Sennheiser MM 550-X Wireless Bluetooth Travel Headphones

After many, many times of my headphone cable getting wrapped around my chair and my headphones going crashing to the floor because of it, I decided I needed a pair of bluetooth headphones for work. I am picky when it comes to audio quality, having high end headphones from Shure (SE530), Sennheiser (HD650) and Denon (AH-D2000) so I would not settle for something without exceptional audio quality. These headphones did not leave me disappointed, pairing this to my Galaxy S5, Galaxy Tab S or Retina MacBook Pro which support the aptX codec means I get sound quality that is excellent and leaves very little to be desired compared to a high quality pair of wired headphones. My other high end headphones sound better, but the difference isn't huge and in many situations the added hassle of dealing with a cord is not worth the small difference in sound quality compared to the other high end headphones I have. The other features of these headphones is a nice bonus but not my primary reason for purchase. Being able to take calls from my headphones while leaving my phone in my pocket is nice, works well and will come in handy from time to time. The active noise cancelling seems to have a clearly defined cutoff frequency which my guess ensures that the drone of an airplane engine is hushed but you can still hear the person next to you talk. Personally, short of being on an airplane, I would not use this feature because it noticeably degrades the sound quality and doesn't silence all ambient noise. That being said, I did not buy these headphones for their noise cancelling ability. The talk through feature comes in very handy at work and is a welcome addition. Now the not-so-welcome addition, SRS Wow HD. Maybe the music I listen to isn't low enough quality to benefit but I think it sucks all the life out of the music I am listening to. I accidentally press the button activating SRS when putting on the headphones sometimes. I quickly notice the "enhanced" audio quality and shut it off. In summary, noise cancelling could be better and SRS is useless from my experience. Besides those two nitpicks, these headphones deliver on the promise of wireless headphones with the sound quality of a good set of wired headphones. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a good set of bluetooth headphones that is picky when it comes to audio quality.

This is just a first impression of this headphone as it comes out of the box. I'll have updates in a few days of use and then in a few month just to give others a detailed impression of what it is like to own one of these. First, I bought these used at VERY GOOD condition with Amazon Warehouse Deal, Inc. So it was $158 to began with. Then I got the discount from Prime Saving too, making it a REALLY REALLY worthy buy. Many's main complain or con about this headphone is the hefty price tag. So right there I have no complaints. Second, these are complaints in reviews of this model being too soft, not getting loud enough. So that's the first thing I checked out. And I checked it out with wire and on bluetooth. I have realized the problem. These headphones only gets loud like normal headphones when it's on bluetooth and you turn the volume up as high as you can on the headphone. ON THE HEADPHONE. Then it's like any other wired headphone, listening to it at about 50% of volume is load enough for a quiet room. BUT, if you tried it wired or didn't turn up the volume on the headphone, then turning the volume up on your computer and phone to about 80% will give you that same result. SO, some people might complain that these headphones just don't get loud enough. Trust me. If you are using it wireless and have done what I said above, these gets plenty loud. Third, after playing a few songs I knew cheap headphone don't do justice to, I can say this pair is sounding pretty good out of the box. The strength is in the mid-range. Instruments like cello sounds amazing on these! But the bass is really weak, almost not there, and there is sibilance (the uncomfortable "tsh" sound with any mid-high range sounds). I can't really stand listening to female vocals on this right now. Though I expect the quality will go up after burn-in. Personally, I have always found the Sennheiser headphones needs to be burned in to sound better. It's seems especially true for this pair. I know some will argue that Burn-In does nothing, but from personal experience, burn-in opens up the sound stage, boost the base, and takes away the tsh sounds. And it's not my ears adjusting to the way the headphone sounds, because when I burn-in, I put it aside and let it go through the sound track on its own. That sound track consisting of Pink and White noise, Frequency Sweeps, and bass heavy tracks like Dubstep and "Silent Shout" by The Knife. For burn-in here is my steps: 1. For the first 2 hours I let it play at about 50% volume on a mid-range focused song, like Country, or R&B, with male vocalists or female vocalist with a deeper voice. This is a good time to play Pink and White noises. 2. For the next 2 hours I let it play at about the same volume on a classical string sound track to open the higher ranges. Pick good orchestras and good soundtracks because a badly recorded soundtrack doesn't do justice to the high notes. 3. For the next 10 minutes I let the headphone rest. 4. For the next 2 hours i let it play at about 60-65% volume with base heavy music. But an better alternative is taiko drum. I have found them the best way to open up the base response on headphones. 5. Let the Headphone take a break and then start from Step 1 again. You can stop burn-in at any time to test the quality. Doing one of the above step longer if you feel like a certain range is weaker, and you are satisfied with another. After a day or two, you are ready to test these babies again! Tell me you don't hear a difference! I'm at the first stage of burn-in. Will report in a few days. Something to remember, the more you listen on these headphones, the better they'll sound. The burn-in continues withe use. So you don't have to burn them in with above steps. But I just can't stand how poor the bass is. ------------ I tried. But this pair of headphone's bass response is just not on par with what I'm looking for. I have been spoiled by my ATH-M50. I love listening to Jazz, which requires a pretty open stage and open bass. The bass got better, stronger with burn-in, but not enough. And compared to my ATH-M50, the stage isn't that open at all. (Both closed headphones). I'm not a heavy bass lover, but I require a balanced amount of it to enjoy the type of music I listen to. Having heard them a certain way for sometime, listening to the same song on here is a bit disappointing. I wouldn't be keeping these after all.

