[AsianBatman]

Best noise isolation cans I have to use at the office. I can listen to them at my preferred volume without disturbing my co-workers. 

 

[CaRlBeAtS]

Thank you for the reply... yes i did hear that the innards of the Pyle are the same as the e7, but is it going to blow up in me grill as soon as i turn the power on? lol, oh and by the way... you are a brave man for wearing those k550s round town! Personally, I think they're beautiful but every time i walk outside everyone starts singing " Ground control to Major Tom "

 

[loveislove]

I'd say the K550 is simply awesome at current price. 

 

[money4me247]

  From your experience, which one between the K701 and Q701 has better mids and is great for mainstream music? Are they significantly better than the K550 or the open HD598?

Honestly, I personally thought the K701 & Q701 sounded exactly the same when I tried em. I ended getting the Q701 because they were the newer model & were actually on sale, so it ended up being cheaper. I think there is also a even newer K702 model & then a 65th anniversary K702 model out nowadays too. Whatever subtle difference lies between these models, you probably have to do some extensive direct A/B comparison testing to figure out, but I personally doubt there really is a difference. They all use the same drivers, and have the same ear cup design. I did read one review that claimed there may be a difference between the K702 vs Q701, but it was simply due to the earpads, so if you swap the pads you can get the sound on the other headphones. There are other comparison reviews that same one has smoother treble or whatever, but I personally did not discern any obvious differences. For people who claim that X is better than Y, I think it's hard to say if their opinion is accurate as they may be biased towards one model & if you do a blind test, I think it would be very hard to pick out which is which. If you were getting one, I would say go for the newer models: Q701 vs K702, as their price is comparable or cheaper than the K701.
 
Sorry, but I've never heard the open HD598 (but I would like to try it out sometime). I actually liked both the K550 & the Q701. They both had great strengths. Normally, I would just recommend going open for the best sound stage & sound quality, but K550 has a pretty amazing sound stage & sound quality as well. The Q701 edges out the K550 in terms of sound stage & airiness & general sound quality, but the K550 does not require an amp & has more bass quantity & is pretty close to its open brother in terms of sound quality. Basically, I would just pick between them based on whether you can do open or require closed, considering both the Q701 & the K550 is around $200ish or less nowadays. great value for the sound quality!!!

 

[ampair]

  Thank you for the reply... yes i did hear that the innards of the Pyle are the same as the e7, but is it going to blow up in me grill as soon as i turn the power on?

 
no. the k550 can be powered perfectly fine by any standard smartphone, for a dedicated amp they are a piece of cake. i wouldn't however crank the volume to its max, you don't want to blow up your brand new cans
 

 lol, oh and by the way... you are a brave man for wearing those k550s round town! Personally, I think they're beautiful but every time i walk outside everyone starts singing " Ground control to Major Tom "

 
major tom wishes to have a pair of those, floating around in his capsule

besides, you can always tell people that they are the latest and greatest ear warmers by <insert fancy fashion brand name here>. they are even suited for playing music really good.

 

[TechoGeek]

II just placed an order for a refurbished pair from Crutchfield so I'll be joining the K550 ranks soon. I originally was going to purchase some amperiors but didn't want to take the chance that it would only be a minor improvement over the HD-25's that I already have. After looking all weekend at the k550 and the k545 I decided the k550 appeared to have more of what I'm looking for in the fit,sound and isolation department. Some people say the build quality is also better on the k550, I just wish the cable wasn't so long (I plan to use them for travel) but for 105.00 in savings I'm not complaining. I love my HD-25's for hip hop, dubstep and rock but found myself wishing for something with a larger soundstage for Jazz, Blues and Classical. I accidentally found the k550's but based of the reviews they sound like a perfect match. I also ordered the Fiio E12 which will be used with a Cowon J3. I had to replace my E11 after dropping it at work the left channel stopped working.

 

[Trunks159]

Been thinkin bout these.  Only prob would be fit.  K545 vs K550  vs momentum vs m500 vs etc would make for an interestion comparison.  The A900x barely (and I mean barely!) fit on my head without slipping.  I have had some probs with the seal of closed cans like the UE6000.
 
Still, I've become addicted to soundstage lately.  I just need to know how good the seal would be for an average sized head.  Average ears too.  Perhaps ever so slightly larger head.  I'm 6 foot so I guess My head would be slightly larger.

