[lawrecedent]

Even though I have other FiiO devices, the E10 and X3, I still use my E11 very often. It seems to have the deepest bass boost of them all. It goes quite well with my K550s but better with my Audio Technica ATH-AD700s. They are open back and in my opinion, they are really good at everything other than the weight to the deep bass notes.

One thing the E11 helps the K550s with is the midrange. I think the midrange on the K550s without any bass added sounds clear but extremely thin. This seems strange because they have quite a lot more bass than my AD700s. The midrange on my AD700s sounds a little warmer. Using the E11 with my K550s though adds even more bass, too much at times but it makes the midrange sound a little better to me.

Even though I think the E11 is quite a basic amplifier, I still think it improves a lot of the sound. Even the treble stands out more, especially when it is on high gain.

I had a lot of time for it as a portable amp, it was so small and light. Ive since upgraded to the e18 which sounds good but is a but of a behemoth to take out and about.

 

[ipaulpereira]

Just received my second hand k550, coming from an ATH M50 and Beyers Dt770 250 ohm. Running the AKG out of a FIIO E12 Monte Blanc connected to a FIIO X1 via Ibasso CB06 interconnect.
 
And I'm really loving the clean black, spacious sound i'm getting. 
 
It's as if 'darkness' had a steady light illuminating a very organised soundstage. 
 
Compared to the M50 (with new M50x pads and 1.5 years burn in ) , the 550 is definitely more open (even though it's a closed can) I find the soundstage floor big, with all the complex elements of dance  music spread out in neatly organised positions whereas the M50 felt crammed, closer to you in your head, with separation not as pronounced. 
 
Bass 'rumbles'  more in the m50  and can sound like you're in an intimate club while the bass in the 550 sounds punchy enough and tight and clean to cut through the mids and highs that appear very clear and 'present.' 
 
I personally feel it is not the intention of AKG to have such tight clamping for deeper bass, I found myself being able to appreciate the quality of the not overbearing low ends,  I really like how it 'cleanly punches through the songs.
 
Songs used
 
Alva Noto - u-07 from unitxt album (FLAC)
Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Human Being from Being Human Being album [2014] FLAC
 
The resolution of the 550 impresses me, is well presented, balanced though one does feel the bass appears ' recessed' But with the E12 and bass boost on, the SQ equalises and becomes even to me. YMMV
 
Compared to the beyers, i feel the t770 250 ohm is 'darker' and 'heavier' especially with the bass, having more 'thickness' compared to the club tuned M50. 
 
Mids and highs are more refined and ''lean' in the 550 compared to the M50with the Beyers being the less clear of the lot i feel. It feel like the highs in the DT'aren't sure where to properly be' compared to the AKG's 'confidence.' This is how i sense each of the headphones are. Not the DT 770' aren't any good.i modded it a bit to ad dbl. tack behind each driver and feel it has helped with the overall balance of the sound. 
 
Isolation wise, the Beyers leak sound in the most because of the valour pads ( i might try darkening the sound by adding pleather soon)
The best isolation comes form the M50 as the 550 does leak some sound sin (bus engine etc) largely because of the not so tight clamping force. 
 
But again, i personally feel it doesn't need to be so head crushing.having the ease of the 550 sitting on your head comfortably without pressure seems to add to the experience of the AKG's. To me, that makes he listening experience clear, relaxed, not so intense and enjoyable to me because 'tightness' creates a certain tension in the listening experience. like physiological affect on the emotional response to music. 
 
Overall, i feel the 550 as the sleek, professional, smooth discotheque, the Beyers as the dark underground warehouse rave and the M50 as a commercially exciting and established quality club. 
 
Hop you guys enjoyed the read! 

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

  Just received my second hand k550, coming from an ATH M50 and Beyers Dt770 250 ohm. Running the AKG out of a FIIO E12 Monte Blanc connected to a FIIO X1 via Ibasso CB06 interconnect.
 
And I'm really loving the clean black, spacious sound i'm getting. 
 
It's as if 'darkness' had a steady light illuminating a very organised soundstage. 
 
