ATH-M40x

Firstly, I'll thanks Amazon for their quick and hassle free delivery. The package was delivered neatly and with good amount of package protection. Got the package within two days of ordering the product. Kudos Amazon! Starting with the product, the box itself is HUGE. The dimensions make you think again whether you ordered a headphone or a subwoofer in it. But the contents inside are arranged properly and makes you think how much care Audio Technica has taken to deliver the product propely without damaging it during delivery. Inside the box you'll find the headphone itself along with a pair of detachable cables(one 1.2m coiled cable and another 3m long straight cable), a 6.3mm adapter for connecting to various external amplifiers and DACs if required, a nice leather pouch(does the job of carrying the headphones on-the-go) and some paperwork. Both the cables have gold plated jacks along with the 6.3mm adapter. The cables are pretty thick and seems like a military grade construction. No questions in mind about the durability of the cables. They'll surely last for a long long time. Coming to the heaphones themselves, the headphones seem to have pretty good construction too. They are made of plastic but it isn't evident after having the headphones in hand. They surely don't seem cheap and are quite flexible to fit all head sizes. The cushioning of the earpads and the headpad is pretty good too. I've been wearing these headphones for more than 2 hours straight without any fatigue or any excess heat development in the pads. I've read a few complaints from other users about the headphones being tight on their heads but I haven't faced any such problem so far. Now the most important part of the review, the sound quality. I'm not a studio mixer or any audiophile as the term is getting used to for everyone. I've been looking for a portable headphone solution which will give me pure original sound without any coloring of the sound. Biggies like Sennheiser and Sony do tend to color their music to a specific sound tonality. Audio Technica might be a new company for people but it has been producing some of the best headphones you can get, with a good range of in-ear headphones and over-the-ear Studio Monitor headphones. Studio monitors are meant for a specific purpose of producing accurate and neutral sound for studio monitoring. The ATH M40X have been specifically tuned extremely flat and neutral to produce sound as close to source as possible. This means you'll be able to hear every single instrument playing in the sound which maybe you might have never heard before. And these headphones do deliver extremely accurate sound. The soundstage is good enough, the mids, the highs and the lows, all the frequencies are laid down accurately. All the genres of music will sound awesome on these cans right from classical music to heavy metal and jazz music. And for those who might be confused whether these headphones have enough bass or not, these cans produce just the right amount of bass that needs to be produced. You can easily enjoy your EDM tracks too on these headphones and if you still need more bass, you can easily tweak your equaliser settings. But if you are looking for a flabby bass signature which most of the headphones out there are delivering, either change your mind or change your choice. I've seen some people posting that FLAC music is a must. They are not totally wrong. FLAC music tracks will sound the best on these headphones and the experience is worth a shot. However, if your mp3s are at 320kbps, it will still just pass. Mp3s don't sound that bad too unless the recording has been utterly downsampled to a very low frequency bitrate. In all, the headphones sound pretty awesome and will take your music experience to a whole new level. Now this question has been popped quite a lot of times whether M50s are better than the M40s. It's a convention usually that higher the price of a product, the better it performs. But that's not always true. Both the headphones have almost similar construction, almost the same packaging with the M50s having a extra 1.2m staright cable for portability, the impedance, the frequency range, the padding and cushioning, it's all pretty similar. But there's a difference in the way both these headphones sound. The M40s have been tuned extremely flat for accurate monitoring of sound. However, the M50s have a 2 to 3 dB extra low frequency response. What that means is that the M50s have more bass production in their sound, which also makes the sound a bit more bassy and muddy than they should be. I've tried both the M40s and the M50s and the M40s sound better. Both the headphones have been advertised as Studio Monitor headphones, but the M40s do the better job. The M50s don't sound bad at all. They just sound a bit more heavy on bass than they should be and you don't get anything significantly extra and anything better for the extra 3000 rupess you'll end up spending on the M50s.The M40s are a better choice if you want a more natural and accurate sound. You can head up to sonic sense to listen the music reproduction of both the headphones. And finally, the production of the music not only depends on the headphones but also on the source of sound. So if your phone doesn't seem to have a good DAC or if the headphones don't sound loud enough, invest in a good amp or DAC. Mobile phones will drive the headphones just fine for home use and outdoor use but only to a certain limit because of the relatively high impedance of headphones. A portable amp will definitely drive these headphones in a better way and will help to crank up the volume of these headphones. Now if you search for a portable amp or even DACs within a budget, Fiio is one of the only names in the market. I've been using the Fiio A3 as my portable amp and trust me. It's worth the price. So that's it for the review. Hope that it solves all the doubts of anyone who's thinking of investing in a good pair of audiophile grade cans. Go for these headphones guys. It's the best you can get for the budget and is easily worth more than twice it's price. Buy these and enjoy the mesmerising audio experience which you've never experienced before! :-)

