Sony MDR7506 vs. Audio-Technica ATH-M50 vs. Sennheiser Black HD 558

[joshj2398]

Ok so I've grown extremely tired of my Beats Studios I got for my birthday a couple years ago and NEED new headphones. The only problem is that I'm not sure which headphones to get: Sony MDR7506, Audio-Technica ATH-M50, or the Sennheiser Black HD 558. Which of these 3 have the BEST overall sound quality?

EDIT: After figuring out that the Sennheiser's are open, they are out of the race.

 

[mouse24]

Well it depends on what you want out of your headphones. If you don't mind the sennheiser veil and the much much lower bass (than the beats) the 558s are very nice. They are an open set so they leak sound quite a bit. I personally didn't like them because of the veil.

Never heard the sony or the ATH-M50s, but if you can afford to look at a pair of beyerdynamic DT990s that what I'd go with (just picked up a set and they are quite nice.

Might have more luck over at the head-fi forums.

 

[joshj2398]

Anyone else care to contribute?

 

[AgentTran]

I would recommend the 558's.
M50's are generally worshipped throughout the world, and they are righteous to that but because of that other brands with other headphones have not received as much attention.

The 558's are a solid pair of headphones, but you've cut them out of the race.

So now it's up to the Sony's and the M50's but I have never heard of the M50's.
What I can recommend myself are the SRH 440's though, they're Closed-back and are really cheap.

They come in at about $85, and the replacement 840 pads come in at around $15 setting the price at $100.
I would go for that, I ordered a pair myself.

But other than that, I would recommend you get some help looking at some audiophile orientated forums.

 

[ssddx]

i've owned a pair of m50s for years and generally they are quite excellent considering the reasonable price.

another great pair of headphones is the beyerdynamic dt770 which is often considered as a m50 alternative. the 250ohm version sounds best but requires an amp. both the 32ohm dt770 and the 38ohm m50 dont need an amp typically unless your source has extremely low output.

video comparision
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pK7QbLNjno

sennheiser makes some nice products but they tend to be very light on bass. other than the xb series sony headphones arent bad however i dont think they are anywhere close to best in class.