That’s good if you have long hair or you’re trying to use these with a VR headset or something, but bad if you care about the visual profile of your headphones. They both have similar plastic construction with the only visible metal parts being on adjustment rails on the headband and various screws and pins around the moving parts.

The second layer of foam is in there to help tune the sound signature AKA smooth out the treble, and has the added benefit of making them a little easier on your ears, which will almost certainly bump into the foam. The Audio Technica ATH-M40x professional monitor headphones are tuned flat for incredibly accurate audio monitoring across an extended frequency range. connector and locking system used in other M-series headphones and many Sennheiser models, so finding replacement cables is pretty easy. I beg to differ on the flatness of the M40x, they have no deal-braking colorations (for my taste) but are a far cry from neutrality (check here for measurements and possible modifications), I attribute the limited soundstage to the angled drivers, they move the stage slightly to the front sacrificing the depth and width that an enveloping soundstage provides.

Engineered with pro-grade materials and robust construction, the Audio Technica ATH-M40x excels in professional studio tracking and mixing, as well as DJ monitoring. Featuring an active propulsion assist system and renewable energy capacity, we got the opportunity to check it out at the Pebble booth at CES 2024. As a result I’ve become pretty good at hiding my drumming from my neighbors and not annoying them in general, while playing drums as much as I want to, when I want to. The headband padding is ample enough I suppose and feels decent when you’re wearing them, but the same issues apply with regard to the material subtly cracking over many hours of use.

A small plastic wall and some baffling can’t stop that much vibration from getting out a little bit. If you don’t mind spending a little more, and plan to use your headphones for more than just studio time, the M50X can be worth the extra cost. In this way, consumers give each other guidance and give us the opportunity to continuously improve.I don't have proper monitor speakers and usually, it seems, headphones and speakers try to make things sound good.