Got my 555s!

[Reck45]

Wow these are beautiful phones.. you can't really tell from looking at pictures. I can't stress how comfortable these things are as well. I'm coming from the 497s. Out of the box they sound better with some songs, worse with others. Some the songs sound a bit muffled. The veiled dry sound is gone now that the 497s produced. I never relized how much so before. Bass is decent out of the box... if it's anything like the 497s, they will be slamming at 200 hours. Already I'm noticing little things in songs I just missed on the 497s which is very surprising. The guitars sound much more like real guitars. They can do classical music just worlds better. I listening right now and it's just amazing how many details are in classical that you just miss altogether with cheap phones. The huge advantage so far is that you can hear things on the lows now. Oh and yea these things are a lot harder to drive than the 497s. I have to turn the volume up twice as loud to get the same volume.

I remember when I first got the 497s... you could hardly even hear vocals, these highs were grating. Yow. The highs are a tad harsh right now... should disappear with burn-in. I'll post more impressions as they burn-in.

 

[daveman_84]

I was in the same boat as you -- upgraded from 497 to 555, and live in MD to top it off! I agree they are great phones and I love them. If the highs seem harsh now, trust me, they will disappear. These are the least-harsh phones I've ever heard. They have a fairly dark sound, which I like. Bass is great. And, like you, I never realized how dry the 497's really are until I heard these. They'll only get better!

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

The H497 is one of, if not the most boring cans I've ever heard. The 555 is a nice, comfy, detailed, balanced, inoffensive phone that is probably just about what most people are looking for. Worlds better than the 497, no doubt. The only Senns I like more are the 595 and 650 (yes I like the 555 more than the 580 or 600, even with price upgrade cables).

 

[mektarus]

Do they offer any isolation at all?

 

[temp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mektarus Do they offer any isolation at all?

At high volume i cannot hear what people around me are talking about.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mektarus Do they offer any isolation at all?

No, they are open cans, what goes into your ears goes out the backs, and what comes through the back goes into your ears. Pretty simple. I have not heard any similar sounding closed cans, though perhaps the Beyer DT250-250 is worth a shot.

 

[blessingx]

In the other direction, the 555s leak less than Grados, if that's useful.
At work I can turn up my co-workers Senns, where it's always a concern with my MS1s.

 

[mektarus]

I don't really have a source that can power the DT250-250. Do the DT250-80's sound comparable? What's your opinion of the ATH A500 and the AKG K240s?

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer No, they are open cans, what goes into your ears goes out the backs, and what comes through the back goes into your ears. Pretty simple. I have not heard any similar sounding closed cans, though perhaps the Beyer DT250-250 is worth a shot.

 

[SunByrne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx In the other direction, the 555s leak less than Grados, if that's useful.

Well, yeah. If you strapped two small multimedia speakers to your head, pointing AWAY from your ears, that MIGHT simulate the amount of leak you get from Grados. Maybe.

 

[mektarus]

Can you compare the sound of the 555's and the MS-1's?

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx In the other direction, the 555s leak less than Grados, if that's useful. At work I can turn up my co-workers Senns, where it's always a concern with my MS1s.

 

[Reck45]

Well I've been burning them in for 8 hours now...the bass seems to have come out a little. The soundstage has opened up as well. I must say, it takes a little getting used to. I dunno what headroom was talking about, the treble is not the slightest bit grainy to. My equipment is pretty mediocre...a SB live value and a nomad JB1. Pretty pathetic but even still, it sounds really good. I'd actually bet that these phones are better than my sources sadly.Not really much to say at this point. Other than these things completely blow the 497s away in every single way and they have a long way to go until they are burned in. Whoops and I didn't mean that about the voume BTW... but I do have to up it a few notches from the 497s.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reck45 Well I've been burning them in for 8 hours now...the bass seems to have come out a little. The soundstage has opened up as well. I must say, it takes a little getting used to. I dunno what headroom was talking about, the treble is not the slightest bit grainy to. My equipment is pretty mediocre...a SB live value and a nomad JB1. Pretty pathetic but even still, it sounds really good. I'd actually bet that these phones are better than my sources sadly.Not really much to say at this point. Other than these things completely blow the 497s away in every single way and they have a long way to go until they are burned in. Whoops and I didn't mean that about the voume BTW... but I do have to up it a few notches from the 497s.

Here are some pointers for your SB-Live:

1. Use the Kx drivers
2. Use ASIO
3. Use the rear outputs
4. Use the FooBar2000 resampler set to 48000 Hz in slow mode
5. Buy a Chaintech AV-710 for $25 and set it up properly (okay it's not really advice for your Live, but it'd be well worth the investment to get an AV-710, on my PortaPros I heard a huge sound quailty improvement coming from my onboard audio, and the SB-Live is suppost to be worse than my onboard audio)

 

[Jasper994]

The 555's require a lot of burn in before they really settle in. I had mine running constantly for around 10 days before they stopped changing drastically. To make sure it wasn't just in my head, I kept using my HD 280 Pros as a reference. In the end, they sound very good. I'm really happy with Sennheiser's newest lineup, including the new 650's which I finally heard at the meet... VERY NICE!!! The bass was to die for.

 

[pnrgi]

man it seems like there are a ton of people from md here.

I was looking to get these in the future, but i should probably buy a decent source first.

how do they sound unamped, or do you need one?

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasper994 The bass was to die for.

Unless you compared it to the PS1's bass