AKG K553 MKII Closed-Back Studio Headphones

These were *very* bright for me, but the person I bought these for, as an upgrade from her Razor headset, loves them. She says they're one of the most comfortable headphones she's ever had, only beaten out by a early model of Razer headphones from 8+ years ago. She rates the sound quality as: superior to every other set of headphones she has owned. The removeable mini-xlr cable was a major selling point for me. Great job there, AKG! I just wish it came with a straight cable... To me, the soundstage is very flat, but to most people, that won't matter. The top-headband cushion however, is an odd choice for AKG... It's not particularly comfortable, but if you have your earcups adjusted correctly, (and have hair on top of your head to apply additional cushioning) it's not too bad. Be aware that the positioning of the ear cups, and the quality of the seal against you head, has a DRASTIC effect on sound quality/frequency response. The earcups are massive so take some time to try to find the right position for your head/ears. I use the Beyerdynamic DT-250 (250ohm), and Sennheiser HD600 as my preferred headphones, for reference.

However, I feel a few things need mentioning. It's early, I work in 30 minutes or so. Intentionally, I deviated from my usual early morning routine to spend a little more time with this headphone. Before getting to far in to describing the headphone itself I want to relate the Amazon experience regarding it. I bought a brand new headphone. What I received was something that had at least been opened. The detritus of having taken it out and removed the various plastic and wire tie that held the phones together was in the bottom of the box, additionally the phones had been hastily and unceremoniously crammed back in a box that had been opened without regard to possibly returning a product. Not ripped open exactly but torn here and there in process to get at whatever was inside. I can only guess the cans had been worn at least once. The really nice 3.5mm to 6.35 mm adapter was found rolling around on the cardboard underneath the cans. I connected them to my headphone amp and queued several tracks. Looked the cans over that were no worse the wear and put them on. The sound great, no obvious distortion or channel imbalances. Got a hold of an Amazon customer service rep (ironically enough named Alexa) who was great and issued a fair recompense since I didn't want to return them exactly, I just didn't feel like paying full price for something that had already been returned at least once. This while enduring what had to be the 10,000th comment on the irony that her name is Alexa and she works customer service for amazon. Initial impressions of the cans themselves are, they're well made, comfortable with a balanced neutral sound. Detailed. I'll enjoy using them and coming back to offer more opinion.

The cord that comes with these headphones is too tightly coiled and too short (way too short). The replacement cable from AKG that is straight is $29.00+tax. These headphones definitely should come with both sets (coiled and straight) like SHURE or Audio Technica for the same price. Let me state again -- The cord that comes with these headphones is too f******* short. If you use these with a laptop sitting right in front of it, the cord is even too short for that. The cord plugs in on the LEFT earphone and most laptops have the plug on the RIGHT side of the laptop thereby causing all sorts of ergonomically incorrect feelings to arise in the pit of your stomach. The headphones themselves are very very comfortable. If you have a gigantic fat head (like I might have) these are probably some headphones you need to consider. I have worn them for 8 hours at a time with no headache. They possess a delightful cozy feel on the ears. The construction is solid and inspiring. Musically -- from Magnetic Fields to Megadeth to Michael Jackson to Mozart -- everything sounds crisp & fantastic with these cans on your ears. (I ordered the straight replacement cable from AKG and it works fine, my stomach feels a little better too).

