AKG 550 (Headphones)?

My headphones of choice are Shure SRH 940's. But I do need a secondary pair. Stumbled across a pair of AKG 550's on Ebay for £50, and decided to get them as backup. Anyone have them? What is the general consensus? I've read reviews praising them to high heaven (on What Hifi) to really putting them down, so it's hard to judge. Once you've weeded out the "they have no bass" arguments (reference headphones, sheesh) it seems people are still divided.

I should have them toward the end of the week, just curious.

 

I don't have a pair, but I do have a pair of AKG K272 which are also closed and similarly voiced. The 550s are quite highly regarded on Head Fi as mid-level closed cans and, for the amount you paid, you should be pleased - that is a very good price..!

Hope this helps...

 

They're very good, but I have read that the newer model (K553) removes the piercing treble that plagued the K550s.

 

Always interested in anyone's views. I suppose I was a little concerned in that I'm not sure they're going to be very different from my Shure SRH940's.

The price of AKG 550's is much reduced, actually. A new pair go for £110, which is a lot less than the £250 they were when they debuted - at least here. But yes, at £50 I thought they were worth taking a punt on.

 

I have a pair, and I must say I find them hopeless - 9 times out of 10 I put them on and there's almost no bass at all. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD600 which I love, and the K550 are unlistenable in comparison, apart from the 1 time in 10 when I somehow fluke upon their sweetspot for getting some bottom end and they sound decent. I have tried all sorts of mods but nothing works. My love of the HD600 will tell you I'm no bass freak but when I read some of the praise these get I'm really baffled.

 

Well, as I said, I use Shure SRH 940's, and they aren't exactly bass heavy.

I guess that's what I was referring too early - I'm a little worried that these will be too much like the Shure's. I also think the type of music may make a very big difference. I've read some reviews thatpraise these to high heaven, but have noted the listener is into classical music. Maybe they're ill-suited to say, EDM. I know the Shure's are.

 

They are worth £50 easily, I have a pair of mk 1's. They are well made and comfy and I use mine when on holidays due to them being closed back.

They certainly don't compare with higher end sets from AKG (Q701 and K712 are ones I also have), you really can hear a big difference, but still for £50 you wont be disappointed, enjoy.

 

I have a pair I use at work. Sounds good and they are well-sealed so I neither disturb my colleagues nor do they disturb me. The treble can be a bit sharp though. I paid £100 for mine new and I think that was a good value. £50 would be a steal.

 

I find them best with clean and sparsely mixed music with deep bass (any less bottom end on the recording, and none of it actually makes it to my ears), so I think EDM will work very nicely. Almost anything else (scuzzily recorded indie) sounds thin, tizzy and confused. I actually found they sounded best without the ear cushions - if I manoeuvered the drivers into exactly the right spot on my ear, I got a sweet top end and pretty decent bass, which made me think that the seal is not the issue, it's getting them into exactly the right spot (in all 3 dimensions) relative to my ears. Not exactly practical though.

With the cushions on, they sounded better if I held them on my ears, applying a little pressure, and with the headband horizontal behind my head. Again, completely impractical.

 

That's a good point. For these to sound good, they have to be on tight. I have a big head (yes, yes, I know!) so that's not really an issue for me. You can bend the headband a little to make them fight a little more tightly, which does help the sound.

 

Agree - I have twisted the headband (a lot) and it still didn't really help. I did find that the longer I kept them on, the better they seemed to sound, not sure if I'm just getting tuned into them, or the cushions are compressing/fitting my head better. The first 20 minutes of tizzy mess are more than I can stand though. When I put the HD600 back on, I always breathe a sigh of relief.

 

Yup - it took me a while to figure out how best to wear them to get the best sound. But the sound is fine for work for me. When I go home, I relax with my HD650s and there really isn't any comparison between the two.

 

I own a pair and really like them, but I don't have any experience with higher end headphones so I can't compare them.

What I don't like about them is that the cable is very long and not removeable. So I use them on the couch only.

 

Any secrets you can share for how to get the best out of them?

 

Well, I bent the bit that connects the speaker part in a bit with a bit of gentle force. Burned them in for around 48 hours running white noise through them. Now, whenever I use them, I adjust the cups until my ear is covered and the seal is complete. Takes a couple minutes, but worth it. Your mileage may vary of course, but that worked for me.

