I saw the new DMS video where he says at around the 1 minute mark that people with audio technica headphones "don't really care if their headphones sound good". While I think this is true for M50x users, I don't think it is generally true. I've never owned a pair of headphones worth more than $500, but I feel like I've had a respectable amount to the point where I know what I do and don't enjoy in a headphone. I've gone down this rabbit hole of a hobby about a decade ago, and no matter how hard I try I cannot escape the grasp of the MSR7b. It simply has the best sound signature that suits my taste in music.
I've owned 1 pair of open back headphones and hated them because I felt like they didn't have nearly enough bass to suit my needs and that I have a fair amount of white noise in my room at all times. While the M50x are absurdly popular, every person who I've heard talk about their open backs has been singing their praises, even Z. I've been watching DMS for at least a few years now and I don't think I've ever seen him review an AT open back, and yet he goes out of his way to disrespect people who like their headphones. Interesting.
Imagine a universe in which anybody with two brain cells they can rub together to create an original thought hasn’t given a single solitary fuck about anything a YouTube content creator has had to say since High School.
If some clownshoe on the internet who pays their bills by appealing to lowest common denominator clicks has made purchasing decisions for you or influenced you emotionally in a bizarre sort of audiophile parasocial masturbatory fantasy, somebody really needs to put a conservatorship on your wallet and internet usage.
I don’t know this man. He looks like circa 1998 Rivers Cuomo if he had a crystal meth habit. I have no reason to care what this person or all of the affiliate marketing dispensing defacto employees of audio companies who call themselves unbiased reviewers while linking you to 53 products per video or slowly panning over a room filled with gear they help sell. Cereal boxes have more legitimately useful information than I’m going to get from these guys, especially in audio.
I don’t care about Audio Technica or this brand versus this other brand or a bunch of That One Guy hot takes. If Enron partnered with Emperor Palpatine to make an awesome pair of well-measuring high quality headphones I enjoyed while demo’ing that OG social media influencer Jesus Christ told me were bad and wouId send me directly to Hell, I would still absolutely purchase and enjoy those headphones.
You can listen to the damn things yourself if you want a subjective opinion. You can look at measurements if you want objective information. Or you can listen to and look at people like this guy. He might tell you what not to buy and what to buy in ways that influence your purchasing decisions, but I can promise you he isn’t going to help you get your money back if it turns out you don’t like the stuff.