Hello fellow members of the tek I am looking for a pair of headphones for gaming,jazz,metal,and electronic music. With my budget I have narrowed down my search to two pairs of headphones. I have heard great things about both headphones and I wanted to hear some opinions from people who have already owned them and what to expect based on what I choose. Obviously these are two very different headphone being the audio technica's closed and the sennheiser is open back headphones. I also would like to know how much sound is going to come out of the sennheiser headphones when I am using them and if they would interfere with me talking to my friends on skype or teamspeak while playing a game, I currently own a blue yeti snowball microphone.
I own AT's lower-end ATH-M30's and the HD558's. I use the HD 558 a lot more for comfort reasons, and it sounds a lot better with acoustic music. It also has a better soundstage as well. So, I'd give the upper hand to the 558's for gaming and jazz. I still have my ATH-M30's because they have punchier bass, which makes them better for metal and electronic music. However, an important thing to note is that neither of them are bad for any of the uses stated. I rarely use my ATH-M30's today because the cushions are worn so thin that it rubs against my ear, so they are pretty uncomfortable for extended use, but I doubt that will be an issue with the M50's.
In short, you can't really go wrong with either, but if you are going to be using a sensitive mic in a quiet room, definitely go for the ATH-M50's. I haven't picked up any feedback from my ATR-4650 clip on mic while using the HD 558, but these do have a lot of noise bleed.
Thanks for your reply it is greatly appreciated. May I ask how long you have owned your 558's?
Since early January. I've had my ATH-M30's for 2 years.
558's and ATH-M50's are both great choices. I would go with the 558's if I were limited to those two pair.
You might also want to consider Fidelio X1's ~$220 (warm, fun, open), AKG Q701* ~$200 (articulate, clear, big sound stage, open), or AKG K612 ~$175 (no headband bumps, same great qualities as Q701--see review).
*I personally own Q701's, they're one of the most accurate options for FPS gaming [along with the K612] due to their sound stage and articulate sound signature. However, the top headband is very uncomfortable because of the little bumps. I removed the bumps on mine with a razor, they may not be as aesthetically pleasing anymore, to me it's totally worth it. I would have bought the K612's, but they were $250 at the time, now you can pick them up for about $176 on Amazon. I would've jumped on that in a heartbeat.
I am terribly sorry I did not see your reply. I think I have decided on the 558's because they are on sale for 119$ on amazon. I will look at the headphones you have suggested though thank you.
I had my HD558 for more than a month now. Fits very well into any head shapes and sizes. Sound is amazing; now I can find out a very bad quality audio more closely with this headphone. But as said, doesn't put out much of a bass. I think it's somewhat geared towards studio quality. But at least the HD558 isn't a phony, unlike the Beats.
And very well priced here too.
The bass was one of the first things I noticed with the 558's coming from my M30s, but I think its more a consequence of the design. I've noticed bass to be more punchier in closed designs, but the HD558s have a much more natural sound to them - I prefer them in acoustic/folk music. Loreena Mckinnett sounds better vs the ATH M30s.