Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

[ORIGINAL MSRP $349.95. Currently available from Amazon at MSRP, but was as low as $199.95 as recently as a few weeks ago. I paid $249.95 (in Amazon gift cards) in March 2026.]

[Tl;dr: The Sennheiser HD 550 are a good pair of open back headphones for anyone in the market for an HD 6XX but who can’t find one at a decent price. Really good, well-tuned with balanced sound, with good comfort and build quality and avoiding a lot of the pitfalls of their little sibling the HD 560S. I wouldn’t run out and buy these at MSRP unless you are in urgent need of headphones, but if you can catch them on sale around $200-250 they’re a good value choice in a market full of good sub-$300 options.]

Scores:

	Bass1	Mids	Treble	Soundstage	Comfort/Fit2
Sennheiser HD 550	3B	3B	4C	4C	C

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Review notes
   1. Testing rig
   2. EQ
      1. EQ Update
   3. Volume
   4. My torture testing list
3. The Basics
4. Sound
   1. Bass
   2. Midrange
   3. Treble
   4. Gaming
   5. Amplifier Compatibility
   6. Overall Impressions
5. Build Quality & Appearance
   1. Connectivity
   2. Construction
   3. Comfort
   4. Appearance
6. Value & Comparisons
   1. Direct Comparisons
      1. Sennheiser HD 560S
      2. Sennheiser 600 Series (HD 6X0s)
      3. Sennheiser HD 490 Pro
      4. Audio-Technica ATH-R70x Refine
      5. Fiio FT1 Pro
   2. Clear Upgrades
      1. Focal Elex
      2. Meze 105 AER
7. Overall

Introduction

As I noted in my review of the disappointing HD 560S, while Sennheiser is perhaps most famous for its excellent 600-series, it has another long-running and many-iterated series with designations in the 500s. One of my first real headphones (which I still have!) was the very strange HD 515.

Like the 560S, I snagged this pair of HD 550 between Corsair’s announcement that they were closed down Drop.com and Sennheiser’s announcement that they would be selling the HD 6XX directly, when I was trying to figure out what I would recommend to people new to the world of audiophile headphones without the crutch of the HD 6XX. Amazon had them on sale for $100 off, so I took a chance on them.³ The first pair I received had pretty clearly been previously opened⁴ (they contained an extraneous cable that didn’t even fit the HD 550), so I returned them and had Amazon ship me a new pair.

Review notes

Testing rig

Here’s my basic testing protocol.

Based on my philosophy on the allocation of resources in headfi, except where otherwise noted I’m going to primarily be testing these with a Schiit Modi/Magni stack, running single-ended via the OEM Sennheiser cable and connected via USB-C to a custom gaming PC running the Roon client.

EQ

As noted in the Bathys review, I mostly prefer to test headphones with their default tuning, assuming that most people won’t take the time or make the effort necessary to use a third-party EQ. And the HD 550 really don’t need EQ; they sound pretty good to me out of the box, though I have played with EQ a bit to tame very small portions of the treble that don’t play nicely on specific tracks.

EQ Update

Didn’t bother; genuinely these don’t need any EQ out of the box.

Volume

Here are the volume settings I use with the Sennheiser HD 550⁵ (unless otherwise noted, running via Roon with no headroom management, playing Daft Punk’s “Face to Face” from Tidal):

• Chord Mojo: white, bright red, bright red, red
• Dongles:
  • Apple: 66%
  • Crinear Protocol Max: 66%
  • Fosi DS2: 45%
  • JCALLY JM12: 70%
  • Moondrop Dawn Pro: 90%
• Fiio:
  • K11 R2R:
• Holoaudio Bliss (KTE): Lo-z, -31 dB (single-ended)
• Mytek Brooklyn Bridge: 57%
• Schiit:
  • Mimir/Jotunheim 2 (Mimir has a -15 dB pregain applied via Forkbeard): ; low gain, (single-ended)
  • Modi/Piety: low gain, 8:45
  • Modius/Magnius: low gain, 10:00 (single-ended)
• Topping:
  • DX5 II: -22 dB (low gain)

My torture testing list

Apple, Tidal, Spotify.]

