M40x Professional Monitor Headphones Black

I don't know about everyone else but it took me about 18 months to make my decision over which headphones to purchase. I had spent countless hours in Curry's testing the headphones on offer.. Bose, Skullcandy, JVC's etc... and never really finding myself happy with how any of them sounded. Mr previous headphones were a pair of Panasonic DJ200's (I think) which I bought from Argos for less than £30. For the price these were excellent - not tinny and not too heavy on the bass. There were already a number of reviews here praising these headphones as being neutral which ultimately helped my decision. I had been so disappointed with many of the those I had tried in Curry's - Bose sounded screechy whilst others had so much bass you couldn't hear any other detail in the music. A previous reviewer had posted a link to some Youtube videos tested the headphones allowing you to compare the sound of the input against the output from the headphones using a dummy head and some pretty smart recording equipment - and these were the most neutral (I prefer 'faithful') sounding - and I guess that helped to swing it for me. The other factor was price - there was no way I could justify paying £300 or so for headphones but did eventually set myself a budget around the £120 - £150 mark. If I hadn't found anything within my budget I would have given up, so the £80 I paid for these was icing on the cake. I use these for movies on my tablet and they perform admirably but it is music where they excel, for everything from Rock to Classical music. Oh and if you are a fan of 80's Electro Funk - you really wont find anything better... Excellent headphones - more than happy to recommend. UPDATE 07/12/17 - Having had these headphones for 9 months now I thought I'd report back.... No problems whatsoever - no breakages, no damage to cushions, I use them every day either to listen to music or while watching videos on Youtube or iplayer and still find them comfortable, and if anything the sound is even better when they have had time to burn in properly. I didn't go above 80% for the first 20-30 hours of use and I think this is important. Unlike some other reviews, I don't find the cushions to be uncomfortable, I wear these with or without glasses and even with masking hearing aids for my tinnitus. As with all wired headphones the twisted cable can be a bit annoying, but I cant really see them being able to truly replicate the sound in a wireless pair. Still very happy, and definitely the best headphones I've purchased.

Excellent set of cans, which have met and probably exceeded my expectations. Initially I was wanting some wireless cans, for use with my Denon mini system. One of the reasons for wanting wireless was to enable me sometimes to sit at the other end of the room. But to get the sound quality I was wanting, I was moving further and further upmarket, eventually looking at much more expensive Sennheisers, which in absolute terms I could afford, but whose cost (for something I could actually live without) I could not justify. So then I thought about wired ones instead. I wanted closed headphones (if I want to hear external noise and am happy to inflict what I am listening to on others, then I don't need headphones at all), and the M40X immediately appeared on my radar. I would have liked to try them before buying, as I do with all my other hifi & AV purchases. I spent a long time looking at what was available, trying them out, and would have been happy to buy in store anything that I might find that impressed me. But alas that was not to be. So finding nothing in the shops that worked for me, and having read many reviews, both on Amazon and elsewhere, I decided to get these. 100% satisfied! I already own and use a set of Sennheiser HD280 Pro, mainly on my main hifi system, and they were tested some years ago alongside many others before I bought, and cost me many years ago pretty much what they would cost me today. When I bought these M40X, I was able to test the two pairs side by side on both sound systems. No complaints at all about these - they come out of the comparison very well. So, specifics about these ones: FIT for me they fit very well, very easily, and are comfortable. We all have different shaped heads, so no one set of cans will suit everyone, but these seem pretty flexible to me in terms of adjustment. The earcups twist and rotate very easily, and the whole thing can collapse to quite compact. Go easily into the supplied soft pouch. CONSTRUCTION The practicality of a removable cable is less than it might seem, as only an A-T cable with its bespoke locking mechanism will fit. And as commented by another reviewer, surely it's better to let the cable come out if strained, rather than have it break. (I lost and expensive pair of in-ears like that.) BUT... it means I can use the straight cable rather than the coiled one! There are many of you who think that coiled cable is so much better, as it extends as required, but for me it's a pain - when extended it always tries to recoil itself and starts to tug on your head; and when not extended, because there is so much cable in a short linear distance, you can never forget the weight of the cable hanging off your left ear; and tangle-free? I have never yet had a coiled "tangle-free" cable, be it on a phone or a set of cans, that has not ended up in a tangled mass at some point and even as you try to untangle it, it fights back. But that's just my opinion, and with these cans you get the choice, as it comes supplied with both. APPEARANCE Black. I don't give a hoot what they look like - for me this is not a fashion item but part of my sound system, and function is far more important. So if you want some different colour, well, choose something else. But I am pleased that the money has been spend on solid construction and sound quality .... SOUND QUALITY My assessment is based on listening through a decent quality hifi amp to a source of known quality. Bass sounds like bass, treble like treble and midrange like midrange. I can hear no discernible coloration of the sound, so no addition to, nor substraction from, what is already in there. For me that is how I like my audio products. So yes, it means that if there are shortcomings, or even simply characteristics, in your source material then you will hear them. I have tried them with high quality FM, hiss-free but poor quality DAB, CD (old & new, rock, pop & classical), vinyl, and maximum available MP3 and WAV stored on a hard drive, connected where appropriate with good quality cables, so enough to made a balanced assessment. And my assessment is that I love them! Easy to listen to over a long period of time, and I keep wanting to try them with more and more. And the issue of listening at the other end of the room was solved by adding a QED 3m extension cable, which has had no effect on what I hear. Nine years on, and the outer coating on the earpads is coming off, leaving bits of black plastic everywhere. Fixed easily by a replacement set of earpads and headband, which actually feel better quality than the originals. So I can continue to use them!

