[Mink]

Just a quick post to confirm myself and maybe others that this pair of headphones still holds up to the current headphones up to maybe 400 USD?
They sound just gorgeous throughout. Not the most dynamic or engaging, but so well balanced and natural sounding, they are just right.
These headphones also give me the most luxurious feel of all my headphones, although not the most comfortable, they feel premium, more expensive then I got them for.
And I still think the design of these is unmatched, they are stunningly good looking.
Since they are no longer in production I will take very, very good care of them.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Just a quick post to confirm myself and maybe others that this pair of headphones still holds up to the current headphones up to maybe 400 USD?
They sound just gorgeous throughout. Not the most dynamic or engaging, but so well balanced and natural sounding, they are just right.
These headphones also give me the most luxurious feel of all my headphones, although not the most comfortable, they feel premium, more expensive then I got them for.
And I still think the design of these is unmatched, they are stunningly good looking.
Since they are no longer in production I will take very, very good care of them.

Am using them nearly daily for movie watching for long years now, very sturdy and enjoyable.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Just a quick post to confirm myself and maybe others that this pair of headphones still holds up to the current headphones up to maybe 400 USD?
They sound just gorgeous throughout. Not the most dynamic or engaging, but so well balanced and natural sounding, they are just right.
These headphones also give me the most luxurious feel of all my headphones, although not the most comfortable, they feel premium, more expensive then I got them for.
And I still think the design of these is unmatched, they are stunningly good looking.
Since they are no longer in production I will take very, very good care of them.

I myself wouldn't say that are all that natural sounding. I just think they are probably about most open sounding closed back headphones you can get.
But in my view, and i think many have mentioned this, they sound open, but in a slightly artificial way compared to open back headphones. My DT880s and ATH-AD700s have similar sound (not that much bass and a lot of treble) but both sound more pleasant and don't sound to be trying as hard to sound open - because they are open. Hard to explain.

I personally think the K550s are just a little lacking in the low end, but do have good bass extension and don't roll off that much even down below 50hz. But they do lack a bit of impact. I would say the upper bass is lacking somewhat. This can make voices sound like they lack a bit on depth and warmth. The treble is certainly boosted and this is why i certainly couldn't call them balanced or natural sounding, unless people have a different view on things. I think of neutral sounding and balanced as a flat frequency response. I think some users of this forum have posted a visual graph of these headphones. I think somewhere between 8 and 10khz, they must have quite a strong peak in the treble, which IMO could do with reducing.

I'm taking a view based on comparing them to open back headphones. In this case, i certainly don't think they are perfect, but having tried many other closed back headphones in stores, even well above the price point of the k550s, i couldn't find another pair that i preferred the sound of. I actually do like having bright treble, but many headphones that do can't really be called balanced IMO.

 

[amigastar]

Just bought a used AKG K550 MKII to complement my Hifiman HE-500.
Will i enjoy the K550 when i'm used to HE-500?

 

[rwpritchett]

I have both HE-500 and K550. The K550 is better for sound leakage when around other people, easier to drive, and is a lighter phone if you are in for a long session.

In all other aspects, the HE-500 is superior in every way if properly driven. Notably the soundstage, bass, and mids of the HE-500 are far better than the K550.

They are quite different sounding being very different technologies. I still use my K550 primarily for closed back isolation music sessions in my bedroom where I don't have my big amp.

 

[amigastar]

Thx man,
i hope to get a good amount of fun listening to these, lol.

 

[helloh3adfi]

Hey I've got AKG K550 MK1 with Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpad. I got no idea how to Eq this thing. :/ Pls any help?

 

[Corti]

Hey I've got AKG K550 MK1 with Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpad.

Congrats!

I got no idea how to Eq this thing. :/ Pls any help?

And why would you want to EQ them?

 

[helloh3adfi]

They sound harsh, fatiguing, not much dynamics and almost no bass. All in all like garbage. I add some bass boost, but it's still far from being balanced. Can't measure them due to missing equipment.