The Basics

The Sennheiser HD 550 are a passive, open back, dynamic driver headphone from well-loved audiophile manufacturer Sennheiser. They’re a pretty easy headphone to drive, with a nominal impedance of 150 Ohms and a sound pressure level of 106.7 dB/1Vrms. This means they should work reasonably well from a variety of devices with a standard 3.5 mm audio jack, as well as not requiring anything more than a $9 Apple dongle⁶ for those without a headphone port. They’re a member of Sennheisers 500 series, meaning that they have yokes that integrate into the cups and use a single-entry, twist-lock 2.5 mm cable. They are internally wired to be balanced-capable, if you get a balanced-capable 2.5 mm to 4.4/XLR cable (either Sennheiser’s or an aftermarket one).

They’re built mostly out of plastic but with a metal spring steel band, and they weigh in at a pretty light 237 grams without a cable. The HD 550 ship with a single-ended, 2 m rubberized cable terminating in a 3.5 mm jack with a threaded 6.35 mm adapter included.

Sound

Unlike their sibling the HD 560S, I’m actually a pretty big fan of the HD 550’s sound; it’s everything the 560S wanted to be but failed to achieve. They’re particularly good for more acoustic-leaning, quieter and sparser music than really complex, layered tracks. Think The National or Hrishikesh Hirway more than Radiohead or Massive Attack. They’re definitely not my favorite headphone in this crowded price category, but I’d happily use them for most of my listening if that was what I had available, and I think they’re going to live plugged into my video call mic on my desk.

Here’s what my unit looks like, on my measurement rig:

For what it’s worth, I don’t hear the peak at 6 kHz, but I definitely do hear the peak at around 12.5 kHz (and to a lesser extent, the one around 9 kHz), but neither are particularly problematic. I really like the way that the HD 550 does it’s bass; the roll off is pretty typical for a open back dynamic driver and the mid bass reminds me pleasantly of the 6XX et al.

The soundstage is decently wide, certainly wider than any of the 6X0s, though it’s not entirely immune to the three blob effect. Instruments are definitely placed in space but there’s less instrument and layer seperation than I’d want in an ideal world.⁷ On a track like “Chan Chan,” the guitar lines are reasonably far out on the right and the left, but the percussion instruments and the bass are more central than spread out to either side the way they are on a better-staging headphone. Front to back staging is reasonable, with a decent bit of rotation on “Love Can Damage Your Health (Laid Mix),” and the tom patterns on “Thunder Lightning” are a bit laid back but properly placed in space.

The dynamics are pretty reasonable; starting “It’s All So Incredibly Loud” at a reasonable volume became unpleasant around 3:00. The microdynamics are pretty good for a non-Focal dynamic driver; the bass bell tones at the beginning of “Angel (Blur Remix)” have some heft and punch, though not nearly as much warble afterwards as I would want. The treble bell tones are richer and more dynamic; again, not uncommon in this class of headphones.

Overall, I certainly enjoy the detail and resolution of the HD 550; they’re not detail monsters and can’t compete with good planar magnetics in their price range like the Sundara/Edition XV, but I’d put them about on par with the 6X0s. Good hiss and finger movement on “What Did I Do?”, though like the 560S I think the HD 550’s clarity and detail suffer in more crowded and dynamic tracks like “Easy” or “Face to Face.”

Bass

The bass on the HD 550 is solid and satisfying with nice, rich timbre on lower-frequency stringed instruments on tracks like “Drawn,” though occasionally synthetic bass can sound a little more clinical and less vibrant (like on “Remain Nameless”). I’d definitely like a little more heft on the very lowest end for tracks like “Superpredators” or ” Angel (Blur Remix)”, but it’s hard to fault the clarity or precision of the bass you do get. Overall, the bass on the HD 550 is better balanced than the 560S (and a number of other headphones); nothing feels overly boosted or emphasized, and nothing feels scooped out. It’s just a nice, deeply competent tune.

