[ngc1976]

Just bought my can yesterday evening. Below is my experience to share after listening for 3 hours. I am not an audiophile expert, try to describe as best I can.
 
My K550 is powered by Rocoo P DAP. when listening at home(pretty quiet, except the floor stand fan noise), volume set to 15 is sufficient. this can do need to drive at slightly higher volume to bring out all the sound. When I test out the can at the retail store in a shopping mail, need to bring volume to 18-20. the noise isolation is pretty good, especially when playing song, can hardly hear the noise from the shopping mall. I think this will works well for me on a 20hr flight. Bass is tight, not your "bass head". Soundstage is wide, clear and clean vocal, good dynamic, can hear all the instrument playing clearly. I can start hearing some instrument clearly than before. As for fitting, not much a problem for me, maybe I have a "big melon", clamp position set to 3-4 give a nice and comfortable fit during the 3 hours testing at home. Did notice some cracking sound at higher frequency instrument, probably need to "burn-in" to smooth out.

 

[Eargasmo]

The big seller of the K550s at this price range is:
1) sealed cans.  they isolate great.
2) great sound stage for closed cans...heck, great soundstage for open cans.
 
You will never convince people that these are the best headphones in the world.  But if you are looking for a good soundstage, balanced sound signature, sealed, and good fidelity...all at a good price...you really won't find anything better than the K550s in this range.
 
And...as a side note...they provide great synergy with my other two cans.  Originally intended as my travel pair, the K550s have also become my balanced pair.  Whereas, the Beyer has a V-sig, and the HD650s a mid-range hump, the K550s provide a very balanced sig.

 

[yomomma1]

I see, thanks. You could try the beyer dt1350s, sennheiser hd 25s or amperiors I guess. As far as closed back goes, the k550s are probably the ones I like the most but it seems a lot of companies want to put out higher end closed back headphones to jump on the beats phenomenon.

Prefer circumaural to soups, hence looking at the 550"s, Mad Dogs etc etc.... As much as I love my RS-1's and Grado as a whole, I would not recommend them for lengthy sessions as they can hurt a bit. That's why I'm after an ear covering solution. I prefer my AIAIAI's to the HD25's so no point getting something that I won't be 100% happy with. I just thought (from what I read) that the 550's were "mind blowing" so wanted them. I have always been a fan of AKG's but never actually owned any, just borrowed (701's) from a mate for a long period.

You know what this hobby is like. It's a constant strive for perfection at "our" price level. It just gets a little embarrassing when the Mrs hands me a set of cans or IEM's I forgot I had! That's why I'm finally selling most and buying a select few.

My select few at the are

RS-1's (like I say, I ain't defo selling them)
AIAIAI Studio's (very comfy, I like dark, good for dj'ing and on the move)
Sony PFRV1's (got them very cheap and amazed at the soundstage and design)
Ety HP3 IEM's
Now If I sell the RS-1's it will be to pocket a few pennies for xmas and replace with something VERY good but closed back. That is whee the 550's or Mad Dogs may come in. Problem is I would really like to audition first.

 

[Eargasmo]

Quote:

Just bought my can yesterday evening. Below is my experience to share after listening for 3 hours. I am not an audiophile expert, try to describe as best I can.
 
My K550 is powered by Rocoo P DAP. when listening at home(pretty quiet, except the floor stand fan noise), volume set to 15 is sufficient. this can do need to drive at slightly higher volume to bring out all the sound. When I test out the can at the retail store in a shopping mail, need to bring volume to 18-20. the noise isolation is pretty good, especially when playing song, can hardly hear the noise from the shopping mall. I think this will works well for me on a 20hr flight. Bass is tight, not your "bass head". Soundstage is wide, clear and clean vocal, good dynamic, can hear all the instrument playing clearly. I can start hearing some instrument clearly than before. As for fitting, not much a problem for me, maybe I have a "big melon", clamp position set to 3-4 give a nice and comfortable fit during the 3 hours testing at home. Did notice some cracking sound at higher frequency instrument, probably need to "burn-in" to smooth out.

i had the same problem at the higher freqs initially.  But I can attest that with SIGNIFICANT burn-in, the distortion/scratch/grinding/crack sound is mitigated.  I can't tell you exactly at what hour the issue went away.  But I've owned these headphones for about 3 months now.  And only in the past couple of weeks has the issue gone away.  Now my entire music library is able to pleasantly play through the AKG 550s.