Sound is very good with decent bass response and relatively flat perceived response from about 35hz - 10,000hz. These are sensitive enough to allow me to hear to -72db below full scale. (see audiocheck headphone test) With these headphones my ears can hear a consistent tone down to ~19hz and up to about 11.5khz. They are fairly good at isolating sound; my wife cannot hear what I’m listening to unless I really crank it, as compared with open backed headphones. So they are suitable for listening in quiet environments without worrying about disturbing others, provided you listen at normal levels. At very high levels of volume with strong bass notes these can produce an audible resonant buzz, as revealed by an online “bass shaker” test. For me though I don’t intend to play that loud, as these are more for use in quiet environments. A good test track is the first 40 seconds of Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme - Pt.II, Resolution”. https://www.amazon.com/Love-Supreme-Part-II-Resolution/dp/B000V6543Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1538246790&sr=1-2&keywords=a+love+supreme+resolution&dpID=51tekRrSbgL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch The greater sensitivity of these headphones reveal more texture in the bass at the first 20 seconds, as well the cymbals in the next 20 seconds than my prior favorites the AKG 240. They work well on portable devices. Except for a bit of resonance at very high volume bass notes, my only other beef is that I find the headband less comfortable than the AKG 240. Overall, I’d suggest these deliver detailed, flat response at low volumes and can be used in quiet environments without others hearing anything when not cranked.

OK, you've probably read that these sound great. They do! When I'm not wearing glasses, anyway. You see, the wide earcups' pads don't seal very well if there is something in the way... like the arm of a pair of glasses. Because of that, there is NO sub bass or bass response whatsoever. I like listening to music at home, and I wasn't planning on being full-on mobile with these things, but MAN. I need my glasses to function- even doing simple things. It isn't an option. It's a shame too, because when I listened to these without my specs, they were smooth, creamy, really comfortable, real midrange-focused neutral-ish cans. Oh well.

I bought these after having heard some recommendations from some very stute audiophile reviews. At first listen, I really fell in love with the amount of detail. It is true that at first it sounds very digital, almost like the music was passing through a photoshop filter for sound. But after some breakin, the sound actually got much better and I don't hear that nearly as much as I did initially, some songs do seem to still pass that off. But my main complaint and the only reason why I returned them was that the entire weight of the headphones would rest solely on the crown of your head. You see, there is zero clamping pressure which forces the headphones to focus somewhere to support its weight. The arc of the headphone band is actually more flat like a very flat upside-down "U" as opposed to a more "open "U" this creates all the pressure to be focused at one point. If they just made it more of a curved headband the pressure would be displaced throughout a greater surface area on your head instead of just one spot. The apex on your head. The last thing is that there is zero padding, it's the thinnest padding of any headphone next to the sony 7506, however it is super hard and not at all soft to the touch. Those 3 facts makes this the most uncomfortable headphone that I've ever used, but unfortunately I was torn in wanting to keep it because the mids were so pleasant and made listening a really joyous experience. These things are super detailed and very analytical. You can disect how something was mixed just on the detail from these cans, unfortunately the comfort is actually painful. And if you try to mod it by adding a comfort strip on the top, it really affects how the earpads come down on your hear and how the sound gets to your ears. It's really hard to find a good combo and not worth it to spend extra money just to mod it. AKG should be spending just a fraction more just to make it feel comfortable. I'm not the only one. There's people on forums who complain about this. Why make a product only to stop 98 Percent from completion to have the 2 percent tarnish it and make it unwearable for all the work you put into it? It really is a great set of cans otherwise.

Honestly I don't like these at all. They sound very midrangey to me, compared to my K702s or ER2SEs they are outright muddy. They also feel very in your face and claustrophobic. I was hoping to use these as a spare pair for mixing but I wouldn't dream of it. They also really suck with glasses. I still kept them cause they weren't that expensive (got em for $100) and it's good to have extra pairs to check mixes on. I wouldn't dream of paying more than that.

Just know these headphones sounded super boring to my ears coming from other cans. But once I got my ears adjusted, I started to really enjoy them. They are great for everything, they are bassy when there is meant to be bass but they won't kick out ridiculous sub bass in every song. It is how the artist wanted you to hear it. The imaging is great which also makes them great for games if you want them for that. I recommend pairing them with the brainwaves xl leather pads. For me it improved the sound and comfort dramatically. Oh Yeh and the build quality on these is next level. For me they were a 5 star purchase. I can't complain that they haven't got enough bass because honestly they have the perfect amount. They are comfy for me and even better with brainwaves. Detachable chord and great build. Perfect