables incluidos parecen literalmente indestructibles, de alta calidad. Los llevaba puestos durante más de 5 horas y seguía disfrutando.Al final, y en mi humilde opinión, obtuve esta experiencia:Audio Technica m50x - hermano mayor, un poco más caro, en general tiene mejor sonido con bajos un poco más pesados, pero aún así M40X tiene un sonido más neutral y mejor (al menos para mí )Sennheiser HD 518 = bueno, pero no tan bueno, con el mismo rango de precios, así que no hay razón para comprarlos.Sennheiser HD 558 = muy bueno, la experiencia en general es excelente, pero M40X los superó, especialmente en lo alto.Sennheiser Momemtum over ear = precio alto, pero realmente no pude encontrar cómo y dónde están mejor. Cuanto más escuchaba, más decidido estaba a evitarlos. Su llamada, pero la relación precio / calidad no está justificada por todos los medios, las diferencias entre ellos y M40X fueron marginales.Sennheiser Momentum on ear = mi siguiente favorito. Bajos profundos, pesados ​​y bellamente divertidos con un gran sonido general. Lindo estilo.Beats = Evitar, evitar, evitar. Por favor, hágase un favor y ahorre dinero, todos ellos son sobre el bajo, el bajo, el bajo y después de 2 minutos sentían que su cerebro explotaría ... la etapa de sonido era mala, la experiencia general fue decepcionante. Muy no recomendado.Bose = lo siento para todos los amantes de Bose, pero excepto la cancelación de ruido (donde Bose es el campeón) no escuché un solo modelo que haya sonado mejor. Realmente intenté e incluso poseo QC 15, pero M40X fue un claro ganador y mucho más barato. QC25 fue realmente bueno.Sony no tenía nada serio para emparejar M40X. He utilizado antes de 7560 y M40x son mejores.Philips viene con la moda, pero Fidelio X1 también tiene un precio ridículo. Aunque el rendimiento fue realmente bueno, pero nuevamente estamos hablando de pequeñas diferencias, muy pequeñas.B & W P3 = auriculares muy, muy buenos. Fue un placer escucharlos, en general, un gran rendimiento, pero tienen el doble de precio. Los mejores auriculares portátiles aquí, y se ven increíbles, pero muy caros.Allí hay un número infinito de modelos de auriculares, pero me centraba principalmente en lo que recomendaban los usuarios y los expertos. Muchos modelos recomendados no estaban disponibles en estas tiendas, pero tenía una selección bastante amplia y algunos de los mejores y más vendidos estaban allí.Entonces, intentemos cortar la historia aquí con la conclusión: Audio Technica ATH-M40X es probablemente los auriculares que más se pasan por alto en el mercado debido al gran y muy popular hermano m50x.En general, un excelente escenario de sonido, un sonido neutro, increíblemente equilibrado y cálido con profundos, bajos precisos y controlados hace que estos auriculares sean simplemente una mejor compra en este rango de precios. No tienen competencia en absoluto en esta categoría de precios - período.En cualquier caso, muchos modelos que cuestan el doble, o incluso más, no pudieron superarlos.Y cuando se trata de bajos, aquí obtienes golpes de Muhamed Ali claros, hermosamente precisos y fuertes, en comparación con el tipo crudo, brutal, salvaje y descontrolado de Mike Tyson en la mayoría de los modelos que he probado.Muy recomendable.Ventajas:- experiencia de sonido general hermosa, neutral, muy bien equilibrada. Amantes de los graves: son graves para mí, pero para algunas personas son planas: pueden ejecutarse con facilidad en dispositivos móviles con un volumen bastante alto debido a la buena impedancia (35 ohmios): construcción de alta calidad, muy duradera: comodidad excepcional. cómodo durante un período prolongado de uso (más de 5 horas): los cables suministrados parecen imposibles de romper; el diseño circumaural se adapta alrededor de las orejas para un excelente aislamiento del sonido en ambientes ruidosos (y les va bastante bien aquí)- plegable para una portabilidad que ahorra espacio- se ve bien, muy agradableContras:- son plegables e incluso vienen con una bolsa de viaje, pero son auriculares bastante grandes. No viaje amistoso.