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Seems like bluetooth headphones are a dime a dozen nowadays, but the difference between them all still comes down to sound quality. Budget pricing is no good deal if they don't sound great! That's where the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT bluetooth version of their famous M50 studio monitors are a huge win; they have fantastic sound and are a great deal for the price.
Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ checks out the aptX and AAC performance of the ATH-M50xBT headphones with both an Android phone and an iPhone and finds them to consistently create a terrific listening experience. Add 40 hours on a charge, bluetooth 5.0 and optional wired use and you have a solid option for discerning audiophiles.
Check it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JZZOiO
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0:00
You know the brand, but do you know these headphones
0:02
Let's check them out. Oh, hey, Dave Taylor here, and I'm checking these out
0:14
These are great. These are the Audio Technica, ATHM-50XBT. So the M-50 is a really popular studio monitor headphone from Audio Technica
0:25
and these add Bluetooth capabilities. As you can see, there ain't no wires
0:30
They support APTX and AAC. I'm using an Android phone, so I'm getting APTX, and holy cow, these sound really nice
0:39
So, they're powered by 45 millimeter drivers, and they're giving you 15 to 28,000 hertz frequency response with 99 decibels of sensitivity
0:49
And if you plug them in, and it does come with the wire, I'll show you that in a second
0:53
Then you're getting 38-on impedance. Now, Bluetooth, obviously, that's a different ballgame
0:57
It's okay. Now, they are battery powered, of course, and they run 40 hours on a charge
1:03
Now, charging takes a while if they're completely dead. It'll be an overnight charge, but 40 hours, that's crazy
1:09
It's a long time. Now, they also have a built-in microphone, and the microphone's on the headset
1:15
So if you use it wired, you still get the microphone to work. I tried it out on a couple of phone calls and stuff
1:21
Didn't like it very much. First problem is I don't like phone calls when I have noise-isolating headphones
1:26
of course the person on the other end sounds really good but there's a lot of ambient
1:30
acoustics that I'm used to when I'm on a phone call now they said I sounded pretty
1:35
distant so I had to talk a little more loud and I don't really like doing that but I
1:40
suppose you can do that it also lets you work with your voice system so you can use
1:45
something like Google Assistant on an Android or you can use Siri if you on an iPhone and of course if you on an iPhone it going to use AAC So again you get that really nice audio It is powered by Bluetooth 5 and I had zero problems with dropout
2:00
And I could walk a good 10, 15 feet away from my Bluetooth device, in this case, the Google Pixel 3A, worked great
2:09
I've been listening to Spotify, my own music. I paired it to my iPhone and I was using iTunes there
2:15
So, you know, really gave it a bunch of different scenarios to try out
2:20
Now, as you can see, it is a sort of soft padding on the headset
2:26
And there's a sort of combination of plastic and metal. So this is metal, but these are plastic
2:33
Feels pretty nice to me in terms of build quality. So I have no issues with that
2:38
And the only sort of the big complaint I have about this, I have two complaints about this
2:42
And then we'll talk about the sound, because that. blows off the complaints. But for the complaints, number one, it's pretty tight. Now, as with any
2:51
headphones like this, if you use it for a while, it'll loosen up a little bit. If you have a
2:56
Cabesa Grande, like me, not a huge big deal. Obviously, no active noise control, but you do
3:03
get noise isolation with the padding and everything. But the thing I found a little confusing is
3:08
that the controls that are on the side of the ear cup are on the left side, not the right
3:15
side. Now, it might just be me, but I'm used to if I have headphones on using my right finger
3:20
to control things, that's how it works with my Seinhisers and my biodynamics and everything
3:25
But audio technical decided to put it on your left ear. Now, you could flip the whole thing
3:30
around, but then it's not really exactly designed to be laid out that way. So, you know
3:35
you got the little L and the R to remind you which year is which So probably follow that along You can get the hang of it And while we talking about it let have a close of the controls So there off and Bluetooth
3:49
and then there's a micro USB for charging. There's the little connector. And it is a custom
3:55
wire if you want to use these wired. And then they have the typical three-button inline control
4:01
that you're used to probably from your earbuds and stuff. So it's the same basic, volume up
4:05
volume down previous next track pause play take the phone call hang up the phone call all of those
4:11
jammed into three little buttons pretty handy right now let's see comes with this swanky carrying case
4:17
and it also comes with a charging cable because you probably don't have any micro USB charging cables
4:24
right and it comes to the 1.2 meter cable and this is somewhat of a custom cable though you can use it
4:32
with it looks like, it's a little confusing because it looks like a standard 3.5 millimeter plug
4:39
but this is a three section on one end and a four section on the other
4:43
So this might be a custom cable that you'd have to use the audio technica cable with the headphones
4:48
Probably not a big deal. The vast majority of the time you're going to use these wirelessly. And here's why you're going to use these wirelessly
4:55
They sound fantastic. I mean, it's a really nice sound. It's not an entirely flat studio monitor style sound
5:04
So if you're looking for something that is perfect to use in a recording studio
5:08
these probably aren't it, but they give you a really nice, punchy bass
5:13
and all the way the mid-range up to the highs are really clear. There's just a clarity to the overall sound that's really terrific
5:21
Really good sound stage. I was just like, you know, listening, eyes closed
5:26
laying on the couch, enjoying a couple of songs. And you know they good headphones when you listen to music you listen to all the time and you hear new things That how good these are they really really clean there like I said a lot of precision and clarity to the sound which is really terrific so lots to
5:44
like about these I'm a big fan and they come with this audio Technica connect
5:49
app and here's a screenshot of it I don't really fully get what it's for other
5:53
than to upgrade the firmware once in a blue moon but I did that first thing I
5:57
did when I plug you know plug these in connect connected these to the phone, connected the phone and the Bluetooth to the Audio Technica Connect app
6:05
and immediately it said, you have a firmware update. So five minutes later, my firmware was updated, everything's hunky dory, and they still sound, you know, I don't know what changed, but they still sound great
6:16
So all this left to talk about is the price. But before we get there, let me ask if you, you can subscribe to my channel
6:24
Really appreciate when you do that. So, these Audio Technica, ATH, M50X, BT, really terrific Bluetooth headphones will cost you $188 at Amazon.com
6:39
And I say they are a pretty darn good price. These are really nice
6:44
You know, I listen to lots of little earbuds and lots of small devices. And every so often I get to put on regular, normal, big studio-style headphones
6:52
And remember what really big, expansive sound is. That's what these are, and they're really good
7:00
So I say check it out, and I'll catch you in my next video
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