 

[dwatanabe]

Quote:

Prefer circumaural to soups, hence looking at the 550"s, Mad Dogs etc etc.... As much as I love my RS-1's and Grado as a whole, I would not recommend them for lengthy sessions as they can hurt a bit. That's why I'm after an ear covering solution. I prefer my AIAIAI's to the HD25's so no point getting something that I won't be 100% happy with. I just thought (from what I read) that the 550's were "mind blowing" so wanted them. I have always been a fan of AKG's but never actually owned any, just borrowed (701's) from a mate for a long period.
You know what this hobby is like. It's a constant strive for perfection at "our" price level. It just gets a little embarrassing when the Mrs hands me a set of cans or IEM's I forgot I had! That's why I'm finally selling most and buying a select few.
My select few at the are
RS-1's (like I say, I ain't defo selling them)
AIAIAI Studio's (very comfy, I like dark, good for dj'ing and on the move)
Sony PFRV1's (got them very cheap and amazed at the soundstage and design)
Ety HP3 IEM's
Now If I sell the RS-1's it will be to pocket a few pennies for xmas and replace with something VERY good but closed back. That is whee the 550's or Mad Dogs may come in. Problem is I would really like to audition first.

I see, I'm happy with the k550s but I wish I had another set of open back cans (kinda makes me miss my 701s a little). Like everyone said, with a good seal they sound great for a closed back headphone but not quite like a good open headphone. In terms of design and build construction though, I don't think there's more good looking and well built headphones. I don't know if you'd be happy selling your rs1s for these, the limited time i heard those was amazing. There's also all the closed denons, my uncle swears by the d7000s and I thought it sounded amazing out of his system but his is seriously high end.

 

[SursumCorda]

The AKG550s sound good out of a Rocoo P... they sound even better out of some other sources, but high end amps brings about a hissing sound.
I second the whole "sounds great after lots of use" comment. Mine sounded a bit thin, then they sounded good, now they sound really good.
 
When I compared them to the HD650 (or higher end headphones hooked up to a good system) they don't sound as good, but without a side-by side comparison the 550 really is quite good if you're looking for a reasonably priced closed-back headphone.

 

[Malacoda]

I've read in some of the reviews (along with a couple on this site), that there is a problem with the uppermids on these headphones. Has anyone else had this problem? Also, how are the overall volume on these headphones, especially when simply plugged into a PC? Do they get really loud, or?

 

[jupitreas]

I've read in some of the reviews (along with a couple on this site), that there is a problem with the uppermids on these headphones. Has anyone else had this problem? Also, how are the overall volume on these headphones, especially when simply plugged into a PC? Do they get really loud, or?

The upper mids are a bit shouty and CSD plots indicate that there is a ridge in the upper mid frequencies. Some people interpret this simply as harshness, while others hear a 'plasticky' quality. Furthermore, both measurements and anecdotal evidence show that these headphones can sound quite different depending on the fit that you are able to achieve on your head. A poor fit will result in less bass and therefore the upper mids will sound even more emphasized. How much of a problem this is will depend on your ears and how sensitive you are to ringing in that frequency and how good a fit you can achieve. Personally, I don't find this ridge to be very problematic and I haven't experienced an unpleasant harshness with these headphones but your mileage may vary. Instead, the emphasis in the upper mids does give me a sense of superior clarity with these headphones, which could be why AKG designed them this way. There is also some sort of technology in place here that AKG calls "Real Image Engineering", which is responsible for how open these headphones sound. Another technology of this type is Ultrasone's S-Logic and we all know how badly most Ultrasone headphones measure. I do listen to headphones at a rather low volume and it is possible that this ridge is far more objectionable for people who like to listen at a high volume, which these headphones are quite capable of providing, even when driven by a typical integrated PC sound card.

