Sennheiser HD 550 Over-Ears Review: Where’s the Excitement?

Design

• Open-backed configuration
• Modular design
• Weighs 237g

You won’t have failed to notice that the Sennheiser HD 550 is an over-ear headphone – and when you take the relative modesty of the asking price into account, it won’t come as a surprise to find that design isn’t really something that’s happened here. In physical terms, the HD 550 are simply a method of suspending a couple of speaker drivers next to your ears.

The frame is mostly of plastic – and not plastic that looks or feels in any way special, either. The hinged connection between the headband and the earcups allows a little movement in the name of both fit and comfort, but the HD 550 don’t fold.

The adjustment mechanism is concealed inside the headband, and it operates with a quite satisfying click – it’s easy to get these headphones sized to suit you, and their 237g weight means they’re not any kind of burden to wear.

The comfort quotient is helped by the well-judged memory foam padding of the earpads (which are covered in synthetic velour) and the headband (which is covered in synthetic leather). The hanger arrangement is good, and the clamping force is appropriate too.

The outside of the earcups is open, and covered with a tightly patterned metal mesh. Each earcup carries Sennheiser’s stylised ‘S’ logo – and apart from one appearance of the company name at one end of the headband, that’s it for branding. 

Specification

• 38mm dynamic drivers
• 6Hz – 39kHz frequency response
• 1.8m detachable cable

They’re supplied with 1.8m of cable that attaches to the left earcup using a 2.5mm connection that clicks and twists into place – at the other end, there’s a 3.5mm connection fitted with a 6.3mm adapter. Want a longer cable, or a balanced cable? It’ll cost you.

Sound is produced by a pair of 38mm dynamic drivers that are clearly visible inside the earcups. Sennheiser suggests these drivers can deliver frequency response of 6Hz – 39kHz. This translates to ‘inaudibly deep to inaudibly high’ – and so should be more than adequate.

And yes, that’s your lot – these are headphones like they used to be.

Sound Quality

• Neutral, just as Sennheiser promises
• Impressive detailed retrieval, soundstaging and bass control
• Can get just a little edgy in the treble

If it’s a faithful, unopinionated account of your music you’re after, you’ve come to the right place. The Sennheiser HD 550 have other talents too, of course – but what most immediately striking about the sound of these headphones is just how impartial they are.

A big DSD64 file of Shout by Tears For Fears lets you know exactly what you’re dealing with. Tonality, with the exception of a hint of edginess towards the top of the frequency range, is natural, neutral and entirely convincing.

Frequency response, too, is completely even-handed – the idea that the HD 550 favour some parts of the frequency range over others is preposterous. They’re smoothly even in response from the top end to the bottom, and in this respect their sound is confident and persuasive.

Detail levels are impressively high across the board. The low end is nicely shaped and varied, and hits with a fair bit more determination than other models in Sennheiser’s 500 range. Control is good, too, so rhythmic expression is convincing and the headphones are always looking to move a recording forwards.

The midrange is similarly explicit, and there’s real eloquence in the way the HD 550 deal with a voice and even more so when multiple voices are harmonising – character and attitude is revealed just as readily, and just as fully, as technique.

The soundstage on which all this happens is open and well-defined, and the Sennheiser can find space even in a busy recording like Cinematic Orchestra’s All Things to All Men for every element to get the room it needs.

The presentation is decently unified despite all this space, though, and the tune has a singularity and a togetherness that’s by no means a given in headphones of this configuration at this sort of money. Dynamic headroom, too, is considerable – the same tune indulges in shifts in intensity and volume, and the HD 550 track these variations faithfully.

Aside from a tendency for treble response to get a little edgy and gritty, especially at bigger volumes, the only significant issue for the Sennheiser concerns their overall attitude. They’re just not that entertaining or engaging a listen – their attitude is one of careful examination, and they take some of the energy from a recording.

Analysis is all well and good – in the right circumstances, in fact, it’s very enjoyable – but not if it’s at the expense of excitement. The HD 550 seem unwilling or unable to take a recording by the scruff of the neck – instead, they’re more likely to reveal a complete picture of the neck in question without really going anywhere near it.

Should you buy it?