If I were using this for a lot of listening, I’d probably add a bit of mid bass and definitely some sub bass via EQ, but the bass tuning out of the box is perfectly satisfying.

Midrange

The midrange on the HD 550 is pretty classic Sennheiser: it’s not quite as good as the 6X0s, but it’s not that far off. Tracy Chapman is perfectly balanced on “Give Me One Reason,” Justin Hicks carries through beautifully on “What Did I Do?”, and Christine Hoberg is nicely highlighted on “Clair De Lune” without some of her words getting a little too hot in the mix the way they can on some other headphones. The one noticeable flaw in the midrange on the HD 550 is more a function of instrument separation than the midrange balance, and it’s that background vocals can be TOO background on tracks that are crowded or busy. On a track like “Calls”, I can hear Jill Scott’s vocal runs and accents in the background if I’m listening for them, but they’re mostly faded into the background for regular listening. Same on a track like Phantogram’s “Black Out Days”, where Sarah Garthel’s voice disappears a bit into the instrumentation. Even on a sparser track like Phantogram’s “Barking Dog,” there are moments where Josh Carter’s voice becomes a little indistinct until he jumps octaves around 1:40. On a pair of headphones with better separation that is less likely to happen, though to be fair most headphones that do that better are also, unsurprisingly, more expensive than the 550.

The instruments in the midrange have damned near perfect timbre, though, as I would expect from a reasonably priced Sennheiser. Guitars, strings, etc. all sound correct even if I might want a tiny bit more presence from them up in the transition to the treble. It’s not quite Sundara level guitar resonance, and it doesn’t really compete with the more expensive end of the Meze or Focal lineups, but damn … these sound great on “Only Here or Nowhere Else” and “Garcia Counterpoint,” despite being such good vocal headphones.

If this were a headphone I was going to be listening to music on a lot, I’d probably look at rebalancing the upper part of the midrange a bit to see if I could tease out a little more of the vocals; it’s not problematic on very much of the music I listen to but the timbre is so lovely that I’d like just a bit more.

Treble

The treble is generally really good, controlled and precise. There are occasional moments where it’s just edging on harshness (in particular, around 3:00 on “Will O’ the Wisp,” the muted trumpet gets a bit strident), and there are very occasionally percussion instruments that hit a tiny bit of a peak in a less-than-pleasant way, but it’s rarely enough of a problem to warrant changing anything, particularly when listening back to back with the 560S or other bright headphones. Interestingly, the problem on “2021” is more Ezra Koenig’s voice than the guitar riffs; for whatever reason his voice is a bit out there on that particular track while the guitars are, while not muted, at least nicely relaxed. The bells on “Coffee” (which can run a little hot) are clear and bright without being sharp.

If I were listening to this a lot, particularly with more treble-heavy music (dance, EDM, etc.), I’d think about adding a treble downshelf or looking at a couple of peaks in the frequency response, but overall this is just a really nice, well-controlled treble presentation.

Gaming

I haven’t done a ton of gaming with the HD 550 (my testing of the the HyperX Cloud IIIS and Grell OAE-1 overlapped a lot with these!), and they’re perfectly fine, particularly for games with a mix of music and audio queues. They’re not going to be my first choice based solely on the imaging and separation within the staging, but that’s just because I have some options with genuinely exceptional soundstage potential. If you are only going to have one headphone and music is more important to you than gaming, this is a pretty decent option. Especially if you can get it on sale.

Amplifier Compatibility

The HD 550 appears to be pretty amplifier agnostic, scaling reasonably well to everything from the $9 Apple dongle to the $5,000 Holoaudio stack. I didn’t notice any particular variation, though I’m really intrigued by how they might sound from the Apos Gremlin once I source a balanced cable for them. They seem like a good candidate for a tube amplifier.

Overall Impressions

Overall, I really like the sound of the HD 550. I think the Headphones Show guys are crazy for saying that it’s better than the HD 490 Pro, but this is a really well-designed and tuned headphone. I’ve long been skeptical of the Sennheiser 500 line, and I was pretty worried after I did my 560S review that these wouldn’t work on my head. Instead … yeah, I’m a big fan.

