How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want an open-back, wired headphone for spacious home listening, gaming and casual music sessions with a detachable mic cable, choose FiiO JT3; if you need a closed-back studio monitor that isolates you from the room and folds for transport, choose Audio-Technica ATH-M50x.
• FiiO JT3 biggest strength: an open-back acoustic design with a large 50mm driver and angled driver placement, aimed at a wide, spacious, natural soundstage.
• FiiO JT3 biggest trade-off: open-back means it leaks sound both ways and offers no noise isolation — it is a private-room headphone, not a commuter or loud-room tool.
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50x biggest strength: a closed-back circumaural design with swiveling earcups and a bundle that includes three cables, an adapter, a pouch, a stand and a cloth.
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50x biggest trade-off: its closed-back, monitor-first tuning and plastic-heavy build are about work and isolation rather than airy, room-like spaciousness.
• Pick FiiO JT3 if you listen at home, game, and want an open, breathable fit with a mic on the cable.
• Pick ATH-M50x if you record, mix, DJ, or listen in noisy shared spaces and want a foldable, isolating workhorse.
The JT3 is built around one idea: make an affordable wired headphone sound big and open. FiiO does that with a 50mm dynamic driver paired to a PEK+PU composite diaphragm, a CCAW voice coil and an N52 magnet. Those parts matter in practice. The hybrid diaphragm is meant to balance stiffness with flexibility, which is the usual recipe for controlled bass that doesn't smear the mids. The 80 ohm impedance and 20Hz–40,000Hz range tell you this is a headphone that will happily run from a phone or laptop, but it also rewards a DAC or amp.
Then there's the open-back structure. Vents let air move, which cuts the internal pressure and standing waves that closed cups create. The payoff is a wider, more natural sense of space and better imaging, helped by angled driver placement. Vocals sit in front of you rather than inside your skull, and positional cues in games are easier to pick out. In my opinion, that's the JT3's whole reason to exist — it's a "sit down and enjoy the room" headphone.
Comfort is clearly a priority too. The frame is aluminum-magnesium alloy, so it stays light while feeling solid, and the velvet earpads use memory foam, which breathes far better than leatherette over a long session. The detachable dual 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable includes an in-line mic and controls, and a 6.35mm adapter is in the box, so you can run it from a phone, a PC, an amp, or step up to a balanced cable later.
Who should buy it? Home listeners who want openness, gamers who want imaging and a mic, and anyone who finds closed cups hot and claustrophobic. Who should skip it? Anyone who needs isolation — on a train, in an open office, or next to a noisy PC. Open-back headphones leak audio outward and let the world in. If that's your situation, the JT3 is the wrong tool, no matter how good it sounds.
The ATH-M50x is the opposite philosophy. It's a closed-back, circumaural monitor headphone: the pads surround your ears and seal, which is exactly what you want when the room around you is loud or when you're tracking and can't have bleed. Audio-Technica pairs 45mm large-aperture drivers with rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminum voice coils, and quotes a 15Hz–28kHz range with deep, accurate bass. That low-end extension is part of why this model has spent years as a default recommendation in studios.
The folding design is the other half of the story. The earcups swivel 90 degrees, so you can flip one cup off your ear for single-ear monitoring while recording or DJing, and the whole thing collapses for a bag. The build uses ABS and polycarbonate — light, tough, and clearly chosen for road life rather than luxury feel.
The bundle deserves attention because it changes the value math. In the box you get the headphones plus a coiled cable (3.9 to 9.8'), a straight 9.8' cable, a straight 3.9' cable, a 1/4" screw-on adapter, and a carrying pouch. On top of that, the bundle adds a headphone stand and a microfiber cleaning cloth. That's a genuinely practical kit: long cable for the desk, short cable for mobile, coiled cable for the booth.
Cables are detachable, which matters for longevity — a chewed or failed cable is a cheap fix, not a dead headphone. Noise control is listed as sound isolation, and that's the honest description: the seal reduces what you hear, it doesn't actively cancel anything.
Who should buy it? Producers, mixers, podcasters, DJs, and gamers who play in a shared space. Also anyone who wants one headphone that travels well and blocks out a bus or a café. Who should skip it? If you want an airy, wide, open soundstage for immersive single-player gaming or relaxed home listening, the sealed design works against you. And if you strongly prefer an open, breathable fit, the closed cups will feel warmer over hours.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for isolation → Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Circumaural closed-back cups seal around the ears for loud environments.
• Best for recording and monitoring → ATH-M50x. 90-degree swiveling earcups make one-ear monitoring practical.
• Best for gaming with voice chat → FiiO JT3. The detachable cable has an in-line mic and controls built in.
• Best for travel and storage → ATH-M50x. It folds, and the bundle includes a pouch, stand and cloth.
• Best for long, breathable sessions at home → FiiO JT3. Velvet memory-foam pads and a light aluminum-magnesium frame.
• Best for cable flexibility out of the box → ATH-M50x. Three cables plus a 1/4" adapter ship in the bundle.
• Best for headphone upgrade paths → FiiO JT3. It supports single-ended and balanced cables, useful with a DAC or amp.
I'd buy the FiiO JT3 — but only for the job it's built for. If your listening happens at a desk at home, if you game and want a mic on the cable, and if you value an open, breathable fit and a wide sense of space, the JT3's 50mm open-back design is the more interesting headphone. If your reality involves noise, other people, or actual studio work, I'd take the ATH-M50x without hesitation: it isolates, it folds, it swivels, and the bundle covers you from day one. In my opinion, most first-time buyers are better served by the M50x, and most home listeners who already own a closed-back pair will enjoy the JT3 more. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that's the one variable that can flip this decision.
FAQ
They reduce it. The circumaural closed-back design seals around your ears, and Audio-Technica lists sound isolation as the noise control method. They do not use active noise cancellation.
Yes. It's a wired 3.5mm headphone with 80 ohm impedance, and the included cable has a mic and controls. It will also scale up if you add a DAC or amp, and it accepts balanced cables.
The ATH-M50x, in my opinion. Its closed-back monitor tuning, 90-degree swiveling earcups for one-ear monitoring, and the three-cable bundle make it the more practical tool for tracking, mixing, and DJ work.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon or its affiliates. This site is an independent third-party review and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon or the product brands mentioned.