M-Audio HDH40 Review

M-Audio HDH40 Headphone Overview

Excellent, balanced sound. A true budget champion.

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Introduction

What do you do if you need great, accurate sound but are on a budget? The market is full of high-quality headphones costing hundreds of dollars, but what if you are just starting out making music and can’t justify that cost? Maybe you just want decent sound to listen to podcasts and music for an affordable price. This M-Audio HDH40 review takes a look at a product that promises that quality audio experience but at an impressively low price. Read on to see if they succeed.

Designed with a range of uses in mind, the M Audio HDH40 headphones offer excellent sound reproduction at a remarkably low price. They are ideal for mixing, listening to podcasts and any situation where you need clarity from the headphones, they could even be used for competitive gaming.

Available on their own or in a pack complete with audio interface and microphone, they offer impressive sound quality at any price, never mind the budget cost they can be bought for. They feature large, 40mm neodymium dynamic magnet drivers that fill the closed back design with sound. Impressive stereo separation and superb clarity are the result.

The sound is warm, but while there is plenty of punch in the bass and mid-range, they remain balanced overall, giving accurate renditions of your music that are perfect for mixing. That warmth also helps if listening to podcasts, given depth to the vocals that are very enjoyable to listen to. They are far more than budget M Audio mixing headphones.

Packaging and Accessories

The M-Audio HDH40s come in a standard M-Audio branded cardboard box that is sturdy, with plenty of information about the headphones should you be looking at them in a store. Mine arrived completely intact, so the box is clearly sturdy enough to survive mail order, but aside from that there is not much to say about the unboxing experience.

M-Audio has clearly focused on the performance of these headphones, and there are no extras with them. The cable is permanently attached anyway, so all you get in the box is the headphones themselves, and a 3.5mm to 6.7mm adaptor for connection to professional audio equipment. But then again, that is all you really need to use these. At this price, we shouldn’t really expect anything extra.

Design

To take a deeper look at the headphones in this M-Audio HDH40 review we begin with the design. They are very functional, in that there is little in the way of additions to the design, everything is there to fulfil a need. The earcups are round and just large enough to contain the drivers, the headband is broad enough to distribute weight easily, and so on.  

The looks themselves are good though. With larger earcups and a wide headband, they look and feel substantial, and you definitely get a lot for your money. They are plastic, with metal slides for headband size adjustment. But it is quality plastic that feels nice and robust, with substantial hinges and a general feel of being well made and built to last. Soft touch materials feature on the headband though, so the places where you will most frequently contact it really do feel upmarket.

The M-Audio HDH40s don’t have a folding mechanism, so they could be a little awkward to travel with, but in the studio or by your computer they are great, and they look much more expensive than the price would suggest.

Comfort

These are a very comfortable pair of headphones that you can wear for longer sessions in the studio or mixing at your computer without a problem. When you look at the M-Audio HDH40s, it is easy to see why too. Both earcups and headband feature thick, soft foam, which is not only comfortable, but offers decent noise isolation too, keeping outside sounds out so you can focus on whatever you may be listening to.

However, I did find that in combination with the closed back design, they also trapped heat in too, and after a couple of hours I did start to feel the heat on my ears. That is a minor problem though, and in general they are a great pair of headphones to use.

Sound & Spec

While the build quality is high, and they have a nice design that focuses on comfort, the real reason these headphones stand out from the crowd is the quality of the sound. There is nothing else in the price range that can really match them for accuracy and clarity.

The closed back design means that they isolate you from outside noise to an extent, and that is felt with the clarity on offer. It can have a tendency to make reproduction a little warm compared to some, but it is a pleasing effect that enhances listening pleasure without really distorting the reproduction.

That musical accuracy is what makes them such good M Audio mixing headphones, but they work well for podcasts or just general listening too. The balanced sound allows the recording to shine, and they are great for any music genre you will want to listen to.

Connectivity

Focused on quality music reproduction, there are no additional features like Bluetooth on the M-Audio HDH40s, with a fixed, 3.5mm cable and a detachable 6.7mm adaptor. While I prefer detachable cables for my headphones, the fixed one for the M-Audio HDH40s seems good quality, and at 2.7m long is enough for most situations.

This means that you can connect to pretty much any kind of device with a headphone jack, from gaming consoles to pro audio equipment, including the very good audio interface it can be found in a package with.

What about the competition?

At this price, there are very few headphone manufacturers who just focus on sound quality. Most include Bluetooth for connection to mobile devices, but as M Audio mixing headphones, there are a couple of options to think about. The Roland RH-5s are a similar price, sharing a similar layout with Roland’s own 40mm driver, but they can’t quite match the performance I have experienced in this M-Audio HDH40 review.

Another option is the AKG K52s, another pair of headphones driven by 40mm drivers at a similar price. Again though, they don’t quite match the audio performance, and the distinctive headband arch of the AKG range is not to everyone’s taste. They never feel as robust as the M-Audio HDH40s either, although I have never experienced issues with AKG, its just that feel in the hand.

Conclusion

Excellent sounds on a budget are probably the things more people are looking for from a pair of headphones than anything else. Wireless connections are nice to have, even a detachable cable is useful, but they are things we want rather than need.

Above all, what I want are headphones that let me immerse myself in the sound and just enjoy it in comfort. Throughout this M-Audio HDH40 review, the thing I have come back to again and again, is that they do the basics so well. You put them on, plug them into a device and listen. They sound great, feel nice on the head and do what they are designed to do really well.

If you want some affordable headphones without frills, then the M-Audio HDH40s are a fantastic choice.