Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT

LAST ISSUE, I went off on a bit of a tirade against Turtle Beach’s Atlas Three headset. I was unbelievably frustrated with it. Seriously, whoever decided that needing to charge a headset up and switch it on was necessary in order to simply use the analog 3.5mm jack was just nuts.

When Audio-Technica’s latest press release followed, announcing that the company had finished a Bluetooth rework of arguably the most iconic pair of studio headphones in the biz, I just couldn’t believe it. In fact, my response to the PR was: “Nooo! Don’t cave in to the headphone-jackless phones.” He went on to reassure me that audio quality wasn’t affected, and the engineers who had worked on the original M50x also worked on this.

The reason this matters is that the M50x headset is nothing short of exceptional, a superstar in the industry. With impressive audio characteristics, beautiful timeless styling, and a price point making it accessible to all, it’s difficult to argue with just how important a pair of cans it is.

So, first impressions? They’re good, seriously good. Via Bluetooth, the sound quality doesn’t waver at all, but what impressed me the most (and seemingly absent from the press release) was the inclusion of a four-pole cable and mic. Yup, these babies can be plugged in, analog-style. So, if you run out of juice, or just can’t be bothered to sync up, they work just as well via that old-school standard, too.