Is gaming driving a lot of headphone sales these days? It definitely seems to be the case, especially as we see a lot of traditionally audiophile-focused outfits make products aimed at the category. Sennheiser is no stranger to this, having put out multiple products over the years that cater to the gaming crowd. With the Sennheiser HD 550, the outfit is looking to appeal to both gamers and more traditional listeners alike.
No, it’s not a proper PC gaming headset. Heck, it doesn’t even have a microphone anywhere on it, so you’ll have to pair it with a nice USB mic to do actual voice comms. Instead, it’s being touted as lightweight headphones designed to serve as “a compelling new choice to audiophiles and gamers seeking next-level capability that outshines its price tag.”
The Sennheiser HD 550 is a pair of headphones with an open-back design that, the outfit claims, create an expansive soundstage that immerses you in the middle of the sound recording. It’s equipped with 38mm drivers and 150-ohm transducers that reproduce a wide frequency range of 6Hz to 39.5kHz, allowing detailed reproduction of high-resolution audio files, both from hi-fi music streaming sources and your own collection. The outfit claims it’s designed to help you reproduce sound with brilliant details and lifelike presence, allowing you to hear that feint instrument in the background of a recording or the distant footsteps in a competitive shooter.
According to Sennheiser, it doesn’t rely on electronics to achieve that target sound, unlike many of the newer headphones in the market today. Instead, it offers a direct analog signal path from the source to your ears, ensuring you get the clean, unadulterated sound without any added artifacts. As such, nearly every part of the headphones are picked out for their acoustic benefits, from the dust covers and the ear cushions to the angle of the transducers and any additional foam.
The Sennheiser HD 550 has a built-for-comfort design that delivers a more relaxed clamping force compared to other 500-series headphones, which they’re able to do because the whole thing is very lightweight at just 8.4oz. It has a soft-touch textured headband that’s covered in soft foam and synthetic leather, as well as ventilated metal mesh earcup covers and plush velour ear cups. Suffice to say, this has been designed for long listening sessions, allowing you to keep them on through desk work, TV show binges, or late night gaming marathons.
This is a wired pair of headphones, by the way, so you have to stay tethered the whole time you’re using it, all while dealing with a long, dangling wire that’s always getting in the way. It ships with a six-foot long 3.5mm cable, by the way, with a 6.35mm adapter, so it feels more like traditional audiophile headphones than modern gaming cans. As with other headphones in the 500 series, it’s compatible with all accessories and replacement parts available for the HD 500 line, ensuring you can use it for many years down the line.
The Sennheiser HD 550 is now available for preorder, priced at $299.95.
