I've put this review on a separate thread. This thread has too many posts before this headphone was released. Not our fault though.
I must say that this is a good headphone. But it takes a bit of time to appreciate it.
After a decent amount of time with the k550, I know what I think of it. First though i'll mention my experiences with some of it's 'competitors' first, so you know a bit about my tastes.
1. Competitors
1.1 Shure 940
Reminds me a lot of the ath ck10 iems. Both sound great but to me are the only two headphones i've come across that I can't listen to. That 9khz treble peak induces a sibilance that I simply cannot cope with. And so I haven't really used this heaphone much, although I liked the crispness and air present around notes in the midrange (upper midrange). Crisp, punchy notes.
Anyway, the lacking bass was another problem along with the quite bad comfort. Them bumps on the headphone band are only meant to touch your scalp as the earpad clamp of this 330g+ headphone is what's meant to hold it in place. Oh, and them pads aren't the cushiest either. A bit too thin, and surprisingly heat trapping.
1.2 Denon d2k/d5k
Smooth, relaxing and perfect for movies. Dynamic soundstage full of energy, and a satisfying sub bass. You feel real grumbles, and sometimes with other headphones i'm talking about here, this can be missed. But given bass heavy tracks and these can get a bit over excited and give me a headache.
Nice spicy high end that for me borders on sibilant, but doesn't cross it. Especially the denon d2k that is.
1.3 akg k271/ k272hd
My long time personal favourite of the closed headphones, but not the best sounding. Awesome vocals. Brilliant highs. With this I really get the feeling of i'm hearing all that's within the song (although it is 'missing' a bit on the sub bass, i've got to admit). But this highlights an interesting point.
In all the a-b'ing (sometimes extremely extensive) i've done with these headphones I can't really come to a comparison on the detailing each headphone is capable of. They're all the 'same' to me in this regard. Seriously. It's just different headphones emphasise different notes.
Anyway, what really lifts these to my number 1 spot is truly unrivaled comfort. 240g with a leather, fully flexible large headband. No stupid bumps. Great amount of clamp, with thin, smooth and rather cool pleather pads. And there's plenty of ear room. I could go on and on, but I'll stop as I know you get the idea.
1.4 beyer dt770 600 or beyer dt770 pro80
The 'new' 600ohm's sounds like the dt770 pro80. They have such a sucked out midrange, it's unbelievable. Man, not an audiophile can for me.
1.5 ed8, t5p
The t5p sucked. Like a sour candy, that's past it's sell by date. I only had it for a very short while, before I wiped it clean and sent it back. So no real impressions, except that it's ugly.
The edition 8 is what i'd call the best closed headphone i've tried. It performs well all the way across the frequency spectrum and is uinque in doing this. It's soundstage isn't small but it's not as large as the d5k (maybe with different amps). Interestingly, on my first listen of this headphone, It overwhelmed me with dissapointment
1.6 panasonic hft 600
Very comfortable hft 600. The k550 obviously beats these in SQ from top to bottom. And so by simple deduction it beats easily anything from beats, bose, bower & wilkins. End of this argument, if ever there was one or is to be one.
2. Isolation
(less than) < ultrasone ed8, t5p, dt770 pro80, k271 velour
(more than) > k271 pleather, shure 940, denons, dt770 600.
This isn't that impressive. But considering that this headphone grips the head much lightly than nearly all of those (except the denons), it's pretty good.
3. Leakage.
My initial impression was mislead somewhat- coming from the ed8, it's easy to make that mistake. Yes, at normal listening volume for me, it's inaudable to the person next me. Well done here AKG.
> ed8, dt770 80
< k271 (pleather/velour), denons, shure 940, dt770/600
4. Build
4.1 Looks.
An impressive all slick and slim black theme employed by the upper part of the headphone is rather spoiled by the elephant ear like earcups. I reckon it'll look a bit weird to strangers of headfi, but to us guys it looks good. Err, what doesn't. Audio technica alien cans anyone?
4.2 Materials.
- Impressive: refined metal headband and nice enough feel to the earcups and supports.