Whilst I do greatly appreciate good-quality music, I would not consider myself an audiophile; and on a budget, I just needed some decent-quality cans for everyday use to listen to music on my laptop with. However, the M40X's completely surpassed all expectations, and having been using them for several months now, they still sound amazing and no signs of wear at all! BUILD-QUALITY: The headphones have a very strong, sturdy construction, with a solid, yet comfortably padded headband, with the drivers attached via an adjustable metal band. The cups themselves are high-quality, robust ABS plastic, which has a very nice weight to it! The rubber padding around the cups also feel very soft, but do not feel likely to break for a long time. There are also two cables to choose from - coiled, or an insanely long un-coiled one - both great quality, and locking into the headphones firmly. SOUND: The M40X's, as the description says, sound very 'flat', with no particular emphasis on bass, mid, or high frequencies, which is exactly what I wanted (none of the Beats-esque uber-special-ultra-turbo B A S S enchancements, thank god :D). I mainly listen to alternative rock, post-punk, but also electronica and classical, so whether you prefer Modest Mouse, Strokes, The Prodigy, or Hayden, these cans will sound great, delivering every slight nuance in the music you listen to. However... it doesn't bother me personally, but the sound-stage is very, very "narrow", the sound isn't particularly spatial, or expansive - it has great fidelity, but very in your ear. I guess this is personal taste, but I would not recommend if this is not appealing for you. COMFORTABILITY: Although being fairly heavy (in a pleasant sort of way), these headphones aren't at all uncomfortable, with the pads fitting completely round my ear, and the rubber being very supple and soft - I have literally worn these for 5-6 hours, and forgotten I was wearing them! All in all, wonderful cans, would recommend to anyone whose fairly serious about sound quality, but not willing to fork out hundreds. Sure, there are obviously much better out there, and the sound-stage will surely put off some, but the fidelity, and crisp detail will give any music a clean, natural quality.

Sound If you want heavy subby bass, these aren't for you. if you want clear, clean accurate reference headphones, for mixing purposes, they're great and excellent value Construction the cups are articulated so that they can swivel and turn very easily. That's a great thing if you're a DJ trying to mix and hold over one ear I guess but it's slightly irritating when you just want a well-made, easy to put on your head pair of headphones. That said, the construction feels very good quality. Comfort I think I have a fairly big head and these do seem to clamp to my head quite tightly, but the padding is generous around the ears and the top head band. So I have worn these a few of times for a couple fo hours straight with no discomfort. Recording Being closed cup, they are great for recording vocals and we have found no bleed when singing even very closely to a mic Accessories Came with a nice quality pouch, but you do have to fold the headphones down to get them in. A great thing about these phones though is the interchangeable leads - long straight and shorter curled. I really like the locking plug that attaches to the headphones so you can't accidentally pull it out. Conclusion For the money these are really good quality headphones and would suit a studio or live situation very well. the folding up design is a very, very minor irritation for me that somebody else would really like. I know nothing about DJing and listen mostly to recorded live acoustic music, rather than digital. Would thoroughly recommend them

