[jakkul]

Hey, thanks for the tip!. Unfortunately I live in Poland, and the K553 is not available here. I'm also very reluctant to purchasing headphones without listening to them first. I also need a proper european VAT invoice for tax reasons. So sorry, this will not fly.
 
As for the DAC/AMP, I'm using an Audist HUD MX1.

 

[RockStar2005]

jakkul, 
 
No problem! 
 
Well here's the thing you should consider................you've actually ALREADY tried the K550, and you really liked those. The K553 sound BETTER according to everyone who's ever tried them vs. the K550, including me. So you're really not taking any risk in buying them. Still, Adorama DOES deliver to Poland (though shipping is $94), and they do have a 30-day return policy as well. This reputable eBay seller is also selling it for about the same price. Not sure how much shipping is, but it might be cheaper, and they offer a 14-day return window as well. 
 
I don't really get why you need to buy it from a European seller, but if you can find a way around that, use the above info and links. I think these headphones are worth it, especially for the low price. 
 
The MX1 looks very sweet! Sounds like you have the amp/DAC portion covered!
 
Best of luck in whatever you do. 

 

[jakkul]

170 USD + 90 USD shipping? That is 260 USD and in local money about 1030 zł (polish currency). AKG K550 costs below 600 zł, K550 mk2 about 750 zł. Buying K553 here if you can have for example both K550 and K271 mk2 for the same money does not make sense

 

[RockStar2005]

jakkul, 
 
Well ok, Adorama probably isn't the best choice then because of the shipping (but for me, being in the U.S., shipping would be free lol). 
 
But you should still check and see how much shipping would be if you bought it from one of those sellers off eBay. I sold my former Oppo PM-3 headphones to a guy in Sweden via eBay, and he told me that compared to what he'd pay in shipping or tax elsewhere, what he was paying for shipping was just a "fraction of that". So perhaps you could do MUCH better there? It wouldn't hurt to check is all I'm saying. 
 
The K550 here is actually MORE than the K553 is (I bought mine for only $170 on Amazon actually), and the K553 sounds better. lol I still believe if you got it, you would keep it. There, I said it. lol 

 

[jakkul]

@RockStar2005 "and now for something completely different". You say you have K553, heard K550 and had the Oppo PM-3. How would you compare the planars to the AKGs?

 

[RockStar2005]

jakkul, 
 
My own personal opinion regarding planar magnetic headphones, after having owned the PM-3s for 3-4 months, is that even though on paper its technology sounds superior and is supposed to offer more clarity, in reality, they're NO better than regular dynamic speakers. 
 
As great and helpful as reviews can be, as time goes on, I realize more and more that you can't always form your own opinion on just reviews, especially with headphones. It's all just too subjective to have reviews be right everytime. The fact that there's conflicting reviews in existence out there further proves this point. This review for example has a panel of experts saying the PM-3 is the best headphone for under $400, and sounds as great as anything under $1000. It was one of the main reasons I kept my PM-3 for as long as I did. But it turned out that the $170 K553 simply sounded better to me than the $399 PM-3. I detailed my comparison of the 2 headphones here on Head-Fi some 3-4 months ago. You can read the full review here. Below is an excerpt from that review to further answer your question: 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Sound Quality (vs. the PM-3s): (Note: I'd burned-in the K553s for about 2 days before using them.) The sound quality of the K553s to me is very similar to the PM-3s. I did notice certain differences after a while. The first was soundstage. Just as I'd been told, because the K553s have bigger speakers than the PM-3s do (50mm vs. 40 mm), this contributes to the benefit of having a larger soundstage than the PM-3s can offer (Correction: The PM-3's speaker driver units are 55mm, not 40mm. But the soundstage is still bigger on the K553s.). And with these both being "closed-back headphones with an open-back sound", any extra soundstage will ALWAYS be welcome! I would even go as far as to say that the extra soundstage even lends itself to giving the listener a bit more instrument sound separation, which is an added bonus! (If you disagree, please let me know how and why). So I guess just because you have planar magnetic headphones, that doesn't always mean they will sound better than the traditional (dynamic) speakers do. It just depends.