These are less of a generalist pair than something like the 490 Pro or any of the 6X0s (other than the 660S), but they’re really good for most of the music I listen to. I probably wouldn’t pick them for anything with really busy mixes, or that have a lot of mid to upper treble energy, but these are a really pleasing listen out of the box.

Do be aware that the HD 550 does have a fair amount of positional variation; these are all “optimal” seatings,⁸ and they do have up to four or five dB shifts in relative volume, and some of the peaks do move around based on how you wear them:

Build Quality & Appearance

I’m generally pretty pleased with the design, build, comfort, and appearance of the HD 550; they compare favorably to a lot of the options in this general price point. To paraphrase my 560S review, while the 550 may be made primarily of plastic, that means they’re light (237 grams without a cable) while remaining quite sturdy. Sennheisers tend to be built to last, and the 550 fits right in that way.

[If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because these are almost completely physically identical to the HD 560S and I cribbed liberally from that review.]

Connectivity

I have written a number of times about how much I loathe proprietary cables, and the HD 550’s cable is no exception. It’s a super dumb, single-entry, locking, 2.5 mm cable that connects to the left earcup. These headphones are internally wired for a balanced connection, if you buy Sennheiser’s cable for around $100 or an aftermarket version for around $50.¹² The OEM cable is a little microphonic, but not as bad as a lot of headphones in this general price range. Overall, it’s … fine, and perfectly functional. Rubber coated, not great, but arguably better than the OEM HD 6XX cable, and worlds better than the Hifiman surgical cable nonsense they include with their $1k+ headphones.

Construction

Light, sturdy, but relatively inflexible. Sennheiser’s 500-series design gives you probably 30 degrees of rotation and maybe 30 degrees of tilt, but it’s a pretty clever design and between the angle of the tilt and the flexibility of the band you should be able to get a reasonable seal on most heads. The mesh on the cups is reasonably microphonic (as you might expect), as is the headband with anything that’s a little scrape-y.

Comfort

While I said above that these are functionally physically identical to the HD 560S, at least on my head the one big difference is the comfort. It shouldn’t be true from looking at them, but for whatever reason, the 550 mostly disappear on my head whereas the 560S/PC38X are just uncomfortable after an hour. I guess it’s that the cups are slightly more compliant, and the headband just ever so slightly less clampy? Either way, I’m not complaining as these will remain in my collection.

They’re not incredibly comfortable, but they’re perfectly fine. About what I expect from a headphone in this general price range, and I scored them accordingly.

Appearance

The 550s are a pretty typical Sennheiser 500 series in black with silver logos on the cups and Sennheiser written in silver running along the band on the left side. You either like this style or not, and I personally think they’re pretty sharp looking and they’re definitely less Cyberman-ish than a lot of options out there.

Value & Comparisons

As much as I really like the Sennheiser HD 550, I don’t think I’d pay full MSRP ($349.99) for them. There are a whole lot of great open back headphones in the $200-250 range; it’s what I think of as really the sweet spot for open backs. That said, they’re an old enough model that they’re frequently on pretty reasonable sale, and they’re a VERY competitive option around $250, especially for people who live in places where the HD 6XX isn’t available.⁹

Direct Comparisons

Because this is a really competitive market segment, there are a lot of potential comparisons I could make, so I’m going to try to focus on things that are currently widely available and in similar price ranges, and I’ll make a couple of quick comparisons to headphones that I think are clear upgrades towards the end.

Sennheiser HD 560S

I went over this in my HD 560S review, but as much as I see this comparison, I don’t think they’re particularly competitive. The 560S are a pretty uncomfortable tune to my ears, even after considerable fiddling with EQ, while the HD 550 are perfectly nice out of the box. Also, as much as they look similar, to me the 550 is a pretty substantial upgrade in terms of comfort; the pads are just much more compliant and the clamp force subjectively less.¹⁰ As I mentioned above, I think the HD 550 is everything that Sennheiser was going for with the 560S but missed on, and I wouldn’t ever recommend the 560S, even when it’s on substantial sale. I’ll take the soundstage on the 550 too; it sounds marginally wider to me, and while the imaging and separation on the 550 isn’t the best, it’s better to my ears than the 560S. The 550 are around $100 more expensive, but for that extra money you get a MUCH better headphone, and one that I’d happily use.

