Free and Discount for Audio-Technica ATH-M30 Professional Studio Monitor Closed-back Dynamic Stereo Headphones

These headphones are absolutely outstanding. Ignore any of the earlier ho-hum reviews, I don't know what these people were thinking. Maybe they are comparing them to ultra high end units which are 10X the price, in which case why would you bother writing a review comparing apples to oranges?? Anyway, I am an audiophile with a fairly high end amp, tuner, speakers, etc.... but have always been disappointed with my headphones. I've tried quite a few over the years, mostly earbuds and other in-ear types (sennheiser etc...) but have had mixed results. Mostly, I don't like the way earbuds and in-ear headphones 'feel'. Maybe my ears are a weird shape, but either they don't fit right or they get uncomfortable after a short time. On the other hand, the closed back home stereo type phones I've sampled did not work great with my ipod; the ipod just did not put out enough power to really drive em'. The ath-m30 phones are the perfect compromise. They sound great, and my ipod (at about 60 to 75% volume) drives them just fine.
Pros:
-Everything sounds amazing
-Blocks out most outside noise
-Fantastic bass response
-Long, durable cord
-Comes with larger phono plug
-Adjustable
-Can be amplified quite a bit without adding distortion
-Not $150+
m no audiophile here, but I can tell the difference between these, my earbuds, and my older professional headphones. These are the best of the three, and my older headphones were more expensive. Bonus! They don't look as cool as some of the flashier headphones, but in my opinion they sound just as good, if not better. Audio Technica also provides a warranty, though I haven't bothered to fill it out yet.

Gripe: they fit too tight. Like, shrink your head tight. I'm not sure if I haven't figured out how to adjust them, or if I just have a fatter than average head, but after an hour, I have to take them off.

The tight fit does mean that there's only a fraction of sound leak going to the outside; people will only hear you if you blast them. Not too good at noise isolation, but that's not what I bought them for (nor what they were designed for). However, they are good enough to block out people talking, which is a plus while.

All in all, I would definitely buy them again. Being an engineer-y type, I can make the headphones fit well without too much modification. I would recommend them to my friends who aren't satisfied with basic headphones.
Cons:
-After prolonged periods of listening, they really start to hurt the ears. It's like someone is tightening a clamp around my head.
-Any music under the quality of a 256kbps 44.1kHz MP3 sounds degraded (but that's because it is). Time to upgrade your library to some higher quality MP3s, or better yet FLAC.

     

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