Customer Reviews

Audio-Technica ATH-M30 Professional Headphones

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After purchasing an iPod mini, I thought I could use much better headphones to test the quality of the aiff files provided by iTunes. I must emphasize that I am not an expert as the other reviewers. When choosing this pair, I read reviews and looked for high quality under 50 bucks. These headphones put my big stereo speakers to shame. I can hear the background singers and instruments I haven't heard before. They sound completely awesome! (no, really, they do). There is a little bit of leak, not much. and they are extremely comfortable and lightweight on the head. I'll be testing them out extensively this weekend while traveling on airplanes. Update on airplane use: they are not noise canceling headphones, but they did block the noise of a few verbally obnoxious passengers, and while volume was cranked up, no one knew how much the tunes were cranked up. My friends that have tried them out call them *amazing*, like a symphony hall.
Around the house, they block out flushing toilets, dishwashers, and those annoying sounds from the kids' room. The cord is super long, so I can keep my iPod in it's dock on the kitchen counter and walk around and cook dinner and clean. And the connector has a strain relief so I know that the cord won't break off from running around.
I also needed headphones to go with my laptop while watching DVDs and listening to music and other computer things. Unlike my other cd headphones, these are in stereo and pick up amazing sounds. Also, they block out the computer sounds of the dvd spinning.
I suppose they weren't made for household use, but they sound so good, that they will keep me happy for a long time, baby.

My late headphones set the standard by which I judge all others. With a pair of titanium drivers, they had the best frequency response of any set of headphones I have ever used. There were two problems: they were open, and the cord was extremely thin and prone to breaking.

Enter the ATH-M30. With a thick cord entering on only one side and nearly impervious to wear and tear, closed ears eliminating much external noise, thick and soft padding that makes long duration listening comfortable, a padded head band, (everywhere that directly touches the head is padded... some serious points there) and constructed of hard plastic and metal that bends and doesn't break. And of course sound quality and frequency response... the specs say 20Hz - 20 KHz, and while I haven't tested the high end, the low end is beautiful and strong. If you watch a movie with these and a plane flies overhead, you are not alone if you take the headphones off to make sure one didn't really fly overhead. Great signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response that makes the inadequacies of MP3s immediately apparent. If there were a similar pair of headphones that had titanium drivers, there would be a slight quality increase, but it's great as it is.

Sound quality 4.5 (5 being with titanium drivers)
Signal-to-noise 5
Construction 5
Comfort 4.5
Range/Frequency response 4.5
Durability 5

Finding a pair of decent-sounding closed headphones at less than 50USD is far to be easy. The typical sound of those is boomy, with strange reverberation effects and a poor sound. The ATH-M30 provide a warm sound, with a solid bass (sometimes a bit undefined), a smooth midrange and a correct trebble. The feeling is perhaps not the "outstanding clarity" advertised but rather a relaxing sound, with a good balance between details and fun. Compared to the sennheiser HD212, the trebble is a bit lacking but, at least, the bass doesn't kill the midrange.

These headphones are well-built and will probably last. I only regret the absence of a collapsable capacity.

I purchased this item 6 months ago and about 4 months in, just like others were saying, the wires/connector that attaches to your computer, started coming apart. After about 5 months, the wire within the cable was completely exposed -- and now, it is completely broken.

I initially was very happy with my purchase because of the overall sound and comfort of the headphones - but because one small part of the headphones is broken, I am no longer able to use this product at all. Wasted money. If the cable were detachable like on some headphones, then this wouldn't have been such a big deal.

Therefore I do not recommend this product, despite the near 5-star ratings. I usually don't believe the small percentage of people that decide to complain about something, especially since it is only a few out of 50 or so people -- but believe me -- those people are telling the truth. This is the first review I've ever written since I don't care to spend my life complaining on the internet - but I felt compelled to share this necessary information with other potential buyers.

What I would like to know is -- Does this product come with a one-year warranty??

Having only listened to one other "nice" (>$100) set of headphones, I don't have much to compare the ATH-M30s to w/ respect to sound quality. Judged on their own, however, I think they're fantastic - and clearly worth all 50 of the dollars they cost.

- The fidelity is great. Almost too good, actually. The first time I used them I could hear a slightly annoying, high pitched, whine when hooked up to my computer. Turns out it's the cd player and I can pull its internal plug, but this is something that I never heard on my reasonably high end computer monitors.

