[rwpritchett]

The pads in your photo look larger than the Dog Pads.  Are these something else?  Look a lot deeper.

Thanks!

The picture I posted was koalapear's K550s with Alpha Pads.

 

[wega03]

I just jumped on the Philips SHP-9500 drop before this one but it hasn't arrived yet. Can anyone give me a comparison between the SHP-9500 and the K553 pro? I'm thinking of grabbing this and just giving the other ones to my dad for his birthday.

EDIT: I'm using an EF5 tube amp to power them.

After a couple of hours doing some a b comparison, this are my impressions. Shp9500 have a slightly wider soundstage, the highs are brighter on k553 but not harsh, the mids have mor detail on k553, the bass it's tricky, in some songs sound with more quantity on shp9500 and sometimes on k553 but, the bass have more quality on k553 more control and the sub bass it's better, I hope that help you and sorry for my English. I was using my galaxy note edge, and later use galaxy note edge with fiio e17k as DAC, eq flat

 

[Sagii]

If you want a closed back for general listening, gaming + a decent sound stage, check out the A900x. Larger soundstage with better imaging to my ears compared to the K553

Well, thing is.. the cheapest I can get myself a pair of A900x is at the price of 270-280$, so at that price, I'd guess they're not worth it? ^^'
 
EDIT: HOWEVER, I just realised I can get myself a pair of SHP-9500 for 140 bucks. What about those? There's also a possiblity of getting the Shure 840 for about 140-150 bucks as well
 
EDIT2: Sigh.. so many options. Also the Sennheiser 598, ATH-M50x, ATH AD700x, and some other stuff that I found that I don't remember the names of atm.

 

[soldat]

The picture I posted was koalapear's K550s with Alpha Pads.

I'm thinking I might have to try pads similar to those. My ears aren't in any discomfort of pain, but they do rub against the inside of these headphones. It causes some noise when I move my head. I'm betting a deeper pad would fix this issue.

 

[JakiChan]

And now there's a Massdrop for the Philips Fidelio L1s for the same price. I don't see a clear head to head anywhere but I just started looking. Some of them talk about the L1s being more user friendly in terms of portability (vs the 550 in that thread). I like the look of the AKGs better. But at the same price what do folks think?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

^ Sure L1's are far more portable, but polar opposite in terms of sound. L1 are bassy with smoothed treble and k553 are neutral and balanced.

 

[project86]

  I like these headphones. Detailed without being bright, balanced, stronger bass than the K550. And the best thing? The fit is much more secure than with the K550. The sound (esp the bass) does not shift around if you move your head.
 
Special thanks to money4me247 for all his help in getting these for me.

 
 
Well said! That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the K553 perfectly. I've probably got more hours on my pair than anyone else here (maybe), and this is the conclusion I've formed. 
 
 

  ^ Sure L1's are far more portable, but polar opposite in terms of sound. L1 are bassy with smoothed treble and k553 are neutral and balanced.

 
 
Agreed completely. L1 is great for certain things, and really not competing at all with the K553. Different categories altogether.

 

[nmatheis]

I've got L1 and K553 and enjoy them both. As already mentioned, they're complementary due to sound signature differences.

 

[Spandy87]

After a couple of hours doing some a b comparison, this are my impressions. Shp9500 have a slightly wider soundstage, the highs are brighter on k553 but not harsh, the mids have mor detail on k553, the bass it's tricky, in some songs sound with more quantity on shp9500 and sometimes on k553 but, the bass have more quality on k553 more control and the sub bass it's better, I hope that help you and sorry for my English. I was using my galaxy note edge, and later use galaxy note edge with fiio e17k as DAC, eq flat

Thanks for this. I think I will stick with the philips for now and wait for an x2 sale or something. I hear the k553 is a lot like the ahd2000 from Denon, which I have used before and enjoyed. Right now though, I am hoping for something a bit different/better than that, so the k553 isnt exactly a worthwhile step forward.

 

[JakiChan]

  ^ Sure L1's are far more portable, but polar opposite in terms of sound. L1 are bassy with smoothed treble and k553 are neutral and balanced.

 
That makes me think they'll be better for my partner than the L1s would be, because he's mostly listening to jazz and classical.  I'm a little concerened about the portability - he's at my house 5 nights a week, but does go back to his house (about 90 minutes away) a couple of nights.  He's got a cheap pair of Sonys right now that don't fold or anything, so we'll see.
 
For me I'll be comparing them to my ATH-M50s which I listen to at work.  Mostly I listen to EDM.

 

[yeahx]

I also listen to a lot of "EDM" but I like detailed bass and not booming bass so these sound like they are going to be great for me. I have some other cheap headphones I won that are more thumping for when I want that. Cant wait until I hear these a month from now.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

I listen mostly to electronic genres like trance and deep house, and over the years have come to prefer neutral sound even for EDM, anything with too much of a bass boost or treble recession (or any other frequency imbalance) just takes away from the rhythm and melody imo. Nonetheless, neutral sound is not for everyone, and I still like a nice warm headphone like the L1 every now and then, and a few years ago the warm sound sig like the L1 was my favorite type of sound back then.

 

[Condocondor]

I have had the AKG 553Pro for about 3 weeks now.  I've got about 100 hours on them already and they just keep getting better.  I'm always dubious about people critiquing headphones unless they have 300-400 hours of experience on them.  The extended break-in time smooths out all the treble regions and tightens/smooths up the bass.

In comparing to my ATH-M50x phones, the 553Pro's have fully and soundly beat them on just about every listening category.  The 553's are more dynamic; more spacious sounding and less congested than the M50x phones.  The bass is much better quality.  The overall balance of sound is better integrated.  The spaciousness of the sound and the dryer treble is less fatiguing to listen to than the ATH-M50's.  It could be that the larger 50mm drivers (compared to 45mm in the ATH-M553Pro) in the 533 Pros is what makes them more dynamic.

I'm taken, really taken with these cans as great all around headphones.  Just so enjoyable and easy to listen to and the build quality is very high.  I have a larger head and they seal just fine for me.  In fact my wife can't even hear the music leaking when I have them cranked up like on the Audio Technica ATH-M50x which have poor noise isolation for a closed headphone.

Bravo AKG for the 553 Pro.  My ATH-M50x headphones are now for sale on Amazon--they have been supplanted!      

 

[JakiChan]

Another random question - in a pinch my MacBook Pro is able to drive my ATH-M50s decently enough.  Not stunning, but ok.  Will it drive the K553s?  I doubt my partner is gonna wanna futz with a headphone amp.  Hell, he watches Netflix directly on his iPad sometimes...

 

[cityle]

I'm able to drive them from my phone and from my newly acquired BT receiver so no problem with this at all. They are low impedence headphones so everything can drive these cans.