Compared to the M50 (with new M50x pads and 1.5 years burn in ) , the 550 is definitely more open (even though it's a closed can) I find the soundstage floor big, with all the complex elements of dance  music spread out in neatly organised positions whereas the M50 felt crammed, closer to you in your head, with separation not as pronounced. 
 
Bass 'rumbles'  more in the m50  and can sound like you're in an intimate club while the bass in the 550 sounds punchy enough and tight and clean to cut through the mids and highs that appear very clear and 'present.' 
 
I personally feel it is not the intention of AKG to have such tight clamping for deeper bass, I found myself being able to appreciate the quality of the not overbearing low ends,  I really like how it 'cleanly punches through the songs.
 
Songs used
 
Alva Noto - u-07 from unitxt album (FLAC)
Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Human Being from Being Human Being album [2014] FLAC
 
The resolution of the 550 impresses me, is well presented, balanced though one does feel the bass appears ' recessed' But with the E12 and bass boost on, the SQ equalises and becomes even to me. YMMV
 
Compared to the beyers, i feel the t770 250 ohm is 'darker' and 'heavier' especially with the bass, having more 'thickness' compared to the club tuned M50. 
 
Mids and highs are more refined and ''lean' in the 550 compared to the M50with the Beyers being the less clear of the lot i feel. It feel like the highs in the DT'aren't sure where to properly be' compared to the AKG's 'confidence.' This is how i sense each of the headphones are. Not the DT 770' aren't any good.i modded it a bit to ad dbl. tack behind each driver and feel it has helped with the overall balance of the sound. 
 
Isolation wise, the Beyers leak sound in the most because of the valour pads ( i might try darkening the sound by adding pleather soon)
The best isolation comes form the M50 as the 550 does leak some sound sin (bus engine etc) largely because of the not so tight clamping force. 
 
But again, i personally feel it doesn't need to be so head crushing.having the ease of the 550 sitting on your head comfortably without pressure seems to add to the experience of the AKG's. To me, that makes he listening experience clear, relaxed, not so intense and enjoyable to me because 'tightness' creates a certain tension in the listening experience. like physiological affect on the emotional response to music. 
 
Overall, i feel the 550 as the sleek, professional, smooth discotheque, the Beyers as the dark underground warehouse rave and the M50 as a commercially exciting and established quality club. 
 
Hop you guys enjoyed the read! 

I was wondering how the K550s compare with the M50s. I have the K550s and am very happy with them. I happen to use them on the bus very often and they hardly seem to leak any sound at all. But then I do have a large head and they have a very good seal for me. I do sometimes think that the M50s could be better for use on the move because of the background noise. The bass seems very lacking when I am on a bus with the K550s but the treble and other details still sound really good. The M50s may be better at keeping that bass when in a noisy environment. The K550s sound very good when at home. The bass being the best thing about them. Not very powerful but very deep and clean sounding. It seems to be that a lot of headphones just have too much bass for me. I don't like that boomy sound that lots of closed back headphones seem have. I don't mind a lot of bass on speakers so long as it doesn't mess up the other sounds.
The treble is good for a closed back headphone but noticeably not as good as my open backed pair of headphones.
 
I live in the UK and got my K550s for £129. They are now available for £99 in lots of places. I think that is good value. What surprises me though is what the K550s look like they used to cost. £250!? That to me is just unbelievable. I know they sound good for a closed back pair of headphones but my open backed pair (Audio Technica ATH-AD700s) overall sound much better than the K550s and they only cost £87 when I got them. It is worth paying a little bit more when it what I did but I don't think they are worth £250. They must have been some of the best closed headphones around back then because Whathifi reviewed them when they were that price and gave them 5 stars.
 
At the time I bought my AD700s which was way before I bought the K550s, they were about half the price that the K550s were at the time.
 
My AD700s were available for just over £60 a few months before which I now think was an extremely good deal for an excellent sounding open-backed pair of headphones. I think I must just expect too much from a closed back pair of headphones but I do think the K550s did used to be overpriced by quite a lot. I didn't think they would have dropped to £99 though. I maybe should have waited a few more months

.
For £99 and even for what I paid, since they are closed back, hardly leak sound and also block the sound around you quite well, I think they work out good value.
I use them with my FiiO X3 when travelling and with the E10 or E11 at home.
 