 

I have a pair of 550s. As others have suggested, a proper fit is key. They're actually decently balanced when the fit is right and the cups seal well, but when that seal is broken the bass evaporates. Example: I wear glasses, but the 550s don't sound right when I'm wearing specs because the cup seal is imperfect. As such, I use them for late-night, glasses-free listening in bed.

 

always enjoyed listening on mine.

 

Well, I now have them, and gave them a test last night.

As I suspected, these are comparable to my Shure SRH 940's. Their performance is very comparable, I'd even go as far as to say (and I know it's early days) that there's nothing between them.

I tested them with a recent purchase, the remastered In Through the Out Door by Led Zep. As with the Shures, the headphones are pretty transparent. In other words, they do nothing to the sound, you get a pure translation of what's on the disc. I have found this remaster to be decent, but with very little low-end. Thin. I'd say that's what I heard. I guess the same rule applies here as it does with the Shure's - if you get a great recording, they sound great, but if there is a defect of some kind, it's patently obvious something is amiss.

Still, that's not a fault of the headphone, but the source. I think I do need a set that has some more oomph in the low end (technical term ) But these are a decent little headphone.

 

Okay - time for an update.

I have been living with these for some months now. I've ended up using them more than the Shure's. The main reason is that, basically, AKG 550's love your head. You honestly forget you have them on. There's no clamping, and my ears don't get too hot. Sound wise I'm enjoying them. As mentioned earlier, the performance is really close to the Shures.

But...... this thread - like many threads on this board - planted a weevil in my head. Yes these are nice, but they are close to my Shure's. What I'd really like is something with a different tonal palette. A quick look at Ebay, and I found a used pair of Sennheiser 650's for $150. Before I could tell myself that it was a really bad idea to buy another pair of headphones right now, I'd already bought them.

So in the next week or so I'll have the 650's too, and we'll see what we have.

 

You'll love the 650s. I found them to be the end point of my search. The only issue is you may need a dedicated amp to drive them sufficiently.

 

I use a Linn Majik as my headphone amp - so I expect I'm okay on that side of things.

Not a bad price really. The guy had put a minimum first bid of $150 on his auction (actually it's a business), and I guess that scared people off. I wasn't expecting to win to be fair. Clearly, no-one else bid.....

 

And.... the 650's have arrived.

I'm only on my second CD, so it's ridiculous to make any comment really. Initial feeling is a bit..... meh. I'm not sure what I was expecting. LOL

I did throw a very difficult CD at them first off. The CD (which is truly great folk/rock music) is Dan Bern's Fifty Eggs. It was produced by Ani DiFranco, and for years I've found it pretty poorly recorded, with virtually no bass at all. I think the 650's did well, I heard a little bass playing. So I guess a little better that the 550's. However, they didn't seem as detailed, as slick. I have Patti Smith's Peace and Noise on right now. It's fine, but certainly not a day/night comparison with the 550's.

After all of 2 CD's (yeah, I know, I'm going to regret writing this, right?!?) I'd say that the 550's are better for me. But over the next few days I'll be giving the 650's a good work out in several genres. One thing I can say for certain - the 550's are a lot more comfortable. Damn, you can forget you have them on - but the 650's are much more like the Shure pair I have, a lot more of a clamp.

Anyway - we'll see over time. I have plugged them directly into my Linn Majik.

 

Is the Linn a dedicated headphone amp? I found once I started using higher end headphones I needed a proper headphone amp to get them going, although I'm sure someone could do the numbers and tell you if yours is up to the task or not.

 

No, it's not a dedicated amp. There is a mismatch on OHM's between the two, but I have no idea how to judge how badly the Linn will affect things.

Is there a good 300 OHM headphone amp I should know about? But then.... the 550's are only 30 OHM....

EDIT: What difference can I expect from different cables?

 

Vaughan, it's not my intention to hijack your thread, so, please, allow me to apologize in advance, but, seeing as this is an AKG 550 thread, I wanted to ask the fine folks here how they compare to the Sennheiser 598Cs currently being sold exclusively through Amazon.

Assuming both can be had for around the same price, which are preferable and why? Thanks!