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AKG K553 Pro Studio Headphones

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AKG K553 Pro Studio Headphones

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Product Description

AKG’s latest revision to the K550 line is a complementary product to the open-back K7XX. Delivering noise isolation and bassy goodness in a closed-back design that won’t leak sound, the AKG K553 Pro Studio Headphone aims to provide a high-end listening experience at an entry-level price Read More

Customer Reviews

4.4

(19 reviews)

(9)

(1)

(0)

90% would recommend to a friend

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SRVVZR

Aug 12, 2019

Verified Buyer

Great, good soundstage for closed headphones

A nice smooth sound, easy to listen to for hours. A little bulky (though not heavy) for on the go use, but for quite sessions in a comfortable chair listening with Vivaldi and a glass of smokey malt, beautiful. this is partly due to the dark background and good imaging. Not a bass head can, though the bass is there and well extended. But the winners here are the mids and highs, this headphone is beautifully suited to acoustic and vocal centric music. compared to the DT770, they are on a similar level, for EDM and heavier music, I would choose dt770. but the strengths of the k553 play more to my musical preferences for most other genres.

Recommends this product? Yes

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speedyclifford

Nov 25, 2020

Verified Buyer

Buy them!

I think they could have a touch more bass, they aren’t for bass heads but I would say that any bass head that tried these for a few songs would be converted. The sound quality is great, the price is perfect, the build quality is unbeatable. I’ve had mine since 2015, had to replace the ear pads this year. These are great for all genres, but really shine the most in anything that isn’t rap; they still sound great with rap though, and I enjoy them much more than beats even in that genre. I use these for hours on end for classes and music, and couldn’t imagine a better overall set. Ive never used a pair over $300 (I’m not an audiophile) but I can honestly say I’ve never heard a pair that I would be inclined to trade for. Ear pads are from: Replacement Cushion Ear Pads... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFCPJGP?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Recommends this product? Yes

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Voiceman1000

Apr 8, 2019

Verified Buyer

I purchased a pair of these (K553 Pros) 2 years ago now on Massdrop. It's taken me awhile to get back around to provide a review on them, but have used them now quite a bit in a lot of different situations so I'm more than adequately ready to review them. I enjoy them well enough for casual listening and for daily use for studio mixing at home and 'live" mixing at my church. They deliver adequate but not the greatest frequency responsiveness or dynamics handling, etc, but certainly better than average). Cutting to the chase: There's a lot to like about these cans, namely 2 key things: they are a great value for the money and they have excellent build quality. Value for Money
At just over $100, the K553 Pros are a great value in my opinion, as they sound very good, in that they are very accurate and representative especially for the price you pay for them. If you start comparing them to other studio monitor headphones at around the same price and up to 50-75% more $$, they compare very favorably. If you compare them to other phones that are in the $500-600 range, you're missing the boat.

Build Quality
The build quality is excellent - the key components are made out of metal, plastic is kept to a minimum, they are sturdy and durable, and will hold up under daily use whether in your home office/studio or for just casual listening while puttering around the house or mowing the lawn, etc. They are heavy and well made so if you are looking for a solid, pretty good set of headphones that don't cost too much and will stand up to some abuse they are great bargains. Sound Quality Have to agree with Soundguy's review here: The K553 Pros are relatively neutral sounding and do not stand out much in any aspect. They are easy to drive because they have a fairly low impedance, which is great as you will not need to invest in additional gear to appreciate them. The flat response is great for studio work, as it represents what's really captured/recorded vs. boosting or cutting certain frequencies artificially. So from that standpoint, I consider them a true "professional studio monitor" grade headphone, as labelled and advertised, and if you're doing any audio editing or mixing, they work pretty well. However, if you're looking for a can with bumpin' bass boosts, or enhanced mids or trebles for better vocals, you'd be disappointed with these and you should look elsewhere for more appropriate cans. Just know that, as a "value headphone" (even as a very good-to-great "value"), these also give up a bit (which I guess can be expected for the cost/price) re: sound quality. They seem to average out to "above average/above meh/good-enough-but-not-great" (and in all fairness, these were not advertised by Massdrop to be super hifi phone killers, but rather "listen to audiophile quality sound for entry level price" I seem to recall...). I'm OK with that, and had my head up and eyes open when purchasing these. Just know that they don't really compete with high-end audiophile headphones - and they're not meant to.

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hossdelux

May 9, 2020

Voiceman1000Was going to do a review on these but you've said it better and with more experience than I ever could. These headphones are amazing for me and what I use them for which is gaming and listening to music.

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danieleastman

Oct 15, 2020

Verified Buyer

Wish they would come back to Drop

You get used to the sounds of these and I personally much prefer it over something like 6XXs in my opinion, especially with EQ. It's completely non-offensive, detailed midrange, and a little bit of lows and highs boost make them sound incredibly full and warm with an astonishingly wide soundstage for closed-backs. Love these for gaming. They have now died on me, the sealing fabric on the cups came off and it's screwed the sound up, but I've abused the daylight out of them for usually 8-12 hours a day for 5 years, so it's about time. Let's see how well the Pandas replace them.

Recommends this product? Yes

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andrew.m

Apr 10, 2020

Verified Buyer

Good for the office

Recommends this product? Yes

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robinhood752

201

Oct 19, 2019

Verified Buyer

Value for Money

Being said many times, the build quality is decent, the sound is decent, the comfort is so-so... There are few things I had to fix: The cable is way too long, had to braid it; The ear pads broke at some point, Dekoni saved me there, while making them much more nice to use; Sizing mechanism plastics had to be fixed, after years of use. All in all, I am still using them at work, plugged directly into PC...

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Bog4rt

105

Sep 13, 2019

Verified Buyer

Sad these were discontinued (newer AKG studio products do exist)

I still have these and they honestly are great for their pricepoint and simplicity in driving them. These make a great stationary or portable solution simply plugging directly into a PED/Phone. Soundstage is detailed and neutral as I'd expect from a studio branded product. Are there better things that are cheaper...yes. There is also a sea of things that are amazingly nicer with research at this price point, but if you are listening to a relatively Top 100 Pop, Rock, Country, Hip Hop selection these just work without a lot of additional equipment.

Recommends this product? Yes

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OhmSweetOhm

Nov 6, 2018

Verified Buyer

A mid-centric sound signature with well-extended bass. Needs a good seal for bass response otherwise sounds way too bright and thin. Stock pads are comfortable but can quickly get sweaty and peel relatively quickly. Get aftermarket pads from Dekoni or Alpha pads if possible

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derek.morash

Mar 18, 2022

Verified Buyer

Uncomfortable and boring

They didn't sound bad but too flat for me, though they are meant as monitors and not an exciting listen. Very uncomfortable to wear though. Sold them soon after

Recommends this product? No

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nicdub

Apr 15, 2021

Verified Buyer

Nice closed back headphone

Although I ultimately sold these, it wasn't because I though they sounded bad or were uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, in fact. They have a very nice, airy sound for a closed headphone with enough low end to satisfy.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Recent Activity

VincentLeclerc

I'm using this to play Spotify songs while I'm off from work. But you know the internet in the subway is dead so usually I'll download my fav songs from Spotify to MP3 and play them offline through this set, it's a great experience to listen without any disturbance.

hossdelux

Was going to do a review on these but you've said it better and with more experience than I ever could. These headphones are amazing for me and what I use them for which is gaming and listening to music.