 

[dwatanabe]

Quote:

The AKG550s sound good out of a Rocoo P... they sound even better out of some other sources, but high end amps brings about a hissing sound.
I second the whole "sounds great after lots of use" comment. Mine sounded a bit thin, then they sounded good, now they sound really good.
 
When I compared them to the HD650 (or higher end headphones hooked up to a good system) they don't sound as good, but without a side-by side comparison the 550 really is quite good if you're looking for a reasonably priced closed-back headphone.

I think this has to do with the finicky fit these have. I've found that it's hard to get the same seal twice with these. Every time i put them on I have to fidget with them for them to sound good...

 

[SursumCorda]

Quote:

I think this has to do with the finicky fit these have. I've found that it's hard to get the same seal twice with these. Every time i put them on I have to fidget with them for them to sound good...

 
Aye, I fidget with them quite a bit every time I put them on. Fortunately I have a big head. (Fortunately?)
Though open backed/higher price headphones sound better than the 550, for a closed back, it sounds amazing after some break-in and with a good fit.
Mostly, I want to encourage someone who just got the 550 to give it some time. It sounds really good as it gets more use. (I think it takes a lot to fully break in...)

I need to look up a comparison between the 550 and Q701. I wasn't really interested in AKG until I found the 550s.
I wonder if the Lyr matches as well with the Q701 as I've heard it does the K701s...
(Mind you, I use the 550 out of a Fiio E17 at work and it sounds amazing.)

 

[dwatanabe]

Quote:

 
Aye, I fidget with them quite a bit every time I put them on. Fortunately I have a big head. (Fortunately?)
Though open backed/higher price headphones sound better than the 550, for a closed back, it sounds amazing after some break-in and with a good fit.
Mostly, I want to encourage someone who just got the 550 to give it some time. It sounds really good as it gets more use. (I think it takes a lot to fully break in...)

I need to look up a comparison between the 550 and Q701. I wasn't really interested in AKG until I found the 550s.
I wonder if the Lyr matches as well with the Q701 as I've heard it does the K701s...
(Mind you, I use the 550 out of a Fiio E17 at work and it sounds amazing.)

Nice, I used to have the k701s and I liked them but didn't seem to use them much. I have a matrix m-stage I used for the headphones and it sounds good with the k550s but I don't think it's good as a main headphone. I was comparing it to my cheap m-audio monitors and the monitors make the akgs sound downright poor. I'm trying to get rid of mine to get something better but I'm not in a rush.

 

[KyungMin]

 
I was doing the cotton ball mod and was cleaning
some of the cotton and when i looked closely
I noticed a scratch on one of my drivers..
should I be concerned about this?
It doesn't make any particular unwanted noise or anything..

 

[Doc-holliday]

I was doing the cotton ball mod and was cleaning
some of the cotton and when i looked closely
I noticed a scratch on one of my drivers..
should I be concerned about this?
It doesn't make any particular unwanted noise or anything..

Wouldn't worry about it unless it is a hole. Especially if it sounds fine. If i understand correctly that piece prevents dust from getting into the coil so if it is perforated you could have an issue.

 

[KyungMin]

Quote:

Wouldn't worry about it unless it is a hole. Especially if it sounds fine. If i understand correctly that piece prevents dust from getting into the coil so if it is perforated you could have an issue.

 
ok thanks! yea it sounds fine and can't hear any vibrations or anything nor can I hear distortion..!

 

[charlesjeon]

Produces quality sound. I love these headphones!