So folks all the reviews that you see with a low rating is the true rating for this product. Don't be fooled like I, who read a ton of reviews on here and everywhere else to decide to spend the $500 at the time to get this product. I travel a lot, on the phone a lot and listen to music a lot. This promised noise cancellation, better sound. The only thing I got out of it is ability to make and take phone calls. In the last 2 years I have travelled a few times around the world to have thoroughly tested this product. I wouldn't buy this for its noise cancellation...it's minimal when in a jet plane and in a propeller it's worse. To compensate for its poor noise cancellation you would think you would raise the volume enough to douse surrounding noise, there is only so far you can go to raise the volume. Bass ain't that bad but I have seen other manufacturers deliver better in that dept. Please don't waste your time with this model, sennheiser makes good products but they got it completely wrong with this one and for some unexplainable reason they have acquired high ratings. They are all misleading.

In a past life I was a professional audio engineer working in studios in the US and Europe. Sennheiser 'cans' were part of my everyday work life (my current 280's are 20+ years old) so I trusted the brand to make excellent sounding headphones. These don't disappoint. They have a nice flat response curve (no extra bump in the lows to make them popular); operate with a cable even when the battery dies; operate while charging; charge quickly; and the noise reduction is solid. These are the best "on the airplane" and "in the office" headphones I've owned. I've had my current pair for a little over 2 years. All is well until one day the headband emits a loud 'pop' and it is broken. I'm really careful with these and all my equipment because I used to depend on it for my livelihood and those habits are hard to break. I don't wear them around my neck, I never toss them on my desk... they are babied. Especially since they cost $350. I asked Sennheiser if they would honor the warranty (two months past the deadline) and no response. So I cut open the headband to see if it was something I could fix. The part that gets the most stress is made of thin plastic and it broke. There is no way to replace that piece. The rest of the unit is in perfect shape but they are now lose fitting and I am sure that in a little time they would just break in half and be worthless. I expect more from Sennheiser and a $350 set of cans.

This could seriously use a bass-boost button. I have glasses, and the cups don't seal around my ears, so the audio sounds very tinny. If I take off my glasses, it sounds fine. The noise cancelling is as good as you would expect. It cuts fan-noise out, but you can still hear people talking. I've never tried anything that can do more than that. One nice feature is the mute button, which turns off the music and turns on the microphones in each ear-piece, so you can hear what's going on in the outside world. In noise-cancelling mode these headphones will get about 6 to 7 hours of life before they're ready for bed. :) Without using noise-cancelling mode I can go a whole work-day, but I found that regardless of what I do I need to charge the battery every night. I like that you can take the battery out. I usually do that when I'm charging it. That way I can lock the headphones in my cabinet and I don't have to leave them on my desk.

