[Arttt]

my AKG K550 arrived today!
Originaly i ordered K550 but i got K550mk2 , don't know if its a good thing or bad thing ...  is there a difference between k550 and k550mk2 anyway?
 
First impressions are good,  light but solid construction, nice industrial looks, high quality synthetic leather pads and it feels nice on the head.
Soundwise its too soon to speak but i can say AKG K550mk2 sounds delightful , very pleasant and easy on ears.
 
I listen to them  for 6 hours now , all kind of music genders ... and i think its not an all-around headphone.
It sounds good with acoustic music , jazz...  where instruments actually touched the real air...
 
hmm , i am doubtful about lowend, in one hand i like this dry articulated accurate bass , it doesn't leak to mids.
But then it doesn't have a punch a bite to it , bass is lean and being polite ...
 
Mids are refreshingly light yet rich and warm, theres depth to the sound , mids have nice body but theres not so much weight, very airy ...
Plenty of details ...
 
Highs are fine, i was afraid for this price , a mid-fi headphone will sound artificial  and highs will have a plastic feeling , but highs are fine ... 
 
my pair is brand new and only got 6 hours on them so far , i am very curious how this headphone going to burn in )
i already hear mids coming alive out of the foggggg and bass goes deeper...
 
 
by the way , cool soundstage and openess for a closed back headphone!

 

[sludgeogre]

The bass does tend to be more present as the headphones break in, but they really need a little extra power to get good bass slam. My E18 sounds great with them, but if I plug them directly into a computer there's barely any bass. Asgard 2 sounds ridiculously good with them. The wide soundstage is certainly their greatest feat as a closed back.

 

[rwpritchett]

First of all, K550 MK2... What?


I thought that's what the K553 was. DO TELL MORE.

Second, of all my headphones, the K550 is the only pair where I did notice a change in sound after using them for a while. I think it was after about 100hrs. It's a very polarizing topic, but something did change for the better and it wasn't my brain or ears.

 

[Arttt]

Personally i have no doubt that headphones sonic characteristic change during burn in.  I notice changes in all my headphones , speakers , dacs and amps , even cables. For me burn in exist.   I know some say otherwise , and claim it to be a psychological placebo effect , but i don't care for that , i trust my own ears!
 
Even now as i write this post i hear how my K550 mk2   after i left them with some jazz on over night , got tighter bass , more clean and prominent mids , now sound is more dynamic , and it was only 20 hours more or less ...
 
Secondly , yeah mk2 , i looked it up on the net and i couldn't find any info about  k550 mk2 , hmmm am i the only one who have k550mk2 ? ))
 
i wrote a mail to akg here in sweden , and asked about mk2 version , now i am waiting for their reply...
 
heres a pic , sorry for bad quality, its taken with my iPhone ...
 
well , all and all ... its an enjoyable headphone , i like its character  , sound so effortless, light and clean ... very refreshing.
 
 
I run K550mk2   on my home system : macbook pro retina SSD > hiface evo ( usb to spdif converter) > Hegel HD20 > beyerdynamic A1  and it sounds cool )

 

[Arttt]

i got mail from AKG today.   They confirm there is a K550mk2 , according to them its an upgraded k550...
hmm cool

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Almost every audio device seems to have a new one replace it soon after I buy it.
 
K550 with the MKII
 
Audio Tecnica ATH-AD700 with ATH-AD700x
 
FiiO X3 with X3II
 
FiiO E11 with E11K
 
FiiO E10 with E10K
 
FiiO E5 with E6
 
Even my Hi-fi speakers and amplifier
 
Tannoy Mercury V1 with  V1i
 
Pioneer A-209r with A-20-K
 
The only device here I have owned over a year without a new version out will be the K550s. It isn't a bad thing making things better but I somehow feel so unlucky that everything was discontinued or improved so soon after buying.
 
I assume things just have to get updated sometime.

 

[Arttt]

well man , only because its a new version doesn't mean it sounds better ...
and even if manufacture claims its an upgrade , it doesn't mean you will like it more than the older one ...
 
i doubt theres night and day difference between k550 and k550mk2
 
in my experience sometimes old stuff sound better than new stuff )

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

  well man , only because its a new version doesn't mean it sounds better ...
and even if manufacture claims its an upgrade , it doesn't mean you will like it more than the older one ...
 
i doubt theres night and day difference between k550 and k550mk2
 
in my experience sometimes old stuff sound better than new stuff )

I know it won't always be the case but I do have to agree with you. I think the new version of my ATH-AD700s have a much more flimsy cable and the build quality is much worse that mine. Plus they are now made in China, not Japan

.
Not that they should sound worse though. With a lot of brands, with the new versions, that say they improve things but they just cut their costs down and sell it for the same price or a little bit more. However, other brands improve the build and other things too. its not always bad.
 
