[Tetsuma]

None of these on ebay yet .

 

[slackr9527]

OMG looks soo cool! I only just recently forayed into hifi headphones with the k272hds....
Since then my wish list has been expanding at a rapid rate! My wallet is nowhere near able to keep up.... Think my next aim will be the srh940s instead 
 

 

[cyclingbobe]

I have just got a pair of K550s after a rave review in What Hi Fi  magazine.
 
First impressions are very disappointing with an over bright and edgy treble and reduced bass. The treble is the most aggressive I have heard since some un-burnt in Grado 325s. 
I am at a loss to understand the What Hi Fi review which described them as relaxing and  comfortable  in sound, albeit detailed. Surely there can't be that much variation between units and ears.
 
I am a believer in burn in so I am hoping for improvements over time. I did find the AKG 701s to improve over a burn in period and sound less thin so perhaps this is a characteristic of AKG.
 
The headphones come in a peculiar box which is hard to get into and serves no useful purpose for storage. The ear pads have a peculiar old fashioned smell. There are no instructions. I know this is irrelevant to the sound but these aspects do give a poor impression. A nice touch is the large L and R on the ear phone inners. 
 
They are quite comfortable and feel light if a little insecure.
 
I will be listening regularly and will report any improvement. Frankly the treble is so piercing I think its probably beyond redemption with the relatively subtle changes after burn in.
 
Any thinking of buying should definitely listen first. I should know better than to follow magazine recommendations.  In the same review they also slated the Sennheiser  HD598s which I quite like and described them  as boring and bland. Maybe this tells you something about my and their preferences. I should have been warned!  Incidentally What Hi Fi give no indication of having burnt in the phones they review. With the number involved, I doubt it. 

 

[CantScareMe]

forget burn in.
 
Find your correct fit. They should seal properly. Rotate the cups using both hands as for some reason this joint on the k550 is really rigid. On first listen I had a bad impression of these, but when I found my correct fit, things were fine.
 
If you have that then there is no way you can say that the treble is the most agressive you've heard.

 

[idletime1213]

I currently have the K550. As someone with an LCD2 and formerly an HD650, I can't say I have a problem with their treble.

 

[DVDRey]

I haven't treble problems with mine, but for a user coming from Ultrasones headphone...its normal,lol.
 
 
Quote:

HD598s which I quite like and described them  as boring and bland.

Yep, effectively strange reviews, the HD598 is no way boring or bland.

 

[R-Audiohead]

Tables tipping in favor of the K550 now from their owners?
 
To me it really sounds like AKG in general just takes some getting used to.

 

[12345142]

Oops, haven't been on Head-Fi for a while.
At the volume I listen at, which is just below 2 on an HM-601 if that helps, the Z1000s leak very little. It's about as loud as my watch ticking.
Quote:

Wait, so the cup fits completely around your ear, just like a circum-aural phone?
 
How is the leakage?  
 

 

 

[cyclingbobe]

As the burn in hours go by , there may be some improvement in that the treble, whilst still brightly lit, is marginally sweeter. The bass sounds OK in its self but on donning anything else from my collection the bass is immediately stronger and the 550s sound relatively anaemic. My impressions seem so different from others that I have asked Amazon for an exchange and they will arrive tomorrow. 
 
Rotating the big soft ear piece cups may make them a little better although, worryingly, the best improvement comes from pressing the cups firmly to the head which improves the bass and general tone. In my experience this kind of improvement always indicates a sub optimal fit in the first case. 
 
What can be said is that the detail and transient response is excellent. This is, of course, typical of phones with over lit treble as is often the case with Grado. 
 
For the time being I am still unimpressed. I find first impressions are very important with headphones and mine with the AKG 550s were of a piercing treble and feeble bass and this is still the case despite modest improvements from burn in and ear cup adjustment. I still hope I have a rogue pair and the replacement will be better ! Watch this space for a regular up date. Meanwhile caveat emptor !

 

[CantScareMe]

Quote:

 
Rotating the big soft ear piece cups may make them a little better although, worryingly, the best improvement comes from pressing the cups firmly to the head which improves the bass and general tone. In my experience this kind of improvement always indicates a sub optimal fit in the first case. 
 

 
I normally never ask people to get the right fit. Or if someone doesn't like a phone i do, i never ask if they've got the correct fit.
 
But on this it does make a difference. You should feel the cushy earcups pressing around your ear. If they are just leaning or only touching, then you'll hear them to be brighter than they should be.
 
These have a relaxed treble to my ears. Way more than the denon d2000. Way way more than the shure 940.

 

[roBernd]

For all you burn in lovers
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/measurement-and-audibility-headphone-break
 
plus, my experience with headphones and modding tells me that the only burn-in which changes the sound on a noticeable level... is the burn in of the pads -> getting flatter.
Everythign else might just happen in the listeners head while he is getting used to the headphone.
 
On my end I find the M50s to work better on the go (using a portable cmoy and a bit EQ-magic) than the K550, despite being an AKG-fanboy.
If you just want to listen at your home/.etc get a real/open/semi-open AKG headphone.
 

 

[Tetsuma]

210($260 AUD) EUR for these on amazon.de if you can get them to ship to you :O!

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

On my end I find the M50s to work better on the go (using a portable cmoy and a bit EQ-magic) than the K550, despite being an AKG-fanboy.
If you just want to listen at your home/.etc get a real/open/semi-open AKG headphone.
 

Thanks for sharing this impression!  What genres do you typically listen to?  I'm on a hunt for a pair of good closed headphones for bedtime listening (so as not to annoy the wife), and both of these are on my short list.     
 

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

Quote:

Thanks for sharing this impression!  What genres do you typically listen to?  I'm on a hunt for a pair of good closed headphones for bedtime listening (so as not to annoy the wife), and both of these are on my short list.     
 

Classic, Jazz, Progressive and ... I'dont want to call it electronic Music... -> The Flashbulb, Wisp, .etc
The isolation from outside noise is decent, the bass (on mine) is not bloated and extends very well. The Soundstage is good, for closed cans, but their main flaw is the overly agressive treble.
If you are into hi-hats, these are your cans. I prefer to tone down the 8-10Khz area  (~4db)...
 
On classic recordings they sound great without any EQ.
 

 

[AnAnalogSpirit]

Hi,
 
I just want to preface this post with this point: I'm very keen on the design and materials that are in the K550, and from what I'm hearing about what owners think of how the headphone sounds, it interests me. I'm in no way intending to cast a negative on what I think is a nice headphone.
 
Happened across some interesting suppositions, from a site in another language, and we all know Google Translate isn't perfect, so it probably doesn't matter anyway.
 
 
[EDIT: As pointed out, Google Translate can be misleading, and in the interests of not causing some ridiculous hubbub, I'm removing the content, Apologies if ANYONE was offended]
 
 
 
 
Although, I'd thought this was interesting enough to share, it isn't worth arguing about.
 
Anyhow, Enjoy.