Audio-Technica ATH-M20x Professional Studio Monitor Headphones, Black (AUD ATHM20X)

For under 60USD I have comfortable studio quality headphones that work seamlessly with my AT2020USB+ microphone. These are great for podcasting, and music. If you are using them for meetings, you need to use your PCs controls for muting and volume control. The noise cancelation is great for the price. All in all, a great value and a great product!

Looking for a budget friendly pair of headphones and don't care of wireless technology and ant to remain friends with your wallet? Well then your search has finished.I collect headphones since listening to music all day seems to be a requirement for my lungs to breath, o I can say I have try a lot of headphones through the years, and this headphones get it just right in a lot of ways.There is not such a thing as the "perfect pair of headphones", you should always keep this in mind if you are planing on going crazy with the headphones shopping or if you are just in the hunt for a new pair. Being this said, if your main interest is finding a well sounding-budget-friendly-headphones, this is juts for you.This are monitor headphones, so they are kinda meant or target for an audience working in music studios, which means that sound is very well balanced, bass is not overwhelming at all and I must say is not too strong either, but the overall sound of this headphones is just as clear as it can be! You will not find another pair of headphones this well balance and build for the price.Build quality on this things is pretty amazing too. My hands have never felt a so solid $40 pair of headphones before, my eyes have not seen this beautiful build on any other headphones in this price range, it's just beautiful.Being that said, they are not very stylish but don't have an ugly design either. They are mostly made of hard plastic (very durable feel plastic, like, very very durable feel; Like Fisher's price little baby's car type of feel) with the exception of the adjusters which are made of metal. The fit is very comfortable and they provide just a great sound isolation. They don't get hot or hurt your ears after long listening sessions (I use them 9hrs a day on an average,never had a problem with them) and sound isolation provides almost a sound cancellation quality as the one provided by my Sennheiser PXC 550s.Things to keep in mind:Sound quality is pretty flat, if you are into a more vibrant and bassy sound experience, I suggest checking the M40X instead or the M50X,Cord is not detachable, and this is pretty much the only I don't like from this headphones. Being able to detach the cable adds more convenience to the product, since this makes your headphones a little more durable, since they are easier to take care of and also make it easier to travel. In the headphones defense, the cord is super high quality, probably the best quality I've seen in a wired headphone before.However, since this headphones are meant for in studio listening, the cord is also super long, so if you are planing on using this headphones outside your PC set up or outside your house, you should really take this in consideration.VERDICT:If you want some very high quality budget friendly headphones, this is just the pair you need. This headphones are very well made, sound quality is clear and well balanced (lacking some bass :( ) and they are very suitable for long periods of use.If you want a more vibrant and bass heavy sound, but remain in budget, check the M40X instead or the M50X.And if you still want to remain on this price range, but need more bass for the price, check Skullcandy headphones, they have a lot of budget friendly and stylish headphones and most of them have a rich and powerful bass, though keep in mind their build quality is not the best and sound signature is not as balance as Audio Technica or Sennheiser.

So I got these yesterday, and I know I am not going to keep them for long (more on that later) so I want to get this review in ASAP. First off, while I know what I like & I can recognize quality, I am definitely NOT an audiophile, so I'm not going to try & tell you in TECHNICAL terms why these headphones are so great, but I can give a layman's perspective. Also, I am going to do a lot of comparing to the Samson SR850's I just bought AND my standby Koss PortaPros (which I compared the Samson's to in my review of them) Anyway, lets get started.First of all the looks of these. My 13 year old daughter unboxed them while I was at work & immediately exclaimed "These are NICE !" With that, she put them on, plugged in her iPod Touch & didn't take them off until I got home several hours later. This from a kid who's favorite headphones are a purple pair of Knockoff Beats I bought at a flea market. They are MUCH better looking than the Samsons. The earcups are smaller & lower profile, and the headband is covered in a stylish black leatherette. There is a LARGE AudioTechnica logo across the top of them, but who's going to be looking at the top of your head ?As far as comfort goes, they are very comfortable, They are much lighter than the Samson's, and as I said smaller. The ear pads are suitably soft & covered in the same leather like material as the headband. And while I doubt you could lie on your side comfortably with them on, they would be MORE comfortable than the Samson's in that position.As for build quality, they are REALLY light, which worries me a bit, but they seem very solid. The main structure is definitely metal and the wires are thick & well covered. The plugs also look a step up from your average headphone connector. While I am sure my kids would manage to break them eventually, I think they would last longer than your average headphone. And with me, they will be just fine.Finally, lets talk sound. They sound AWESOME ! Really awesome. Much better than headphones at this price should sound. When I listened to the Samson's the first time I knew they sounded better than my Koss' ... but not by a lot. These are OBVIOUSLY better. The bass response is better, and everything else is CRYSTAL CLEAR ! Just stunning. That being said, they are not as loud as the Samson's which kinda surprised me since they are smaller & closed back. But because of the better bass & improvements across the full range of sound, I would definitely put these ahead of the Samson's AND the Koss' & I am sure ANYONE who heard them all side by side by side would agree.Now there are a few negatives. Like I said they are smaller & Lighter than the Samson's. And I was looking for something LARGER ... so in that respect, they are going away from what I was looking for. And I still am surprised the Samsons are slightly louder. With the bigger size they should need more power to drive them properly. But since the M20's have less sound leak than the SR850's, this is really a non-issue.And while they are very comfortable, after wearing them for a short time its clear that my ears are sweating in the M20's where they were not in the SR850's. Again, it may be because the latter are semi-open, but I think its because of the cloth covering on the SR850's pads AND because they are bigger.Overall, even with the negatives, I would recommend these over the Samson SR850's w/o question. But, if that extra $15.00 means a lot to you, the Samson's are still an EXCELLENT Choice. And they will probably be my choice, since once my son HEARS these. he will be wanting to trade me the Samson's for them.UPDATE: I have had these for just about 36 hours & I just had a perfect stranger come up to me & ask me if I liked them.l He obviously knew a lot more about headphones than I do & has much better equipment (a $170 pair of BeyerDynamics) but he was impressed with these especially at the price.UPDATE to the UPDATE: I recently bought a Fiio E6 Headphone Amp & when my son comes home from College, I will try these out with the Amp. Considering how much they improved my Samson SR850's (I would put that combination AHEAD of these now) I am sure they will sound even more awesome. However, I will NOT be buying that Amp for my son. If he wants one, he can buy it himself.IN RESPONSE TO .... the two questions .... First off the Amp improves the M20's as much as it improves the Samson SR850's. The sound is cleaner, and I prefer using the degraded setting on the amp with increased volume on my source on these as well.Second, as I said without the amp, these sound nearly as good as the Samson's WITH the amp. So I feel I have done enough for my son in that respect. If he wants to UP the quality with the amp, that's his choice. Just because I am not paying for it, doesn't represent my feeling for him one way or another. Of maybe it does. Either way I feel secure in my role as a parent & the opinion of one crank won't affect that.