Audiophile Summary: The ATH M40X are not a downgrade of the M50X. They are inequal in quality; yet quality equalisation makes up for the difference in driver size of 5mm. The 40s offer a flat, precise playback with less than astounding bass. The 50s offer over-equalised, excellent quality bass (which does not necessarily mean they are superior; in specific respects). Bass: The downfall of an otherwise perfect headphone. Understandable and forgivable due to price limitations. The bass is of excellent quality, yet lacks the driver size required to properly offer a powerful and distinguishable tone. Extremely (note, extremely) heavy bass will become noisy and distorted; which is highly irritating. The M50X will take the same bass tones and deliver them free of noise and distortion. The bass as a whole is very good, and will impress anyone. It offers decent strength; and is undoubtedly an inspiration to other creators for what should be bass quality at low price. Does not match the fidelity of the ATH M50X. Mid (Normals, AKA Vocals) Tones: Of excellent quality. Slight noise impairment is noticed at all levels by my ear, yet this is to be disregarded as the quality of playback equipment may not have been sufficient - however, if you use a smartphone or average on board motherboard audio, you may hear noise disruption of the signal here. The quality of these frequencies is close enough to those of the ATH M50X so that I could consider them equal. They once again, surpass the quality expected of such a price point. Treble (Naturals, highs): Exemplary. They excel in quality here more than one would expect from headphones at a price point more than double this product. Clear and more than simply crisp: as if existent. The quality is unprecedented at this price point, and the next for these tones (similarly, the Mids are excellent (not to the same scale, however)). I can imagine that this frequency is the clearest possible for this price point. EQ: This is down to personal preference. These are flat. Note that "flat" does NOT mean that the bass is nonexistent, but rather natural in strength - so it has a relatively strong "push" and the vibrations are not tangible. These headphones do an exceptional job at being flat but not studio. Seeing as EQ is such a subjective statistic, I can not comment further. I recommend these for: GAMING - QUIET (footsteps, ambience) 10/10 GAMING - BASIC (master sounds, primary FX) 10/10 GAMING - MUSIC (music, tracks, background feel) 8/10 (due to distortions in bass, personal preference) MUSIC: Heavier bass tracks or Treble/Mid based tracks. Otherwise, M50X may offer a personal preference. (personal preference) Extreme bass not recommended at all. MIXING: Not recommended. Instead, get Studio Headphones. RECORDING MUSIC: Not recommended. Instead, get Studio Headphones.

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 03.01.2019 With 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.

I originally bought Audio Technica’s ATH M50x after hearing excellent reviews. At first, I was impressed because they were a substantial improvement over an old pair of Bose headphones. However, further reading and a friend’s recommendation, suggested that the M40x were better. This is correct, and I would VERY MUCH suggest buying these over their more expensive brother. I do think the M40x has a flatter sound than the M50x. Like the M50x, these have alleviated, fat bass, which while suffers from some inconsistencies, is generally-speaking well controlled and does not bloat the midrange like the M50x. The midrange has much more body than the M50x too but can be forward depending on certain genres (particularly the upper mid frequency). Highs are smooth – much smoother than the M50x – and are pretty detailed. I use these in conjunction with changed pads (Brainwavz HM5) and an Audioquest Dragonfly DAC Amp which are a worthy purchase if listening to music through a computer. The small – but direct – soundstage these have is dramatically improved and allows the excellent imaging these have, more space to really shine. The ways these image is perhaps my favourite aspect – it is truly excellent. Overall, these have a great, clear sound which isn’t perhaps highly ‘neutral’ - a rather subjective term at best - but are fun, engaging and can be listened to for extended periods. If you are prepared to spend a little extra cash (price depending on ohmage), Beyerdynamic’s DT 770 Pro might be another reference headphone worthy of a consideration. I have listened to the 250 ohms version and are a more ‘neutral’ headphone than the M40x – especially in the bass and midrange region – but I personally found the highs/treble region to be too bright, sibilant or shrill for my taste. However, this is apparently meant to decrease with burn in time. Nonetheless, for the truly uncoloured midrange alone and faster detailing, it may just be worthy of a consideration, if a more accurate listen is what you’re after. However, for under £100 the M40x is a dependable and highly recommendable buy.