I like that the K550s fold flat. Makes them more handy to put in a bag or something similar. I wish they would have a detachable cable though because 3m is simply too long since AKG say they can be used as portable headphones. Another good point for the M50s there. I really like the look of the way the cable is coiled.
The cable length was annoying me so much, I ended up doing this with it

 


I braided it. It is now just over 1m instead of 3m!

 

[ipaulpereira]

I got my 550 for SGD$160. Quite a good deal i reckon. I tried doing the headband bend but never quite got that very fit seal, thats why i get sound leaking in a little, but i'm happy with the bass. A mentioned, outside, i power it up and boost the bass with the e12 but i agree with what you said about the better sound at home.
 
I'm using the q701 open backs at home and i pretty much love the spaciousness and its quality. 
 
I should learn how to braid like that!

 

[citraian]

You can always get the K545 for on the move situations

 

[jazzjet]

My AKG K550’s arrived today and I thought I’d post my initial impressions. I’ve been using  Sennheiser HD 598s for a few years and my reason for choosing the AKG K550s was that I wanted to start building a range of headphone options and I thought I’d start with some highly regarded closed headphones. 
 
I should mention that these impressions are of the K550s straight out of the box and they still require some burning in. My setup is : a) Hifi - Marantz CD6003/NAD C350 amp, b) Computer - MacBook/Fidelia/HRT Microstreamer DAC/amp. My choice of music was the SACD version of Steely Dan’s ‘Gaucho’, an album I’m very familiar with.
 
The AKG K550s are extremely comfortable, possibly more so than the HD 598s which I’ve always found fine for long listening sessions. Maybe I have a slightly larger than average head but the fit was fine. A smaller head might find them too loose perhaps.
 
What struck me first about the sound from the AKG 550s was that the bass was considerably leaner than the HD 598s. It came across as quite taut and clean whereas the HD 598s tend to present a heavier bass sound. This leaner sound appeals to me as my main listening is jazz. In connecting the AKG K550s to the phones output on my Marantz CD player, as opposed to through the NAD C350 amp, the bass seemed to beef up slightly. I’ve no idea why. Vocals come across well with the AKG K550s with a feeling of space around the sound. The treble end seems to be quite forward. Switching to my MacBook the phones seemed slightly lower powered than the 598s, although the presentation was effective and pleasing. The soundstage seems surprisingly wide for a closed phone, and compares very well to the HD 598s.
 
I’m not sure whether burning in will have any impact on the sound. Time will tell. Overall, I’m very pleased with the AKG K550s.
 
The question I have is what other headphone I should add to my arsenal that will provide a distinct enough contrast to the HD 598s and AKG K550s, roughly around the £250 price point? No point in getting something too similar to the other two. I’m not interested in a portable set as almost all my listening is at home.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

 
I got my 550 for SGD$160. Quite a good deal i reckon. I tried doing the headband bend but never quite got that very fit seal, thats why i get sound leaking in a little, but i'm happy with the bass. A mentioned, outside, i power it up and boost the bass with the e12 but i agree with what you said about the better sound at home.
 
I'm using the q701 open backs at home and i pretty much love the spaciousness and its quality. 
 
I should learn how to braid like that!

I think my AD700s have a little more treble than the q701s do but I would have thought that the q701s will have more bass. The sound on my AD700s is so open and the soundstage is so good. The sound of wind instruments really does feel like you are actually there. They have really bright treble. I think it is so bright that some people don't like them so much. I like that the K550s have a lot of treble too. But they at times sound like they are trying too hard. The treble just sounds a little unrealistic at times. Yet again, I am being a bit unfair comparing my two headphones!

 

[ipaulpereira]

Yeah, i haven't done a proper AB between the Q's and K's but i reckon you're right about the Q's having more bass. I've yet to experiment listening to the 550 through a ads cmoybb. For me, that little amp smooths out the highs a little and should make the treble sound nicer (not that i've encountered not so nice highs from the 550's yet. All in all, my mindspace is still adjusting to these 'new' cans and it probably requires much more burn in. Loving the 550's so far....

