[john57]

Isolation for k553 not as good as hd280pro I have owned in the past.
Will msr7 isolation be better than k553?

170usd for msr7. Good price?

According to innerfidelty the HD280 has -16 of isolation. The K550 has -14 and the MSR7 has -15. This means that the MSR7 is between the K553 and HD280 in isolation.  

 

[Pianist]

I have used the k553 pro with my laptop and note 3. It sounds extremely loud with the laptop. Need to turn down the volume in Taskbar and foobar much. With low volume sounds clear.

So the msr7 is brighter? Do they also sound thinner?

Somehow I feel the sound from k553 not as full, compared to the mdr 1r o briefly auditioned in a store. But that maybe because I have to turn up the volume on the store. K553 sound more full with higher volume. But the mdr 1r don't sound as hi fi as k553. Like it lacks clarity.

Isolation for k553 not as good as hd280pro I have owned in the past.
Will msr7 isolation be betterthan k553?

170usd for msr7. Good price?

 
I haven't heard the K553, but MSR7 doesn't sound thin to me - not at all. Its bass is perhaps just a little low in level relative to the mids and highs, but it sounds full bodied, very tight and deep. I have no problem enjoying the MSR7 with EDM and trance, and will take it over most other headphones with stronger bass for these types of music, because MSR7 has a tighter and more accurate low end than most other headphones.
 
I will highly recommend the MSR7 at its usual price of $250-$300 as one of the best sounding headphones in that price range, regardless of type. If you can get it for $170, that's a steal, unless there's something wrong with the unit that is.
 

  According to innerfidelty the HD280 has -16 of isolation. The K550 has -14 and the MSR7 has -15. This means that the MSR7 is between the K553 and HD280 in isolation.  

 
Where did you get those averages? MSR7 clearly has the worst isolation of the three by a significant amount. If you look at Innerfidelity isolation graphs, you will see that it only isolates well above ~1kHz. At 800 Hz for instance, the MSR7 offer 5 dB of isolation, K550 offers almost 15 dB of isolation, 10 dB higher than MSR7, and HD280 isolates by roughly 20 dB, which is 15 dB higher than MSR7. For real world use, low frequency isolation will make much more of a difference than high frequency isolation. All three do a good job of attenuating the highs, but MSR7 offers almost no isolation up to 800 Hz and only really begins to isolate well from 2 kHz. This means that most of typical city noises, such as traffic, conversations, announcements, etc, will be much louder with MSR7 on than with the other two, especially compared to HD280. To be fair, however, none of them isolate at all below 200 Hz, so for those who want to have a good listening experience on a plane or loud train with lots of low frequency rumble, all three willl be useless and any half decent IEM will isolate far better in those situations.

 

[FYLegend]

170usd for msr7. Good price?

Where?!?!?! I know they're being sold for approximately 215 USD in Taiwan right now, taxes included. Red version is still over 300 USD though.

 

[john57]

   
I haven't heard the K553, but MSR7 doesn't sound thin to me - not at all. Its bass is perhaps just a little low in level relative to the mids and highs, but it sounds full bodied, very tight and deep. I have no problem enjoying the MSR7 with EDM and trance, and will take it over most other headphones with stronger bass for these types of music, because MSR7 has a tighter and more accurate low end than most other headphones.
 
I will highly recommend the MSR7 at its usual price of $250-$300 as one of the best sounding headphones in that price range, regardless of type. If you can get it for $170, that's a steal, unless there's something wrong with the unit that is.
 
 
Where did you get those averages? MSR7 clearly has the worst isolation of the three by a significant amount. If you look at Innerfidelity isolation graphs, you will see that it only isolates well above ~1kHz. At 800 Hz for instance, the MSR7 offer 5 dB of isolation, K550 offers almost 15 dB of isolation, 10 dB higher than MSR7, and HD280 isolates by roughly 20 dB, which is 15 dB higher than MSR7. For real world use, low frequency isolation will make much more of a difference than high frequency isolation. All three do a good job of attenuating the highs, but MSR7 offers almost no isolation up to 800 Hz and only really begins to isolate well from 2 kHz. This means that most of typical city noises, such as traffic, conversations, announcements, etc, will be much louder with MSR7 on than with the other two, especially compared to HD280. To be fair, however, none of them isolate at all below 200 Hz, so for those who want to have a good listening experience on a plane or loud train with lots of low frequency rumble, all three willl be useless and any half decent IEM will isolate far better in those situations.