 

[TechoGeek]

Been thinkin bout these.  Only prob would be fit.  K545 vs K550  vs momentum vs m500 vs etc would make for an interestion comparison.  The A900x barely (and I mean barely!) fit on my head without slipping.  I have had some probs with the seal of closed cans like the UE6000.

Still, I've become addicted to soundstage lately.  I just need to know how good the seal would be for an average sized head.  Average ears too.  Perhaps ever so slightly larger head.  I'm 6 foot so I guess My head would be slightly larger.

I'm 6 4" and also looked at the momentums but learned they may not work well with larger heads and ears. After reading the complaints about the k550's being to big for a lot of people I knew I had to try them..lol

 

[frapp2latte]

  Honestly, I personally thought the K701 & Q701 sounded exactly the same when I tried em. I ended getting the Q701 because they were the newer model & were actually on sale, so it ended up being cheaper. I think there is also a even newer K702 model & then a 65th anniversary K702 model out nowadays too. Whatever subtle difference lies between these models, you probably have to do some extensive direct A/B comparison testing to figure out, but I personally doubt there really is a difference. They all use the same drivers, and have the same ear cup design. I did read one review that claimed there may be a difference between the K702 vs Q701, but it was simply due to the earpads, so if you swap the pads you can get the sound on the other headphones. There are other comparison reviews that same one has smoother treble or whatever, but I personally did not discern any obvious differences. For people who claim that X is better than Y, I think it's hard to say if their opinion is accurate as they may be biased towards one model & if you do a blind test, I think it would be very hard to pick out which is which. If you were getting one, I would say go for the newer models: Q701 vs K702, as their price is comparable or cheaper than the K701.
 
Sorry, but I've never heard the open HD598 (but I would like to try it out sometime). I actually liked both the K550 & the Q701. They both had great strengths. Normally, I would just recommend going open for the best sound stage & sound quality, but K550 has a pretty amazing sound stage & sound quality as well. The Q701 edges out the K550 in terms of sound stage & airiness & general sound quality, but the K550 does not require an amp & has more bass quantity & is pretty close to its open brother in terms of sound quality. Basically, I would just pick between them based on whether you can do open or require closed, considering both the Q701 & the K550 is around $200ish or less nowadays. great value for the sound quality!!!

 
Yes, with my untrained ears I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the Q701 vs. K701 vs. K702, anyway, haha, so I should just go for the cheaper option. It'd probably be more useful in the end for me to choose closed headphones so in terms of Q701 vs. K550 and seeing as to their difference in sound quality isn't by a huge margin, I'm better off getting the K550 which also happens to be selling for a lot less here than the Q701.

I have heard lots of good feedback regarding the mids and vocals on the HD598 so I'm still pretty curious about these. If they're that good then I'd gladly sacrifice the closed-ness for open ones.

 

[money4me247]

  Been thinkin bout these.  Only prob would be fit.  K545 vs K550  vs momentum vs m500 vs etc would make for an interestion comparison.  The A900x barely (and I mean barely!) fit on my head without slipping.  I have had some probs with the seal of closed cans like the UE6000.
 
Still, I've become addicted to soundstage lately.  I just need to know how good the seal would be for an average sized head.  Average ears too.  Perhaps ever so slightly larger head.  I'm 6 foot so I guess My head would be slightly larger.

K550 has a great sound stage. It's fit is fine unless you have a really small head like me, but you can bend the headband a bit so the clamp is tighter. Momentum's fit issue has to do w/ its earcup size being too small (like on-ear fit even on the over-ear version)

 

[Trunks159]

I have no prob with the momentum.  I've worn em before.  I'd just like to hear how they compare.  I have the M500 and have heard the Momentum.

 

[Trunks159]

One headphone I absolutelyfailed to get a good seal with was the DT770.  Horrible...

 

[money4me247]

  I have no prob with the momentum.  I've worn em before.  I'd just like to hear how they compare.  I have the M500 and have heard the Momentum.

sound quality-wise or comfort-wise? I personally liked the AKG K550 better than the Momentums on both counts, but I can see why other people may prefer the Momentums.

 

[Trunks159]

Sq-wise.

 

[thegod35]

Got them a week ago, and so far I've been very impressed.
 
Here's my little write-up
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k-550/reviews/10212
 
Thanks