- desafortunadamente, no vienen con un cable de 1,2 m como un hermano mayor m50x, por lo que debe llevar 3 metros uno con usted. Lame, pero un precio más bajo debe justificarse de alguna manera.Puede empezar diciendo que mis audífonos de uso diario eran unos Bose AE2 ya algo viejos pero perfectamente útiles. Su audio no era malo pero tampoco era excelente. Bueno, con estos Audio-Technica puedo decir que quien no conoce a dios a cualquier santo le reza. Los Audio-Technica tienen una calidad de reproducción muy superior a cualquier Bose o beats qué hay en el mercado. Su sonido esta perfectamente equilibrado y se escucha cada instrumento; hay canciones que he escuchado toda la vida que jamás imaginé tuvieran tantos matices adicionales hasta que los escuché con estos audífonos. La calidad de construcción es bastante buena, son pesados y aprietan algo la cabeza pero no incomoda, en especial si estás horas en el estudio usándolos.Eso si, no son audífonos de calle. Sus cables son muy largos y gruesos, los audífonos son muy grandes para traerlos cómodamente y no tienen el mejor agarre de todos a la hora de caminar. Pero si planeas usarlos en casa o en tu trabajo son perfectos.También tienen muy buen aislamiento pasivo de sonido. Si estás en un avión no van a bloquear por completo el sonido pero es mejor que si estuvieras escuchando a un bebé llorar a lado de ti.En general son audífonos excelentes para profesionales de audio y entusiastas del audio. Los recomiendo usar con un buen dac y pistas sin pérdida para tener la mejor experiencia de sonido.Really happy with these headphones. I have only owned cheap headphones in the past and these ones have been a big step forward. Careful though, as they are known to have a totally neutral mix, something that many may find unappealing. Anyway here are some points that might interest you:Pros:- Reeeeally comfy, I wear them for hours and almost forget about their existence. Lightweight and not too tight.- Excellent build quality and presentation. Everything feels premium and durable. Comes in a large box along with two cables, a jack adaptor and a cute faux leather pouch.- Foldable and flexible. Some people will appreciate that feature. Nice clicking sounds when you turn the ear cups and still everything feels super durable.- Totally neutral mix, excellent for professional use. I hate the bass boost most of the times and these ones are of the most accurate when it comes to playback. This doesn't mean they can't handle some serious low frequencies.- Pretty decent sound stage. You get the feeling different sounds come from varying sources around you.Cons:- The foldability and flexibility may annoy some of you.- No serious sound isolation. Of course this means your ears don't get sweaty, but if you absolutely need great passive isolation, you won't be satisfied. This also leads to another con:- Sound leakage. Even in medium volume people around you can tell what you are listening to.- Neutral mix means no impressive bass boost. Many of you who are looking for gaming/multimedia headphones may be initially unimpressed by that fact.That is just my opinion of course, but I feel like you can't go wrong with these headphones when it comes to quality (especially if you are a musician or work in a studio). And I am not even taking into consideration the totally affordable price tag.I love and hate these headphones.I love being able to change cable, 2 cables inside, also lot of cables available to buy, even with microphones.I love and hate this free angle design, sometimes is annoying and sometimes is good to have. Sometimes my skin gets caught when opening.Build quality is great, read that they can break easily but can't say anything after a month use.When using for monitoring, perfect. Bass is flat which means it's not bass heavy. Lets just say if the bass is boomy on these, something is terribly wrong. So the sound is really flat. I mean really "terrible for listening" flat. Middle is really there. They can be really loud because of lower bass.You can hear all the mistakes, even if you never knew there were any. Stereo imaging is awesome, if something is out of balance you know it and you hate it. Highs are flat. You can hear the clarity, but you feel like you need to volume up. But you don't need to.I have had a lot of headphones and this ones are something different.Let's now say something about normal casual listening. Loudness is good on iPhone 6. On iPad mini 2 is great. MacBook Pro - excellent, even too much power to handle if used with Boom 2. Lack of bass and lower ohms mean they can be used as standard headphones but I suggest buying shorter cable with thinner 3.5 jack. I have Spigen case on my iPad and jack can barely connect.If you try to be smart and really boost the bass, you can slightly hear the difference between two ear cups in lows. Probably because of socket which is using some space in one earcup which is free in another. Probably that's why they're cheaper and less bass boomy than M50x.So don't think you can outsmart them, pay more money for m50x if you need more bass.Also, comfortable as presented. I don't sense them on my head, light and enjoyable.Would not use them only for DJing. Would rather buy Technics RPDJ1210 again.They block a lot of noise from outside, that is true, but they are not as good as Technics. Can be used for DJing, true, but there are better choices.Also, even if they're on your head, people around you can hear what you're listening. If you're sharing room with someone, they will hear the music.So overall, great headphones for under 100. Great flat sound for monitoring.If you like bass go for m50x. If you need flat monitor headphones buy these.