For the longest time I've been using the lower end ATH-M20x model which have been pretty much perfect for me, but after developing a rattle in the right earcup (I drive these things pretty hard on my desktop) and having the pads turn to a cracked, solid lump, I decided to upgrade. These things are amazing. The size adjustment is much nicer and stays in place properly, the detachable cable is excellent (my 20x cable turned to inflexible plastic near the top), they cancel out noise much more effectively, and they sound better. This is not to bash the 20x - for the price they are an excellent pair and sound wonderful, it's just that these 40xes are another league above. My only annoyances are the fact that the cable is semi-proprietary and it clamps a little too much on my head and causes some pain in my right ear after a long time. The cable has a built in locking mechanism and uses a smaller jack to plug in. The locking feature is neat but when it gets caught in my chair I would rather it disconnect than violently rip the headphones off my head...! I don't care much for the folding aspect (and I've pinched my fingers with it before...) but it's a neat option to have. I would highly recommend these to anyone looking for a decent pair of monitors, or in my case with a slight EQ, a regular pair of headphones. EDIT 17/6/22: Still absolutely perfect! And the pressure on my right ear has gone too.

Better then I thought

Very useful for mixing and monitoring as it's frequency response is very flat. Not that type of fancy or fun headphones. These are headphones for surgical mixing tasks. Highly recommend.

Premetto che non sono un tecnico del suono né un dj né un audiofilo esoterico. Sono un normalissimo appassionato di musica che cerca di ascoltarla al meglio delle possibilità delle mie tasche. Le ATH M40X sono per me le prime cuffie serie, ho sempre snobbato l'ascolto in cuffia prediligendo i diffusori e limitandomi all'ascolto della radio con gli auricolari del telefono. Attirato da questo nuovo modo di ascoltare ho preso le Audio Tecnica e devo dire che sono davvero contento. Le ho prese sfruttando la promozione di Amazon Warehouse pagandole circa 50€, sono arrivate il giorno dopo dalla Germania in perfetto stato, scatola intatta e cuffie senza neppure una riga. L'unico problema che ho riscontrato è stato che nella confezione c'era tutto tranne l'adattatore per il jack da 3.5 a 6.5. Ho scritto subito al servizio clienti che mi ha proposto un ulteriore sconto di 12€ in alternativa al reso. Beh che dire alla fine ho speso neanche 40€ per avere una paio di ATH M40x nuove, perfette e senza un difetto. Con due euro di adattatore ho risolto. Passiamo al prodotto: le cuffie sono molto comode anche per chi come me porta gli occhiali, nessun fastidio dopo una sessione di tre ore. Le ho collegate al mio ampli Rotel ed ho ascoltato diversi LP, scusate ma la denominazione vinile mi dà ai nervi...il suono è meravigliosamente asciutto, reale e spazioso. Non ho notato enfatizzazioni in nessun ambito, suono cristallino, sincero e straordinariamente appagante. Sono contento dell'acquisto, sono contento di poter ascoltare più spesso i miei dischi, anche quando non sono solo in casa come facevo prima, mi allungo sul divano, chiudo gli occhi e mi sento nel pieno di un concerto, anche se sullo stesso divano il resto della famiglia di ottunde i pensieri davanti a qualche fiction... Grazie ad Amazon ho potuto acquistare delle cuffie , per me, fantastiche al prezzo che avrei speso per un paio di auricolari bluetooth entry level. FANTASTICO!!!!! Dopo 5 mesi di utilizzo non posso che confermare quanto scritto in precedenza. Ottime

Good for mixing and video work. Real sound.

I read a lot of positive reviews on internet about these headphones and it was crucial factor for decision. But as all good things, even this one has a flaw and I'll write about it at the end. I like feel as it is made of quality materials, included cables are excellent as the way of connection and securing the cable in headphones. In term of sound quality there is not a single negative word as these headphones are no joke and are on the entry point for music enthusiasts as more serious hobby producers. But the main issue here is this incredibly strong pressure or squeezing the head. First impression was due to this, very negative as my ears hurt, I had headaches and I couldn't wear them longer than half an hour. I did what many users recommended - stretch them overnight as plan to weaken too strong head band. Also, a big flaw are ear cups. Original cups are to stiff and ears really hurt. It's funny how manufacturer does not fix this issue as users have bad experience of these cups for many years now. Also I took suggestion and ordered off-brand soft ear cups. The difference is in lighting years! Now I finally really like these headphones. I'm giving them 5 stars because with this cheap modification they can really be quality product and enjoyable to use. It would be a pity giving just 4 stars since all other factors are very decent.