- A bit dissapointing: Headband padding and earpad material. The padding is a bit too rigid making it feel as if it isn't actually there. It may loosen up a bit, but at the moment i'm not that impressed, as this headband in important for the earcups don't grip the head that much. I don't know- maybe i'm a bit too fussy.
Anyway, the earpads, for me are plush and soft BUT they heat up a bit too much. I'm not fully sure but it feels like quite an inexpensive pleather really, but not anything as bad as atha900's. Unlike the denons, this plushness whilst being very comfortable really does create sweat problems for me. To tell the truth, impressions after two/three days on headphone materials can be rather raw- I'll update after a week or two.
4.3 Portability
I like the earcups swivel function designed to make them lie flat on the table. A nice touch making it much easier to put in your rucksack to transport to and fro the library for instance. Their overall build seems a tough one, so no initial concerns there. Extra points go to the k550 for the ruley and flexible left terminating cable that noticably has less microphonics than the k271's cable.
5. Fit
5.1 Clamp
The second least in my list. denons have the least followed by these.
5.2 Earcup + earpads
My ears just touch the driver cover. It's only slightly and isn't a problem at all, as is it with me with the dt770. The space for you ears is a nice, but there seems to be too much of the padding coming in contact with the skin, exasperating the sweat/heat problem .
Another interesting point is that the earcups can be adjusted on both the x and y axis. You have the above mentioned swivel function allowing for around a 120 degree rotation in the horizontal plane. The cups can also rotate each cup around 40 degrees in the verticle plane, up and down. Moreover, unlike quite a few of its competitors, each movement feels rigid and holds it place- you need both hands to adjust them. I'm saying all this as I think it's important to realize that such rotations of the cups are possible in the name of achieving a perfect fit in seal and comfort.
5.3 Overall comfort
Very good. No. Extremely good, except for the minor sweat/ heat issue. The headband I feel I can get used to, but the problem with the pads is probably here to stay. Maybe i've been spoilt by ed8's ethiopian sheepskin leather. Mind you, with the k271 the pleathers are thin and have a cold to the touch feel so the k271 doesn't exhibit this much of a problem. And the k271 is around sub 250g, with a flexible contouring headband. Superbly comfortable.
I must say that the weight of the k550 reveals a nice relief from the denons and the t5p's. At least around 40-70 grams lighter and this can certainly be felt.
6. Amplification and sources.
I tested with the nfb 12, samsung galaxy i9000 voodoo sound, pc-fiio e10. Nothing here feels as though they are underpowering or starving the k550 of anything.
Good, bad or inconclusive news?
You decide.
7. Sound
7.1 Sub bass + bass
In quantity:
> k271, shure 940,
<ed8, denons, dt770,
No midbass hump. No sub bass hump. I think it's a level quality and volume on both ranges making it a better bass than the k271 and the 940.
Simple.
It has just enough bite to make it okay for movie watching, but brilliant for gaming. I mean, repeated gunshots and explosions with the denons are just a bit too strong for me. Oh, there's no leaking of bass either- leaking into other frequencies I mean. The latter point is what is mighty impressive with the ultrasone edition8. It can have a huge bassline, yet absolutely to no detriment of the other frequencies.
The k550 doesn't bleed bass, and so isn't a dark headphone by a real measure. Interestingly, It isn't a bright headphone either. You'll see why I think this is interesting later
7.2 Midrange
This is quite a weird one.
Okay as we progress from the bass frequencies to the midrange, we have a midrange that's definately slightly 'laid back' , but not recessed as it is in the dt770 (distractingly distant) or the denon's. Not really upfront and not in the backround. Notes are not meaty, but not overly thin, sharp and metallic either. Just very smooth. It feels like there is a genuine lack of energy, but not a lack of resolution. Repeat: no lack of resolution. I've switched over to other 'resolving' cans and have not noticed anything missing. But there's no doubting that this un-dynamic midrange makes the headphone sometimes sound somewhat 'muddy' when it isn't.
More about this lack of energy. Maybe this is a result of the ultra forgiving and smooth, rather subdued, high range. And if it isn't it's probably coming from the position in the soundstage that notes take. It's like there is an in-built crossfeed effect going on as the blend between the left and right headphone channels is very impressive. Seriously, very impressive.