The second difference I noticed was in clarity. It seems like the PM-3s have slightly more bass in their sound signature than the K553s do. When playing acoustic guitar & vocal songs (I played a wide range of rock in each session), I seemed to notice that sometimes the PM-3's bass sound from the acoustic guitar would steal just a bit of the clarity from the vocals, where with the K553s, I did not notice this. I even made sure to play the songs at about the same volume too, so I could be certain I was accurately judging the two headphones. On a couple songs I thought the PM-3s might've been better, but as time went on, the K553s just kept winning out. So I don't know now if those couple songs would still be better on the PM-3s or not. Perhaps as I was using them more (the K553s), I was simply becoming more accustomed to their sound signature?

 
This Head-Fi review says the same thing really. I really value a good sparkle or shine in my treble region, and the PM-3s simply didn't have enough of it vs. the K553. (What it does have there is many times easily covered up by any kind of strong bass that may be present.) A Head-Fi'er named moneyforme247 was the one who initially posted a brief comparison of the 2 and said he overall favored the K553. So it's not just me who believes they are better. 

 

[Gilles Dac]

Many thanks for the russian link; I read it but I see no pictures with those "ventilation holes".

I dismantled recently my K550 to get some dumpening stuff inside and also to make them balanced with a new cable. Will you be so kind to find those vents, please? Just trying to understand how can these headphones get improved (maybe is it about the vents from the main/front side, immediately under the leather/covers?)

Thank you!

L.E.: For installing mini-XLR plugs (one for each cup for balanced operations or only one plug for single-ended) it's not very complicated, though I prefered to drill smaller holes and get the cable thought the holes without mini-XLR plugs, because my "preferred" Neutrik/Amphenol mini-XLR plugs were out of stock.

 

[RockStar2005]

They're ALL the same? All 3?!

Thoughts?

 

[raoultrifan]

Hmmm...interesting, though someone having both AKGs (550 and 553 for example) might know better if there are really differences or not between those 2.
 
What I know for sure is that this headphone take about 5 minutes to fully warm up the "leather" and the sponge from inside the earcups while you're wearing, so if someone can compare 550 vs. 553 but both having completely cold earcups it would be best I'd say.
 
Thanks!

 

[RockStar2005]

  Hmmm...interesting, though someone having both AKGs (550 and 553 for example) might know better if there are really differences or not between those 2.
 
What I know for sure is that this headphone take about 5 minutes to fully warm up the "leather" and the sponge from inside the earcups while you're wearing, so if someone can compare 550 vs. 553 but both having completely cold earcups it would be best I'd say.
 
Thanks!

 
Here's something else. 
 
Man, this is SO confusing. Either people on here are perceiving the sound signatures differently b/c they're "being told" that these are different headphones (a mind trick), or AKG is full of crap?! lol 
 
I decided to buy the AKG K550 MKII off eBay to test it out myself vs. my K553. Maybe the K550 is different from the K553, or maybe it's not? But I wonder if K550 MKII IS perhaps the same as the K553? 
 
Once it comes in and I can compare the 2, I will post my results. I think it's much more likely that these 2 are the same than either vs. the K550. I'm not willing to get the K550 too just to find out though. lol Someone else will have to do that. 

 

[RockStar2005]

All, 
 
Please see my new post. You may find it interesting. 
 
Enjoy!

 

[jakkul]

Well, it is interesting indeed! You might have added the K551 to the list - those are the K550 with a shorter cable for smartphone use with buttons and microphone.
 
You've said that K550, K550 mk2 and K553 are the same and sound the same. Well I had a different opinion on that (K550mk1 > K550mk2) but to my defence, the mk1 I've heard had about 4-5 heavy use on the clock and the mk2 were brand new fresh out of the box. So the burn-in might have been the issue.

 

[RockStar2005]

  Well, it is interesting indeed! You might have added the K551 to the list - those are the K550 with a shorter cable for smartphone use with buttons and microphone.
 
You've said that K550, K550 mk2 and K553 are the same and sound the same. Well I had a different opinion on that (K550mk1 > K550mk2) but to my defence, the mk1 I've heard had about 4-5 heavy use on the clock and the mk2 were brand new fresh out of the box. So the burn-in might have been the issue.

 
Yeah I know the K551. But someone on here told me that those in-line remotes can introduce a mild amount of distortion to the sound, so I steer clear of them. I just hope one day soon AKG releases a version of the K550 that's DETACHABLE. I had lots of ideas that I wrote them about and they responded positively to it too. But we'll see. 
 
Yes it might've. But also like I suggested in my post, how "broken-in" the earpads are could possibly affect how the seal was, which of course affects how much bass you hear/feel. I wore both headphones the same way and felt that the pressure was the same or close enough, and to me, the bass level sounded the same on both anyway.