These were quite poor. I'd rather live with the earbuds that came with my smart phone and eat sand for a week to save up for something better. Enclosure issues were of major concern, possible mod candidate. But other than that, the Tascam TH02 is just as cheap and sounds better stock than this thing. And probably has more modding potential.
My biggest issue with these sonically is that they tend to have a compressed bass sound. They don't render low notes naturally and with gusto; poor bass decay characteristics? Some others noted a bit of shoutiness in the vocal range. Other than that these are pretty well balanced all-arounders. They have pretty good punch and snap which a lot of people who are new to hi-fi might like. If I only got to use cheap headphones these would be my go-to for electronic music. Value is poor though; I remember seeing the original M50 go on Amazon for $100 all the time. That'd be a more appropriate price.
I thought these were quite poor, 2nd to last in front of the shit Monoprice ones. Lo-fi sounding. Readily apparent grain. Decent tonal balance; no matter how bad it is technically speaking, it's still a Sennheiser.
My favorite of this comparison. Most natural and most detailed. Without fake detail. Seemed to have the smoothest, most correct treble quality. Bass distortion did rear it's head in my listening though. Think scaled-down, lower-fi HD600. For the price it's a champ. But before you buy this, check to see how much more the HD598 is.
2nd from the top behind the HD558 (in my book). While it gains a +1 for better bass, it's a -2 for tonal deviations elsewhere in the spectrum. I would describe this as a studio monitor with aspirations of neutrality. But it got lost somewhere along the way. Still excellent an buy, especially considering build quality, fit and finish, accessories, intangibles. I could definitely live with these headphones as a semi-portable secondary rig and that says a lot.
I wasn't crazy for these like some others were. Bass just too far north of neutral for my sensibilities. Other than that these are competent. These are easily a Beats killer.
