[plakat]

Actually the headband is not an issue (to me at least...) The headphone is quite light and rests mostly on its big earpads. As these are round (not oval) you can easily adjust where the headband sits.

 

[Ra97oR]

I just contacted my local hi-fi store, maybe a demo on these this weekend.

 

[zazex]

 
Quote:

i still struggling to give them a try. the headband looks so uncomfortable. availability is no issue (in taipei). oh temptation...

 

I can easily fall asleep wearing them; I find them to be very comfortable.
And they sound good, too.

 

[derbigpr]

 
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i still struggling to give them a try. the headband looks so uncomfortable. availability is no issue (in taipei). oh temptation...

 
 
Comfort is really not an issue with them. They are probably the most comfortable full-sized headphones on the market currently. If only they had velvet pads instead of pleather.

 

[audionewbi]

Can you guys comment on the price? In Australia the cheapest I found them was $399 AUD! (excluding S&H)

 

 

[Frank I]

Couple things from my first day session with the AKG. First it sounds excellent. Very balanced and it plays well above it price. I think it is an excellent closed can and will be a keeper for me.Different from the traditional AKG house sound and I believe a significant step in the right direction for AKG. This can does not disappoint and priced right also,

 

[Terps Fan]

Nice to see you enjoying them Frank I. 

 

[Frank I]

 
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Nice to see you enjoying them Frank I. 

 

Really very NICE CANS. AKG best effort in years. They everything well and IMO play way above their price tag and constructed well. These are keepers for me

 

[ballcall2]

 
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Really very NICE CANS. AKG best effort in years. They everything well and IMO play way above their price tag and constructed well. These are keepers for me

 
Can you make a little comparison to other cans? 
BTW did you check the 550 with other genres like Classical and jazz?

 

[Terps Fan]

I'm not trying to steal Frank I's thunder, but I've thrown everything a person can throw at these headphones:  Free and Hard Bop Jazz, Baroque, Violin and Piano Sonatas, Blues (Acoustic and Electric), male and female vocals, Rock, Pop, everything except Country Swing...lol.
 
 
Are they the best headphone ever?  No.  But they are good, and do a lot of things very well.  I'm very happy with mine.  I do think they need decent amplification.  I tried listening to them using my Daughter's 4gen. iPod Touch playing Apple Lossless and in my opinion, even though they are marketed as "portable", they really appreciate some juice.

 

[akgfan]

I was waiting so long for another closed headphones from AKG but now I don't know what to think of it. There is a firm which offers headphone renting and they also have K550. I'd like to try them but don't know if the firm is trustworthy. That's what I have to find out first. You can't just send headphones back in my country so I can't take any risk buying them before hearing them first so renting could be a solution.
 
And I think talking about headphones is entirely pointless because we all have different pair of ears and hear differently. I for example hate K701. They sound thin to me, sharp, razor like, without bass. I have no idea why people like huge soundstage. That completely ruins my music pleasure and it's not suitable for gaming. Not to mention they are like someone said here "a torture device". I was actually amazed how revealing they are but sadly how non-listenable.
 
The other headphones K242HD people tend to like don't work for me either. They have so uncomfortably small space for ears and I don't like touching that plastic inner with my ears. My ears are sweaty after a few minutes. What's totaly weird, they sound absolutely strange to me. They sound so hollow, strangely colored. I gave them to my mother who surprisingly said she likes them more than my old K530Ltd. I spent some time yesterday, again, comparing these two. They still sound the same as the day I put them out of the box. I did an experiment once with swapping earpads from K530Ltd, held just by double-sided tape, and it changed how they sound completely and they sounded a bit better than K530. Just an earpad swapping and how big change. I wanted to buy different earpads, but they don't clamp my smaller head with this change.
 
So, I still use K530Ltd. They are not mind-blowind, but not bad in my opinion. I would be very interested if K550 are good for me. After 82 pages, I still don't know if I can keep my hopes high. Need to try for myself, I guess. 
 
What's wrong with AKG lately and headphone industry? I really need closed (semi-open) headphones with comfortable velour pads, with grill not hurting my ears, with soft and comfortable headband, with optimal clamping force, with replacable cable because 3m is too long even for computer listening and gaming, and just good sounding. Is that too much to ask? Maybe a two or three differently tuned versions for different people. I'm very curious if it would be possible to measure human ear's response and then do a test with couple of headphones and people.

 

[Twinster]

 
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Really very NICE CANS. AKG best effort in years. They everything well and IMO play way above their price tag and constructed well. These are keepers for me

 
Good to hear your comments Frank.  How do they fit for you?  You are not getting any seal problem based on your comments. As an example I wear my T1 or Grado headphone on almost the smallest headband setting. Do you think I may have problem getting a got fit on the K550?

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

 
 
Good to hear your comments Frank.  How do they fit for you?  You are not getting any seal problem based on your comments. As an example I wear my T1 or Grado headphone on almost the smallest headband setting. Do you think I may have problem getting a got fit on the K550?

 
cant say I wear them on the 8 setting. I can only say buy and try.. They fit my big noggin 7 5/8

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

 
 
Can you make a little comparison to other cans? 
BTW did you check the 550 with other genres like Classical and jazz?

 
I only have these a couple odf day bit I will do say in a few weeks after getting more familiar with them If you read Tyll review I would say he was very accurate in describing what I have been hearing so far.

 

[dleblanc343]

I wear grado on the smallest size as well, and the k550's fit me great. I never wore them over 5 minutes at work; but they are very comfortable.
Quote:

 
 
As an example I wear my T1 or Grado headphone on almost the smallest headband setting. Do you think I may have problem getting a got fit on the K550?