[Horse-Fi]

don't anyone of you have the problem of the earcups being kind of sweaty and they feel as if they suck to your ears?
i mean, i love the way they sound but.. COMFORT IS 1 OF THE 3 REASONS TO BUY A HEADPHONE right?

 

[money4me247]

Quote:

I like my 701 but wanted something I can plug in and go. I have the mad dogs which Im going to use for my portable but wondering if the k550 are better for this. Or if I should just stick with mad dogs as portable and use my 701 for gaming and at home. Choices choices. I could of got some k550s today but kept getting cold feet so I left it for now.

what did the ppl at the mad dog appreciation forums say about your dilemma??

 

[eliben85]

Quote:

I like my 701 but wanted something I can plug in and go. I have the mad dogs which Im going to use for my portable but wondering if the k550 are better for this. Or if I should just stick with mad dogs as portable and use my 701 for gaming and at home. Choices choices. I could of got some k550s today but kept getting cold feet so I left it for now.

 
The 550's sound good from an Ipod (if you can live with a relatively weak bass). To me they sound a whole lot better with a desktop amp (Lake-people G109 in my case) as it gives the phones more body and a better defined bass but still, they sound fun from an ipod. I take with me whenever I have a long train ride and on those occasions they are a treat. 
But, for everyday use as portables I wouldn't recommend them. their big, the cord is 3 meters long which is a hassle and their sound isn't engaging enough from a portable player when you don't give e'm your full atension to be a first choice for portable use. They do isolate very well though if that is your main concern. 
 
Portable phones should be, imo, small and easy to carry around/put around the neck etc. 

 

[money4me247]

I take with me whenever I have a long train ride and on those occasions they are a treat. 
But, for everyday use as portables I wouldn't recommend them. their big, the cord is 3 meters long which is a hassle and their sound isn't engaging enough from a portable player when you don't give e'm your full atension to be a first choice for portable use. They do isolate very well though if that is your main concern. 
 
Portable phones should be, imo, small and easy to carry around/put around the neck etc. 

agreed. they are def not true portables. the weaker bass is may get lost in background noise. also the earcups are massive, altho they are actually are quite comfy to wear them around your neck... they were definitely designed for studio usage rather than portable usage. the lack of a case is hard for it to be really portable.
 
however, the AKG 551 has a shorter detchable cable & may work better for portable usage if you really love the AKG sound.

 

[money4me247]

have any of you guys experienced that it may be easier to hear the extra bad noises d/t a lower mp3 compression or something like that with the AKG K550????
 
also, the sound stage does definitively seem larger with the K550 than previous closed portables I've tried?? do you think that is d/t the larger earcup size or perhaps the weaker bass allows it to shine through more or is it something else?

 

[p a t r i c k]

Quote:

Ifinally got the k550, i actually prefer them to the k701 they seem to still have the massive soundtage which i didn't noticed when i demoed them a while back. my k701 are up for at a low price if anyone is interested? Uk buyer pickup only £90

 
I think my K550s are excellent, but I would urge you to reconsider selling your K701s. Why not wait a month or two until the newness of the K550s has worn off?
 
I have a pair of K702s and personally I think they really are better than the K550s in quite a few areas.
 
I think the K550s and K701/2s are really quite different headphones and personally now, I rather like having both.
 
K701/2s have (imho) a much more accurate treble reproduction, whereas the K550s have a very pleasing and smooth treble, it is I think, nothing like as accurate as the K701/2s.
 
K550s have a fuller bass, but K701/2s have more bass definition.
 
If you wait a couple of months before selling your K701s you might have a more levelled assessment of them compared with the K550s.
 

 

[DS21]

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I think youre right, with the lacking clamping force, but I since I finished the mod I definitly change cables at least once a day. The long akg cable is so long, you have to be carful when walking around at home not to step on the cable. I use the long one eg while wshing the dishes or cooking. So I can walk around in the kitchen freely and get all the things I need.

 
Fair enough.
 
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What do you think is wrong w/ the Momentums? just curious

 
Dunno. Don't have them, never heard them.

 

[pencechp]

These finally came in from RazorDog (fast shipping, cheap, recommended) -- a few initial thoughts:
 

1. Holy galloping sub-bass, Batman!  I've never owned a system -- speaker, headphone, or otherwise -- that could reproduce sub-bass like these headphones.  The bass response is nice and flat, but it drops way deeper than I expected.  All sorts of new details: the bottom end on the kick-drum in Purple Haze, for example, shocked hell out of me.  Never heard it before.
2. A great classical music phone.  I wish classical albums were mastered with more bass, but these phones are reproducing everything that's thrown at them.  The texture of brass and of solo piano in particular are great.
3. Awesome sound-stage.  Albums that I had always thought of as "closed" really open up with these, in a way I hadn't expected.  Lots of fun.