 

[ipaulpereira]

  My AKG K550’s arrived today and I thought I’d post my initial impressions. I’ve been using  Sennheiser HD 598s for a few years and my reason for choosing the AKG K550s was that I wanted to start building a range of headphone options and I thought I’d start with some highly regarded closed headphones. 
 
I should mention that these impressions are of the K550s straight out of the box and they still require some burning in. My setup is : a) Hifi - Marantz CD6003/NAD C350 amp, b) Computer - MacBook/Fidelia/HRT Microstreamer DAC/amp. My choice of music was the SACD version of Steely Dan’s ‘Gaucho’, an album I’m very familiar with.
 
The AKG K550s are extremely comfortable, possibly more so than the HD 598s which I’ve always found fine for long listening sessions. Maybe I have a slightly larger than average head but the fit was fine. A smaller head might find them too loose perhaps.
 
What struck me first about the sound from the AKG 550s was that the bass was considerably leaner than the HD 598s. It came across as quite taut and clean whereas the HD 598s tend to present a heavier bass sound. This leaner sound appeals to me as my main listening is jazz. In connecting the AKG K550s to the phones output on my Marantz CD player, as opposed to through the NAD C350 amp, the bass seemed to beef up slightly. I’ve no idea why. Vocals come across well with the AKG K550s with a feeling of space around the sound. The treble end seems to be quite forward. Switching to my MacBook the phones seemed slightly lower powered than the 598s, although the presentation was effective and pleasing. The soundstage seems surprisingly wide for a closed phone, and compares very well to the HD 598s.
 
I’m not sure whether burning in will have any impact on the sound. Time will tell. Overall, I’m very pleased with the AKG K550s.
 
The question I have is what other headphone I should add to my arsenal that will provide a distinct enough contrast to the HD 598s and AKG K550s, roughly around the £250 price point? No point in getting something too similar to the other two. I’m not interested in a portable set as almost all my listening is at home.

Glad you like the 550's! Nice set up you have, always wanted to try to get my hands on some marants and SACD's.... as for other headphones, i'm not quite in  a position to say much due to lack of actual listening experience, but at one time,i considered getting a KOSS portapro just for the fun of having something different. I read the bass and sound is all quite forward and it's semi open if i'm not wrong. Or maybe a Mad Dog? Planners could be interesting to explore and you could probably get a second hand one for the price you're looking at. But again, not sure how those compare to 550s, i suspect the difference would be in the quality of the bass in the MadDogs....How about trying out IEM's?? The experience is very different, intimate, close and you could explore another range of diff IEM's. Try out the Havi B1 Pro. Very balanced sounding IEM from china. Good luck! 

 

[nw130d]

The question I have is what other headphone I should add to my arsenal that will provide a distinct enough contrast to the HD 598s and AKG K550s, roughly around the £250 price point? No point in getting something too similar to the other two. I’m not interested in a portable set as almost all my listening is at home.

Why not sell the HD598 and get HD600 with the £250 budget? Between the HD600 and K550 I would say they cover a wide range of music genres.
 
Shure SRH1540 and Focal Spirit Pro are good as well. For some faster music such as electronic music I think SRH1540 best HD600 and K550. I only demoed the Spirit pro can't say too much about them, didn't get it due to comfort. Ear cups was a tad small.
 
Quote:

 
Glad you like the 550's! Nice set up you have, always wanted to try to get my hands on some marants and SACD's.... as for other headphones, i'm not quite in  a position to say much due to lack of actual listening experience, but at one time,i considered getting a KOSS portapro just for the fun of having something different. I read the bass and sound is all quite forward and it's semi open if i'm not wrong. Or maybe a Mad Dog? Planners could be interesting to explore and you could probably get a second hand one for the price you're looking at. But again, not sure how those compare to 550s, i suspect the difference would be in the quality of the bass in the MadDogs....How about trying out IEM's?? The experience is very different, intimate, close and you could explore another range of diff IEM's. Try out the Havi B1 Pro. Very balanced sounding IEM from china. Good luck! 