Right across the impulse graph it says:
Volts RMS required to reach 90dB SPL: 0.023 Vrms
Impedance @ 1kHz: 37 Ohms
Power Needed for 90d BSPL 0.01 mW
Broadband Isolation in dB (100Hz to 10kHz): -15 dBr
 
I noticed that on the K550 there is no isolation but a increase at 180Hz and the most you can get with K550 does not match the MSR7 at -40. For me the isolation at higher frequencies is more important. It depends on your environment. I agree that you would get more isolation with IEM's in general. It seems that the final figure being used is weighted somehow.  My T70 isolates the best I ever heard. Even a bit better than the M70X. My previous Denon D2000 were the worst in isolation. 

 

[MattKelly]

I'm curious as to how the soundstage compares between the MSR7, K553 Pro, and HP150. I need a closed headphone for competitive FPS gaming (need to pick apart footsteps, so an open sound would be ideal, but I need the noise isolation of a closed headphone since I'll be using them at very noisy LAN tournaments). I know the MSR7 is a tad brighter than neutral, the HP150 is perhaps a tad warmer than neutral, and that the K553 probably falls somewhere in the middle - but how do the actual soundstages/imaging compare directly? Whatever I use will be accompanied with either Dolby Headphone or SBX for virtual surround (using a ModMic 4.0 for communication). Thanks in advance!

 

[john57]

I let a friend of mine borrow my MSR7 and he states that it was very detailed and have precise placement of sounds. However you might find that the MSR7 does not have the greatest sound isolation for a loud LAN  tournaments.
 
Here is some information I found.
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/2o97tk/why_doesnt_big_lan_events_implement_sound_booths/

 

[Pianist]

Originally Posted by MattKelly /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I'm curious as to how the soundstage compares between the MSR7, K553 Pro, and HP150. I need a closed headphone for competitive FPS gaming (need to pick apart footsteps, so an open sound would be ideal, but I need the noise isolation of a closed headphone since I'll be using them at very noisy LAN tournaments). I know the MSR7 is a tad brighter than neutral, the HP150 is perhaps a tad warmer than neutral, and that the K553 probably falls somewhere in the middle - but how do the actual soundstages/imaging compare directly? Whatever I use will be accompanied with either Dolby Headphone or SBX for virtual surround (using a ModMic 4.0 for communication). Thanks in advance!

 
As john57 mentioned in the previous post, MSR7 has a very precise instrument placement. The sound is exceptionally sharp and well defined.
 
By HP150 do you mean the Soundmagic HP150. Or perhaps you mistyped the name and actually meant NAD HP50? If so, I think that MSR7 also beats NAD HP50 in positional accuracy with sounds having sharper, better defined edges on the MSR7.
 
I haven't heard the K553, but I read that it has very good sense of space for a closed back headphone. However, I also read that the treble quality on that headphone is not particularly good with some audible grain and harshness. MSR7 on the other hand, has exceptional highs, completely devoid of grain and harshness and with superb clarity and resolution. Since treble quality plays a large role in how well a headphone can image, I think that it's safe to assume that MSR7 may have sharper, better defined instrument placement, particularly of instruments with a lot of high frequency content, than the K553 due to superior treble quality on the MSR7. Objectively, if you compare the measurements of the K550 and MSR7 on Innerfidelity, you will see that MSR7 has a significantly cleaner 300Hz impluse response, which should be objective evidence for MSR7s superior imaging abilities.

