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Sennheiser HD 558 review

Sennheiser HD 558
Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £140
inc VAT

Sennheiser’s HD 558 headphones are expensive but sound beautiful and feel like they should last for years.

Sennheiser’s HD 558s are well made and reasonably attractive but have a plasticky appearance at odds with their £150 price. The over-ear headphones design is practical, though, as well as comfortable for extended wear. If you wear glasses you could find the headphone cups pressing uncomfortably on the legs of your frames.

The headphones have a 1/4in stereo jack plug on a removable cable and come with a 3.5mm converter. They’re slightly higher impedance – 50 ohms – than most consumer headphones, and we had to crank up our MP3 player’s volume to a higher level than usual to get a decent sound out of them. On our iPod Touch we found the rich bass neutered at lower settings.

This isn’t uncommon for headphones with impedances over 40 ohms, so they aren’t ideal if you do most of your listening on the move. You’ll ensure the best sound quality by connecting them directly to a sound card or a powered amplifier with a dedicated headphone port.

Sennheiser HD 558

The HD 558s sound fantastic, with a wide open sound and a brilliant sense of space, but we could still hear the most subtle elements and tones of even complex, layered tracks. They’re among the few over-ear headphones we’ve found that can rival the crisp detail of a good pair of earbud-style sound isolators. We were particularly impressed by their bass reproduction, which was rich and warm without overwhelming the rest of the sound.

If you want to buy a pair of headphones for home listening and have the money to spend, we can’t think of a better choice than Sennheiser’s HD 558s. They win our Ultimate award.

Details

Price£140
Detailswww.sennheiser.co.uk
Rating*****
AwardUltimate

Specifications

Typeover-ear headphones
Driveropen
Active noise-cancellingno
Power sourcenone
Sensitivity112dB
Frequency response15-28,000Hz
Impedence50 ohms
Plug type3.5mm stereo jack plug
Inline volumeNo
Weight260g
Cable length3.20m
Extras3.5mm adaptor

Buying Information

Price£140
Supplierhttp://www.amazon.co.uk
Detailswww.sennheiser.co.uk

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