Audio-Technica ATH-IM50 Dual symphonic-driver In-ear Monitor headphones Black (Japan Import)

After four years my trusty Sennheiser MX470 finally succumbed. I needed a new pair of earphones to use that sounded really good. I've read a lot of reviews before I made the purchase and I must say, I'm not disappointed (so far).Fit:I had a little trouble positioning them in my ears at first but once I got past that part it was comfortable and was not immensely noticeable while moving your head. They are fairly lightweight for their size. I thought they would have been heavier. So you can probably wear them for some hours without any discomfort once you find the right ear tips to suit your ears.Build Quality:I expected these earphones to be high quality since I'm accustomed to the ATH-M50's build quality. The detachable cable seems very sturdy and it's thick. I did notice that the cable was a bit shorter than the cable on my previous earphones though (Sennheiser MX470). However, this isn't a problem for me. The earphones themselves are made of plastic and seems strong to withstand some bumps but I wouldn't want to carelessly handle these (e.g. Throwing them in your bag compartment of books, iPad etc. Put it in a compartment of its own and I would recommend getting a hard case for it).Sound Quality:Finding the perfect seal is important for great sound quality. They come with small, medium, and large silicone tips as well as one pair of medium comply tips. Once you found the perfect seal you'll be able to enjoy the superb sound quality these earphones have to offer. The bass stands out in these earphones; it's a clean sounding bass that didn't get distorted with high volumes. The treble is good but not particularly great for those of you who might have a preference for a lot of treble. Female vocals were stellar however. I can say that it's very close to being a mini ATH-M50, though the M50s do a better job (of course) at separating each instrument/sound.Verdict:I haven't used In-ear monitors that cost in excess of $100 but I can tell you that it's a great option if you're looking for a portable ATH-M50 that wouldn't hurt your wallet too much. They sound great and look great, (to some of you that matters) and of course it's very reasonably priced.

I needed a pair of in ear monitors. The kids absconded with my Sennheiser 300 ii and IE4.IM50 More neutral and accurate tonally than the Sennheiser earbuds. The IM50s are more robust in terms of build. They are more fiddly to get them in. The harder tips are an issue. I replaced them with Sennheiser tips and the ability to insert improved. Sound quality improved slightly as well. Bass is more neutral tonally but lacks the visceral impact of the IE4. The IE4 goes down further and has more speed. This is most apparent in the bass. These are not issues because of the increased amount of bass with the sennheisers, it is a matter of speed and extension.HD555/595. These are my main phones and absolutely kill the IM50 in terms of audio quality. The IM50 is neutral for earbuds and I am impressed with that. The HD555 (with 595 mod) just nails it for neutrality and tonal accuracy. Dynamics are captured better with the big Sennheisers. Resolution takes a big jump up. I can hear subtle details at 3 - 6 db lower volume with the HD555/595. Imaging is good but not quite 3D like the HD555/595. The soundstage is more narrow but well focused. .The HD555 is as good as it gets so I can state that the IM50 does do a good job because it is in the same ball park.The IM50 is good, not great. They are earbuds so I do not expect the kind of performance I get with open headphones. I have a pair of PX100-2 and they still are better in terms of audio quality. The issue is that when you need an in ear monitor that seals out as much of the outside world as possible, The big cans are out. The IM50 does this well. For instrument monitoring, I like them. If it were strictly voice, I would go IE4. It is a matter of resolution/midrange (IE4) or overall tonality (IM50).3/16/16 update. They are broken in more and there is a bit more resolution. The midrange on up is natural and fast. It is getting closer to the 555/595. However it does get some harshness when there is a lot of top end, The bottom end has some impact but is still sluggish and congested in comparison with the rest of the spectrum. I was honestly thinking of switching to some over the ear studio headphones for stage monitors. I am rethinking that and am running some music through the IM50s overnight to see if it makes some difference. I did put the original tips back on and they are breaking in as well. They now do work better than the Sennheiser tips and even provide better isolation.I have also been trying them with my O2 amp and it makes a considerable difference compared to my cmoy. The bass is faster but still a little congested compared to really good phones. The treble is not as harsh, and the midrange has even better resolution.

