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.

Amazing sound, and the closed back is actually one of the best I’ve experienced. When someone else is using it you can hardly hear any bleed.