- They're very light and comfortable. I record and play games with them for hours at a time with very little fatigue. I wear glasses as well, and there can be pressure pain with circum-aural designs, but these are better than any previous set I've owned.

- The cord length is really helpul. I can get up from the PC and move about the room to grab things without taking the set on and off.

- They seem very durable and well made. Solid feeling parts that don't mind being tossed to the side.

Lots of praise for these phones on Amazon. So, I'm not adding anything new here, but am another very enthusiastic proponent. Stop searching.

I am writing this review while using this wonderful headphones -listening "Juan Luis Guerra y su 440"-... They are just amazing!
Light, confortable, the sound is so clear that you can discriminate each instrument, just perfect and the price is as good as the product.
My daugther use them too when she is practicing at the piano -an electric one- and with her iRiver MP3. I will buy another ATH-M30 just for me.
They are so good, that it is the first product that I comment at amazon even though I am an using amazon almost since the begining.

Great sound for its price. I've heard better, but those cans were 4 times the price of these, and the only difference was that they were a bit bassier. But these have very good balance, lo, mid, hi, whatever, everything sounds clear and deep. I can hear the different levels of sounds that are being produced. The 'phones also muffle out outside sound a lot, which is a big plus when I'm going through noisy places. For the price that these are being offered, this is the bargain of the century. A very good buy.

I just have one problem with these headphones, and thats the reason why I gave this 4 instead of 5 stars. After a while, my ears feel a bit pinched, maybe because I have big ears and head, but they still pinch my ears.

Overall, I urge you to buy these headphones. This is the bargain of the century.

I will be using these to do church audio, when i first started reading reviews about headphones it was usually 50/50 good/bad and more than once more bad than good. The reviews on these are very accurate, while these are not a Bose QC series headphone for 50usd i don't think you will find a better set. The head band ajustment is smooth and really tight, so they wont loose their adjustment when some one touches them or when you pull them away from one ear to listen to outside noise. The ear pads seem big enough for any average ear, and they seem to keep outside noise out and keeping whatever you are listening to inside.

Listening to music: These have rich bass, which i was extremely pleased with, this is not a boom bass but more like that of an Infinity speaker system, the mids are good (could be better) and the high are clear and crisp. Excellent for music.

Playing Day Of Defeat:Souce will never be the same. One word sums ut up: AWESOME, i am considering replacing my 5.1 Creative labs speaker set with these headphones, as you can hear so much more of whats going on around you.

YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER SET UNDER A $100USD quality vs. price.

I recently purchased a new pair of these for around 50 dollars. Immediately I was pleased with the sound and comfort of these headphones, however, you may have to spend a little time fitting them on your head at first to keep them from hurting your ears. Although they are not terribly uncomfortable to wear for a few minutes, the size of the cups are a bit smaller than most professional headphones, and this makes them a bit uncomfortable for long-term listening as there is pressure on your ears.

Despite the uncomfortable pressure that may occur on the ears, these headphones are actually very comfortable to wear. They sound so good that I want to turn up the volume just to enjoy them more. The sound is clear, the bass is strong and clean but won't drown out the mid-tones or treble. The treble itself is sometimes lacking, but most of the time it isn't a problem. The individual sounds are heard so well with these headphones that if there is any extra noise or flaw in what you are listening to, you'll notice it immediately.

These Audio Technica babies really let the sound in! Outstanding in every respect, IMO!

Listening to movies and CDs through these 'phones is a pleasure. Surround sound effects come through nicely when listening to 5.1-Channel or 2-Channel Surround material, with many subtle surround effects seeping through that you possibly had never heard when listening through your regular speaker system.

The sound reproduction on this product seems very "natural" and undistorted. And not "tinny"-sounding, like can be the case with many different headphone brands.

Extraordinarily comfy, to boot! The ear cups don't pinch, or dig into your head. The padded headband adjusts to fit the biggest (or smallest) of craniums. And they don't make your ears sweat like a nervous politician on Election Day (oh, sorry ... I should have said "perspire"). :)

You can wear these things all day and suffer no ill effects on your head/ears. (Well, unless, of course, you lay too heavy on the volume control.)

It *is*, in fact, difficult to keep the volume in the "low"/"restrained" range while using these sonically-pleasing babies. Because they sound so good!

The ATH-M30 is an exceptional product; and a terrific bargain to be sure.

Hard to imagine even $100-plus 'phones giving better performance than these.