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Audio-Technica M20X Headphones Review
A few years back now, Audio-Technica refreshed their famous M-series line of professional studio headphones. The only two models anyone really likes to talk about are the $149 M50X and $99 M40X.
Those two are celebrated with good reason.
The M50X offers a great, moderately aggressive studio-style sound and a good features package. The M40X dials back the aggression a little, and makes some small cuts to build quality, and cuts out the short straight cable.
But Audio-Technica also makes the M30X and the M20X. I’d never heard either of these. Until now.
OVERVIEW
The Audio-Technica M20X is a closed-back, wired pair of headphones that retails for $50. It comes with a 10-foot hard wired cable, and a snap-on 6.3mm adapter.
AT says that they’re “tuned for enhanced low frequency performance,” which made me expect a sound more aggressive in the bass than its bigger brothers.
They also say that it’s “An excellent choice for tracking and mixing.”
One of those claims turned out to be truer than the other.
SOUND QUALITY
Compared to the M50X and M40X…the M20X sounds a little dull.
I expected well-extended, powerful bass from the marketing on the box and the web site…and instead I got totally fine bass that’s a little ho-hum.
Puzzled, I listened to several more test tracks and kept hearing the same thing. There seemed to be a slight hump/punch to the mid-bass, but I would never personally call this “enhanced low frequency performance.”
So I went looking for measurements.
I like to do this sometimes after I’ve done my listening tests, just to see if I’m missing something or if I’m in the ballpark. Fortunately, the good folks at Rtings measured these, and sure enough….they’re not really a bass-focused pair of headphones.
