14.8.2018

I grabbed a pair of these PXC 550 to have a bit of wireless freedom coupled with some noise cancelling. The wireless freedom part is great. The noise cancelling part is nearly great. Let's go into a bit of detail to explain.First thing you'll notice when you unbox the PXC 550's are that they are a lot smaller and nicer than you'd expect. The included carry case is soft to the touch, but pretty ridged and seem like they'll protect the headphones well when being tossed into a laptop bag. Inside the case there's a compartment which hold a variety of cables; including micro usb charging cable, audio cable (standard at one side, small at the other)and one of those big plugs for plugging the headphones into "proper" audiophile equipment.The next thing you'll find in the case are the headphones themselves. I was expecting them to be bulkier than they are, but instead they feel as svelte and minimal as could be possible for wireless over-ear cans. Fit-wise they were spot-on; cupping my ears just enough to make sure they don't spill sound, but not so tight as to press uncomfortably. They are of course adjustable for larger and smaller heads.Turning on the 550's is as easy as twisting the cups into position. Turning them off is just as easy... just twist the cups back into the storage position.So what about pairing? I paired them to my iPhone 8 in a few seconds (after I read the included quick-start guide) by holding down the mode button for a few seconds. I then paired them with my MacBook. When that was done, I was up and running.By default, the "effects mode" is turned off; essentially levelling the equaliser. This was fine, but lacked any sort of punch for either music or podcasts. Pressing the effects mode button once puts the headphones in "club" mode. This boosts the base, but doesn't distort, keeping a clean sound that made pretty much any song sound great. The next mode is "movie", but I didn't find this very useful. The final mode is "voice", which drains the base and boosts the treble, making audio books and podcasts clear and easy to focus on. The effects modes are interesting, but I find myself forgetting to switch to the appropriate mode... ruining my podcasts in club mode and destroying my music in voice mode.So onto the wireless freedom I spoke of. The range is on-par with other bluetooth devices, so no problems there. Where these headphones really shine is in their battery life. I use them pretty often during the day for music and at night for audiobooks and podcasts and, in the month that I've had them, I've only just put them on for a 4th charge. I'm not sure about the 30 hours that's quoted, but it's at least double what I've had in any other wireless headphones I've tried. My real complaint with them is that they seem to just stop receiving sound when they get low. No warning, they just go quiet. The audio source continues to think it's playing and all the usual headphone sounds still happen, you just don't hear the music.So what about the noise cancelling? I was a bit disappointed. They clearly do have an effect, but it's not a dramatic effect. The room won't go silent, but noises like fans and tumble driers are more or less wiped out. I'd put these sounds in the range of the constant sound you hear on a plane, so I'd imagine they'd be pretty good there. But for everything else, it's just a little bit quieter.I thought the touch-based controls would be a gimmick, but they are genuinely useful. If you're listening to something and need to pause, just press the surface of the right side. Press again to resume. Swipe up and down for volume and left and right for previous and next. The only control that I could never get right was fast-forward and reverse.Phone calls aren't fantastic, but they're not terrible. The person on the other side and definitely tell that you're not using the phone directly. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]

22.7.2018

Apart from the Sennheiser HD1 model for celebrating Pink Floyd’s “Their Mortal Remains” exhibition these are only available from the Sennheiser on-line store and Victoria and Albert museum the PXC 550 are the top of their Bluetooth wireless/cordless range going by their pricing.This model is compatible with mobile phones, tablets, Apple‘s iPhone, iPod, iPad, and have call control answer/end call function and Noisegard™ I personally used a Lenovo Tab 3 10.1” tablet playing 320kbps MP3 files for testing, for a audio reference a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones where used attached to a Naim HC 1 headphone amp with a Naim 102 Pre-amp, 180 power amp and a Naim CDX CD player as the source.The CD’s used for the sound testing where Roxy Music Avalon,David Bowie Young Americans, Bob Marley and the Wailers Kaya , FKJ French Kiwi Juice and Sheryl Crow Be Myself. The 550’s when wired puts them into flight mode a “NewFantasia” silver plated copper replacement cable 2.5 to 3.5 which I attached to the socket at the bottom of the right ear cup.All the functions including charging volume control skipping pausing tracks and putting the headphones into different effect sound modes such as club, movie and speech, these controls are all found at the bottom and to the side of the right ear cup together with LED’s to show the charging level which you can’t see when wearing them . The tapping of the outside of the ear cup to control functions I found very difficult to do as it controls the volume up or down, skipping, playing and pausing tracks I found it all a hit or miss affair. All these functions have an accompanying voice prompt to tell you which command you have used. I also found Sennheiser Captune app awful to use, it’s overly complicated not very responsive and the modes didn’t seem to do much to the sound.The 550’s gave a good account of themselves compared to the reference headphones I was using, the bass sound compared to 650’s was not as satisfying with a lack of warm, oomph and accurately that I was used to when listening to the reference headphone and a bit more detail would have been good but that’s all down to personal taste.Now to a function I had never used on a pair of headphones the noise cancelling, I put the extractor on in my kitchen which has a horrendous sound as it works the headphones completely blocked the sound and then I ventured out walking along a busy street the headphones I reckon blocked about 80% of the traffic sound, that is a pure guess as I have no way of accurately measuring the results and when using them on a bus journey they made a normally noisy experience into pleasant one with the sound of the other passengers gone and a haven of music created.On a personal note I found the R.R.P. of these headphones on the high side for the materials used to make them, the plastic frames used to hold the ear cups in place which are clicked into the forward position to put the power on and clicked back to the power off, these frames might break after a time, the only metal I found was the headband. The faux leather used for the ear pads and the pad on the head band made my ears and top of my head sweat after about an hour walking around the streets. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]