A quick glance at how my units measure:

This is more or less what I’m hearing; the bass on the 550 is definitely deeper and richer on the very bottom end but the mid bass from the 6XX is more or less exactly what I want from a headphone. The mids are about right too, especially in the ear gain/transition to the treble; this is the right balance though the 550 isn’t far off. I don’t actually hear the spike I measure on the 6XX around 12.5 kHz, but I’d take anything you get from a rig (especially mine!) above 8 kHz with a Pacific-sized grain of salt; this is where anatomic differences noise start to swamp the signal.

[Editor’s note: I wrote this, and then figured out that the measurement I was using was from the first day I had the rig and before I figured out my methodology; leaving this in here in strikethrough form for transparency. This is genuinely really interesting; this is not how I hear the bass.¹¹ Maybe it’s a result of the more elevated mids on the 6XX messing with my perception of the bass (especially the mid-bass)? Either way, as you can see the differences aren’t ever more than a few dB and while I definitely have a preference for the 6XX’s overall tune, they’re really quite comparable.]

Verdict: For me, the 6XX is still the king of the ~$200 Sennheisers: this is the kind of headphone I pick up because I want to hear the vocals and are willing to accept a pared back bass and relaxed treble in exchange for it, and the 6XX is just ever so slightly better for that than the 550. For gaming I might go with the 550, but I personally don’t do a lot of super sweaty FPS play and the 6XX have never bothered me. That said, if you live somewhere you can’t get the 6XX, I would 100% take the 550 over the 650 or 600 or 660S2 anywhere near MSRP.

The rest of the 6X0s:

• HD 58X: a tossup. Probably marginally the 550?
• HD 600: I’m picking the 600 for vocal stuff, and the 550 for almost everything else (not unlike the 6XX/etc.)
• HD 650: is the 6XX with a different chassis and colorway, so I’m taking it over the 550 too unless you’re buying new, in which case that MSRP is crazy. Find it at a similar price point, or at least within $50? Probably 650.
• HD 660S: 550. Period.
• HD 660S2: Discounting costs, I ever so slightly prefer the 660S2 to the 6XX/650 so I’m taking it over the 550 in a vacuum. That MSRP is also crazy though, and you shouldn’t pay it unless you’ve got money to burn. I paid $250 for my lightly used S2 and I’ll take that over the 550; I wouldn’t pay more than about $50 more for the S2 than the 550.

Sennheiser HD 490 Pro

I really, really like the HD 490 Pro. It’s basically displaced the 6X0 line in my regular listening (other than the 600 for purely vocal stuff), combining a pretty similar tune to either the 6XX or 600 depending on your pad selection but adding a bit more bass and substantially better soundstage in terms of width, depth, and layer/instrument separation within the mix. As it turns out, that excellence carries through to compare favorably against the HD 550.

Interestingly, with the tweed (“mixer”) pads, the 490 Pro ends up with a surprisingly similar tuning to the 550; I’m not sure I could pick the two out of a blind lineup other than through instrument separation; where the 550 gets a little muddled on a track like “Chan Chan”, the 490 splits out instruments very neatly in space and I think the 550 has a tiny bit more front-to-back depth on a track like “Love Can Damage Your Health (Laid Mix).” However, where the 490 Pro really shines is with the velour (“producer”) pads, which give the 490 Pro a much more fun, pronounced v-shaped tune. With the velour pads I might very marginally prefer vocals on the 550, but for pretty much everything else I’m taking the 490 Pro. This includes comfort; while the 550 are perfectly fine on my head, the physical and industrial design on the 490 Pro is second only to high-end Mezes in terms of stability, seal, and comfort for me and I can happily wear them all day without complaints. At some point the 550 start to chafe a bit.

