[wje]

Quote:

Nice. Now you need to explore amps before you start dishing 300 on phones

Who said anything about the Sennheiser 555s being $300?  That is, unless I missed something.
 
I wanted to take the plunge on a pair of 555s this weekend.  There's been a seller on Craigslist selling new/sealed Sennheiser 555s for $79 a pair.  I sent a message to this individual, but didn't get a response back yet.  I wonder what the chances are of getting a counterfeit pair of 555s?
 

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Who said anything about the Sennheiser 555s being $300?  That is, unless I missed something.
 
I wanted to take the plunge on a pair of 555s this weekend.  There's been a seller on Craigslist selling new/sealed Sennheiser 555s for $79 a pair.  I sent a message to this individual, but didn't get a response back yet.  I wonder what the chances are of getting a counterfeit pair of 555s?
 

 

Never heard of counterfeit 555s before.  There's not enough of a market for audiophile headphones like this for people to make fakes - it's mostly with the lower-end or incredibly popular ones where you find fakes.  Like the Beats.

 

[peskypesky]

Quote:

I wanted to take the plunge on a pair of 555s this weekend.  There's been a seller on Craigslist selling new/sealed Sennheiser 555s for $79 a pair.  I sent a message to this individual, but didn't get a response back yet.  I wonder what the chances are of getting a counterfeit pair of 555s?
 

they're on sale at Amazon. that's where i got mine.
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

they're on sale at Amazon. that's where i got mine.
 

Yeah, that's a good point - and price.  It was just something really spontaneous that came into my mind today.  Plus, in doing my taxes, I realized my mortgage company hosed me a bit by not including one month's interest on our 1098.  So, after a bit of digging, I was able to come up with several hundreds towards our return.  I also found some other money, so my wife was quite happy with me today - so, I was going to opt to treat myself.
 
 
 

 

[ssavage]

Quote:

Who said anything about the Sennheiser 555s being $300?  That is, unless I missed something.
 
I wanted to take the plunge on a pair of 555s this weekend.  There's been a seller on Craigslist selling new/sealed Sennheiser 555s for $79 a pair.  I sent a message to this individual, but didn't get a response back yet.  I wonder what the chances are of getting a counterfeit pair of 555s?
 

I mean before he spends 300 on a future phone, he should explore amps. As my mistake was I skipped from easily driven phones to hard driven phones (M50 to HD600). So no the HD555 isnt 300. Sorry for misunderstandings
 

 

[dennis_lcfx]

Does the 555 require an amp for it to sound its best when using it on a pc?

 

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Does the 555 require an amp for it to sound its best when using it on a pc?

 

Definitely, the headphone-out ports on a PC are generally pretty crappy unless you use a high quality sound card.  They usually make buzzing noises due to all of the interference inside the case.  A cheap way to get good sound out of a PC is to get a USB DAC.  One of the best choices at a lower price-point is the Fiio E7.
 
Just plugging a headphone amp into the PC's headphone out port would barely solve a thing, and would just make the awful buzzing noises coming from the port even worse.
 
The 555 is relatively easy to amp, but it's not just the extra power that's needed, you need to worry about clarity of the source, which is why a DAC like the E7 would be a good investment.  Otherwise you wouldn't be getting all you can out of the 555s.

 

[peskypesky]

Quote:

Does the 555 require an amp for it to sound its best when using it on a pc?

 

no. its a low impedance headphone (50 ohms) so your laptop should be fine to power it.
 

 

[Murmaider]

i stalked them on amazon (signed in) until i think amazon noticed and dropped the price from 84 to 78. snatched them up immediately. I've noticed this has happened several times before.
 
Quote:

Who said anything about the Sennheiser 555s being $300?  That is, unless I missed something.
 
I wanted to take the plunge on a pair of 555s this weekend.  There's been a seller on Craigslist selling new/sealed Sennheiser 555s for $79 a pair.  I sent a message to this individual, but didn't get a response back yet.  I wonder what the chances are of getting a counterfeit pair of 555s?
 

 

 

[ohaider]

The HD555s have always been <100$ and I got my pair almost 2 years ago now.

