[Themilkman46290]

@Themilkman46290
I was not aware that Samsung was now parent company of AKG. I would not say that this bodes well for the future of AKG. I looked at K371 (wired--totally agree with your comment regarding Bluetooth) and there is no way that the K371 are pro studio headphones as they are advertised. I have seen them and heard them in person and the construction (while likely OK for casual home use) is no where close to pro standards. They didn't sound bad, though.

Yeah, exactly, it's too bad, worst thing is Apple has proved to the corporate world that you don't need to research and make the best product.
Instead they used psychological manipulations and marketing to sell disposable products at extremely high prices

I was recently booted from a no bulls**t audio group because I went on a rant on how there new apple cans are cheap junk, the mods of that group sent me a message to say that I had hate speach and blocked me. Pretty crazy, how far there marketers will go, it was a group geared towards budget iems and earbuds.......

It sucks, when companies like apple take interest in our Hobbie, we are all screwed

In the next fe years, I predict the price of mid range headphones will be around 800 to a 1000
Same with daps, they seem to allready be going in that direction, 5 years back, mid range daps could be had new for 200 - 300
Now its around 400 to 1000 for mid range daps
We could call it inflation but its not, the cost of materials hasn't gone up, the cost of workmanship also hasn't gone up, what is skyrocketing is the amount that companies put into marketing
Except grado
Still good, decent priced and built well

 

[zombywoof]

@Themilkman46290
Not enough people ranting, in my opinion. That is how these things go when consumers buy in to the marketing hype, and allow it to trump common sense.

 

[Themilkman46290]

Yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent, but when we do rant or complain, we are quickly silenced...

As a matter of fact, I guess we should be careful.....
I would hate to get banned off of here too.

But what can we do, marketing has decided the addition of the word "pro" sells, I guess that's why the k371 are pro
And all the recent "pro" Bluetooth stuff
Sad they killed there k55x line and replaced it with the k371
I guess the only true "pro" audio gear is Beyerdynamic and German maestro
Atleast they sell replacement parts and build there stuff to last

 

[zombywoof]

@SomeTechNoob
I agree with your description of the sound stage and imaging of the K553. I don't know if it is small relative to other closed back headphones, but it isn't wide. As you said, the imaging on the K553 is superb. I have tried the Dekoni Beyer pads (pleather) on my K553. They fit well and are a good all around replacement for the AKG stock pads. I did not have any issues fitting the Brainwavz pads. I purchased the XL models and they fit the K553 very well. I will not question what you heard with the thicker Brainwavz pads. I found the Brainwavz sheepskin pads to be quite comfortable and to have no significant impact on the sound signature. I certainly did not detect a decrease in the bass level. The same cannot be said for the velour pads, as you might expect.

 

[Mad Max]

So that's the deal with these different new designs, AKG got bought by Samsung? Sad.
Yeah, I see the inspiration taken from Sammy's Level On headphone.

K371 is some great stuff after a bit of modding, but it is no K553 (I still have my 1st gen with fixed cable). At least the soundstaging isn't as bad as K553 is to my ears.

I have to disagree with the Brainwavz pads nay-sayer, I'm still rocking my headphone with classic, pleather Brainwavz pads. If anyone wants to try a pair, the oval ones are the ones to go for. They'll take a stretch getting fitted, but they mostly retain the bass and overall sound signature of the stock pads, the only change is improved treble and bass clarity. These headphones suffer from the usual 10kHz peak almost all closed-back headphones have, and with the improved clarity of the oval Brainwavz pads, it will only be more obvious if you hadn't already noticed before. The Brainwavz pads also make it easier to get a proper seal, so for anyone having trouble with that with stock pads, you'll definitely appreciate the resulting improved overall bass.

But I still want a good pair of closed backs, I might just stick to iems for isolation, but cans are better for long listening sessions, to bad the industry keeps getting worst, good headphones today cost a lot more then a few years back, and seem to break a lot easier

Sub-$250 is still saturated with plenty of good headphones in the US, I'm guessing you aren't so lucky where you live? If you want killer sound, that will cost you a good bit more, and I don't just mean headphones but also an upgrade amp/DAC to get your money's worth out of them, too, so the law of diminishing returns kicks in hard pretty quick if you want to upgrade from K553, DT770, HD579, AD900x, K612, and so forth. It's been that way for well over a decade and will probably continue into the next.