A little over a year ago I was looking for a good pair of noise cancelling headphones I could wear at my desk job. While I was skeptical of the sound quality over bluetooth and some of the reviews on this and other websites, I've been a Sennheiser fan for a while (owning a pair of HD-555's and RS-180's for use at home for years), so I bit the bullet and paid the $330 (at the time) for the set. For my purposes, these headphones are fantastic. I previously used a couple of different sets of Etymotic IEMs while at work (MC5's, then HF5's) but I was sick of having wires. The sound quality is just as good as the IEMs, if not better, with more bass and "warmth", if that makes sense (I won't pretend to be an audiophile). With noise cancellation turned off I can get through a full 8 hour work day with constant music/podcasts playing on one battery charge. With noise cancellation it's more around 6 or 7 hours. I opted to purchase a second battery in addition to the headphones to always have a charged spare. And of course, no wires to get snagged on things, ripping flanged earbuds out of my ears. But as much as I enjoyed the headphones, I never wrote a review until now. So why wait a year to make a review? About a week ago, after a year of almost daily, 8 hour use, I went to put the headphones on and heard an audible snap. The plastic support within the headband broke right in half. The headphones still worked, but no longer fit snug against my ears. I felt like with continued use it would only break further, so I looked into the requirements to take advantage of the 2 year warranty every Sennheiser product comes with. The policy states: Damage: This warranty does not cover any physical and/or electrical damage resulting from, but not limited to: Accident Misuse Abuse Malicious destruction Acts of nature The temporary or permanent affixing of any items supplied or not supplied by the manufacturer with any adhesive, fastener or the like. Use of batteries, power supplies or any other sources of power not specifically recommended by the manufacturer. Inadequate repair work performed by the end user or any non-authorized repair center. Still, I decided to send my pair into the repair center. If all else failed, hopefully I would be billed for a repair cost less than the cost of a new pair. Lo and behold, today I received a brand new pair of headphones! No shipping charges either way -- just a brand new pair of headphones in the original packaging. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. I could have easily been charged for damage not covered under the warranty based on the judgment of the repair staff, and I wouldn't necessarily blame them, but this was not the case. Now, of course, your mileage may vary. I don't want to give the impression with this review that the same series of events will take place if your pair breaks, but at least in my case, I'm thoroughly satisfied. And that's why Sennheiser has me as a customer for life.

I highly enjoy these headphones. The bluetooth combined with noise cancelling and the small size/low weight make these awesome around the office and at home. The ear cuffs are quite small and I didn't think they would fit over my ear initially, but they do the job and are comfortable. The battery seems to last between 4 and 8ish hours depending on listening volume and ambient noise if noise reduction is turned on. My only complaint so far is that the ANR can cause a popping sound in VERY high volume environments (e.g. in the back of a fully loaded departing 737). I would guess that the pre-amp for the ANR has fixed gain and is clipping when this happens, which means that it's not user fixable, but also that it should be pretty easy for Sennheiser engineering to correct in future revisions. I read for a while about some other users trying to force usage of the apt-X codec over the bluetooth protocol, but am pretty sure this is their own folly since it's an old (1980's) proprietary codec. My headphones use the SBC codec by default, which seems to be the bluetooth special interest group recommendation, and they sound awesome. Can't wait 'till I figure out how to fit these into my motorcycle helmet! [update ~1 year after purchase follows] As I pulled these headphones out of my bag this morning and put them on my head, they made a loud cracking sound and I was sad to see that the head-band had broken near the middle. Apparently under the stitched padding wrap it's some sort of plastic band that couldn't stand up to regular use. I'm not changing my 4-star rating based on this, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Read the reviews on the internet. These are EXCELLENT headphones. As usual, after receipt, I read the instructions. So, I charged the battery - easy to do. These headphones synced easily with my NEXUS 9 Tablet and my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. Crystal clear sound without SRS on. Super sound with SRS enabled. If I want noise cancelling, I turn this on when I want just quiet - works very well. I tried everything from classical to rock, to country music on these headphones and the sound was stellar! I like the case included, as you get the charger with multiple adapters for world travel, you even get a cable if you want to listen attached to the cord. Can even attach a larger adapter cord to my AV receiver, and it even has an adapter for the two-hole airlines in-seat listening. I ordered an extra battery, just to have backup for long flights. Excellent choice! Beat the Bose headsets that I had (wife has them now) and with Bluetooth, crystal clear sound. You won't go wrong buying these MM 550-X Sennheiser headphones!

Me costó un par de meses decidirme por el precio y no sabía si merecería la pena, una vez comprados, no hay día que no los utilice en el despacho, la cancelación funciona bien, la sincronización bluetooth con el pc y con el móvil (bb 9900) perfecta, las llamadas se atienden a la perfección, la batería aguanta jornadas de más de 5h continuadas, cuando paro a comer o cenar, la pongo a cargar y rápidamente listas para otra sesión. Los controles muy cómodos. La calidad del sonido, pues es sennheiser que más se puede decir, ahora acabo de pedir los PMX 685i para correr, y serán los terceros que compro de la firma. Muy recomendable si los vas a usar para aislarte y concentrarte mientras produces, me falta probar en el tren o avión pero es donde mejor se comporta la cancelación. Son muy cómodos y manejables, el estuche para guardarlos, tremendamente práctico.

