12th August 2008
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#1 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
Thread Starter | Audio Technica ATH-M50 or Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro.
I was dead set on getting the Audio Technica ATH-M50 after hearing how good they were. I bought a pair for my dad a couple weeks ago and indeed they sounded great. I was in my local shop today and noticed a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro on the shelf. I know these are also highly regarded so decided to try out a pair on a Roland Fantom 8 and they too sounded great! Very clear, detailed and not overly done on any frequency range. Now I am stuck! Both the AT and the BD are within $10 of each other so no problem financially deciding. If anyone had to pick between these two which would you get and why? I am going to hold off on my purchase till I get some more feedback. My dadn't doesn't live relatively close by so unfortunately I can't easily try out the ATH-M50 again to compare to the BD DT770 Pro.
EDIT... I understand there is two versions as well, an 80 ohm and a 250 ohm version. The one at the shops I tried were the 250 ohm variant. They were powered straight from the Fantom keyboard itself without a headphone amp. I understand the higher ohm version is better suited towards using a headphone amp. Is there any difference between the 80 ohm and the 250 ohm version other than the power rating? I have heard that the 80 ohm version are slightly better? In what regard I have no idea. If anyone can chime in on that please do. They will be used straight from the headphone out of my Mackie 1402VLZ-Pro if that means anything. Which would I be better off getting? I understand even the 80 ohm version can benefit from a headphone amp?
Thanks.
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12th August 2008
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#2 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2008 Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 875
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The 80 ohm headphones will be louder under the same volume settings than the 250 ohm. I'm not sure how it affects sound quality.
I can't speak for the ATs, but my 770s (these ones Beyerdynamic DT 770 M | Sweetwater.com) are very comfortable and the isolation is excellent! thumbsup
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12th August 2008
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,799
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I have both. If I could only have one - it would be the beyers. But they are both great and I intend on keeping both.
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13th August 2008
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#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,512
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IMHO, the ATH50 sounds much closer to the HD600 than the 770pro. At a fraction of the price too!
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13th August 2008
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#5 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
Thread Starter |
Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. Perhaps I should also look into the HD650 since it also gets a lot of mention? Competition is a great thing in the world of products, but it also makes it quite hard to decide on just one thing!
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13th August 2008
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#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2003 Location: Chicago
Posts: 883
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I like my 600s better than the 650s i owned. I also own 3 sets of the AT's and have been happy with them for field use as the price and isolation is nice.
Frost
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19th August 2008
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#7 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
Thread Starter |
Well this really sucks. I borrowed my dads ATH-M50 for this week to give them a good work out. I find they sound great, but I really wanted to try the DT770 at home while I have the ATH-M50 here to A/B them and find out which I like better. Turns out I wasted my time going to my local shop as they won't allow me to rent out headphones for hygiene reasons. I asked if I could buy them and return them if I didn't like them and they said no for the same reason! Bah, now I am at a total loss at which to get, cause for $200 I am stuck with whatever I come home with, even if I could have done better. I really don't know which pair to get.
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19th August 2008
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#8 | | Gear nut
Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Sao Paulo/Brazil
Posts: 119
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I have both. Right now i'm in love with ATH-M50, but i used the DT770 for 3 years with no complain.  | |
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19th August 2008
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,512
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Buy the AT's! There is a huge demand for them here in LA. If you don't like them, you can easily resell them. I have both and love the M50.
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19th August 2008
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#10 | | Gear addict
Joined: Feb 2005 Location: Brighton UK
Posts: 437
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Cantankerous  Well this really sucks. I borrowed my dads ATH-M50 for this week to give them a good work out. I find they sound great, but I really wanted to try the DT770 at home while I have the ATH-M50 here to A/B them and find out which I like better. Turns out I wasted my time going to my local shop as they won't allow me to rent out headphones for hygiene reasons. I asked if I could buy them and return them if I didn't like them and they said no for the same reason! Bah, now I am at a total loss at which to get, cause for $200 I am stuck with whatever I come home with, even if I could have done better. I really don't know which pair to get. | Tell them you'll pay the full price but take the demo pair. If they work out you'll come back in a few days and exchange for new. If they don't work out you'll give them back their demo pair and get your money back.
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20th August 2008
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#11 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by allstar Tell them you'll pay the full price but take the demo pair. If they work out you'll come back in a few days and exchange for new. If they don't work out you'll give them back their demo pair and get your money back. |
Thanks for the suggestion but I already tried. Unfortunately they have no 'demo pairs', only new in box. They said for the rare times they do get demo pairs of higher end cans they end up being used in store for the V-Drums etc.
I have my dads pair of ATH-M50 here already and they do sound good. Since I really can't find an easy way to try the DT770 in my own working environment, I may just get the ATH-M50 since it is guaranteed. I really don't feel like wasting $250 right now with buyers remorse.
