Sennheiser HD555
Starting at: $169.95
CNET Editors' Review
CNET Editors' Rating
- Reviewed by: Steve Guttenberg
- Released on:
- Reviewed on:
The good: Sleek styling; very comfortable; rich tonal balance; well suited for home theater.
The bad: Open-backed design may not be ideal for private listening; so-so music performance.
The bottom line: The HD555s' speakerlike sound is the hot ticket for DVD thrill seekers.
Sleek, comfortable, and durable, Sennheiser's Euro-styled HD555 headphones weigh a mere 9.2 ounces and feel luxurious. They exerted minimal pressure on our ears, which allowed us to forget at times that we were even wearing them--a big compliment for headphones.
The Sennheiser HD555s, which cost less than $150 online, have an open-backed design that makes for spacious audio, but the 'phones leak sound and may disturb others in your vicinity. The HD555s are ... Expand full review
Sleek, comfortable, and durable, Sennheiser's Euro-styled HD555 headphones weigh a mere 9.2 ounces and feel luxurious. They exerted minimal pressure on our ears, which allowed us to forget at times that we were even wearing them--a big compliment for headphones.
The Sennheiser HD555s, which cost less than $150 online, have an open-backed design that makes for spacious audio, but the 'phones leak sound and may disturb others in your vicinity. The HD555s are fitted with a 10-foot cable and a 1/4-inch plug; a 1/8-inch miniplug adapter is also included.
These headphones' wide-open sound is ideal for DVDs, eliminating the inside-your-head effect common to most 'phones and providing the sort of layered depth and imaging we normally hear from speakers. Seabiscuit sounded glorious: the pounding hooves, the roaring crowds, and the sweeping musical score were all well served by the HD555s. Dialogue was perfectly clear and bass response was deep and powerful. On our reference Grado SR125 headphones, the sound was more immediate and clear but significantly less open and comfortable.
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Compare selected Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Steve currently reviews audio products for CNET and works as a freelance writer for Home Theater, Inner Fidelity, Tone Audio, and Stereophile. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
User Reviews
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Most Helpful User Review
stars 16 of 16 users found this review helpful
"OUTSTANDING!!!" By ttt3008
Pros so very comfortable, affordable, light, great style, Crystal clear sound you've been waiting for.
Cons Need to burn in for about 4 days.
Summary I have spent hours reading other folks reviews for the HD 555 headphones.
MOSTLY every review I read about them was positive feedback, almost like Sennheiser paid a couple hundred people to give them a good rating or somthin.
I even called the nice folks down at headphone.com to ... Expand full review
Most Recent User Reviews (Showing 2 of 33 reviews)
Specifications
See full specsQuick Specs
- Headphones Type: Headphones - Binaural
- Product type: Headphones
- Design: Ear-cup
