Quote:
Originally Posted by Bee inthe Attic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I already have a durable and comfortable closed set of cans that isolate well and don't leak much, in the Beyer DT 770 Pro-80's.
For those that have the K550's and the DT 770's, are they different sounding enough to justify owning both??
I just picked up the AKG K550s two days ago. I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-770 600ohm headphones and I was looking to upgrade a bit. I'm using them at work; at home I have HD 650s which I'm in love with, but unfortunately in a cubicle situation, HD 650s leak far too much, so I need closed headphones.
I'm using them with the Fiio E7/E9 combo and all FLAC source.
A few notes, comparing to the DT 770 600s:
I like the sound of the K550s better overall than the DT 770s. I'm not sure about the 80 ohm DT 770s, but the 600ohm ones are suuuper bassy. At first I thought the K550s weren't bassy enough, coming from the DT 770s, but after two days of listening I'm liking the sound much more.
I just went back to the DT 770s on Sara K's "What's A Little More Rain" (excellently recorded female vocal/acoustic guitar). I like the Beyers better for this - the vocals sound better to me. On the K550s, the vocals sound a little more veiled or muddy. The DT 770s are definitely warmer sounding.
But the K550s do excel in higher frequencies, and guitar sounds fantastic. I'd say that for rock they're pretty fantastic. For example:
Listening to Wolfmother's "Woman" on both headphones:
The drums sound much better on the AKGs. Better kick and definition on the cymbal and snare hits. On the DT 770s, the guitar sounds kind of in the background, whereas on the AKGs it's more in the front, which I think sounds better. The bass drums/bass guitar on the DT 770 overpowers everything and it just becomes a big muddy mess. On the AKGs everything is clearer; the guitar solo becomes really well defined and sounds awesome.
Overall, I would use these words to describe the K550s: Analytical, clear, clean, great treble, solid bass without overpowering, mids a bit veiled
As for comfort, I *highly* prefer the DT 770s with the velour earcups and highly padded headband. The earcups on the K550s are nice, but the headband is very uncomfortable for me. The padding is kind of thin, and after an hour or so of wearing it, the top of my head hurts where the headband is contacting it. Your mileage may vary, I'm sure not everyone will have this problem. I have a large head that's fairly "tall".
I have heard from other reviews that people have trouble getting a good seal with these but I haven't had a problem. If your head is narrow then you might have a problem because they don't clamp very much (not nearly as much as the DT 770s, or the HD 650s, which clamp a LOT). That being said, the cups are quite large and this is good because they can completely surround your ear without the ear touching the headphones. This is not possible for me with the DT 770s as the cups are a bit shallow and the outside of my ear touches the inside of the cup, which can be uncomfortable; but I've gotten used to it.
In conclusion, I like the K550s a lot but unless I can get over the headband pain (maybe they'll break in?), I will probably be selling them and maybe picking up some Denon AH-D2000s or something a bit more comfortable. I'll be keeping them for a little while so if anyone has any particular music they'd like me to give my impressions on, let me know.
Side note: I have a friend with the AKG K702s and he had the same headband problem I'm having with the K550s, initially, but it broke in and he doesn't experience it anymore. I'm hoping this will happen with the K550s but I think the headband is a different design than the K702s.
... Everyone should indeed give these a whirl and while doing so, however whirly, should listen to the music rather than think about hifi-phoolery adjectives to add to their qualities. However condescending that may sound, I think that's the premise we all share in this hobby. Or at least I hope we do 