These are so much better than I expected. They fit kinda funny compared to traditionally styled earbuds, but there are no sharp edges or corners, and they fit in the ear space nicely. The pliable wire that you bend to hang over your ear holds its form nicely, and the gummies are comfy. The sound quality is a blessing of an upgrade from the apple earbuds i've been using. That isn't much of a base, though, so i'll say they're better balanced than the last high quality earbuds i owned: Beyerdynamic DX160IE. (they also sit more comfortably) the ATH's are better at keeping the details in bassy music separate and discernible. They keep this ability for mid and treble ranges too. there isn't any range or volume where they sound muddy or choppy, and they are very, very loud, a bonus thanks to their acoustic design. Having a large cavity sitting behind the opening is a huge plus. They sound fantastic by every metric I can think of. The elbow style 3.5mm jack is also a good design choice. I hate having a cord get bent out of shape right at that connection, but this one is nicely reinforced. would definitely buy again.

The few inches of wire immediately coming out of the earbuds themselves are designed to hold their shape, so the sleeve is somewhat stiff but malleable. Problem is that after enough movement, they break. The now-sharp sleeves cuts into the wire. Another problem is that there is not enough reinforcement of the sleeve at the point where it enters the earbuds. Imagine holding a long broomstick at the very end, and the broomstick is constantly moving--it's similar to that. There is a lot of force acting on a very small connection point, and eventually your hand just tires out and lets go.Overall it is just a very poorly thought-out and poorly executed design.

En el primer uso, se separó el cable del audífono, alucinante... La calidad de sonido no la pude ni apreciar... Literalmente no llegue a un minuto de escucha... No comprare más audiotechnica

Als Audio Technica-Stammkunde habe ich nach Inears gesucht, die dem Klangbild des ATH-M50 bzw. M50x entsprechen oder sehr nahe kommen. Zuerst hatte ich mir die ATH-E40 aus der aktuellen professionellen Linie geholt. Kurz: Ernüchterung! Allgemein verwaschener Klang, Stimmen fehlte der Körper. Nein, das war es nicht was ich gesucht habe. Dann den ATH-IM50, ebenfalls professionelle Serie (Japan-Import) bestellt und das war er, der Klang nachdem ich gesucht habe. Klar, differenziert und kein Instrument oder Stimme war über- oder unterbetont. Wichtig hierbei ist es die richtigen Silikon-Tips zu nehmen. Der Sitz im Ohr ist großartig, auch über länger Zeit und als Brillenträger. Das Kabel ist ordentlich verarbeitet und hat die richtige Länge.Über eines muss man sich hier klar sein: dies ist kein Inear für Leute die überzogene Höhen oder Bassmatsch lieben. Dies sind Profi-inears mit linearer Abstimmung und hochpräzisem Klangbild!!! Gedacht für Musiker und fortgeschrittene Musikhörer. Wer den ATH-M50 / M50x kennt und schätzt, wird mit diesen Inears sehr zufrieden sein.

Llegaron bien, sin ningún problema, exactamente el día que decía ahí. Suenan muy bien, sólo debes colocartelo bien en su posición y escucharas todo a la perfección. Su sonido es claro y los bajos se oyen bien. Muy buen producto.

