[d3r1d3x]

Quote:

entry level mid fi then?lol.i am still a noob

I'm not trying to be nit-picky or anything, but both the performance and price of these cans are way beyond entry level. Not to mention its design. "Mid-fi" would also be a really inaccurate (lo-fi) expression to be used, since the tag  "Reference Headphones" on the side is not there solely for marketing purposes. I owned Sennheisers (namely HD202, HD212, HD497, HD555 and HD600) and although most of those cans are more fun, I find the K550 to be a more accurate one. Might I add cruelly accurate one... 

 

[Katun]

Well, got these again today. Surprised to find I don't like them anywhere near as much as I used to. Back in the box they go...

 

[5370H55V]

Quote:

Well, got these again today. Surprised to find I don't like them anywhere near as much as I used to. Back in the box they go...

 
I'm surprised by this considering how much you favored them over the A900X in your review. What's the reason for this change and how would you rank the K550, A900X, and MA900's in order of preference now?

 

[Katun]

Quote:

I'm surprised by this considering how much you favored them over the A900X in your review. What's the reason for this change and how would you rank the K550, A900X, and MA900's in order of preference now?

 
Yeah, I'll say. I'd still take the K550 over the A900X though.
 
MA900 by a long shot. No comparison there. Even against the HD598, MA900 takes top spot. Toss up with my PX100-II though.
 
Well, at first listen, the K550 sounded fine, yet a bit thin and unnatural. Frequency balance seemed pretty good, as it sounds relatively flat. After listening to my HD598/MA900/PX100-II, going back to the K550 was like going from the HD650 to the DT880. It was quite harsh. Suddenly, everything sounded so brash. Perhaps that spike in the treble everyone talked about? Not sure, it just didn't too good when compared to my other open headphones.
 
Still a pretty good closed headphone though.

 

[burrrcub]

Quote:

I'm not trying to be nit-picky or anything, but both the performance and price of these cans are way beyond entry level. Not to mention its design. "Mid-fi" would also be a really inaccurate (lo-fi) expression to be used, since the tag  "Reference Headphones" on the side is not there solely for marketing purposes. I owned Sennheisers (namely HD202, HD212, HD497, HD555 and HD600) and although most of those cans are more fun, I find the K550 to be a more accurate one. Might I add cruelly accurate one... 

 
100% agree with the bolded statement.  It made me to double check my source and files to see if they were really poor quality or not.

 

[SIDWULF]

I think these are one of my favorite looking headphones, I just love that brushed clean black look. Everything is proportionate and nothing stands out.

 

[DGriff0400]

i  had my first encounter with a badly encoded song today which sounded great on my cheap IEM's so yup i agree with you,lol. almost unlistenable to me now so ill have to do conversion to 16bit from the vinyl again. 

 

[bala]

I have the K550 and they are amazing! I have a question though

, my little dot III and Mstage are set to maximum gain to suit my HD650 but the K550 behaves just like the 650 with reference to the volume output, (I have the vol. at around 10 to 11' o clock on the amps for both!) being sensitive headphones shouldn't it be incredibly loud? and is it even "healthy" to run the 550 with high gain settings from the amps?

 

[Eargasmo]

Quote:

I have the K550 and they are amazing! I have a question though

, my little dot III and Mstage are set to maximum gain to suit my HD650 but the K550 behaves just like the 650 with reference to the volume output, (I have the vol. at around 10 to 11' o clock on the amps for both!) being sensitive headphones shouldn't it be incredibly loud? and is it even "healthy" to run the 550 with high gain settings from the amps?

I find the K550s do get more volume at lower setting on my Asgard's dial.  I listen to my HD650s at around 11 o'clock.  I listen to my K550 at around 10 o'clock...this is normal listening of course.  I do crank it up some times.  The difference isn't huge though.  

 

[.Sup]

 

[Curly21029]

Quote:

Spoiler: Image%20of%20K551

 

 
More info here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/621327/akg-k551-out-soon

 

[.Sup]

More info here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/621327/akg-k551-out-soon

thanks for the link

 

[DGriff0400]

just new colors lol...i like my all blk

 

[talisman42]

If they were able to use thinner foam, these would look extremely nice when worn. I'm not not a fan on in-line volume controls, though. I'm all for detachable cables!

 

[daniel521]

Will these be good for gaming because of their soundstage? Also, will these be good for rock and metal?