 

[Mad Max]

I am reposting what I shared in the K550 thread. Another fellow showed that he removed the white acoustic filter and taped up the three baffle vents surrounding the driver, a mod that I do not personally recommend. Headphones typically need these.

The filtered vents around the drivers aren't protection, they are tuning holes and the designers use them to tweak the tonal balance, you'll find them in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and quantities in almost all headphones. Some Ultrasones and low-end, lo-fi cans lack them altogether, as a few examples.

I have the almost identically-built K553 (1st gen), and I removed the rubber cup behind each driver outright, they are bass compressors for flattening out the bass balance, ingenious trick, and without them I notice the bass becomes more dynamic, responsive, deeper, and slightly stronger in the midbass. I decided I prefer them this way and left the cups like that, but increased the amount of fiberfill I stuck inside to acoustically treat the cups for cleaner, less colored sound.

I discovered a new mod that drastically improves the soundstage. Transpore medical tape on the upper half of the cup interiors, on the rim:


I was wondering if the rim's sonic reflections might be affecting the sound somehow. Yeah, they goof up the soundstage, giving K553/K550 the worst staging I've heard in a closed-back competing with DT770, etc., after the old MDR-V700DJ. In tracks where I should be hearing huge, expansive "worlds" created by the great reverbs used I instead get sounds surrounded by "distortion" of sorts, placement of sounds has no precision and the soundfield is just a murky, muddy "distortion". With the transpore tape the soundstage now is far airier, deep, and sounds and their placements now "make more sense", there is soundstaging now, lol
I need to experiment with tape placed on the baffles around the drivers facing the ears, there's plenty of empty, flat spaces for sound to reflect and color the sound and mess with soundstaging.

Also, much like episiarch, I, too, swear by Brainwavz pleather ovals, they retain the original sound best, except with greater bass and treble clarity. Anyone sensitive to the 10kHz treble peak will hate these pads, though, as the improved clarity will simply bring out the peak, which the stock pads somewhat muffle. I'm stuck with white Brainwavz oval pads that look odd on K553 as my black spares and the ones I put on my 553 a couple years ago started disintegrating.

A previous, related post of mine in this thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new...g-a-killer-massdrop-deal.760386/post-12629605

 

[dstarr3]

I've got the K553 Mk2 and I love it to bits, the pads are just a bit too shallow to accommodate my dumbo ears. I've found with a lot of AKG headphones, the tuning really falls apart when you pad roll them, and I've tried using some Brainwavz pads I had laying around, and that was indeed the case with at least those. Has anyone here had any good experiences with pad rolling the K553?

 

[SomeTechNoob]

I've got the K553 Mk2 and I love it to bits, the pads are just a bit too shallow to accommodate my dumbo ears. I've found with a lot of AKG headphones, the tuning really falls apart when you pad roll them, and I've tried using some Brainwavz pads I had laying around, and that was indeed the case with at least those. Has anyone here had any good experiences with pad rolling the K553?

I've tried brainwavz angled and regular. Angled were better but both killed the sound. I am now using dekoni pads (Platinum Pleather DT770) and they fit like a glove and keep a very similar sound signature. Not too much deeper but a little more firm.

 

[Oscarilbo]

Hi guys. I’m looking for a neutral-ish closed back HP. Want details, imaging, organic feel. How does the K553 compares with the Audio Technica ATH MSR7 in technicalities?

 

[LoganPhyve]

Very first batch AKG K553 Pro's I got from massdrop when they released. I always hated the pads and fixed cable on these, but grew to love the sound. I wanted to convert these to Mk II's (detachable plug) and in doing so made some changes. I've put these things through the wringer and decided to give them some love. They're very well built.

As with nearly all of my mods, this set is now balanced. However the bigger change for me was swapping the left and right channels. The cups are the same on either side, so this only required rewiring and swapping the pads to match. Now, these open toward the user and the pads rest comfortably on the collar.

These take 3.5mm TRRS balanced input but can also be driven single ended with the correct cable and interconnect (not pictured). Just wanted to share some other work I've done. They also got a headband cover. The PU leather is still intact, but starting to show signs that it is not long for this world. I imagine I'll be replacing that with something custom at some point.

Cheers