==============================So after more than a year a review still stays. Sound is amazing. Build quality amazing.Comfort is not the best one though, however that's always problem with closed headphone, read the below for more information.Just to add I have tested M40x and M50x one by one on the same source and I can tell you M50x sounds different with more bass and treble. They ARE NOT that much better. If you are more into casual listening, M50x would be better choice. However, true flat sound is coming through M40x, not M50x's. I can easily confirm that. I can change my headphones to M50x's as that is "Better" model but I will not do that as M40x have more balanced sound. M50x is more as HiFi choice by far as per comparison.So only issue I can add after more than a year of using them is that they are NOT comfortable, not at all. First I thought they are good however I have tested other brands in a while and there is a huge difference. They are really tight (had same issue with DJ headphones however that is good, not bad) and you just cannot used to have them on your head after some time, it's just frustrating to have them for a longer period. However sound is something you will absolutely love or hate. If the score is between 1 and 100 I will give them 94 without any issues. After them K240 MK2 Studio headphones sounds dull and with something missing. However K240's are 10 times more comfortable to have on head.=======================Update 03.01.2019With sad news after more than 2 years I can say I no longer have these M40x. I just don't need them anymore. It's like an old car which you don't need once you both latest BMW. I have moved to M50x and I can say that although there is a lot of hatred going to them, M50x is still an upgrade from M40x. M50x has more treble and more bass, some people say that is unnatural however it is just different and actual improvement. Driver moved from 40mm to 45mm hence the difference. I can say that after a while I haven't even realised that big change as the change isn't that big. So if you will not miss bass or high treble then spending less for M40x is better choice as I noted before. Only thing left is that M50x does feel more expensive than M40x. You get extra short cable (which you don't get with M40x) so if you count that cable being £20 then difference falls in really narrow field.ONLY thing I can say now that much MUCH better choice which I can say replaced my M40x sound is SHURE SRH840. This headphones are amazing, sturdy design, Excellent balanced sound and flat response. I use them for monitoring. Not as portable as M40x due to different build but damn, these SHURE's are something.I should do some webpage review as now I have Magni 3 for a proper review and have tested DT770, DT880, K701, K240 mk2, SRH840, M40x, M50x. I still stick with K701 with bass mod as best causal home listening headphones however others still have significant use in other cases like monitoring/producing/mastering.Also, I will touch one thing which this headphones are like selling which is FLAT SOUND. You will NEVER get Flat sound in headphones. NEVER. There is either Middle spectre based Headphones which these are, or V shaped Bass/treble headphones. Reducing Bass does improve flatness of sound however also removes sound picture and extensive response. If you truly want FLAT sound go to Monitors with sound isolated room. I can for sure say that there is much much more image and sound with DT880/DT770 than from M40x, hell even from M50x. On 250ohm version these show something that you will not hear even with super extra expensive monitors. That is the reason I will not part ways with them as for critical listening they are as brilliant as it gets. However listening youtube videos on them is so bad experience that I don't wish anyone to experience. Run away from them if you do wish to do that. Or buy Sony.