Hello and welcome to MinidiscTV. I'm your host Lachlan and today to kick off
the channel we're going to be looking at the new Audio Technica ATH-M60x and
we'll be comparing it to its siblings the Audio Technica ATH-M50x and the ATH
M70x. So I'll tell you right off the bat that there's a lot of things to get
excited about with the M60x. This is a monitoring headphone that uses the same
drivers as the m50x but in a new on-air design. But I think to start off with
we'll have an overview of the M50x and the M70x so we kn ow where we're coming
from. So here at Minidisc we've sold a lot of M50Xs. They're a very popular
headphone and for a lot of people this is their first quality headphone. They
have a very direct, energetic sound with a lot of detail and emphasis in the bass
and the treble regions, and as a result not everyone loves the sound of the M50x
because it can sound quite harsh and sibiliant with bad recordings. But it does
sound the way it does because it was designed for studio monitoring so it's
important for producers and musicians to be able to hear distortion or sibilance
in their mix. And honestly for 200 Australian dollars there's not that many
headphones which are as durable, that fold up into a nice convenient shape
and that offer such a detailed sound even though it's not always the most
relaxing headphone to listen to. The M70x in comparison, is like the m50x grew up
and started wearing fancier suits. So it's got a premium metal build, it
doesn't fold up but it still falls flat and it comes with a really nice carrying
case. And in terms of sound it's got less emphasis on the bass regions and more
emphasis on the high frequencies, so it sounds very very detailed and to my ears
it's the closest to that kind of ideal flat critical listening kind of studio
monitor response. So again it's not the most fun headphone to listen to for
casual music listening but this is the kind of headphone that will let you
dissect music and really hear what's going on.
So here's the new M60x. Where does it fit in the lineup? Well the first thing
you have to know is that the M60x is an on-ear headphone design. The ear pads are
designed to sit ON your ears rather than AROUND the ears like they do with the
m50 or the m70. Now luckily the ear pads are still really thick and plush and the
headphone itself is quite lightweight so they're still very very comfortable
especially for an on-air design. But be aware especially if you wear glasses
that you might find that the way the headphone presses against your ears you
might feel a pinch where your ears rest against the glasses frames. Now this is
probably worse on thicker glasses frames like the ones that I'm wearing now, but
for instance yesterday I wore these for four hours with glasses with thinner
frames and I didn't have a problem. Now the M60x has a compact and lightweight
design that's clearly intended for field monitoring similar to a design like the
Sennheiser HD25. It doesn't fold flat or fold up at in any way compared to the
m50 or the m70 so you should be aware of that. Most of the key parts have been
made of metal to enhance durability and the rest has been made of
high-quality plastic. Like the M50x and the M70x it comes with three sets of
cables: a 1.2 meter straight cable for mobile use and also a 3 meter straight
cable and a 1.2 meter coiled cable so you can use it in a studio or at home.
And now we get to the good bit which is sound - and I'm happy to say that the M60x
is for me my favourite out of the M-series headphones that I've heard. It
uses the same drivers as the M50x so it actually sounds kind of similar but
there are some key differences. Notably in the high frequencies there's still a
lot of high-frequency emphasis and detail but it doesn't quite pick up as
many sibilants as the M50x so it's a little more relaxing to listen to. And in
the low end, even though it's not quite as tight and punchy as the M50xs the
trade-off is, is that it's smoother and has more lower mid richness.
So it's just a bit more full, a bit more relaxing to listen. So for casual
music listening this is my pick of the three by far. Now the M60x is still an
aggressive, direct sounding headphone because it has more emphasis overall in
the bass and the treble regions and a de-emphasis in the vocal regions and if
you want something with rich full vocals I would look more at something like the
Audio Technica ATH-MSR7. In terms of getting a flat critical listening
response I would still feel safer monitoring with the R70x or the M70x.
But with the M60x you get a sound that is suited for casual listening without
being too harsh. It's a lot of fun to listen to and at the same time it offers
enough detail and has a nice compact form with enough isolation that I would
be very happy to use this for field monitoring, that kind of monitoring
application on the go. So you can check out the video description for links and
you can ask us any questions in the comments. You can also drop in and have a
demo for yourself! This is Lachlan for MinidiscTV. See ya!