Verdict: 490 Pro all day, every day. The only place I slightly prefer the 550 over the 490 with the velour pads is for human vocals, and I can throw the tweed pads on the 490 Pro if that’s the kind of listening I’m doing. Comfort, versatility, tuning … I’m taking the 490. Still my favorite 6X0.

The 490 Pro are a bit more expensive at MSRP ($425 vs. $350), but they’ve been on sale around $350 a lot in the last few months and even at MSRP, that’s $75 well-spent if you can make it work with your budget.

Audio-Technica ATH-R70x Refine

I am a big fan of the Audio-Technica ATH-R70x Refine and it’s on the short list of discontinued headphones that if I won the lottery tomorrow, would contemplate putting a substantial amount of money into restarting production on.¹² They’re basically an even warmer version of the HD 6XX but with genuinely better comfort and slightly less great (but still excellent!) mids.

At least to my ears, like the 6XX, the R70x Refine is a better headphone than the HD 550 but it’s not by a huge margin. The 550 definitely has better sub bass, but as I’ve noted a few times most of the music I listen to a lot doesn’t have a ton of information below 40-50 Hz so I don’t prioritize that, and the rest of that bass response is just delightful, rich and full and without a scoop in the transition from the mid bass to the midrange. I think I slightly prefer the midrange on the 550, particularly towards the top of the mids where guitars are occasionally a little de-emphasized on the Refine on tracks like “Pretty Noose.” Treble … marginally prefer the Refine? Both can trend a little towards harshness on particular tracks but are largely well-controlled overall, and while I do hear a couple of treble peaks on the Refine they rarely seem to be problematic on actual music. I also enjoy the soundstage and imaging on the Refine more; I think it’s probably marginally wider, but definitely more detailed and with better instrument and layer separation. I also think the Refine is slightly better resolving, subjectively.

For the non-sound considerations, the Refine is among the most comfortable headphones I own, definitely beating out the 550s. That said, the Refine is also MUCH harder to drive with the highest impedance of anything I’ve spent meaningful time with, whereas the 550 is pretty easy to drive. I probably wouldn’t pick the Refine if you intend to listen to consumer devices like a phone.

A quick glance at the graphs:

Yup, that lines up pretty closely with what I hear.

Verdict: Personally, I’m taking the Refine over the 550 for almost any listening, unless you’re a consumer device listener only.

[Editor’s note: I sold the ATH-R70x right before I got my headphone rig, so no comparisons or measurements. I thought the Refine and the OG R70x were pretty similar, though, so I’m going to say I probably would prefer them to the 550 as well.]

Fiio FT1 Pro

It’s funny … I almost never recommend the Fiio FT1 Pro anymore just because this is a pretty crowded market space and there’s nothing flashy or standout about the FT1 Pro, but EVERY TIME I put them on to do one of these reviews I find myself thinking “wow, these are really super fun headphones.”

This is really going to come down to a stylistic choice: I think the 550 is probably the objectively better headphone in terms of timbre and tuning, but the FT1 Pro is just a really good time, particularly for more complex and layered music. The FT1 Pro has better soundstage (width and layering) and bass, but I substantially prefer the mids and treble (and particularly the relative balance among them) on the 550, and the timbre (especially vocal timbre) is better with the Sennheiser as well. In terms of comfort, I’m leaning FT1 Pro and for the build the 550. They’re … pretty evenly matched headphones, if they’re at a similar price.

Verdict: For electronic music, especially dance music, I’m taking the FT1. Same with complex and intense rock tracks, but for more acoustic or more vocally focused music (or music with more treble energy), the 550 is my choice if you can get it closer to $200 than to $350. Can’t go wrong with either; they’re both good headphones with different strengths.

[Editor’s note: this is where I would talk a little about the Hifiman Edition XS except … I finally sold my pair, right before I got my measurement rig. They’re just not for me, as useful as they are for comparisons. Maybe I’ll snag another used pair someday when they get cheaper. But, suffice it to say, the fact that I did sell them tells you something about how I liked them, and I’m taking the 550 over them for basically anything except critical listening.]

