[ChronicLiar]

I just had to make this thread...

 
 
We live in a world where 80 percent of the headphones we bought in our childhood were extremely congested and not very accurate.
 
When I bought my first pair of open headphones my first reaction was "Wow these sound so thin how do people listen to this?!" And then as time went by I realized I was just used to the congestion in closed back headphones.
 
I needed to make this thread because coming from an ATH m50 perspective every open-back headphone sounded dull and thin in comparison (this included sennhieser hd 558, senhieser 598, grado sr 325is, I even made several thread regarding this issue ) but after a month of listening to open-back headphones the ATH M50 sound almost made me puke. 
 
I'm really confused how people can compare this headphone to open-headphones in the 300 dollar price range and up. These things are not even close and I feel like I should sell them or give them to my little sister.
 
Maybe in the world of closed back headphones they are the clearest and cleanest... But I think comparing them to the real beasts out there is just dumb. It's getting as bad as the hype on beats by dre!

 

[Uberclocked]

  They don't.  As they say, it's like comparing apples to oranges.
 

 

[zazex]

It's not overrated at all, in my view.
However it is what it is.

 

[money4me247]

the ath-m50 aren't the cleanest or clearest in the closed black category. however, they are great sound quality for the price of $100-$120 and beat out many other more expensive closed headphones. they are a great option if you are looking for a v-shaped sound signature with great bass response. 
 
obviously, nowadays there are tons of great closed options on the market, but the price point for a closed headphone that is a significant upgrade would be around $200+. that is why the ath-m50 is often recommended for people new to this hobby. it is very affordable and has a popular v-shaped sound signature that most people enjoy.
 
if you were to talk about how the ath-m50 compares against most open headphones from $200+, basically the ath-m50 would usually have more bass quantity, while the open options will have a larger sound stage, more clarity, more detail, and sound more realistic. This is simply due to the open nature that allows the sound to naturally diffuse out rather than reverberate within the closed earcups.
 
The ATH-M50s aren't overrated if you consider them to be a top performing sub-$130 budget pair of closed headphones. However, to say that they can sonically outperform $200+ open headphones or $200-300+ closed headphones would be misleading. Despite that, they remain a favorite because there is the price to performance ratio consideration. The ATH-M50 has great sound quality for its dollar value, and some people do not think that the diminishing returns of upgrading is worth it.
 
Edit: As you noted from your experience, the idea of close-backs are 'congested' or the idea that open-backs are 'thin' is really a relative preference thing. People are looking for different things in their headphones (powerful bass or v-shaped sound sig or crisp treble or neutral sound sig). Once you get used to one sort of sound signature, everything else sounds bad to you. It is important to spend a few days to a new pair of headphones to readjust to its new sound signature.

 

[audiomonte]

It's definitely not overrated in my opinion.. of cause it's nothing close to open-back 1000 dollar headphones. But within it's price-range (100-200 dollars) there's not much that can compete with it. It's also extremely popular if you look at user ratings. 

 

[audio1master]

After trying other headphones both closed and open these headphones really have excessive bass. And also a tight clamping force. And a lousy soundstage these are really overrated.

 

[money4me247]

After trying other headphones both closed and open these headphones really have excessive bass. And also a tight clamping force. And a lousy soundstage these are really overrated.

just curious, what headphones in this price range do you think are better?

 

[Uberclocked]

  just curious, what headphones in this price range do you think are better?

The HE-90s

 

[audio1master]

I would go with my favorite headphone and pick the Shure 440. It's an older headphone but the sound signature is my favorite. Great soundstage and very comfy. And you can get it for about $150 and probably cheaper.