Imaging is great, and you never feel lost in the large soundtage it has. Not better than the shure 940, or the edition 8, but still good.
I'm in no way among the most experienced of closed headphone enthusiasts, but I've heard a fair share. I simply haven't heard anything quite like this midrange. Probably closest to the k271, but please don't interpret that as 'an improvement on the k271.' No, this entirely is a different beast.
7.3 Highs
I don't know what to make of this. To me it sounds like akg here were trying to achieve the opposite effect shure were with their 940's. So much of modern music is unlistenable with the shure's, as with the t5p's.
Akg's k550's are smooth on the top end. No sparkle. If you like the crash of cymbals and the slish of tamborines, then these may dissapoint. Take for example when a singer breathes in. On the denon it may come across with a gust like force, on the shures it comes across very crisply. But here it may feel a bit too soft. Mind you, by the same token they can really impress.
I think I may have detected one or two weird resonances at first, but no.
7.4 Soundstage
Very Very impressive for a true closed headphone that isolates and doesn't leak. Clean but not clinical. Okay, it's not larger than the denon d2k, but very close. Actually, it may be, as this soundstage is filled more densly with sound than the denon d2k. I must from the outset say I like the denon's one better as it's more dynamic and energetic. Just more impressive and wowing.
For me the shure 940 creates a real artificial soundstage with far too much sparkle and crispy, crunchy, overemphasised notes. Its just that the notes are a tad too thin- opposite of the denon's which are still the sounstage king for me. They really do it right, although at times I prefer the k550's as it sometimes sounds less left and right. Less separated.
Notably though the soundstage arena is where it leaves the k271 behind. After intensive A-Bing The k550 is clearly better than the k271 for music listening. It's just not this extension in the horizontal soundstage and new 3d sound space, but the main difference lies in the bass; a complete and great bass that the k550 houses really leaves the k271 and even the shure 940 wanting. Anyway, with the k271 we have vocals quite upfront giving the feeling they 'hog' the limelight- many times to great effect. This is slighly similar to the k550, although it's obviously less on the latter. I feel that sometimes though, on some albums, this can project an unnatural musical presentation, certainly bettered by the denon's that keep vocals firmly 'lost' in the 3d soundstage.
7.5 The akg sound
Well, you can tell it's part of the akg family if you're familiar with the k271. Remember, this is their current reference closed can, but on their website it seems as if they are reluctant to make the k271/k272 extinct.
Anyway, if it can be said that in many areas they share the same tonality of sound as the k271, then let it be. That's how I feel anyway.
7.6 Overall Sound
This is one hell of a relaxing can. A relaxing can that for once isn't bass heavy (denons), low resolving and overly dark. And no, this relaxing feeling isn't achieved by a hollow, recessed midrange. Man, you can really pump the volume up without feeling the effects of an intolerable bass thump or a screetch in the highs.
I think its the way this large soundstage houses smooth highs and keeps everything at a great distance within itself. I've talked about the lack of energy in many areas of its character, but this is special. It's on the opposite scale to the ultrasone ed8 in this sense, which sometimes can fatigue after long consecutive daily listening because of its thorough projection all the way across the spectrum. You will here it no matter what. Not like the k550 which employs a stance more like 'you'll hear it only if you want to.'
It's definately up there with the big boys, and I have no reason to give it bias. I've been trying to think of headphone groupings, if it were, like the {shure 940, t5p} as they have a similar presentation. I just can't think of anything to group the K550 with.
8. Conclusion
So how does it rank in the closed headphone world?
For me, It's definately one of the better headphones. Well, as a new years resolution I want to 'stop,' or partially stop this habit with getting new headphones. Okay, maybe for 6 months.
But i've got to say, writing this review makes me question beyerdynamic. The over over priced t5p, dt770 80 and dt770 600 were massive dissapointments. Surely they can do better.............Maybe the T70p. That has to be good............Oh, and I've always wanted a set of custom earphones. It'll be the t70p or customs.
Im not going to be drawn into ranking this with the others. I just can't see how I can do that. And I can't predict your response when you first listen to these. Bear in mind one thing though, if you would. Give it time.
Your first impression shouldn't be your final one.
p.s I'm not sorry for the lack of pictures!