Clear Upgrades

There are some things that seem like they might be reasonable comparisons on paper, but that I’d consider a clean upgrade over the HD 550. Here are just a few.

Focal Elex

This is mostly an unfair comparison, pitting an $800 headphone against a, charitably, $350 headphone, but the Elex is popping up on the used market in the sub-$300 range pretty frequently recently¹³.

The Elex is just a better headphone than the HD 550, and it’s not particularly close. I’d rather have a reasonable condition used Elex at $350 than a new HD 550 at $200, though with the decreasing availability of Elex (and Clear!) pads at some point that math will start to shift. By then, hopefully, there will be a better replacement for them than the 550. Until then, buy a used Elex if you can find one.

Meze 105 AER

The Meze 105 AER is slightly more expensive than the HD 550 at MSRP ($399 vs $349), though the 105 AER is often available either open-box or on sale around $300. I know there are people out there who really dislike the AER (particularly its treble), but at least on my head it’s an upgrade in every conceivable way: bass, mids (except MAYBE very slightly vocals), treble, driveability, comfort, build quality, aesthetics, etc. Unless your sole deciding factor is weight or human vocal reproduction, the 105 AER is the clear winner here for me.

Overall

Overall, the HD 550 are a really good pair of headphones and worthy of the Sennheiser name. That’s particularly a relief after my experience with the HD 560S. These aren’t the kind of headphones you’re going to want to use with high-energy, intensive tracks or things like EDM or a lot of hip-hop, but they really do shine with more acoustic rock and laid back jazz tracks. They are headphones that compare favorably to the really excellent HD 6XX/650, and if you can’t get your hands on a pair of the 6XXs at a reasonable price (or a lightly used pair of HD 650 around $300), these are a pretty good alternative. And if the HD 6XX ever go back out of circulation, they’ll be on my short list of recommended replacements.

#reviews #headphones #sennheiser #6XX #anc #spatialaudio #meh #2025 #99noir #meze #sunglasses #overear #cans #hifiman #arya #stealth #editionxs #budget #hahahaha

1. I score bass, mids, and treble on a two part scale: 1-5 for quantity (5 being the highest), and A-E for quality (A being best in class, E being laughably bad). For soundstage it’s also a two part scale, with the number representing the width and the letter the separation within it. ↩︎
2. For comfort/fit, my scale is A-E with A being disappear entirely into the background and E being I want to tear my ears off to stop feeling these headphones on my head. I’ve had one E: the Koss PortaPro. ↩︎
3. It’s worth noting Amazon then almost immediately dropped them down to $199.99, which is just a reminder on why you should remember to check in on expensive items you buy from Amazon (or Costco!) as I could have gotten them to knock another $50 off for me. ↩︎
4. I’ve had this problem a couple of times with Amazon, so I would recommend anyone buying headphones from them look pretty carefully at what they should expect in the box (and if you can, watch an unboxing video). ↩︎
5. While the HD 550 is balanced-capable, the single-entry locking 2.5 mm cable is about the only common connection that I don’t have a Hart audio interconnect for, so I can’t try these balanced. ↩︎
6. Or, outside North America, a JCALLY JM6 Pro. ↩︎
7. This may be the consequence of doing this listening after spending a few days with the Audeze LCD-2, though. ↩︎
8. I often do a set of extreme positional measurements when I measure my headphones to see how prone they are to variations based on how you wear them, but I haven’t done so for the HD 550 yet. ↩︎
9. After all, I did pick these up initially to see if they’d be a decent recommendation in the short window where we all thought the 6XX was gone forever! ↩︎
10. Definitely might need a Capra clamp tester at some point … ↩︎
11. Now I’m even more curious to check another 550 unit, and measure my HRTF. ↩︎
12. I would LOVE to be a mostly silent partner in something like Drop or Apos where I can help with collaborations; either picking or just funding the stuff I want. ↩︎
13. And the Clear around $500, with it still available new for around $800 from headphones.com. ↩︎