ATH-M50 Headphone Rebuild, Cable Mod, FRESH ear-pads & a hand sewn headband 🧵🎧 

I love repairing my broken stuff , it's so rewarding . I like the custom tweeks

"Headphones are one of my favorite things." - instant like! :)

To learn how to fix things, just attempt fixes on things you plan to throw away. This is how you learn techniques. I sometimes dismantle stuff i just know i cant fix, just to see how its assembled. Learned a lot that way. Pays off eventually with a nice fux of your favorite thing.

Be mindful of the aftermarket ear cushions, they tend to be much thicker and move the speakers away from your head enough to greatly effect sound quality.

Recently I purchased used M50 and restore it. They are working and looking just fine! Reuse and repair! great video!

My ATH M40x one of the driver is dead. Glad that I could find the replacement and resoldering it and it works perfectly now. This bad boy been serving me since late 2016 lol

Indeed, headphones are an extremely personal matter. I use Beyerdynamic DT 250 Pro for live sound and Sennheiser 250 Linear II for everything else. Those Beyerdynamic DT 250 Pro are from 2004 and still do not need to change anything, with only discoloration on the ear pads, which are now with a pleasant brownish appearance and for what I predict they will stay like that for many years. No fake leather here. I still use the Sennheiser 250 Linear II - luckily I bought several pairs in 2005 - and after all the plastic parts died, I made a decision that until today I did not regret, which was to install some of Sennheiser's capsules in some old Realistic NOVA 20 headphones, properly insulated . Nice! The ear pads of these Realistic NOVA 20 are original and do not require replacement, since they are made of very good quality fake leather. Or so it seems to me because they are apparently indestructible. Aesthetics? Not really… Dimensions… who cares? The sound…?exactly what I like! And my Tinnitus thank me for this care. What I wish for everyone who uses headphones professionally is to have at least the luck I have had with headphones since 2004. Stay safe! Greetings from Portugal Macedo Pinto

Thank you for the ideas 🤯

super dope rebuild!

I needed this video more than ever

appreciate this video. thank you for your time.

Great repair. Anything kept out of a landfill is a win. For closing up tight seams I use the ‘Henson’ stitch. The jack installation is a nice touch.

Love my ATs, glad to see others share the passion! But real talk, how many times did you poke yourself with the needle? Knowing how I am with a needle and thread that's all I kept thinking...

Awesome 💯

I have several pair of MDR7506's and my go to pair has been modified with a 3 pin mini XLR jack on the ear cup and then they are compatible with any of the AKG style mini XLR to 3.5mm cables, most of which use the screw on 1/4" adapter like the original Sony. A set of velour ear pads also makes them comfy.

Pretty good job. I think I'm going to replace my head band with some car headliner leather. Thanks for posting.

I just used a heated knife to carve out carefully some of the headphone cylinder plastic part near the port so i could use any 2.5 mm aux cable.

I need change cable, now i know that is not so hard to do. Thx

it's nice to see someone rebuild headphones instead of banishing them to the closet realm to collect dust for eternity. I found my M50x's at a garage sale for like, $1.75. (third-world country it's more like $5 here than $1.75 in the US, it was the end of the day and the old man would accept small amounts of money if it meant getting rid of the junk electronics he had)

thank you for sharing this! awesome video. this has inspired me to do the same

many AKG headphones have the two metal overhead loops with the "hammock" that cushions your head, makes an easy repair and those two metal loops are actually the headphone signal conductors too!

amazing man

Not sure I'd attempt the detachable cable, but now I'm very tempted to figure out a way to refresh my crumbling white M50s that I can't even pick up off the shelf without leaving a trail of specs behind.

way to save money but mate, that's a workload for me haha nice one, cheers!

I want a pair of those!

Great video. Mine are falling apart too. The problem I have is, I want a pair of replacement earpads that don't change the sound of the headphones.

awesome!

