Audio Sennheiser HD555 Vs Audio Technica M50

B

bhupatib

Disciple
Both are available under my budget of about 6k (quoting local price for Senns and guessing the MRP+Taxes for M50 shipped) and will be used mostly with a portable source and for music (Metal, Alternatives, Rock n Roll).
Here's my analysis of the two, correct me wherever necessary-
- 555 have an impedance of 50ohms vs 38ohms of M50. I'm guessing a Fuze or an iPod will have trouble driving the Senns?
On a side note the PL50 have an impedance of 55ohms but they play well enough on portable devices..:huh:

- M50 is more portable with their swivel/collapsable design, whereas 555 is bulky. Also the built seems more durable on M50.
- 555s are open cans, i.e better soundstage which is important for metal/rock songs (?), M50s are closed back thus there'll be less soundstage/separation and more bass (boomy?).
I prefer the sound to be neutral without any coloring so here's a little Frequency Response graph comparison, what conclusions bout SQ do you guys make out from this -

graphCompare.php


- Comfort wise Open cans are generally better (?) and closed ones are better for isolation. In my case comfort is more of a priority, looking for longer periods of listening.

- 555 can be modded into the much expensive (~10k) 595. :cool2:


Now how does the modded 555 compare to the M50?

Need to gift them to my friend so please give your opinion on which will be a better buy...
 
You'll first have to decide if you want open cans or closed ones. Open cans will have better soundstage but they leak sound. Closed cans have less soundstage, more bass, and don't leak sound.

Since you will be using a portable source, HD555 isn't a good option coz it requires an amp to give it's best. So unless you plan on getting an amp as well, I don't think you should get the HD555.

The M50 are closed cans and can be played by portable source fairly well. Also the foldable design will make it easy to carry.

Apart from the impedance, the sensitivity also determines how well a source can drive the headphones.

For open cans, I would suggest Audio Technica AD700 over the HD555.
 
The 55 Ohms on a PL-50 (IEM) can not be compared to a 50 Ohm full size headphones. Impedance isn't the only way to measure the driving factor of a headphone.There's sensitivity as well and other than that lot of other factors that makes difference like type of drivers,size of driver etc.

If you plan to play music without an amp M50s would be better any day.If you want open cans with best soundstage , get AD700
 
+1 for AD700, but its no way a portable solution. Its huge.. really huge. And a fuze can pretty well drive a Ad700, if not to the fullest.
 
If your going to be using it in public then an open headphone is a big no because of all the noise.The px100 is the most popular choice in this case.
 
^ True. PX100 or Koss Porta pro is perfect for on the move usage . M50s can be considered semi portable. AD700 big no for outdoor usage.
 
Thanks for the response guys.
I can't be absolutely sure about the merits of Open Vs Closed (or Soundstage Vs Isolation/Better Bass) unless i've done a side by side comparison but surely don't want any supraural/on-ear cans. So koss and grados are out.
AD700 with its '3D Wings', giant frame and weak bass is not a good bargain for me as basically there's a need for 'Portable Music' solution and they're more suited for Gaming with those qualities.
I will do more reasearch about how well the Modded Senn 555 fares in comparison to AD700 and M50, but its a lost case in portability with its high impedance and bulky frame...

So i guess its ATH-M50 after all.. :)
 
^ M50s are kind of perfect for your needs other than the fact that it still might be little big on the head for outdoor usage and you might look like an alien :p .heheeh j/k I guess the M50s are lot smaller than they look in pictures.
 
^ Actually since they are black, they dont look that awkward compared to my bright silver 415's but yes, they are a bit big but smaller than the 700's which are huge.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Didn't know where to post it but a shopkeeper i know is selling me 555's for 5.25k in gurgaon and another shop in the malls is selling the purple 700's (no idea about the price)
 
^ Cool! I'll be very much interested ! You guys got a quote yet for the GO? Looks like he's stopped taking orders and also giving quote to select members only...Do let me know.
 
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