Recording - May 2014 - 59

and its 1/4" adapter for the miniplug at the
end of the 10' (3m) permanently attached
straight cable is snap-on rather than screwon. Its specs include a 15 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range, 700 mW @ 1 kHz max input
power, 96 dB sensitivity, 47 ohm impedance, and feather-light 6.7 ounce weight.
Listen as you look
The changes in feature set aren't all that's
going on here. The three new headphones
are also voiced differently from one another, to best suit different applications.
These differences are often subtle, but
they're there. I lived with all three models
for several weeks and compared them to
one another and to the ATH-M50x, and
I'll do my best to communicate what I
heard as the fundamentals in the listening
experience for each headphone.
The ATH-M20x
Audio-Technica markets the ATH-M20x
as an M-Series headphone that anyone
can afford, and designed it to fit that role:
it takes the core sonic essence that made
the ATH-M50x such a beloved headphone
and strips away everything around it,
leaving a headphone that is simultaneously a bare-bones experience and a real joy.
The ATH-M20x has a very flat response
that's believable and clear from the deep
bass up to the high end; if it doesn't have the
extreme airiness in the high treble that one
hears in some of the other M-Series headphones, it's not an absence that equates to

pizza money; there is no reason not to have
a pair in your studio. In fact, there's no reason to not to have several pairs, fitting out
your entire tracking room with reliable, consistent phones for your talent and keeping a
pair for yourself in the control room!
The ATH-M30x
The ATH-M30x isn't so much a step up
from the ATH-M20x as a step sideways. Yes,
it feels a bit more hefty, and the screw-on
adapter, folding design, and carry pouch are
all nice touches, but the sound of the ATHM30x is a significant departure from the ATHM20x and deserves a detailed discussion.
While the ATH-M30x does have more
high end, a noticeable sense of space and
clarity in the soundstage that isn't quite as
impressive in the ATH-M20x, you only
notice that once you've gotten used to
how the ATH-M30x handles the mids and
mid-highs. It's a distinctly mid-forward
headphone, designed by Audio-Technica
to bring out fine details in vocals and guitars. This distinction, between mids forward and a very flat response with perhaps a perceived dip in the mids, has
been around for decades in both monitor
speakers and headphones, and there's no
real "right answer." With the ATH-M30x,
you have a chance to choose the former if
that's what helps you mix best, while the
other models lean toward the latter.
This is a remarkably exacting headphone
in that critical frequency range-just as one
example, I picked up a slight sibilance in the

flat and workmanlike and uncompromising
across the frequency spectrum. It shares the
solid, believable, tight bass that's heard in
every one of the other M-Series phones, and
adds a bit more "on a clear day you can
see forever" to the air band and above, if
not to the extent of the ATH-M50x. It also
offers a flat and uncolored midrange that at
first listen might seem a bit restrained in comparison to the mid-forward ATH-M30x, but
there's no sense of lacking detail or compromised balance, just a smooth and universal trustworthiness-especially when listening to acoustic music, from Americana
and folk to classical.
The folding/swiveling design is a lovely touch that one doesn't miss until one
gets it back, and the detachable cables
will make people in pro studios very
happy. This is a new and exciting benchmark for a $100 phone, much as the
ATH-M20x is for a $50 phone.
No wrong choices
If the ATH-M50x and everything it offers
is appealing but just a tad too rich for your
blood, you should give the ATH-M40x a
try. If you've been interested in getting into
a mid-forward and highly detailed headphone for tracking and for mixing/editing
decisions, the ATH-M30x brings that capability into the hands of pretty much everyone. And the ATH-M20x? When a headphone that does what this headphone can
do becomes available for a price this low...
it really makes you stop and think.

ATH-M20x, ATH-M30x, and ATH-M40x Headphones
Meet the rest of the family
muddiness. There's no real emphasis on any
particular part of the frequency range... perhaps a tiny dip in the low mids but not something I would call a "smiley face" curve. I
could easily learn to mix on these phones,
and they were my cans of choice for composing sessions leading up to a live solo
gig; they sounded beautiful through my
Echo AudioFire2 interface (as well as every
other quality interface I tried).
The ATH-M20x is one of those products
that comes along every once in a while
and resets our expectations for every
other product in its class. It is a fifty-dollar
headphone that frankly beats out several
of the far more expensive models we've
reviewed in recent months. One staffer
with decades of experience in the field,
after auditioning it, estimated its street
price as triple what it actually costs!
There are bad headphones, mediocre
headphones, good headphones, great headphones, and phenomenal headphones-and
unfortunately the bad ones can come with
any price tag. The ATH-M20x is a good-togreat headphone for a price that's basically

lead vocal in the song "Margaret Vs.
Pauline" from Neko Case's Fox Confessor
Brings The Flood. That sibilance is very mild,
and a number of good headphones don't
pick up on it... but on the ATH-M30x it was
instantly and annoyingly noticeable,
enough so that if it was me tracking or mixing that song, I'd make a decision on the
spot to do something about it. And that says
all you need to know right there: this headphone will help you hear and fix problems
in your tracks and mixes.
The ATH-M40x
Okay, so what if you have a bit more to
spend and you'd like to combine the upperend clarity of the ATH-M30x with the flatter
frequency response of the ATH-M20x, and
add a few perks like a detachable cable and
earpads that can go off-ear when needed?
That's when you step up to the ATH-M40x.
Thanks to my March review of the ATHM50x (and my trusty pair of ATH-M50s
Anniversary Edition phones), I "got" the
sound of this headphone the most quickly of
all; it has a similar voicing to the ATH-M50x,

The entry point for a really great, reliable
professional headphone vs. a merely good
headphone has been dropping steadily for
years now, but even so, Audio-Technica's
new M-Series offerings are a shot across the
bows of every firm offering a "good solid
phone" for a hundred dollars. You can now
get a great phone for that much, and a
more-than-good phone for half that.
This is affordable quality, and by "quality" I don't mean glitz, hype, sheen, boom,
or bling-I mean audio that lets you track
and mix with confidence, audio that a professional wants in a headphone. AudioTechnica's designers deserve to take a bow
for this entire headphone line; they're
going to be turning a lot of heads.
Prices: ATH-M50x, $239 ($169 street);
ATH-M40x, $139 ($99 street); ATHM30x, $99 ($69 street); ATH-M20x,
$69 ($49 street)
More from: Audio-Technica,
www.audio-technica.com/
monitorheadphones
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http://www.audio-technica.com/monitorheadphones http://www.audio-technica.com/monitorheadphones

Recording - May 2014

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