Thank you very much for this great HOW-TO video. But, I have one question: How do you know that your Headphone Drivers (the internal speakers inside the headphone of these MD50x) are still performing at optimal levels? I mean...I can recall a few times that I really blasted the volume on these things. ALSO, I live in a very humid climate. So, might the humidity adversely affect this sound quality?.... The other thing is that, somehow, and I do not know how, the headband has become bent out of round, and is sort of not symmetrical as it once was. And, I am afraid to use force to try to bend it back. What to do, if you have any advice.

Nice refurb project. Not sure I'd want the frankenstein stitched seam (or any seam), resting on my scalp. I locate the seam to the edge of the headband

Did you find a replacment ear pads? Compared to the original earpads or the Beyerdynamic ones, which sounds better?

Hey, where did you get the plug-in cord style? I have a pair of ATH-M50's and I keep snagging the cord on things, and the right earpiece no longer has sound. I figure adding the plug-in type of cord will at least alleviate the issue by pulling out instead of severing the speaker's connection. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I've had my ATH-M50x for almost 5 years now, and recently started using them while running or cooking with high heat so the headband foam has a . . . . funky smell to it. I'm wondering if I can just simply remove all the old foam, clean that down, and wrap a pre-bought headband cover directly over the plastic. I'm worried it'll be too thin or uncomfortable without the original foam or adding new foam. Is it better to wrap the cover over the old foam, keeping the "funky" stuff, or remove it all and just have the original plastic with a new headband cover? Thank you!

Got DT700 pro x.. expected it will be best.. And I was wrong. So muddy.. returned in same day. So looks like need some mods and old m50 will be ok for next 10years

Just found this video and its awesome! I wish the camera angle was above with the soldering parts :(

I wonder if there's a stuff to apply on the headband to prevent flaking, moisturizer or something ?

just did the 3.5mm port mod on my set and now I have no audio :( any idea why it might be? I'm fairly certain I soldered the wires in the right places.

I want to tweak mine as well. Just scared I might break it.

Do you know if you can replace m50 ear pads with m50x size ear pads?

I am confused, which cable goes to which pin on the jack socket? Mine has 3 pins sticking out

Are you able to share the image of wiring before anything was modded? I forgot to take a photo before rewiring

Stock pads are paining. If this not sounds good with aftermarket it's not a good headphone.

This is awesome. But, doesn't it cost more to repair and to replace?

What are those things on the keyboard?

As good as the job is you can’t beat wireless technology

Hello, very good video, I want to make that modification too, but I wanted to know, do you think you can modify them so that it uses balanced cable, take my like and I subscribe good content bro

Just found a pair in a 2nd Hand store in Japan for $10.

indestructible

I dropped my headphones can that affect sound quality?

Different ear pads fuck up the tuning on M50s.

why put the stitching right ontop of your head, should have left that flat and stitched at the back side

Mhhh... Any pad other then the original will change the sound, usually for the worst. Stick with the original, they're called just HP-EP, but beware of cheap lookalike copies; they fit and sound good also on the 7506! I solved the headband issue with a padded cover with zip closure I've found on "the bay", the size is perfect, can be taken off to wash with shampoo and it's streachy enough for a bit of extra padding if needed; it fits also on Denon D2000 and E-MU Teak. But first I removed the old flacking pleather on the headband with duct tape: stick and pull hard like a brazilian wax, no crumbs all over the place, no black goo under your fingernails... fast and clean. I also had the old "non x" version and modded it with a removable cable, but used a nice screw lock jack, the Sennheiser lavalier mic style. The other eaging part that affects sound is a foam plug in the back of the driver, right in the center of the magnet hole, if it crumbles after 15 or so years, sound will change for the worst, just replace on both sides with a small foam nugget, also on new replacement drivers is not present so, in case of replacement, a new pair of twin plugs is needed to achieve a decent balanced sound (the 7506 has the same foam plug and gets old in the same way).

I hope that Dave Rat see's this video.

You forgot to mention that it now sounds like crap besause of those cusions.

dont change earpads to thirdparty earpads it will sound different

Earpads change the tuning so apart from looks you must also answer if you like the sound.

🤣🤣🤣

Cable mod?