TLDR: Amazing headphones. Buy it and I promise you won’t regret it, as long as you like accurate audio and not a basshead. But also spend a little extra and get the Brainwavz earpads. Just don’t forget to transfer the thin grey foam pieces (see the images) into the new earpads from the old stock pads. Final scores at the bottom. Here’s the detailed review, after over 2 years of use: SOUND: If you look at the frequency response curve from rtings, you’ll notice that there’s a very slight emphasis on the low end and the high end, giving it a very slight V curve, which you can definitely hear. But it’s very minor and the headphones are extremely accurate. Some people say more so than the m50x, but looking at the frequency response curve it’s evident that the m50x is more flat and more accurate. However, the m40x is not inaccurate by any means. If anything, they’re more pleasant to listen to and even for critical listening. I haven’t had as much time with the m50x, but I have had a few hours to test them out. But I didn’t mix anything on them, only listened. They seemed very revealing but I will not comment further as I haven’t had enough time with them. Judging solely based on the frequency response curve, I’d choose the m50x for mixing if i had the extra cash, but I’ve been using the m40x for over 2 years now and I can comfortably say that they’re more than capable of being mixed on them. Of course you’d want proper monitor speakers to mix anything but you get what i’m saying, right? The sound stage is narrow, which is to be expected from a closed back. The imaging is okay, though nothing spectacular. BUILD AND COMFORT: The build quality is excellent, though it’s to be noted that the pleather does wear out after a while (took me just over a year) depending on how rough you use and how oily your scalp is. But the good news is that the pleather layer can easily be rubbed off and removed completely, and in my opinion the grey cloth layer looks much better than the black pleather. Nice contrast it creates. The stock earpads aren’t great. Get any pair of brainwavz pads that fit, preferably the sheepskin pads they make. They’re immensely comfortable and durable. In my opinion they also reduce the boomy bass a tad due to the larger size, which makes the m40x even more accurate. However it’s extremely important to not remove the grey thin slices of foam that come with the headphones, placed between the driver and the earpads (check the images I added). You can easily pull it out from the stock pads and insert them into the new pads. It cuts some of the highs and without them the highs become shrill. Overall they’re built to last and I've had no major problems. The pleather does wear out but that’s what pleather does. SCORES Sound: 8/10 Comfort: 6.5/10, 9.6/10 with the pads replaced Sound stage: 6/10 Imaging: 5.5/10 Separation: 7.5/10 Sound isolation, passive: 7.5/10, 8/10 with the pads replaced.

When I first bought them, I was having a lots of expectations from these cans as everyone on internet was raving about how good these sound. As soon as I got them, I blasted some music from my redmi note 4 into these.. and they sounded absolute garbage, worse than my 2 yr old hd202ii. I was utterly disappointed. There was no separation, no details and everything sounded like a broke stereo setup and all voices were muffled. So, I thought to plug it into an audio interface, which is Scarlett 2i2. Again it was same shitty sound, treble wasn't there, bass was loose and boomy and mids were not defined. I was like " man! these are the cans everyone was talking about?". Now I was like my 202 is far better than this and this time I'll buy 3-4 units of them as those aren't durable(cable esp.). So, I returned them. After couple of days, I again bought them, as I was having a faith that AT isn't that shitty in audio as I've heard m50x, m20x before and they were great, Maybe the one I got was broke or defective. So, I ordered it again. And guess what happened this time? It was that same shitty headphone again. I plugged them into an iphone se, note 5 pro and what not? so I placed a return request and packed these. There was a song which was in my 3 yr old htc desire 526g+ which I desperately wanted to listen, but can't as my 202 was broken. So I unpacked m40x-es and played it through my htc. HOLY LORD!! all my negative thoughts about these went away when the very first note came in. The music soon surrounded my face and I felt like sitting in a studio listening to near field studio monitors... nothing sounded in middle of my head. What took me by surprise was its tonality, these are a very natural sounding headphones, little narrow buy WAYYYYY better than my 202 in every regards. They fully encompasses my ears... clamping force took some time to loosen up and after that they just disappears on my head. Built quality is okay and can't be expected more at this price bracket. removable cable makes them more durable then you'd expect. You can play with some pad rolling, if you're not okay with comfort. Coming to the sound... They absolutely destroys every headphone in terms of value and neutrality under 12k. Things can't be bettr than these unless you're going high-end. Bass.. coming from 202, which isn't a bassy or warm headphone, bass has a good impact and extension. It isnt bleedy and vocals and guitars in mix can be easily separated. Bass isn't their main focus so can't rave about them. Treble.. 202s were quite trebly and sibilance was there in most songs.. but treble on these is slightly rolled off. But after removing the foam shields, it was pretty good. cymbals and hi-hats have a character.. but extension and decay was okay-ish or good depending upon your taste. Mids.. this was the area where I was sold on these. And Celine Dion's My heart will go on is a base song that I use to check the scaling and tone of hp. This song always made me emotional, but on these I got goosebumps. Ellie goulding's first time, love me like you do.. made me feel like sitting in a professional studio environment. Sam Cooke's A change is gonna come surrounded my head with music. I mostly listen to Indian classical and world fusion which sounded amazing on these, inspite of them being closed cans.(these genres sounds the best on 598 se though). All in all, these are a keeper and I will probably keep them even if I'll own a personal stereo setup. Let me remind you.. if you're going to buy these make sure you use a dedicated dac/amp with these to get the best outta these, I've bought q1 for them and they have improved their character and added a little warmth to them.