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20th August 2008
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#12 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Cowboy California
Posts: 556
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Beyer 770 pro: Freakin Awesome. I have not heard the AT 50's but I tried them on, since they were daintfully hanging on the headphone rack at my dealer, and their is no comparison: Beyers are easily 5x more comfortable. Once you put on Beyers, they stay put and ofcourse keep your ears dry.  Add that to their well balanced sound stage and your dealing witrh a Studio Standard pair of headphones.
Oh, Im buying some AT-50's in the near future to replace my Sony 7506's so heck buy either or but Beyers are a step up from the 50's.
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20th August 2008
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#13 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2003 Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 1,055
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If it helps, new ATH-M50s are only $110 or so on e-bay. I picked up a pair there and they are quite nice. I usually use them or my old pair of AKG K-500s depending on what I'm listening to. The Beyers are @$144 a pair, new, on ebay. So you could get both for @ $250.
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Yeah I'm an attorney, but everyone needs a day job.
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20th August 2008
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#14 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
Thread Starter |
I'm going to check out ebay, thanks for the suggestion. With me being in Canada however I have to find a seller who doesn't gouge on shipping and whom will ship with USPS to help me avoid brokerage fees.
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20th August 2008
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#15 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2003 Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 1,055
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Well, some of those prices were with free shipping (at least in the States), so the incremental cost of shipping to Canada shouldn't be too bad.
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25th January 2009
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#16 | | Gear Head
Joined: Dec 2008 Location: UK
Posts: 49
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I'm considering buying one of these 2 aswell. Do any of these pairs require amps? I will be working with an mbox 2 if that's of any help.
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25th January 2009
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#18 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,102
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Recently discovered the Beyers... Love 'em. they lack a bit of the detail that my Grados have, but they're far "friendlier" to listen to, are 10x more comfortable, and I still make good mix decisions with them...
(Never tried the ATs)
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25th January 2009
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#19 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Jan 2009 Location: Seattle
Posts: 270
| Quote:
Originally Posted by zeppe +1 on the M50s . Great phones, got rid of 2 Beyer DT100's which I just hated  Bought a set of M50s and 3 sets of M40s with the proceeds.
The ONLY thing I dont like about the M50's is the curly lead, its a pain in the arse, always getting tangled...meh | You can also get the ATH-M50 with a straight cable (ATH-M50S). That's what I have. Price difference is negligible.
Jeff
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6th February 2010
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#20 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Australia
Posts: 958
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Bit of a bump.
I'm in the same boat.
Just for mixing really.
There seems to be as many for and against. I'm leaning towards the ath-m50s though. People seem to think that the m50s are less flattering and more true to the source. But the extended bass of the dt770s appeal to me as i don't mix with a sub at the moment.
Any more thoughts?
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6th February 2010
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#21 | | Gear nut
Joined: Nov 2009 Location: south
Posts: 133
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770/600 ohm version
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6th February 2010
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#22 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Sep 2009 Location: The Muddled West
Posts: 163
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Beyers always sound pretty good to me, but don't overlook the new Shures [all 3 models] that sound better than the AT's to me...and are reasonably priced, and Shure will repair them, and stand by their products! I have had a demo pair of the Shures in the studio, and have had my clients a/b against my other studio phones [fostex t20's, AT40's, Sony's, and AKG240's] and they all like the Shures better... not that scientific, but telling none the less. For the CR I have the Shures, Beyer's, Sennheisers, and Grado. They all sound different, and have various levels or isolation, bass response, HF, etc.
Most of these don't hold up all that well to daily abuse by my clients, and I can't say that spending $1k every few years on headphones is very exciting compared to buying a new toy! Shure builds rugged products and services them very, very well.
Try before you buy! Good luck
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6th February 2010
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#23 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 3,349
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FWIW, I would not choose the ATs if Beyers were available (but whether I would choose closed Beyers such as the 770s or an open-back design such as the 880 would depend on whether I was most concerned with isolation or reference - but either way, I'd go with Beyers).  | |
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7th February 2010
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#24 | | cork sniffer
Joined: Dec 2009 Location: Naperville, IL
Posts: 1,530
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Originally Posted by Pohaku Well, some of those prices were with free shipping (at least in the States), so the incremental cost of shipping to Canada shouldn't be too bad. | Got mine for $85 off eBay with free shipping...
Also, shipping to Canada can be expensive. I sold a Emu 1212m to a guy in Canada, shipping was $40 for the cheapest of all the different shipping services. Guy left me bad feedback and never paid for it either!
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7th February 2010
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#25 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,055
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Originally Posted by Ron Vogel Got mine for $85 off eBay with free shipping...
Also, shipping to Canada can be expensive. I sold a Emu 1212m to a guy in Canada, shipping was $40 for the cheapest of all the different shipping services. Guy left me bad feedback and never paid for it either! | Free trade at its finest. Brokerage fees kill and sales tax on new cross border purchases. You would think 2 countries right beside each other could do a better job of this in 2010. That would kill the pigs at the trough and they don't like that  | |
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