 

[ZapX629]

  I'm curious as to how the soundstage compares between the MSR7, K553 Pro, and HP150. I need a closed headphone for competitive FPS gaming (need to pick apart footsteps, so an open sound would be ideal, but I need the noise isolation of a closed headphone since I'll be using them at very noisy LAN tournaments). I know the MSR7 is a tad brighter than neutral, the HP150 is perhaps a tad warmer than neutral, and that the K553 probably falls somewhere in the middle - but how do the actual soundstages/imaging compare directly? Whatever I use will be accompanied with either Dolby Headphone or SBX for virtual surround (using a ModMic 4.0 for communication). Thanks in advance!

As others have said, it's not the most expansive soundstage, like an open back, but it has some of the best accuracy and imaging. I don't think it'd have any problem with gaming. I've used it quite a bit for that purpose.

 

[tendou]

  According to innerfidelty the HD280 has -16 of isolation. The K550 has -14 and the MSR7 has -15. This means that the MSR7 is between the K553 and HD280 in isolation.

 

 

 
 
I haven't heard the K553, but MSR7 doesn't sound thin to me - not at all. Its bass is perhaps just a little low in level relative to the mids and highs, but it sounds full bodied, very tight and deep. I have no problem enjoying the MSR7 with EDM and trance, and will take it over most other headphones with stronger bass for these types of music, because MSR7 has a tighter and more accurate low end than most other headphones.

 
I will highly recommend the MSR7 at its usual price of $250-$300 as one of the best sounding headphones in that price range, regardless of type. If you can get it for $170, that's a steal, unless there's something wrong with the unit that is.

 

 
Where did you get those averages? MSR7 clearly has the worst isolation of the three by a significant amount. If you look at Innerfidelity isolation graphs, you will see that it only isolates well above ~1kHz. At 800 Hz for instance, the MSR7 offer 5 dB of isolation, K550 offers almost 15 dB of isolation, 10 dB higher than MSR7, and HD280 isolates by roughly 20 dB, which is 15 dB higher than MSR7. For real world use, low frequency isolation will make much more of a difference than high frequency isolation. All three do a good job of attenuating the highs, but MSR7 offers almost no isolation up to 800 Hz and only really begins to isolate well from 2 kHz. This means that most of typical city noises, such as traffic, conversations, announcements, etc, will be much louder with MSR7 on than with the other two, especially compared to HD280. To be fair, however, none of them isolate at all below 200 Hz, so for those who want to have a good listening experience on a plane or loud train with lots of low frequency rumble, all three willl be useless and any half decent IEM will isolate far better in those situations.

 

 

  Where?!?!?! I know they're being sold for approximately 215 USD in Taiwan right now, taxes included. Red version is still over 300 USD though.

Thanks guy So not much difference in isolation I presumed.
 
The price is in Malaysia. Though normally it's priced 250usd

 

[MattKelly]

  I let a friend of mine borrow my MSR7 and he states that it was very detailed and have precise placement of sounds.

Quote:

 
As john57 mentioned in the previous post, MSR7 has a very precise instrument placement. The sound is exceptionally sharp and well defined.

As others have said, it's not the most expansive soundstage, like an open back, but it has some of the best accuracy and imaging. I don't think it'd have any problem with gaming. I've used it quite a bit for that purpose.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Although, this does bring up another conversation entirely. Is it the accuracy/imaging abilities that allows for a great competitive FPS headphone, or is it the open/expansiveness of a soundstage instead (when talking about pinpointing the exact location of footsteps with virtual surround like Dolby Headphone or SBX). Because to be honest, if it just comes down to the detail/instrument separation in a headphone, something like the Etymotic HF5 would surely be far superior to most over ear headphones even five times the cost. However, if it comes down to how open a headphone's soundstage is (and of course given that an open headphone is not plausible for noisy LAN tournaments) then the question begs, which soundstage is larger: AKG K553, MSR7, or the HP150.
 
Quote:

 
By HP150 do you mean the Soundmagic HP150. Or perhaps you mistyped the name and actually meant NAD HP50? If so, I think that MSR7 also beats NAD HP50 in positional accuracy with sounds having sharper, better defined edges on the MSR7.

