I don't have golden ears. I can't tell you why something sounds good or why it sounds bad, I can however tell how much enjoyment I'm getting out my headphones.

BASS - Definitely seem to have emphasized midbass but they do subbass well too. Seem to me to have a slight V-shape and the mids are underemphasized to me. Bass seems overly extenuated, too punchy, and not very accurate to response when compared to Sennheisers. I have tried Bose quite comfort and truly they are so comfortable and M40X will not meet quite comfort in comfort factor but it does a good job. Thanks to the circumaural design that contours around the ears, these Audio-Technica wired, on-ear headphones provide unmatched sound isolation with minimal bleed to let you hear the full-spectrum detail of your sound source, even in loud environments. The essential 40 mm drivers add a professional and balanced sound experience.You also get a nice pleather bag to stash your headphones. I would've preferred a carry box instead, but hey, I would've also preferred to get an Orpheus 2 too, so I guess you got to take what you can get.

I guess the revelatory moment came when I started to notice a whole lot of details that I could not hear with my old IM70s. The instrument separation is really nice and you just don't get muddle sounds. Everything sounds really tight and well controlled. As you can see by the fact that I gave the M40x a full value rating I consider it money very well spent indeed. Comfort wise I have no issues at all and find it comfortable enough. I strongly prefer over ear designs and while the XS has less clamping pressure than my M80, it isn't without some pressure. There is perhaps a slight bit of clamping pressure with the M40x, but it has not resulted in me feeling any discomfort and I have it at the smallest setting possible. I find the ear pads quite comfortable, but certainly not luxurious, but seriously, for the price what should I get, supple leather?Comfort is actually pretty good for me. The earcups are shallow and not very deep, but they do a decent job at encompassing my ears. Since these have no vents around the ear cups, your ears do get a little warm, but not to the point where my ears get incredibly sweaty.

I have used about 15 pairs of IEMs/headphones so far in my fledging audio hobby journey, and by far, the M40x is the most neutral gear I have ever used.

Audio-Technica ATH-M40x vs Audio-Technica ATH-M30x vs Audio-Technica ATH-M50x: What’s the difference between these headphones?

After a day burn in coupled it with my Fiio and started playing my latest collection. Wow, I was in love with the headphones. The audio is clear.The sound signature is refreshing. The headphones are very well balanced and neutral sounding but sometime I feel the presence of added bass than usual. The best point is vocals, they are so damn clear and make you fall in love with the singer. I usually connect my earphones to lapop and play a 20+ hour play list to ensure new earbud or headphones burn in. The mid-bass is very nice if a tad un-differentiated, but very nice. I like to pay close attention to the bass lines in songs and just today I listened to Achtung Baby by U2 which made use of very prominent bass energy as an omnipresent soundscape throughout much of the album. This album is a tough task to handle in this respect as the music can start to clump and bass lines will merge into a bloom. What the M40x did here was quite commendable. I found that to very acceptable levels the bass energy wasn't mud and when the bass lines were mastered to come out and be distinct, they were there and had plenty of detail. Certainly not reference detail, but very engaging. In fact, if I was forced to use one word to describe my overall impression of the M40x I would call them engaging. The one low point I found with these cans is the soundstage. I was hoping for an improvement from my IM70s, but they sound almost exactly the same.

Build quality is good, strong plastic with a durable headband. The cords are detachable if they were to become damaged.Instrument separation resolution/timbre/details/clarity/imaging are all above average. I have heard better gear for microdetails/resolution/soundstage, but for the price point, I don't have much complaints. Soundstage width is average. I have no idea how these would really compare to the ATH-M50X's from the same company, as I have not heard those, but from what i have heard, those are more bassy in their overall presentation, which makes them not as suitable for studio work as these.