I thought the K550s had been replaced with the K553 as they too look pretty much identical.

 

[Arttt]

yeah , build quality usually suffers ...
well i don't know how original k550 sounds , but i heard people say it don't have lots of bass , now after 30 hours of burn in i already hear lots of bass...
maybe thats what they improved , more bass ? ...

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

  yeah , build quality usually suffers ...
well i don't know how original k550 sounds , but i heard people say it don't have lots of bass , now after 30 hours of burn in i already hear lots of bass...
maybe thats what they improved , more bass ? ...

One thing I think they will have changed is the fit. Lots of people lots a lot of bass because they seemed to suit people with big heads better

When at home, the bass is very noticeable. It isn't a huge amount compared to a lot of headphones but it is very deep and controlled. It seems very accurate too. I love the bass on these. What is very, very strange though is the amound you loose when using them on the move. It becomes pretty much non-existent. However, with my FiiO X3, I can put the bass up a lot and that makes them sound like they do directly when I'm at home. My X3 goes very well with them. It must just be the vibrations that stop me hearing and feeling the bass because at home even if I am somewhere really loud, I still hear the bass perfectly. Another thing I love about these is the amount of sound they keep out and keep in. I can listen to them pretty loud and I worry the people must notice them sitting next to me on the bus but if I put my hands on each of the pads, covering the drivers, they just are not noticeable. Also when I have them on, they block out so much of that background noise around me. The MKII could do a better job at this maybe.

 

[rhythm is life]

yeah , build quality usually suffers ...
well i don't know how original k550 sounds , but i heard people say it don't have lots of bass , now after 30 hours of burn in i already hear lots of bass...
maybe thats what they improved , more bass ? ...

Maybe...it could also be that you're getting a proper seal. I tried out the original K550 a while back and bass-tested it using Young Jeezy - Put On. The song starts with a 27 Hz tone, which rumbled forcefully through the K550. I have a slightly larger than average head and had no trouble getting a good seal. I also own the K545, which is a portable headphone using the driver from the K550/K553. The K545's deep bass response is similarly excellent. On the other hand, reviews/impressions of the K553 often cite improved bass performance over the K550, and the earcups are identical. Measurements taken of the K553 on a now-defunct website showed an elevated bass response compared to the K550, so maybe the K550mk2 has received similar tuning by AKG.

 

[Arttt]

i notice that the way i wear k550mk2 effects sound a lot  , not only because of the seal.  Cups are huge and where you place your ear is crucial to the sound presentation.  If i place my ear at the back of the cup , soundstage grows and its more like listening to a pair of speakers infant of you ...
 
If i place ear in front of cup , lots of detail , treble energy gets higher , and my favorite is in the middle of cup - vocals get intim and sweet.
 
I really like how k550mk2 present female vocals , soundstage is also cool , i hear not just placement of instruments (localization ) but i also hear the room, feeling of room space where sound is placed , cool that a closed headphone can give a feeling of room space
 
i tryed k550mk2 outside with my iphone6 and it wasn't so bad ... mids were kind of cold and distant, but it was not so bad ... bass was there and i could get it loud with 70% of iphone6 volume.
But i won't use it as portable headphone...
 
K550mk2 will take its place in my headphone collection , money well spend considering i payed 100 € for a brand new pair.  But i think it worth its original price as well.
 
Its definitely not an all arounder , but if you have already a few headphones in your collection to suits your needs , K550mk2 can defiantly compliment your collection with its airy light detailed sound and effortless dynamics ...

 

[AngryGoldfish]

Does anyone have any insight on replacing the jack on the AKG K550's? I've broken the 3.5mm jack, as well as my computer front panel audio, when my foot got caught on the cable.

 

[knorris908]

  Does anyone have any insight on replacing the jack on the AKG K550's? I've broken the 3.5mm jack, as well as my computer front panel audio, when my foot got caught on the cable.

I know it's not helpful, but Dude, I am SO sorry.  That SUCKS.

 

[episiarch]

  Does anyone have any insight on replacing the jack on the AKG K550's? I've broken the 3.5mm jack, as well as my computer front panel audio, when my foot got caught on the cable.

@AngryGoldfish This thread is your best bet: http://www.head-fi.org/t/764773/how-to-akg-k553-pro-detachable-cable-mod-and-for-k550-and-k551-lot-of-images