 
No typo, I did in fact mean SoundMagic's HP150! I've heard a lot of great things about it for a closed and somewhat neutral sounding headphone. Like I said, if I go the closed headphone route, then I'll be picking between the K553, MSR7, or HP150 - but now I'm considering going the route of most detail/imaging possible, which would be an IEM such as the Etymotic HF5. Another user on Head-Fi know as Dreyka swears that IEM's are superior for picking apart footsteps in FPS games. He posted the quote below in MadLustEnvy's Headphone Gaming Guide and was met with a lot of responses saying that IEM's were clearly inferior to the openness of an over ear headphone. I'm incredibly curious as to which is more important for competitive FPS gaming.
 

  I've used a lot of different virtual surroud sound software and listened to a lot of binaural audio. I've come to the conclusion that IEMs are the best for gaming due to sharper imaging than full sized open headphones. Most notably imaging in front of the head is better which is the hardest part to localise sounds.
 
I'm currently using the Etymotic ER-4PT and the only full sized headphones that have come close to that level of sharpness in imaging is the Sennheiser HD800. While full sized headphones sound 'airy' that isn't as important for competitive gaming where the position of sounds is more important. Another important aspect is the sound isolation that IEMs bring is amazing for LAN events, tournaments and their small size means they are really portable. I use a Giant Squid Lavalier Omni mic and just clip it on to my shirt.
 
My personal opinion is that the best full sized gaming headphones are the Sennheiser HD800 (possibly SR-009 too) and the best IEMs for competitive gaming are the Etymotic (HF5 and ER-4PT). No doubt there are CIEMs that are even better but I don't have the disposable income to test them.

 

[Pianist]

  Thanks guy So not much difference in isolation I presumed.
 
The price is in Malaysia. Though normally it's priced 250usd

 
There actually IS a big difference in isolation between the MSR7 and HD280. Yes, MSR7 does isolate a few dB (up to 5 dB) more above about 4 kHz, but both isolate very well already at those high frequencies (35+ dB) and you will not notice a difference between the high frequency isolation of the two in real world use, especially with music playing through the headphones. However, you will definitely hear the difference in isolation between the two below 2 kHz, where HD280 isolated far better. Just look at the isolation response of the two at 400 Hz for instance - HD280 has a decent ~15dB isolation at that frequency, while MSR7 has about 1.5-2dB of isolation there, which is basically no isolation at all. The same can be said about frequencies up to about 800Hz, where MSR7 isolates a max of about 5dB which is very little to almost no isolation, while HD280 isolates by a very solid 20dB - the level of a decent IEM actually - staring from about 500-600Hz. What does it mean? Well, it means that those frequencies up to 800Hz will pretty much get right through to your ears with the MSR7 on and sounds such as conversations, announcements, traffic and public transport engine noises will be almost as loud as with headphones off. This basically means that the frequencies below 800Hz that you will hear through the MSR7 outside in a noisy city will be largely covered up by the city noise and all you will hear well will be the high frequencies and a bit of midrange, so it will be almost like listening to a tweeter, unless you turn up the volume of the headphones to sufficiently loud levels to compete with the outside noise which is never a good idea and is very bad for your hearing. HD280 will actually isolate the typical city noise much more effectively than the MSR7, especially from conversations, but it still won't be sufficient to isolate you from rumble of a bus, subway, traffic, and plane engine noise - you will need an IEM to get good isolation for that.

 
In terms of sound quality however, MSR7 sounds much better than HD280 and most IEMs, so if you are willing to give up some isolation for better sound quality, MSR7 is a great value.

 

[MattKelly]

  BTW, I find MSR7 very much an Etymotic ER4 of closed back full sized headphones. I think it's quite similar to the ER4 (more like an ER4P in the bass and mids and ER4S in the treble) in character and technicalities, but with more bass weight, which a great thing, as the Etys are really lacking in that regard. MSR7 is perhaps a bit more aggressive sounding than the Etys in the upper mids and highs, but that makes the MSR7 more exciting to listen to.