I have owned quite a few headphones but this is my first actual good quality headphones. Amazon delivered within a day, that too on standard free delivery! The sound clarity just blows my mind away. Build Very sturdy plastic, ear cups are large and comfortable. They clamp down well and act as good passive noise cancellation. Sound quality Stunning, flat headphones just as advertised. I have always liked flat headphones so that I can hear the mix as it is. The musician knows his music best and naturally will mix it the way he wants us to hear. Bass response is amazing, it just sits at the back of sound like a wall. Bass should never be the highlight and the headphones do justice to it. It doesn't muddy the sound with extra bass. Mids are just crisp, vocals and guitars cut through very well. You can hear the subtle nuances of the singer and the guitarist as the mids are so clear. Treble is good as well but importantly not very harsh. I am hearing newer things on songs that I have listened to for years. Looks Well, they are okay looking, but who cares? Anyways if you want use headphones as an accessory and don't care about the sound, you are better off buying the overpriced Beats. Con Only one, the detachable cables are proprietary, so you can't use just any standard male to male cable in case both the supplied cables wear out.

Bought these years ago and still works like charm.. totally worth every penny i spent on it... Hope the make more durable headphones coz the Hinges are not that great and break easily.. while the sound quality is top tear.. no doubt this headphone is one of the best out these for music production and sound engineering... I also use these for gaming and the panning and sound quality is dope..

Good product!

It's a complete value for money I preferred dis over the renounced and most popular m50x s because of two major reasons as the difference si price is a little over 3000 /- and secondly the m50x have a little tweeked bass , which I didnot wanted as one will be spending the money to listen true music . Well my major concern was the portability and the sound . And it turns out well on both the aspect Design : The design is simple and yet elegant with attention to detail ,though the product used to make the body is PVC (PLASTIC) but these are high grade material and fells premium and because of that that are quite light weight . The cutions are comfortable and very soft the material used is not leather but it's good though. After an hour of listening to music the area around the ear got hot which is normal as it's an around the ear headphone . The sound isolation is also good but u cannot expect quiet comfort quality but they resist most sounds. The foldable design was the main reason in preferred this over m 30x and also the option of two cables with detachable wire which is really convenient and it's worth paying extra for such a feature .the ear cups can lie flat when u drop it in ur neck . The cups rotate 90° which help adjust every head Sound : What you hear is the true sound the way it's meant to be no tweeked no extra bass.juat the best . Music which I have been hearing from years have just come to life with. Final word : I Highly recommend this product but if you budget is 10k you can go with M50x as it comes with a shorter cable and bass . The coiled cable is great but I you can buy shorter 1.2 m cable for convenience . The product is best used at home .

I confess to being a headphone addict and have several headphones mostly audiophile grade Sennheisers and have been suffering from an infatuation with Audio Technica's products. Let me explain why. What does one expect from the less expensive A-T studio monitor models, the first thing that comes to mind is compromises on sound quality, enduring build and certainly comfort. And here's where the baby from A-T's pro monitor series shines. If you like balanced sound, easy going and at the same time with just the right amount of liveliness and punch that make listening to music a great experience for the ears get this one instead of the well known sibling the wired M50x. The M40x and the MSR7 (which are even better, a hi res model, but at over 2x the price of the M40x) are exactly what I wanted when younger and no, I am not a bass head, but do not like thin tinny sounding cans or speakers. But there are certainly compromises compared to the M50x. To start, the ear pads are AWFUL! They are pretty poorly made - hard and unyielding. And to make things worse the head band holds your head in vice like grip. The band loosens up in time but dear God those ear pads are like blocks of wood pressing on your ears. I had to replace them with the super comfy Brainwavz pleather pads (separate reviews for them). Now, comfort increases but sound quality is impacted, as is always the case with 3rd party pads, hitting in the lower and mid bass region. But one can compromise on the sound a tiny bit for the superlative increase in comfort which make this headphone a solution for that situation where one has to choose just one model from the M series. Yes, get this rather than the M50x and you will be happier. The second compromise is in construction. They don't impart the same sense of quality that the M50x and higher do. And there are reports of older batches experiencing broken swivel hinges which have reportedly been fixed in new versions (my headphone set was made in Jun '19). I'd advise you to be a bit gentle with these cans. Third compromise - only 2 cables, both 3 m long one straight and the other coiled. Not good if you will use them with DAPs or mobile phones. Third party options are available - get the ones that fit the Sennheiser HD 5xx series of cans with the 2.5 mm tip and lock mechanism.