Pound for pound, these Sennheiser open-back headphones are the best I’ve ever tested, and only cost $199 on sale

The Sennheiser HD 550 are a set of mid-range open-back headphones, designed for critical listening. For a reasonable price (relatively speaking), they offer exceptional, high-end audio. Get them on sale, though, and they’re an absolute bargain.

They’re not totally perfect, with a cheap-looking design that doesn’t fold, and only a thin fabric bag supplied for storage, which feels a little stingy at this price. Those issues are minor, though, and matter very little when the HD 550 are actually on your head.

Performance-wise, there’s virtually nothing to complain about, as long as you want a neutral, rather than warm sound profile. So, could these be the best headphones for you? Probably. Read my full Sennheiser HD 550 review to find out.

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Sennheiser HD 550 review: Specs

Sennheiser HD 550 review: Price & availability

The Sennheiser HD 550 cost $349 at Amazon, although we’ve seen them drop to $199 at Amazon during sales events, so it’s worth holding out for a deal. Even at their full MSRP, though, I think they’re extremely good value for money (as you’ll see later). In the U.K., they’re a veritable bargain, costing just £179 at Richer Sounds.

The HD 550 compete with the likes of the Philips Fidelio X3 ($349 MSRP, but can also be found for under $200), Grado SR325X ($349) and Meze Audio 105 AER ($399). Personally, I prefer the Meze cans, which feel a little more premium and special with Meze’s typically striking aesthetic, and have a warmer (slightly bassier) profile. If you want that neutral tuning, though, which I understand, it’s Sennheiser all the way.

Likewise, if you simply can’t stretch to the 105 AER for budget reasons, the HD 550 are a fantastic budget alternative if you can pick them up for that sub-$200 sale price. I have no qualms recommending that course of action.

Sennheiser HD 550 review: Design

My only major gripe about the HD 550 isn’t actually that major. I personally think they’re kinda ugly. I find the long oval earcup design rather dated, and, dare I say it, uncannily ‘anatomical’ in appearance — the way they drop down from the headband resembles a particular diagram from biology class.

Meanwhile, the plain finish reminds me of the ultra-cheap Sennheiser cans we used in music class. But, realistically, when they’re on your head, looks don’t matter. I guess I’m just spoiled by having the Meze 105 AER at home.

I’ve also been testing the retro (and U.S.-made) Grado SR325 recently, whose mid-20th-century styling is absolutely stunning in my opinion. The HD 550 comfort and sound quality are both in a different league, though, so my advice is still to go German if you’re torn between the two.

While they're not pretty, the HD 550 are built like all Sennheisers I've tested: extremely well. They're light, but this hasn't come at the sacrifice of sturdiness. There’s no rattling or shaking, as I’ve experienced with some “premium” headphones (looking at you, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2). The plastics might look a little tacky but they're of high quality, and the metal grate on the back of the earcups feels premium, too.

With Sennheiser, whether it’s the $40 CX 80U or $399 Momentum 5, it doesn’t make a difference — everything the brand makes is built to an exacting standard, and I love that.

The HD 550 don’t fold, which isn’t a huge issue as they’re intended for home use — because they’re open backs, you’ll damage the drivers by exposing them to the elements. There’s no proper case for them, though, just a soft pouch, so be careful when storing that nothing else crushes them. At $349, a thin pouch feels more than a little stingy to me. The Meze 105 AER, by contrast, come with a hard-shell case and cable pouch, although the Grado SR325 come with literally nothing but a cable, so I suppose it could be worse.

Comfort

Comfort-wise, I didn’t have high hopes for the HD 550 — that plasticky finish rekindled memories of the Sennheiser HD 400U and their super-thin headband. Thankfully, I was proven wrong, and the HD 550 are really comfortable to wear.

There are no frills — no suspended headband design, as on the 105 AER — just a spongey, padded leatherette headband and some soft synthetic velour earcup pads. Depending on the shape of your head, I can see the two metal brackets either side of the headband padding might dig in, although I didn’t have this issue. The velour ear pads are squishy, comfy and breathable, and I had no issues with them getting hot or sweaty after a few hours use, although admittedly I was in an air-conditioned room. A huge step up over the (frankly unacceptable) raw foam pads on the Grado SR80 ($175) and SR325.

Sennheiser makes a big deal about how light the HD 550 are, and about how much attention has been paid to clamp force — specifically, the reduction thereof. Guilty on both counts but, y’know, in a good way. After several hours I had no neck ache from weight, and no pressure on my temples from clamping.