Pianist, I'm really curious on your opinion specifically, as you seem to love both the ER4 and MSR7 from the threads I've been reading lately. For competitive FPS gaming, which of these two do you think would get the edge in precise pinpointing of sounds through virtual surround like Dolby Headphone or SBX. I don't know if I should be prioritizing a larger soundstage or better imaging/instrument separation. If I go the soundstage route, I unfortunately have to stay with closed headphones (again, I've been looking at the AKG K553, SoundMagic HP150, Shure SRH940, and ATH MSR7) as I'll be using them at noisy LAN tournaments. However, if it's the fine detail/instrument separation that's more important for competitive FPS, then I'll look into IEM's as well (like the HF5 or ER4S). Ahh, I'm feeling lost! Thanks in advance for any help

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Got the MSR7 for nearly 2 weeks and all I can say right now is that this is the single best closed-headphones choice I've ever used. The mid is heavenly, the treble is bright and clear, the bass, though lacking on some Indie tracks, still provide enough background for the outstanding mids.
 
The MSR7 is surprisingly musical to me. I've tried the M50x, the M100, the Momentum 2 and they all lose to the MSR7 by a fair amount. That is to my ears of course.
 
Funny thing about the MSR7 is that it sounds rather harsh on my iphone 5. On the other hand it sounds really great on my 5yo HP laptop (which has IDT integrated soundcard). I have not tried the MSR7 on my "serious" amp/DAC though.

 

[riposte]

  Pianist, I'm really curious on your opinion specifically, as you seem to love both the ER4 and MSR7 from the threads I've been reading lately. For competitive FPS gaming, which of these two do you think would get the edge in precise pinpointing of sounds through virtual surround like Dolby Headphone or SBX. I don't know if I should be prioritizing a larger soundstage or better imaging/instrument separation. If I go the soundstage route, I unfortunately have to stay with closed headphones (again, I've been looking at the AKG K553, SoundMagic HP150, Shure SRH940, and ATH MSR7) as I'll be using them at noisy LAN tournaments. However, if it's the fine detail/instrument separation that's more important for competitive FPS, then I'll look into IEM's as well (like the HF5 or ER4S). Ahh, I'm feeling lost! Thanks in advance for any help

 
I would rate MSR7 soundstage for FPS gaming 3.5/5 (or 7/10). MSR7 soundstage is not 3D as MDR-1A. I don't know SRH940 or AKG K55#
MSR7 is wide, but don't have great depth. But, for me, I don't have annoying problem everytime I playing CS:GO
Atleast with MSR7 I always org...eargasm because sound quality and really suit with my preference 

 

  Got the MSR7 for nearly 2 weeks and all I can say right now is that this is the single best closed-headphones choice I've ever used. The mid is heavenly, the treble is bright and clear, the bass, though lacking on some Indie tracks, still provide enough background for the outstanding mids.
 
The MSR7 is surprisingly musical to me. I've tried the M50x, the M100, the Momentum 2 and they all lose to the MSR7 by a fair amount. That is to my ears of course.
 
Funny thing about the MSR7 is that it sounds rather harsh on my iphone 5. On the other hand it sounds really great on my 5yo HP laptop (which has IDT integrated soundcard). I have not tried the MSR7 on my "serious" amp/DAC though.

Nice simple impression
About bass, that is common problem of MSR7. Let us blame recording quality and the sound engineer, not the headphone 

 Because some song have nice impact kick drum, and the other have boomy kick drum
 
I have cheap smartphone (Acer Z160), make MSR7 sound harsh too. I hope I can upgrade my phone so I can use OTG, buy DAC like Calyx PAT, and sell FiiO X1

 

[FYLegend]

Is the MSR7 a big enough jump from the M50x? Looking for something with more forward mids, larger soundstage; didn't find the MSR7 too sibilant. Might just get it if I go to Taiwan. Online prices to Canada aren't very good and mostly unauthorized dealers.
 
Or is there anything out there with a W-shaped signature, like a headphone version of the IM70?