 

[amigastar]

They sound harsh, fatiguing, not much dynamics and almost no bass. All in all like garbage. I add some bass boost, but it's still far from being balanced. Can't measure them due to missing equipment.

You know what, i've compared them to my Hifiman HE-500 and it is indeed a night day difference. Actually listening to the AKG and then to the Hifiman it's like switching a light switch on. The whole soundstage becomes much more enjoyable and bass is also better. Sad but true, that said there is also fun to be had but i wouldn't switch them for my HE-500.

 

[Corti]

They sound harsh, fatiguing, not much dynamics and almost no bass. All in all like garbage. I add some bass boost, but it's still far from being balanced. Can't measure them due to missing equipment.

Ok, so if you are on windows you could start with APOEqualizer + peace plugin.
install those and maybe read on some tutorials about its use.

harshness is mostly caused by upper freqs like 5k-8k and above but can also occur in midrange frequencies like around 2k-3k.
fatigue on the other hand simply means (as i understand it) some freqs are unpleasant on longer listen sessions. but those could be any frequencies from subb-bass to
treble.. depending on your taste.
no bass is apparently lack of bass which can be dialed in via bass-shelf or with peak filters..
dynamics.. yea i dont know what that is really and how it is caused and if it is related to the FR at all.. maybe something like upper-bass which would
lead to more pronounced kickdrum hits? which leads to a more "dynamic" sound?

when EQing by ear w/o measurements you need to know the exact frequencies that lead to harshness and/or fatigue >for your ears<.
i think nobody can tell you what those are, you have to find them by listening to your music/sounds and develop an understanding on what
instruments play what frequencies.
problem is of course they do overlap, so if you are trying to reduce snares e.g. you will also reduce vocals and so on.. if a song is badly mixed, you simply cant do much about it in terms of EQ.
my observation so far is EQing by ear is mostly trial&error with a growing understanding of sound reproduction and your own sound-preferences.. not as easy as one may think.

Do you have an example track where you could describe whats harsh whats fatiguing?

 

[helloh3adfi]

Do you have an example track where you could describe whats harsh whats fatiguing?

I don't remember which tracks they were. I put those AKG away some months ago. Maybe a Minidsp EARS could help?

 

[Corti]

Maybe a Minidsp EARS could help?

That depends on what your defintion of helpful would be
jokes aside, sure miniDSP EARS would help, as you could measure your headphones with that

 

[episiarch]

Hey I've got AKG K550 MK1 with Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpad. I got no idea how to Eq this thing. :/ Pls any help?

In my experience K550 is really sensitive to earpad selection. In particular, earpads that enclose more volume of air behind them than the stock/originals make it lose bass in a hurry. (Likewise pads that don't seal that volume very well – like velour or perforated pads.) The result is an unpleasantly treble-tilted sound.

This is really frustrating for me, because I don't find the stock pads comfortable for very long – my ears start feeling hot pretty quickly. But I do like the K550 sound, so I've tried a whole lot of pads.

For me, the best compromise has been the Brainwavz angled ovals. Despite their being oval they really can be stretched onto the K550, it just takes a little time and persistence. Once they're on, the inner hole still retains a reasonably oval shape, so the enclosed volume is a lot less than the round XL. Like the XL they're available in both pleather and sheepskin.

(Sorry to answer with a pad swap when I know your question was about EQ-ing with the pads you have. I have no EQ skills to offer you.)

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

They sound harsh, fatiguing, not much dynamics and almost no bass. All in all like garbage. I add some bass boost, but it's still far from being balanced. Can't measure them due to missing equipment.

Covering the 3 holes under the white ring with PVC tape rather than that material does make a difference to the bass. I've basically done this with my original K550s and I use the same earpads.

These earpads do reduce the bass a little, but what I've mentioned brings most of it back. They still have a slightly harsh treble peak though. The only way you can reduce that is by attempting to put a foam disk, or some other material between the outside of the driver grill and under the earpad. Experiment with both of these things I mention and you should be able to reduce the treble peak and increase bass.