Connectivity

There’s really very little to the HD 550, connectivity-wise. These headphones are designed for critical wired music listening at home, and for gaming, so there’s no wireless, no onboard controls, and nothing fancy. They plug in via a cable, with a 3.5mm jack and 6.3mm adapter included.

Drive

The HD 550 are easy headphones to drive, with a sensitivity of 106.7dB/V, which equates to 98.5dB/mW given their 150Ω impedance. In layman’s terms, that means with 1mW of power fed in, the HD 550 will output 98.5 decibels of sound, which is nice and loud.

1mW isn’t a lot of power, so you can run these cans from your laptop, or even your smartphone, and get loud enough sound. Ideally, though, you’ll want to use a DAC/Amp, which can deliver more power and better digital audio conversion, for a tighter overall sound than running straight from a phone or laptop.

Initially during testing, the only DAC/Amp I had at hand was the iFi GR2, which was monumentally overpowered. Even at volume level 1 (0 is mute, 100 is full), the sound was painfully loud. I just stepped down in power to the FiiO K11 R2R, which was perfect, and delivered slightly richer bass than running straight from my MacBook Pro.

Sennheiser HD 550 review: Sound quality

The HD 550 use a 150Ω dynamic driver, which Sennheiser proudly claims is built by the manufacturer itself in Ireland (as opposed to being built by a third party in China, I guess). According to Sennheiser, these drivers deliver supreme fidelity across the frequency range, precise channel matching and a wide soundstage. And yeah, that’s about right.

The HD 550 boast Sennheiser’s famously neutral sound. Personally, I prefer the warmer tune of the Meze 105 AER. But there’s still a nice amount of bass on the HD 550. They have no problems with the easy stuff down to about 60Hz or so, in electronic songs like Burn Water’s bassy-as-hell Ikigai, for instance. The bass that’s there sounds textured and well-controlled, too, with no distortion, bleeding or muddying on heavy rock tracks like Melvins’ Honey Bucket.

However, there’s not much extension into tricker subby stuff, despite the response range bottoming out at a low 6Hz on paper. The closing 20 seconds of SOHN’s Antigravity is composed primarily of the deepest sub bass known to mankind, which the HD 550 weren’t able to replicate very well. In fairness, the only headphones I’ve used that even come close to relaying what that song is supposed to sound like (i.e. on a large hi-fi speaker system) are the SLAM-plate-fitted Audeze LDC5-S, which vibrate my skull during the song’s close… but cost $4,500. In short, it’s a tough track, and I’m not marking the HD 550 down here — they’re just not designed to be subby.

My favorite thing about the HD 550 is the spotlessly clean mid-range. Guitars in particular sound absolutely great, with so much presence, precision and dynamism audible in the riffs of Honey Bucket and of QOTSA’s Medication. They’re not just suited to guitary business either: the oscillating opening synths of Dadi Freyr’s electropop Hot Damn had bags of punch and texture. It was like being in da club.

Then there’s the treble, which is gloriously detailed. I was picking out the softest of ethereal backing vocals in Ikigai, and even the trailing reverb of Chris Stapleton’s vocals bouncing off the recording studio’s walls in Death Row. It’s not too bright, though, so I never found myself fatigued or suffering ear-ache from cymbals.

The soundstage is likewise fantastic. Imaging is solid for the money, and I could pinpoint the plethora of production elements in The Who’s Eminence Front. And as open backs, there’s plenty of width and openness to the sound, too, with Antigravity’s almost disorientingly spatial intro pinging inwards and outwards in distinct layers from/to my ears. Lovely.

Listen along to my audio testing playlist on Qobuz, the best music streaming service for audiophiles.

Sennheiser HD 550 review: Verdict

If you’re after highly detailed sound on a modest budget, I can’t think of any better headphones to buy. Okay, they don’t look as premium as rivals at the same MSRP, and I feel a bit shortchanged by the pouch, but those are minor issues. Bass isn’t the punchiest, either, so if you’re after a slightly warmer profile I’d recommend the Meze 105 AER instead. But if it’s the neutral profile you like — which many do, it simply comes down to preference — then the HD 550 are it.

I’ll end on an anecdote: after I finished testing, I passed the HD 550 to my colleague, Erin, who took a listen and summed things up just about perfectly, saying “this is how music is supposed to be listened to.”