akg k550 help

Hi,

I own a K550 (since october 2012)

I use it with a sansa clip+ (easy to drive !), or through HRT Streamer II+ dac with Schiit Asgard amp or Yulong U100 amp

i think both dac and amp are equally important

the combination i finally prefer (after several months) is Streamer II+ with the Yulong U100 amp (while i prefer the Asgard amp for my beyer DT880 32 ohms)

with the Yulong built-in dac, the sound is a bit more congested, it lacks of clarity & separation (comparatively to the HRT streamer)

so yes, with good dac + amp pairing, you'll get at least a little more of everything: more bass, more soundstage, more clarity, more separation between the instruments - and you feel more power than with a mp3 player (is it your current source ?)

hope it'll help

The FiiO E11 will give you more bass, that's what I use when I had my K550. 

And yes, it does make a difference, it won't give you basshead level bass but it'll be more than what you currently have.

Do you have a good seal? These have a light clamp, so they don't seal very well for some people. You can bend the headband in to improve the seal if that's a problem, which will increase the bass.

Also make sure the earpads are angled properly to give you the best seal. The adjustment for the angle is stiff and doesn't move on its own, so you have to move it yourself to get it to hug closer to your head.

I was using the clip zip with either fiio E6 or ibasso P2. The clip does not output a lot of volume. Definitely a lot less than a discman. The EQ helps a lot. I got mine from crutchfield refurbed. Using this $25 off $250 coupon that popped up when I was browsing their site, I basically got the audioquest evergreen 3.5 to 3.5 cable free. That one does make a difference when compared to a regular $6 RCA mini cable. Everything was richer and the volume was more prominent. I had no idea what to expect so I don't think I'm suffering from sight bias. I changed the AQ cable out for the RCA and a $2 mini cable and I could always notice the difference. The E6 is adequate, but doesn't sound as refined or get as loud as the Ibasso. I'm sure Ibasso has made more and perhaps better amps since 2007-2008 when I got the P2. I plan to order an O2 soon, from jds labs. P2 also has bass boost settings that work a little better than those on the E6. The source recordings matter a lot too. There isn't much a K550 can do with a bass anemic album like the 1st press Spider's Lullabye from King Diamond. Even boosting the bass doesn't give the album a rich sound. 550 seems to shine the most with stuff like film scores or music that has a lot of space like the original Abba Visitors cd.

Have you tried eq'ing it a bit? 
 

I use it with E17. The differences is exactly as 'breizh' had said.

Although the spec mentoned 32 ohm impedence, it actually requires roughly 25% more power to achieve a similar sound level as a 40 ohm headphone (ATH-WS55)

It will give you acceptable listening with a mp3 player only. To exploit the true potential, an amp is a must.