[themyst]

I just received my HD555 this morning. After leaving it on close to max volume for 10 hours while I was at work, I finally gave it a test run. Sadly, on my hip-hop and trance selections, the low-end bass was a bit of a disappointment. Granted, I was running it unamped through my PC line-in, but the mids and highs were very warm and clear, and I can't wait to hear how these will sound with another 20-30 hours of burn-in! I will stick to my Shure SE530 for DAP listening for now and relegate the HD555 to movie-viewing duties only.

Does the burn-in really help Sennheisers in particular achieve their full sound potential? I put about 12 hours on them so far.

 

[Ryan Williams]

No, but EQ does.

 

[stuge(original)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jersey_emt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here is a good review on the HD555's .

Nice description of HD 555

 

[IronStomach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by themyst /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just received my HD555 this morning. After leaving it on close to max volume for 10 hours while I was at work, I finally gave it a test run. Sadly, on my hip-hop and trance selections, the low-end bass was a bit of a disappointment. Granted, I was running it unamped through my PC line-in, but the mids and highs were very warm and clear, and I can't wait to hear how these will sound with another 20-30 hours of burn-in! I will stick to my Shure SE530 for DAP listening for now and relegate the HD555 to movie-viewing duties only. Does the burn-in really help Sennheisers in particular achieve their full sound potential? I put about 12 hours on them so far.

I didn't notice it too much with mine. One thing you may want to be careful of, though, is that playing your headphones at near-maximum volume can damage them quite quickly. A good rule for burn-in is to play at around a comfortable listening level, or maybe slightly higher.

 

[texashorn91]

IronStomach is absolutely right. Hopefully it wasn't too loud...

 

[Saucerful]

When using the HD555 on an iPod Nano, I find there's a certain noticeable distortion in the bass region, especially anything with a loud synth bass drum. The distortion is not present when the same music is played with any other of my playback devices (PC, stereo, etc). Is this a problem with the iPod not being able to drive the headphones properly (i.e.: would a headphone amp fix this?) or is it simply poor sound processing from the iPod that cannot be rectified?

 

[s1m0]

If you're using eq turn it off and see if they still distort.

 

[texashorn91]

^^^Yes, especially if you have the bass boost eq setting on. Try using other eq settings, like "latin" lol. I use it sometimes and it doesn't distort as easily as the bass eq setting will. If nothing works here just turn all eq off.

 

[Saucerful]

Yeah it tends to be a lot worse on the "rock" and "bass boost" settings so for recordings that are reasonably bass-heavy, I turn off the EQ. Trouble is, of course, it doesn't sound quite as good. Are there any decently priced, portable headphone amps that'll give me the punch I'm looking for without being too huge to carry around in my pocket?

I suppose this is assuming the iPod outputs a good enough signal when the EQ is off for a headphone amp to mess around with. Should I even bother or is a HD555/iPod Nano combo too low end to spice up a bit?

 

[TheDeliveryMan]

we sure like 'em

 

[metalears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saucerful /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah it tends to be a lot worse on the "rock" and "bass boost" settings so for recordings that are reasonably bass-heavy, I turn off the EQ. Trouble is, of course, it doesn't sound quite as good. Are there any decently priced, portable headphone amps that'll give me the punch I'm looking for without being too huge to carry around in my pocket? I suppose this is assuming the iPod outputs a good enough signal when the EQ is off for a headphone amp to mess around with. Should I even bother or is a HD555/iPod Nano combo too low end to spice up a bit?

The "R&B" setting is the worst! It destroys the sound quality with any type of music. Avoid it. Best to stick with "Rock" if you want the bass to be there and the mids and treble 'rocking'.. With the "bass-booster", the sound is veiled and not 'headbanging'!

 

[mechanix]

I feel strange about bumping a two-year old thread but I am wondering about exactly the same question as thread title says. I'm newly getting into this headphone "fever" and planning to buy an used HD 555. I will be using it on my PC for listening music and some gaming. However I primarily listen heavy metal / rock music. What should I expect? Are they an OK choice for the first decent (or mid-range) headphones?
 
I know a lot of people will recommend Grado's for heavy metal, so I'm buying an sr60 with these as well (part of a special deal, hd 555 + sr60).

 

[breadtalk354]

If u are going for hd 595 dun bother... Because the price range between 595 and 600 is not much. I rather u go for hd600=)
 

 

[TheWuss]

mids.  yep, it has those. 

 

 

[mechanix]

Quote:

If u are going for hd 595 dun bother... Because the price range between 595 and 600 is not much. I rather u go for hd600=)
 

actually I wasn't going for anything. just saw a guy selling a pair of these at a nice price and decided to try them out, as a first step into high end headphone world. along with sr60.