Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own a pair of Grado SR80 for years using a Grado headphone amplifier in my office. The Grado serves me well except it is not the most comfortable pair of headphones. The other problem is the open design which leaks out sound which may disturb my officemates. I have been searching for a replacement on and off for a while. Finally, I read enough reviews and jumped on eBay and scored a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 for under $100 shipped. Without burn-in, I would say these compare really well (at par) with Grado SR80. Although I think the sound stage presented by SR80 is wider may be due to the open design. M50 with the closed back design seems a tad closed in. But, nevertheless, the sound right out of the box is really good. I can say a good pair of headphones can certainly beat loudspeakers that cost 10x even 20x. My Dunlavy SCII with Velodyne DD15 will shy away in comparison with M50. Very neutral and detailed sound stage. The fitting is a bit tight. I plan to stretch it out using my desktop PC while doing some burn-in. Initial comparison with Grado back to back, I noticed the following: 1. At same volume level, M50 plays louder than SR80 2. Sound isolation of M50 is pretty good, plan to use it on airplane 3. The sound stage of SR80 is wider 4. M50 has better bass than SR80 5. Highs and mids are very close with slight preference for M50 6. Fit and comfort of M50 is better but I hope it will loosen up a bit after use 7. Build quality is much better for M50 - obviously SR80 foam cushion is deteriorating after a few years of use I'll update this review when the burn-in is complete. -------------------------------------------------------- Update after 100-hour burn-in Sound updates: I compared to my office-mate who owns a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. Right off the bet, we both noticed how much more open the ATH-M50 sounded. This is before the burn-in. I am even more impressed after the burn-in. The close-in that I commented before comparing to my Grado SR80 is now gone. The bass also improves quite a bit. Off course, my home system with Velodyne DD15 packed a better punch but this is not a fair comparison. Comfort: Stretching for 100 hours also loosened up the fit so it is very comfortable. My only gripe is the top of the headband still has a pressure point. I might just bend to provide a better fit. All in all, if you are shopping for a sub $100 headphone, you cannot go wrong with this one. Highly recommended!