[AKG K550 Owner]

Hello all I finally settled on purchasing the K550's after testing the Beyer 770DT's 250Ohm, AKG Q701's, and Audio Technica 900x's.   I settled on the K550's because they seemed to sound right in the middle of the Q701's and the 900x's.  Q701's seemed bright and open while the 900x's seemed warm and focused.  Tried the K550's and it seems like these are right in the middle which I love!  
 
I'm using the titanium HD soundcard as a DAC/surround for gaming with a fiio E9K and they sound great.
 
I would love to know what your personal 10 band EQ settings are for these can's!  I'm having a hell of a time trying to get these EQ'ed for music.  
 
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
EQ'ing them will be based on what you're trying to achieve.
 
What's lacking or over the top that you need to equalize about them?
 
Also, they're efficient, the soundcard will power them just as well as your Fiio. The Fiio is just adding more stuff to the circuit, not adding any quality at all here. Might even be taking away a bit.
 
Very best,

 

[breizh]

Hi,
 
I recently posted my view about 3 pairings with the AKG K550 and after a while I have to slightly change my judgment
 

1. First pairing: rockboxed sansa clip+

This configuration is “cheap” but very nice actually ! the sound is very clean, it’s maybe a little bit shy in the bass department but overall very neutral, and I don’t think it needs any equalization
Ok with either classical, acoustics or rock music
 

1. Second pairing: laptop with foobar2000 + Yulong U100

Very good, a little bit on the bright side – in comparison with the first configuration, more soundstage, more bass…, no need to equalize in my opinion
Ok with either classical, acoustics or rock music
 

1. Third pairing: laptop with foobar2000 + HRTMSII+ + Schiit Asgard

Very good, fuller sound with more soundstage and deeper bass
 
With classical and acoustic music, no need to equalize in my point of view
 
BUT, with rock music including “crunchy” guitars, it sometimes lacks a bit of presence (ex: Brown sugar / Rolling stones), needing to equalize in the 3 – 10 khz range
My settings in this case:
2.5khz + 1 db
3.5khz + 2.5 db
5khz + 2.5 db
7khz + 2.5 db
10khz + 1 db
 
I also own a DT880 32 ohms which doesn’t need any equalization in any case
 
I think there is a lot of mystery remaining about headphones – dac/amp pairing !
 
Hope it helps

 

[AKG K550 Owner]

Thx for the replies! I was hoping to get some 10 band eq settings that help curve the upper midrange spike the k550s are known to have. Im a complete moron when it comes to correcting freq. problems. Any help EQing these cans would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Liquid04]

I'm also looking for an answer to this from someone with more experience than I have where EQing is concerned. I have it working with an ipod 5.5g, a fiio E12 amp and ALAC files. I also use the subtle bass boost on the E12. I set up the 10-band equalizer as follows:
 
0.0dB         20Hz   0.7Q
3.0dB         95Hz   1.0Q
2.0dB      2000Hz   1.0Q
3.0dB      4000Hz   1.0Q
-5.0dB    9000Hz   1.0Q
12.0dB    16000Hz   1.0Q
0.0dB    20000Hz   0.7Q
 
Precut = 0.0dB
 
I adjusted these values to 'correct' some of these peaks and troughs in this graph:
 

 
To my ears it sounds like the 'metallic' sounding treble is reduced (-5.0dB at 9000Hz), the bass has more oomph to it (+3dB at 95Hz + E12 bass boost) and the soundstage opens up a little (due to +12dB at 16000Hz??). Sorry I'm new to using terms to describe what my ears are hearing! Can someone provide a check on what I've done? I dont want to change the sound signature of these cans, just optimize it for realism.
 

 

[audioops]

I hope someone gives you a nice simple answer, but if you ever feel like putting a good chunk of work into this endeavour you could have a look at this http://www.head-fi.org/a/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-a-tutorial

 

[Liquid04]

OK so maybe its not THAT simple after all! Looks like a good read thanks