I bought this item as part of Amazon's Great Indian Shopping Festival. I don't post many reviews but was actually searching for a comprehensive review posted here that could tell me everything about it and found that it lacked one. Now, that I have had a chance to experience this, I want to share my 2-cents. So, here goes:I had a Sony XB30EX in-ear headphones that I bought in 2013 for around 1800 bucks and one of its earbuds stopped working a few days back. I wanted to get it repaired desperately because the earphones delivered good bass and I thought they still had life in them. But, after much such searching for shops that could take care of it and being unable to find one, I dropped the idea and started a search for getting my second pair of in-ear headphones. Only this time, I wanted to up my budget a little and get the best available for anything less than 5000 Rs. I initially wanted to buy bluetooth earbuds because I thought the wired earphones are prone to damage due to their plugs or cables, but my friend convinced me that 3 years is pretty good service time for an earphone (as my Sony pair delivered) and that the bluetooth earbuds don't deliver the same quality of music that a wired earphones can give at the same price point. Hence, moved past that idea as well.So, after much searching for available earphones on Amazon and other Indian e-commerce websites and reading their reviews on the Internet, I shortlisted five: Fiio EX1, Audio Technica SonicFuel ATH-CK9IS, JBL Synchros 200i, Sony XB50AP and JLab's Epic Earbuds. One of the criteria that I used to shortlist was the driver size of the earphones. Usually, when the driver size is bigger, the bass produced will be higher. Among these, the Fiio, the Audio Technica, the JLab had 13.5 mm driver size (which is amongst the biggest the size can get), the Sony had 12 mm driver size and the JBL Synchros had 13mm driver size (not sure though). Out of these, I wanted to get the Fiio EX1 as I got to read universally positive and great reviews about the earphones and they were available for 4,999 Rs. (just below my budget) and hence waited for Amazon's festival to see the discount I would get.I found that the price didn't change one bit even after two days of the festival starting. Guess, the best earphones' prices are never changed. But, one of the problems that I regularly came across in the reviews of the Fiio EX1 was that its Sound Isolation wasn't that great. This meant that people could hear the outside world while playing music and the outside world could hear the earphone's music as well. Somehow, this factor soon became a kind of deal-breaker for me. So, I dropped the idea of getting it. Just as I was about to go back to the other four options I had shortlisted, I found the ATH-IM50s. They were available for 4100 and had 10 reviews against them with all of them being 5-star rated. I became curious and started reading and watching more of its reviews on the Internet. Got to know that these have dual-symphonic drivers (i.e. two drivers): one of the lows and for the highs. Also, the cables for these are detachable. So, if the cables/plug failed, I could get another cable. Due to these factors and numerous other positive points, I finally got convinced and ordered them.Delivery: Amazon's delivery was perfect. I opted for the 1-day delivery option for which I had to pay 100 Rs. extra and the item got delivered the next day. Would like to thank Amazon for the prompt delivery.Product Package: Was well packed. The item was one of the latest ones (manufactured in Aug-2016 and imported in September-2016) and would like to thank the seller for it (Just keep in mind that ATH-IM50 was launched at the fag-end of 2013 and became available in 2014). The price listed on the package is 5499. As, I snagged it for 4100, it meant that I got a discount of around 25%, which was decent.And now for the actual stuff. I would like to state, as a disclaimer here, that my review will be a little subjective, because let's face it. Every person's ears will be different and the fit of an earphone will be highly dependent on the kind of ears the person has. Also, I like having good bass but I don't want the mids to be washed out by it. So, let's dive into the review.Product: As I have stated, my criteria for rating the earphones is this: I should be able to clearly distinguish the notes of the instruments playing the music and most importantly, the product should have good bass. The IM50's score on both of these criteria. Before ordering the IM50s, I was a little apprehensive because the driver size of the earphones is 8.8 mm only and earphones that have great bass have much bigger driver sizes. To give you a sense, the Sony XB90EX has a driver size of 16 mm and has amazing bass. But, now that I have heard the IM50s, I can tell you that the bass gets really deep, whenever the required notes come in. The bass delivery is well controlled and doesn't overshadow the mids in the music. I consider this important as a lot of other earphones that deliver great bass overshadow the mids. With those earphones, you can't really enjoy the other notes, which is not the case with the IM50s. On the other hand, you might be able to find other earphones in this price that deliver even better bass, but they might overshadow the mids. As far as the treble on IM50 is concerned, there is no problem as the earphones can get pretty loud with the treble. I actually turned down the volume on my smartphone to around 50% as the earphones were getting very loud. Also, the female vocals are delivered splendidly on these earphones.Now, for the bad part. These are not earphones that you can just pick up, put in your ear and get going. These are in-ear headphones that actually wrap over your ear and hence putting them on correctly will take quite some time. I wasn't able to get a good fit in the first few days. The earphones kept falling out and I was desperately trying to tuck them back in. Fortunately, the instruction manual was a saver as it told me how exactly I should put these earphones on. Once I went by that, they fit right in. Once they fit in, they are very comfortable to wear. But, I still don't think one can go running or to the gym wearing these on. If you consider easy fit to be an important factor, you would want to keep looking because if the fit is not right with these earphones, you will definitely not get your money's worth. In fact, I was so disappointed with the ergonomics of these initially that I wanted to return them. But, now that I know how to put these on, though it takes time, I can live with the shortcoming.Now, you may ask me as to why I think the IM50s deserve a 5-star rating when I have highlighted that fit is a big issue with them. Well, the music-delivery is that good. At this price point, you'll be hard-pressed to find as good sounding earphones (with good bass and nice mids). Still, if you want to go a little higher with your budget, I would recommend you to check out the Fiio EX1. I have also read that the Sennheiser In-Ear momentums are good.Good Luck with your earphone-purchase.

Headphones I own. Atrio m5 mg7, sure se215 LTD, sidy dm2, phonak pfe, vsonic gr06, vsonic vsd3, jvc extreme bass, soundmagic pl30, soundmagic pl50.These headphones are awesome for the price. They have removable cables which is in my opinion a must have for any headphone you're going to be using for daily listening.The sound signature is definitely focused on bass , but its not overpowering or muddy. Good fit, good comfort.memory cables suck and can be a pain to put on