 

 

[wje]

It looks like I'm going over to the Dark Side today.  I'll be picking up my pair of HD555s after work.  My first move will be to perform the HD555 -> 595 mod.  I do realize it's a minor modification with some 'slight' improvements.  However, I'll take 'slight' improvements - especially for the cost of free.
 
Now, the bigger challenge remains.  How well will the HD555s fit into my collection of the 3 pair of Grados that I own?  Will they get along?  Will the Grados turn on me for going for Sennheisers? 

 

[peskypesky]

Quote:

The HD555s have always been <100$ and I got my pair almost 2 years ago now.

 

 
nope. they've gone up to $130 for months at a time.
 
 

http://camelcamelcamel.com/Sennheiser-HD555-Professional-Headphones-Channeling/product/B0001FTVDQ
 


 

 

[wje]

I have my HD555s home now and I'm wearing them.  I didn't take the time yet to perform the mod.  Lots of "whirlwind" information happened on the 2nd half of the day with myself, the career, etc. (all mostly good stuff) - so, this has sort of taken the focus off the mods for now.  However, I do have some brief impressions - keeping in mind that I still need some more break-in time on these to see if the sonic signature will change at all from when they were first pulled from the box.
 

• About 5 weeks ago, I purchased a new pair of AKG Studio 240s.  They fit my head horribly.  I tried to do some adjusting, but they just didn't seem to fit right for me.  Plus, I felt like a moonbeam wearing them with the semi-circular wire bands across the top of the headband, etc.  The sound of the AGK Studio 240s left me quite underwhelmed.  Needless to say, I returned them within the week.  In comparison to the AKGs, these Sennheisers really shine in lots of ways - comfort, sound, etc.
• I listened to the Sennheisers on my portable on my way home.  The sound was OK - about what I'd expect when being driven by a portable device.
• After getting home, I plugged them into my home system.  Wow.  A whole new sound blossomed with these headphones!   Very impressive, for the price.
• At this time, I won't get into making any comparisons with my Grados (both modded and stock versions that I own).  There will be time for that later.  However, when comparing what one gets for $80 - 85 in these headphones, they are solid contenders to the stock Grado SR-60i, 80i and possibly the 125i.  Again, I did mention "stock".  If someone is going to spend some time and money on their Grados, the points could move back and forth between the choices when it comes to comparisons.

 
So far, so good.  No regrets on my purchase.  Then again, I don't have the option of a return policy on this pair either.

 

[wje]

Just a few more impressions before I turn in for the evening.
 

• The HD555s really shine when powered by a good source.  Again, the portable music players won't do them much justice, as has been my experience with other headphones, too.  Of course, if you have a portable amp connected in the stream, I'm sure the sound will be improved quite a bit.
• I played BB King and Eric Clapton's "Riding With the King", Patricia Barbers "Composition" and a CD by Cassandra Wilson.  I've read where the HD558 headphones produce a slight additional amount of bass over the HD555s.  However, I can't imagine having more bass -  these HD555s are performing remarkably in that area.
• Some of the Grado "Finesse" when it comes to clarity and speed seems to be missing a little bit from the Grado sound that I'm used to.  Though, I'm not making this a hard knock on the HD555s as they do have their positives.
• These are definitely "party" headphones and do well with songs that have good bass.  However, they also perform well for the listener that just wants to chill out to various music at the end of their day.
• The comfort level is actually quite good for me.  However, as opposed to the Grado "on-ear" types of pads, it does take a bit of getting used to these with the cups that circle the ears.  I does make for some "heated" listening sessions as your ears will tend to get a bit warmer due to them being encased by the pads.

 
So far, so good ... though.  I'd love to try a pair of HD600s or HD650s for a day and see how much better they really are.
 
 

 

[wje]

I performed the HD555 mod last night by removing those hideous foam pads from the innards of the headphones.  I'll need some more time on them to give my impressions of the change (yes, there is a change that one can notice).  Also, I was wondering if anyone has worked any Dynamat into the plastic areas around the plastic innards of the housing that the drivers attach to?  Of course, the goal here would be to keep he screen area 100% open, but I was wondering if forming some Dynamat into those recesses might change the sound - for better or worse?
 
Enjoy!