Sennheiser HD 555 - Open High End Quality Headphones

See Larger Image	List Price: N/A Our Price: £56.72 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1 to 2 months Manufacturer: Sennheiser Average Customer Rating:


Batteries Included: 0 Binding: Electronics Brand: Sennheiser EAN: 4012418053420 Feature: Hifi Design Is Autographed: 0 Is Fragile: 0 Is Memorabilia: 0 Label: Sennheiser Manufacturer: Sennheiser Model: HD 555 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sennheiser Release Date: 2008-06-23 Studio: Sennheiser
Features Hifi Design Open Backed Design Outstanding Wear Comfort Type: Hifi Design
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Editorial Reviews: HD555 HEADSET IN
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Too much base and echo Comment: I have just tried out these headphones on some of my favourite tracks and, for me the base is over-accentuated with a lot of "echo", making the whole sound muddy and swamping any crispness in the higher frequencies. There is, admittedly, a good sound stage but the overwhelming base means, for me, to get real definition, I have to turn the volume up to uncomfortably high levels. Sorry Sennheiser, these are just not for me. Back to the drawing board I guess. Customer Rating: Summary: Solid performer for the money Comment: They are comfortable to wear and the sound is great. The only complaint I have is that after a few years of extensive usage the pad on top came a bit loose. You can easily fix that with glue, however. Customer Rating: Summary: I agree, but... Comment: I agree with the majority of the reviews on this item. The sound is warm, clear with a great amount of bass and they are very comfortable to wear. However, these are my first set of cans and i opted for the open back because i read it had better bass response, but did not realise just how much sound actually passes through open-backs. It doesn't matter how loud you have these, EVERYONE can hear what you are listening to. This may not be a problem usually, but on the morning commute, you can get some annoyed looks. Also, the sound comes back through to your ears just as easily, so you can hear eveything around you. Overall, if you are in a quiet environment and dont care who can hear your music, these are great! For the morning commute however, opt for some closed backs Customer Rating: Summary: high quality headphones Comment: I have owned a pair of these Sennheiser HD 555 headphones for a good 18 months now, and I have to say that I am very impressed by the sound quality they produce. They are very comfortable for extended use, the cable supplied is relatively long and also appears to be of high quality. The power draw requirement to these headphones is not so high that they can't be used with low power audio devices like mobile phones, though probably you would not want to use such large headphones with a portable device. Overall very impressive, clearly worth the extra expense compared to a standard model at around £20, but still not excessively expensive. Customer Rating: Summary: Amazing high-definition headphones Comment: I was in the market for comfortable, high-definition headphones for home use. I have owned various brands of headphones within the last 15 years, most recently Sennheiser 205s. I have previously bought headphones between £20-30, but found poor build quality (headphone cables coming loose, headphone drivers failing). My Sennheiser 205s have been very reliable and solidly constructed, despite being in the same price bracket as previous headphones, however I found there to be too much high-frequency bias and poor extended-listening comfort (my ears would touch the felt-backed plastic capping of the speaker drivers) whilst my head was compressed by the clamp-like grip of the headphones. Before I suffered brain compression or further pain in the ears, I decided to invest in a new pair of buckets with my priorities being in considerable improvement in extended-listening comfort and sound quality (both clarity and range). Various reviews suggested that the 555 model were exceptionally comfortable and had an agreeable tonal quality (a little warm perhaps, but easy to listen to for diverse musical genres). The 555 model are the second model in the five model Sennheiser "audiophile" range. After research, amazon.co.uk were easily the best for price- at around £55 (October 2008) their price was approximately 45% less than the RRP. The Sennheiser 555s have a 6.25mm jack with 3.5mm adapter on the end (rather than the more "normal" 3.5mm with 6.25mm adapter over the 3.5mm jack)- great if you primarily use a hifi- less so for people wishing to listen to their mp3 player through these headphones (bulky adapter). The headphones have a 3m straight cable fitted (to me, it seems a far thicker cable than that supplied for the 205 model). The headphones themselves have a really comfy velvet-like material over the ear-pads and at the bridge of the headphones. This material is as comfortable as it sounds. Thankfully, the headphone drivers are also positioned further away from the ear-pad (than the 205s), so the drivers don't press against your ears. The Sennheiser 555s are very responsive to input- I've had to turn down my volume to save me becoming deaf!! I have a really wide-ranging musical interest- hip-hop, rock, pop, jazz, folk, classical, Brazilian music, soundtracks- and therefore I require a set-up which is warmer and more complimentary to source material than treble or bass biased set-ups (which usually sound great for some music, but lousy for others- for example a base-heavy set-up is great for Jay-Z, but not so much for Mozart). The Sennheiser 555s, for my interests, are great- very clear treble without sounding harsh, deep and powerful punchy bass and detailed midrange. For my previous headphones I had bass and treble maxed on my amp to enhance the sound, however these headphones are so good that you can take off all the enhancements and just enjoy music as it was supposed to be listened as. These headphones are "open-backed" meaning that there is no casing on the outside of the headphones. This has a brilliant advantage to all my previous (closed-back) headphones- the sound these headphones create is all consuming- a very wide, spacious soundstage is presented. It does not sound like you are listening to headphones, rather you have a quiet room to yourself filled with your favourite music. The open-back design does have disadvantages- the headphones leak sound really badly- therefore all nearby will hear your music choice (which may be embarrassing for some- Village People fans beware!) In summary, these headphones represent the best £55 I have spent on any aspect of my sound system. The sound is really rich, detailed and gets you clambering to your CD rack to re-listen to your discs. Build quality looks impressive- Sennheisers have a 2 year manufacturer warranty but feel like that they will last for far longer. You can also order replacement ear pads or headphone cables from Sennheiser- which hopefully will prolong this headphone. I hope this review has aided you in deciding what headphones to look for. Happy shopping- happy listening!! More Reviews