Ich habe mir diese Kopfhörer vor einer Weile gekauft und bin absolut begeistert von ihnen. -Klang Der Klang ist exzellent. Ob der Sourround-Sound besser klingt, ist Geschmackssache, mir gefällt es mit besser. Zwar wird der Klang bei aktiviertem Noise-Cancelling etwas höher und die Bässe schwächer, dafür hat man aber auch eine Ruheoase. Der Sound via Bluetooth ist auch sehr gut. -Geräuschunterdrückung und Talktrough Ich verwende diese Kopfhörer im Bus und muss sagen: Das Dröhnen des Busses wird vollständig unterdrückt , wenn man Noisecancelling aktiviert. Ich empfehle trotzdem mit Noisecancelling Musik via Kabel zu hören, dann ist wirklich Ruhe! Das Talktrough ist auch sehr gut, allerdings sorgt kleinster Wind schon für das Gefühl, in einem Orkan zu stehen. -Bluetooth Die Qualität beim Hören mit Bluetooth ist ebenfalls sehr gut, zwar keine Kabelqualität, aber man hat sich ja keinen High-End "Indoor"-Kopfhörer gekauft. Die Verbindung ist sehr stabil, egal ob man nun im Bus sitzt ( Ipod in der Tasche) oder im Wohnzimmer hin und her läuft. -Komfort Die Kopfhörer umschliessen das Ohr, was zu einem sehr bequemen Sitz führt. Das Material fühlt sich angenehm an und sie drücken nicht sehr fest, rutschen aber auch nicht. Nach längerem Hören kriegt man zwar warme Ohren, stört mich bei den aktuellen Temperaturen aber nicht ;). -Bedienung Die Bedienung ist sehr leicht und man hat sie schnell verinnerlicht. Ich persönlich finde die Position des SRS-Knopfes unpraktisch, das ist allerdings durch den Kabelanschluss bedingt. -"Störfaktor Lichter" Bei den schlechteren Rezensionen liest man oft, dass die Lichter stören. Tja, dann sollte man halt mal schauen was man sich holt, meine Herren! Ich benutze die Knöpfe da Kabelbetrieb eher selten, also gehen die Lichter nach einer Weile aus. -Akku Der Akku hält ca. 8-10 Stunden und ist in 3 Stunden geladen, man kann aber auch während des Ladens hören. Der Akku ist austauschbar, praktisch auf längeren Reisen, kostet 30€ -Lieferumfang Als ich das Paket geöffnet habe, war ich begeistert: Tasche, 6,35mm Adapter (Naja wer den braucht hat normalerweise High-End Kopfhörer aber was solls), Anleitung und Stromkabeladapter für aller Regionen dieser Welt. Eine sehr praktische und schützende Tasche liegt auch bei, genau wie eine vielsprachige Anleitung Alles in allem ist dies ein unglaublich gutes Produkt, das ich mir jederzeit wieder holen würde.

Son buenos audifonos a mi gusto no tienen suficiente volumen, pero tienen un excelente diseño, y aun no los puedo conectar a la compu por medio del bluetoo

Suono cristallino, fa percepire chiaramente la differenza tra una registrazione 192kbps e una 320kbps. Volumi effettivamente non molto alti: quando la uso collegata a iPhone o iMac il volume del dispositivo è a 100% e quello della cuffia deve essere almeno 70% circa. Purtroppo lavorando sempre al massimo, c'è qualche piccola defaillance sui bassi (tipo esplosioni, rombi di motore, ecc.) ma credo dipenda anche dalla codifica audio dei film (DTS o AC3), perché sui file mp3 non ho mai avuto problemi Si sente meglio con bluetooth che con filo!!!!!!!!! Con la batteria in dotazione (ricaricabile via microUSB) si riescono a vedere tranquillamente 4-5 film. La funzione surround appiattisce il suono e non apporta miglioramenti di nessun tipo nè per i film nè soprattutto per la musica. La riduzione attiva del rumore ambientale è spettacolare. Non ho provato quella di altre marche, ma l'ho provata in azienda dove il rumore di fondo è a 100db e sembrava di essere a casa. Elimina il rumore di fondo costante, non suoni che vanno e vengono (la voce di una persona che parla non viene filtrata attivamente). La funzione che permette di collegarsi con l'ambiente e sentire cosa ti stanno dicendo è totalmente inutile: molto più veloce togliere le cuffie. La cuffia in sè è molto comoda da indossare e la si può tenere per molte ore senza fastidio. La qualità con bluetooth è impressionante: un mio amico appena le ha provate ha buttato sia le sue bose sia le beats perché per avere una qualità così doveva usare il filo. Ormai le uso da 4 mesi senza averne particolare cura e non c'è nessun segno di usura nè di problemi legati alla batteria

Great. Awesome. Great sound quality over my small set ears. Snug. But sadly does not pair with my iPhone 6s. Used to pair earlier with my iPhone 6. Flummoxed!! Slightly overpriced. No issue at all with the music quality. But the ambient noise cancellation is not that great. Buy this if you have huge money. But don't sell your kidney for this. You might have cheaper options to fall for.