A lifelong music fanatic studied music at university, worked in record stores, and lived in Bristol with frequent live music. Daily listening habits included headphones and blasting stereo fixations. A recent acquisition of Sennheiser HD 550 headphones transformed home listening when plugged into a MacBook. The headphones provide superior comfort and fit compared with previous models. The sound reveals a wider soundstage, precise imaging, more detail and texture, and clarity that exposes previously unnoticed guitar and vocal lines. The HD 550s present a neutral bass response that avoids swampy, overpowering low end common to some wireless headphones.
The album sounded like it was presented wider in front of me (audio term: soundstage), and I could clearly place instruments within that space (imaging). There was also more detail and texture to everything. I could pick out individual instruments easier, even picking up on guitar and vocal lines I hadn't noticed before (clarity: duh!). It was like listening to a new remaster of an album I've consistently been listening to for nearly 30 years.
But there was something else happening. After swapping back to my non-wired, bluetooth headphones (Sennheiser Momentum 3, Soundcore Liberty 5, AirPods Max) the stark difference was the HD 550s didn't have swampy bass overpowering each song like a syrupy fart. Now, I love bass. Most people do. And, when you're looking at an equaliser graph, if you've got a flat, neutral start, upping
Listening to music on them at home is now my favourite thing and I want to tell you all about it. Why are they so good? First, their comfort and fit is a step up from most of the headphones I've had (I'm looking at you AirPods Max). But really it's all about the sound. Sensing that something special was happening, I put on Radiohead's OK Computer - an album I know inside and out - to see what was going on.
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