Audio-Technica AD500X High-Fidelity Open-Back Headphones Black

Quick good and bad points thing first, for those that do not have much time.GOODAmazing sound field and sound qualityVery competitively priced for such a good listening experienceLight and comfortable to wearBADStupidly long cableNo factory seal on the boxNot good for listening to low quality recordingsInside use only, not really designed to use when walking around the streetsI purchased these mostly to listen to music at home and am very happy with them for this purpose. The ATH-500x have proved to be better than my expectations, for this price range. They have been used on a computer, a smart phone, an AV amplifier and a Television.Music - I have mostly been using these to listen to Classical music but have also tried them with a selection of Pop and Rock music dating from the 1970's through to the present day. The sound and sound field on these cans blew me away and they were found to be excellent for all the genres of music, that I tend to listen to, from a well recorded source. The only criticism that I have is that they are so good at reproducing sound that they will pick up every fault in a bad recording or reproduction. I have no Idea of how these sound with Rap or DJ type stuff as I do not listen to this type of music very often.Spoken word - Again a well produced video clip or pod-cast is a delight to the ears through the Audio Technicas but listening to a bad source feels like you have put your ears in a paper shredder. This I found out when I hooked these phones up to a mono, Long Wave, radio, to listen to a cricket commentary.Films and TV - I have a pair of headphones specifically designed for this and I have to admit that the AD 500x were not as good as those for watching films and TV series. So if this is the main reason that you want a pair of headphones, you would be well advised to look elsewhere. But having said that and your main purpose for buying these is for music and they are only occasional to be hooked up to the TV or AV system, these still give a nice reproduction for sound accompaniment to visual media.Comfort and Fit - These are big 'phones but surprisingly light in weight. They have proved comfortable and relatively secure to wear. It is no problem walking around the house and getting on with stuff, whilst listening to these. They would be no good for going jogging though and really are confined to indoor use. There is very little heat build up in the cans (It is July at the time of writing this) due, I presume, to the open backed design. The pads feel good against my head and are secure but do not clamp too hard. Two to three hours continual use has been no problem.THE DOWNSIDESSound Leak - These 'phones bleed sound like crazy but they are open backed, so this is only to be expected.The Cable - The three meter cable has not proved to be so bad as some drama queen reviewers on YouTube have been whining about. I coiled most of it up and tied it with freezer bag ties and this has solved that problem. But with good quality cable extensions being cheep and easily available, it is hard to understand why there is not a nice meter and a bit cable on these cans.No Factory Seal - This, I have found, is not a problem specific to this product. It seems that all Audio Technica headphones have no factory seal on their boxes. Headphones are a very personal product and in these times when many people return stuff that they have sourced from the internet it is important to know that such a body intimate product is fresh from the factory and has not been, possibly, pre used by someone with poor cleanliness habits. Audio Technica, you really need to sort your lives out on this point.CONCLUSIONThere are better headphones on the market but most of these cost four or more times the asking price of the Audio Technica ATH-500x headphones. As I am the kind of person who likes to squander their money on fripperies such as paying the mortgage, putting food on the table, paying fuel bills and other such things that means that there is only so much left in the budget for headphones. These headphones give a real Audiophile experience at a price achievable by many people. They are, to date, the best sounding music headphones that I have ever owned and the ownership experience has so far proved to be a very positive one. They do have a few downsides, nothing is perfect, so out of 100 I would give these a 95 percent and so the five star rating. To sum up, they are great quality headphones at a very competitive price.

These headphones are incredible. I went back to try my old Razer ones and I couldn't stand it.The build quality is fantastic, they are light enough that it barely feels like they are on my head!I've managed to wear them for 8-9 hour periods in one go and had no discomfort at all.They are a perfect balance for bass, mid and treble and work excellent with my soundcard.I only have two minor issues:The cable is taking a long time to forget it's original boxed position, so it tends to curve around and almost tangle.I don't think it would fit too comfortably on a smaller persons head, the cups are too low down when my girlfriend uses them.I love these headphones and have owned them now for 5 months with no issues. I highly recommend these if you can afford them, they are excellent.

I'm not an audiophile but I can say that the clarity of these headphones is far better than anything I've previously had. The open backs mean the sound stage is excellent and they are extremely light and very comfortable. Only two downside that I've noticed:1. The 3D wing support is rubbish. It's not strong enough to support the headphones on your head properly, if you shake your head or body the headphones will slip down off your ears. There are workarounds such as attaching some elastic between the wings which will stop them spreading to far but when you are paying £113 for something you don't expect to need to implement workarounds to get it functioning correctly.2. The bigger problem though is the fixed cable. As others have commented on, the cable quality is not great and you can't change it out. No matter how much I try, I cannot get the cable straightened out, it has a habit of trying to curl itself back up which is irritating enough on its own but it's also quite long and there's no way of shortening it without having a coiled up cable lying around.Overall I'm happy with the purchase but some minor design flaws stop this being a 5 star review.

Decided to write a review on these as im so impressed with them. They are the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned , the design of the 3D wings is a clever idea, they sit to each side if your head with gentle pressure that you hardly notice. For a large headphone they are very lightweight and can be worn for ages with no problems at all. The huge ear cups fit around your ears in a cozy soft fabric covered foam that does not make you sweat like the plasticky type fabric used on other brands.The sound as immense presence due to the 54mm drivers, when switching to these from my other headphones I have to turn the volume down they are so powerful .They handle a broad range of sound that tends to favour the bass end a little, but are quite capable dealing with the high notes. I have heard notes that I have never heard before with my other cheaper brands.I would recommend these to those of you that like pop, rock, trance and modern dance music as they can really handle lots of bass if that's your thing.

Awesome sound quality, and clarity. Comfort is very good, but it has a slight tendency to slip down my head, and the pressure can hurt after a bit depending on which glasses I'm wearing.Overall the best headset for gaming and music I've tried.