+1 Mad Dog is a good choice as well for closed.

 

[jazzjet]

 
Glad you like the 550's! Nice set up you have, always wanted to try to get my hands on some marants and SACD's.... as for other headphones, i'm not quite in  a position to say much due to lack of actual listening experience, but at one time,i considered getting a KOSS portapro just for the fun of having something different. I read the bass and sound is all quite forward and it's semi open if i'm not wrong. Or maybe a Mad Dog? Planners could be interesting to explore and you could probably get a second hand one for the price you're looking at. But again, not sure how those compare to 550s, i suspect the difference would be in the quality of the bass in the MadDogs....How about trying out IEM's?? The experience is very different, intimate, close and you could explore another range of diff IEM's. Try out the Havi B1 Pro. Very balanced sounding IEM from china. Good luck! 

Thanks for your helpful reply. I'll look into the Mad Dogs, although I'm not sure how easy they are to get in the UK.
Interesting suggestion on IEM's. I hadn't really thought about using IEMs in a home setup but it might be worth considering. A couple of questions. I assume I could drive them with my USB DAC/amp without any problem? And would I be able to connect with an adapter to my hifi set up? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ipaulpereira]

  Thanks for your helpful reply. I'll look into the Mad Dogs, although I'm not sure how easy they are to get in the UK.
Interesting suggestion on IEM's. I hadn't really thought about using IEMs in a home setup but it might be worth considering. A couple of questions. I assume I could drive them with my USB DAC/amp without any problem? And would I be able to connect with an adapter to my hifi set up? Any help would be appreciated.

You're welcome. IEM's can be tricky pairing up with amps especially, due to sensitivities. I will have to leave this part to the pros in head-fi to give you more feedback. 
 
Perhaps you could share with us your set up at home and even portable if you plan to use IEMs on the go? Then the folks here can know what amps etc you're dealing with and can advise accordingly. Personally, i'm using a schiit Modi with JDS Labs o2 and i find the 02 can run my IEM's quite well without problems (Havi B3 / ATH-IM70 / KZ EDSE)
As for adaptors, i'm assuming you're talking about 3.5mm to 1/4 inch for the headphone jack in your hifi? Just get a converter. Again, it also depends on your amp output (ohm / voltage) etc to pair well with IEMs. Read around head-fi, it's always fun exploring different takes on items, amps, and synergistic pairings!

 

[jazzjet]

 
You're welcome. IEM's can be tricky pairing up with amps especially, due to sensitivities. I will have to leave this part to the pros in head-fi to give you more feedback. 
 
Perhaps you could share with us your set up at home and even portable if you plan to use IEMs on the go? Then the folks here can know what amps etc you're dealing with and can advise accordingly. Personally, i'm using a schiit Modi with JDS Labs o2 and i find the 02 can run my IEM's quite well without problems (Havi B3 / ATH-IM70 / KZ EDSE)
As for adaptors, i'm assuming you're talking about 3.5mm to 1/4 inch for the headphone jack in your hifi? Just get a converter. Again, it also depends on your amp output (ohm / voltage) etc to pair well with IEMs. Read around head-fi, it's always fun exploring different takes on items, amps, and synergistic pairings!

Thanks again. For my hifi based setup I have a Marantz CD6003 CD player coupled with a NAD C350 amplifier. For my digital files I use a MacBook running the Fidelia software player and the HRT Micro Streamer USB DAC/Amp. I don't listen to music on the move that much. In the main I listen to audio books from my iPhone with a fairly inexpensive set of noise cancelling earphones (Digital Silence) which are quite effective.
 
One issue I can foresee is that my listening position is about 3m from my hifi setup and I think the cable is only 1.2m. Maybe I'll have to look for IEMs with replaceable cables unless any come with 3m ones. I'll explore Headfi to see what's out there.
 
Thanks again for your advice.

 

[ipaulpereira]

Good hunting!

 

[DrForBin]

hello,
 
these might make a nice companion piece:
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-K712PRO-K712-PRO-Headphone/dp/B00DCXWXEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423628782&sr=8-1&keywords=akg+k712+pro