When it comes to headphones, I'm afraid I'm firmly in the Sennheiser camp. They seem to have the right feel, comfort and sound for me :)
The CX300s were perfect to ipods and various other smaller mp3 players. They gave a good sound and coped with all that they could throw at them. Not much volume was needed with them going into the ear canal.
Then came the HD212pros, they were no good for ipod and the like as they required too much power to drive them, but, hooked up to the Cowon X7, they were amazing! Loud, clear and earth shattering bass. Many people complained that the bass was too much on these, but I found them perfect!
Now comes the MM550 Travel. Not as heavy on the bass, but still very present. The clarity is much more than the HD212 and sound more defined. They are slightly quieter than the HD212, but with a little tweaking of the EQ, this was compensated :)
I decided to invest in the MM550 for several reasons:
- I wanted to free myself of the cables on my daily commute to the office.
- I wanted to be able to use them with other devices like a mobile phone and PS3.
They certainly tick both of those boxes. These are my pros and cons:
Pros:
Wireless.
Can pair with several devices at once.
Have noise cancelling.
Able to control connected devices.
Comfortable.
Build quality.
Sound quality.
Cons:
Slightly quieter.
Signal will break up if separated by walls.
If phone connects first, other devices cannot connect.
Also to note that headphones in bluetooth mode tend to have a gap, so there is a slight interruption in between tracks. This is not a fault of the head set, but rather the player. Eg. The gap is present on the X7 but non existent on Audacious on the laptop.
I'm using these with a Cowon X7 so these are my unbias findings:
With all EQ/SRS/Noiseguard disabled, the MM550 provided a very clear, well balanced sound.
The Earcups are a good size and encapsulate the ear and provide very good isolation. There is very little sound leakage in both directions. They grip the head very well without crushing your ears and feel very secure, even in gale force winds (50mph+).
With only SRS enabled, the bass and highs are pronounced and some mid range freqs are lowered. The sound produced has more clarity and very very comfortable to listen to.
With only Noiseguard enabled, the bass is very reduced and mid/high freqs are pronounced. This I find is uncomfortable to listen to.
The noiseguard along with the natural isolation is very good and blocks out sounds like the natural hum of an office or the buzzing of a fridge. If you are expecting sounds like a very loud train or a building site to be filtered, then you will be disappointed.
With both SRS & Noiseguard enabled, you get a mix of the above sound. Very clear and crisp, but for me, nothing to write home about.
Enabling the X7's EQ Jeteffect with BBE provides a great improvement on the sound and allows you to tune the sound to your liking. With my custom setup and SRS enabled, this give my music so much depth and clarity and makes listening and absolute pleasure.
Enabling any of the JetEffects, BBE or increasing any EQ settings results in a severe drop in volume when in bluetooth mode. However, using a wired connection, these handle everything very very well with good volume and no gaps.