 
I'll have to see what I wind up liking best as the novelty factor wears off -- right now it's anything that shows off the low end.

 

[viralcow]

Congrats! It seems you're having no fit issues at all.

 

[GravY]

I just received a pair of K550's from a fellow Headfi'er... I have found that I fit in the small head club. I use the headphones at the 1 setting and found the fit to be pretty good but not as good as putting slight pressure with my hands and hearing how things could be..

I dont really want to mangle my headphones with bending.. also I think bending the center of the band would lower the ear cups on my head.. I did however slightly (I mean slightly) applied small bends at the number 1 on both sides.

I slid the band open to its largest setting and rested my finger at the edge of the foam on the headband.. at that point is where I applied a small bend (really cant even notice it) on both sides.. I feel being farther down on the band pushes the cups in instead of down and in with the center bend..


not sure if anyone wants to give this a go.. but if you do let me know what you find..


BTW these headphones sound fantastic..

I recently purchased a Nova N1 to go with my Cowon S9.. I feel the Cowon does a much better job with these than the N1..

N1 beats out the Cowon however with my reshelled Shure E530s

 

[stfchampagne]

Quote:

I just received a pair of K550's from a fellow Headfi'er... I have found that I fit in the small head club. I use the headphones at the 1 setting and found the fit to be pretty good but not as good as putting slight pressure with my hands and hearing how things could be..

I dont really want to mangle my headphones with bending.. also I think bending the center of the band would lower the ear cups on my head.. I did however slightly (I mean slightly) applied small bends at the number 1 on both sides.

I slid the band open to its largest setting and rested my finger at the edge of the foam on the headband.. at that point is where I applied a small bend (really cant even notice it) on both sides.. I feel being farther down on the band pushes the cups in instead of down and in with the center bend..


not sure if anyone wants to give this a go.. but if you do let me know what you find..


BTW these headphones sound fantastic..

I recently purchased a Nova N1 to go with my Cowon S9.. I feel the Cowon does a much better job with these than the N1..

N1 beats out the Cowon however with my reshelled Shure E530s

I thought I was in the small head club... I set mine at 5! Guess my head is not so small after all. Still, as you say, I find that the seal could be just a little bit better, when I press slightly on the headphone on my ears, I find that the sound is a little bit better.

 

[RTTO]

I have mine before Christmas. I think I have an average size head. The setting on mine is 5 as well. What I find is that, the cup stay on your head by frictional force between the padding material and your skin more than relying on clamping force. The top of the headband barely touches the top of my head. It is super comfortable compared to my other headphone. Usually, after wearing it for a few seconds, moisture prespired from the skin generate enough friction to allow for some not too rigorous activity while wearing the headphone. The high friction in the gimbal adjustment allows me to adjust the clamping pressure on any section around the cup and stay that way. Which is not possible on a free pivoting headphone.
 
When I used mine with an E17. The improvement is very noticeable. The bass is more potent. When I connect the E17 to the optical out from the TV with the bass set at 6. While playing back the 'The Dark Knght Rises', whenever the bass hits, I can feel it from my skull thru my shoulder down to the spine. Don't get me wrong, it is not the loudness, it is about the impact you can feel out of these cans. Not to mention the clarity and separation between sounds.
 
The long cable actually is a bonus. I coiled the extra cable and tuck it underneath the E17 with the nice thick rubber band supplied with the E17. If I need a longer cable, I just release a few coils. Also, I formed a loop on the connector end such that I won't over-stress the connection between the connector and the cable.

 

[GravY]

I need mine tighter.. Im using these at work (ford plant) and have to wear glasses.

at home with no glasses the fit was pretty good but that is a quiet environment compared to work.

So the extra clamping force will benefit me and overcome a few hurdles.


I took a picture of the headphones with my bends applied at the end of the headband cushion and the number 1. compare the added pressure of the cups with the original post on page one with the bend in the middle of the headband. This also does not distort the headband cushion at all.


If you're looking for more clamping pressure give this a shot. take it slow, you dont need to bend much.

 

[stfchampagne]

Quote:

I need mine tighter.. Im using these at work (ford plant) and have to wear glasses.

at home with no glasses the fit was pretty good but that is a quiet environment compared to work.

So the extra clamping force will benefit me and overcome a few hurdles.


I took a picture of the headphones with my bends applied at the end of the headband cushion and the number 1. compare the added pressure of the cups with the original post on page one with the bend in the middle of the headband. This also does not distort the headband cushion at all.


If you're looking for more clamping pressure give this a shot. take it slow, you dont need to bend much.
 

Seem tighter indeed, do you wear them at position 1?

 

[GravY]

I wear them at 1...