About a year ago I bought the Sennheiser MX 550 earphones for my MP3 player. After using a pair of Sony earphones that came with my Sony Walkman for more than 6 years the right earphone suddenly stopped functioning. It's kinda annoying to only hear the left channel of music so I decided to buy a new pair of headphones.
I did some research on the web and decided to go for the Sennheiser MX 550. I knew Sennheiser delivers high quality products and I was attracted by the special volume control function.
Here's a look at the features and specifications of the MX 550:
- Frequency response: 18Hz to 21,000kHz
- Impedance: 16 ohm
- Sound pressure level: 113dB
- Cable length: 1 meter (copper)
- Weight (without cable): 13g
- Transducer principle: dynamic, open
- Ear coupling: intraaural
- Balanced Basswind system for powerful stereo sound
- Metal Sound Protection System to protect the acoustic systems
I bought the MX 550 earphones for about 27.95EUR at a store, they arrived in a nice package which included a wind-up pocket carrying case. Nowadays they are probably a bit cheaper.
The sound quality of the Sennheiser MX 550 is superb. I use them to listen to MP3s on my digital audio player or while watching movies on my laptop. The sound is very clear, the MX550s sound a lot better than the crappy earphones that are included with most MP3 players.
These earphones are also quite light and feel pretty comfortable with the foam pads on. Last year I sometimes used them for more than 1.5h and afterwards my ears didn't really hurt.
One of the features I like about it is the inline volume control. It's a very easy and convenient way to lower or increase the volume of the song your listening to. Unfortunately the volume control started malfunctioning after a few months. The volume control on the MX550 is just a simple variable resistor and if you use it a lot it quickly wears. In my case I experience a cracking noise while changing the volume and when I set the volume to about 90-95% it suddenly sounds quiet, like it's only on 25%, but on 100% it sounds normal again.
The Good Stuff:
- Very good sound quality.
- The inline volume control is really cool and very convenient to quickly change the volume
- Comfortable to wear
- 2 year warranty
The Bad Stuff
- The volume control started malfunctioning after a few months.
- Price may be a bit too high for some people.
- Some people complain these earphones don't have enough bass but that wasn't really an issue for me.
- The cables or kinda thin, feels cheap. If you don't handle them carefully they may break (inside) after a while.
- It ships with a wind-up pocket carrying case but this case is too big and not very convenient. I don't think many people will use it.
Overall I like the Sennheiser MX 550 earphones because they sound really well. If you decide to buy these earphones keep in mind that the thin cables are pretty fragile and don't overuse the volume control or you'll need to go back to the store after a few months to get a new pair. Fortunately there's a 2-year warranty.
I give the Sennheiser MX 550 a 7/10 
