The hype around Audio Technica and uncritical consumers
First of all: I have been involved in music production for over 30 years. In view of the current hype around Audio Technica (keyword: ATH-M50x), I wanted to follow up on this. My experiences with the brand have their origins in the 80s with the AT studio microphones. My enthusiasm at that time was limited, these mics sounded too musty, overcast and expressionless. For me, the matter was quickly put to rest and I soon declared the brand to be junk. Even then, the headphones didn't convince me. Now AT has become very popular in recent years. The positive "reviews" of the ATH-M50x on all online blogs and video channels are striking. I therefore wanted to know whether the quality has really changed for the better. It is obvious how uncritically the bloggers report about the headphones. One almost believes that Audio Technica has discovered the philosopher's stone. But are these bloggers even capable of correctly assessing headphones that are actually intended for professional purposes? That is probably true for very few of them. And my own tests and reliable sources speak a different language. The conclusion: the headphones are actually hyped above their value. Why? The problem with Audio Technica lies in the manufacturing and quality control. While mono microphones have only one diaphragm, headphones have two. One on the left and one on the right. The system with the diaphragms is called a driver. While the frequency response of the headphones may be individually pleasing, the tuning of both drivers looks bad. This is called unequal frequency response of the two drivers. It is quite normal that two drivers never have exactly the same frequency response. With Audio Technica, however, the difference is widespread, too strong and audible beyond. This results in a shifted stereo image. So it happens that lead singers are not in the middle but on the left or right, which should not be the case. Or the kick drum is not centred. While other brands have the tuning pretty well under control, it looks different with Audio Technica. Here, a shifted stereo image is practically the norm. Yes, I am of course the analytical listener who notices every detail because it has to be noticed. A botched mix destroys every master. But I can't imagine that the majority of consumers don't notice that with Audio Technica headphones the stereo sound image is usually shifted. Have consumers become so uncritical? Do they not hear it? Do they not care? Do they think it's normal? There is a simple test: feed the headphones with a mono signal. Then, if your hearing is intact, you can quickly determine whether the stereo image is shifted. You can also go through all frequencies with a sine tone in mono and hear how much the stereo image shifts depending on the frequency.
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