[rickyday]

My currently have the a900x which broke, and i need to get new. I can get the 550z for $130 and the 990z for $200. I want;ed to know if the 550z will be similar to the a900x so i can save money, or would i be better off getting the a990z which is 70 dollars more ? Im looking for similar sound to my a900x

 

[cmaxvt]

I have a very similar situation. I have a pair of the a700x's that just recently stopped working and was comparing the 550z and 990z.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  My currently have the a900x which broke, and i need to get new. I can get the 550z for $130 and the 990z for $200. I want;ed to know if the 550z will be similar to the A900X so i can save money, or would i be better off getting the A990Z which is 70 dollars more ? I'm looking for similar sound to my A900X

 
My two cents.
Spend the extra for the ATH-A990Z.

 

[cmaxvt]

Any specific reasoning behind that? Speaking with their customer support team the difference is "better build quality and more accurate bass reproduction" from the 990

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Any specific reasoning behind that? Speaking with their customer support team the difference is "better build quality and more accurate bass reproduction" from the 990

 
Spending at extra $70 for something that could be used for years, seems like a smart investment.
i really like the sound of my ATH-A900X and i figure the ATH-A990Z must at least be a small improvement over the ATH-A900X.

 

[cmaxvt]

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4bmu5v/new_zseries_audiotechnicas_another_long_day_of/
 
Yea it looks like the 990's are a step up... and it also looks like the 550z are "better" than my 700x's which is a nice statement. I would go with the 550's because I LOVED my 700's but the build quality obviously wasn't good enough, so might make sense to get the 990s.

 

[rickyday]

The 550z are amazing my a900x broke, and honestly i personally can't tell a difference between my new 550z and the 900x.

 

[rickyday]

  I have a very similar situation. I have a pair of the a700x's that just recently stopped working and was comparing the 550z and 990z.

 
My ATH A900x broke, and i got the 550z to replace them, and honestly i can't tell a difference between them. You can get the 550z for like 110 bucks. Trust me the 550z are amazing headphones. 

 

[cmaxvt]

Fair enough. The 700x is my favorite headphones I've ever owned, and apparently the 550z is an improvement over those, so I may very well just get those.

 

[rickyday]

  Fair enough. The 700x is my favorite headphones I've ever owned, and apparently the 550z is an improvement over those, so I may very well just get those.

Ya you wont regret it. The ATH A550Z are really good. I dont notice any difference between them and my 900x. Good luck with your purchase. Enjoy

 

[trellus]

Resurrecting this thread just to go on record saying I picked up the ATH-A550Z at my local Fry's Electronics for just $99 and I don't think I've heard a better $99 closed headphone. Soundstage is close to my Shure SRH1540 (which is the best of any of my closed headphones), and I actually find these more balanced than the SRH1540 which are more V-shaped.

I was also considering paying more to go for the ATH-A990Z, but the price difference was more than $70 for me between the two ... really, I'm enjoying these more than Audeze EL-8 closed I just picked up used for 3 times the price of these A550Z headphones.

The build is by no means premium, but it also doesn't look or feel "cheap" to me, either.

 

[cmaxvt]

Echoing what trellus just said, I did the same. Got some 550Z's and consider them to be a great replacement for my 700's. They are perfect for my use of desktop gaming + music. Similar soundstage, lots of clarity, very even and not too bassy, altho plenty of well balanced bass. Awesome for $100. Not the BEST build quality, but they certainly don't feel cheap or like they'll fall apart.

 

[alexanderliu]

how is the isolation of these? i am planning on purchasing between these and beyerdynamic custom studio

 

[cmaxvt]

Isolation isn't really strong. They're not like IEM's or noise canceling, but they offer moderate isolation. If you have full music you barely hear anything around you, but you'll still hear someone yelling your name.

 

[alexanderliu]

Isolation isn't really strong. They're not like IEM's or noise canceling, but they offer moderate isolation. If you have full music you barely hear anything around you, but you'll still hear someone yelling your name.

that should do the job for me. i am using hd650 at the moment and i can hear everything playing on my wife's tv no matter how loud i play my music. Thank you so much for the advise. that is very helpful