18.7.2018

I bought these about a week ago and already one of my favourite pair of headphones and here's why. There's a lot of features that are great such as the Adaptive Noise Cancelling great for blocking out everything and everyone but it can be easily turned off. There's the Touch Control Panel on the right eat cup which is great for switching to the next track quickly, pausing or playing tracks all without having to get your phone out, its so useful and easy to use. There's a feature called the Talkthrought feature and if you double tap the right ear cup it pauses your music, It uses the 4 microphones around the headphones so you can hear everything around you, without having to take off your headphones,

31.7.2018

I haven't had a pair of wireless headphones before, or a pair of sennheisers so I was excited to give these a try.Sound:Pretty neutral sound overall which I liked. I didnt tweak any of the EQ settings, and found they handled pretty much all the genres I tried really well. If you are a fan of more heavy bass levels you will be needing the EQ.Noise Cancelling:Works really well especially in an office environment or when travelling. You don't really notice how noisy the environment is until you take off these headphones. One minor issue I had was while travelling on a bus with shuddering windows, the headphones tried to cancel out the noise and put out this really weird bass sound.

21.3.2019

The pxc 550 was very well boxed. And comes with a carry a carry case, airplane adaptor, USB a to b charger, 4 pole 3.5mm jack and 6.3mm jack. Quick guide, safety guide included. The build quality is excellent using premium materials and aluminium reinforced adjustable brackets. Plush leatherette ear cushions that make enough room my ears dont touch the inner driver area. This device uses bluetooh 4.2 apt x codec and supports NFC connection aswell. The finger functions are at times hard to find or small but i have got used to this as its so feature packed in such a sleek device. The headset has different sound modes. Volume control. Noise cancel level control.

26.7.2018

Having looked around for some quality headphones for some time, nothing quite looked, felt or sound right but then I found this particular model - everything is absolutely spot on!So in terms of why....Firstly, they absolutely look the part. A little conscious of them at first but definitely the business class look which Sennheiser are marketing them as. Build quality, again, the business class style that Sennheiser have gone for run through into how they are constructed. The headphones feel excellent in terms of how robust they are, but also how well put together. When turning them on, wearing them or packing them away, always incredibly solid but not overweight at allSound quality,

12.8.2018

First, build quality. These headphones feel solid. It's clear that a lot of care has been taken in designing and putting them together. This is most evident from the sliding mechanism that allows you to adjust the size of the headphones. It's smooth and sturdy.Next, comfort. The headphones fit snuggly over my ears and they don't put too much pressure on them - even after a couple hours of listening. Further, they don't cause my ears to become too warm. Controls. Touch controls are the primary way of interacting with the headphones and are the only negative. I found them cumbersome. They're not a big problem because I usually use my phone or laptop to control my music.

14.8.2018

These PXC 550's are amazing. I've been looking for a set of headphones that I can use all day and they absolutely tick the box. The battery life is great. The sound quality is great. But noise-cancelling is a bit weird. Sometimes you hear things that are happening around you, but played through the headphones a split second later. It's a bit disorientating and distracting. Apart from that, the amount of cancellation was a lot less than I was hoping for. I wanted to put these on and detach from the world, but it felt more like you were shushing the world than muting it.I paired these with my phone and computer and they played well together, though occasionally it went a bit weird and controlled the wrong device.

24.7.2018

I got the PXC 550 wireless headphones a week ago and can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute that I have used them. They look smart and although I initially thought that the padded headband might be uncomfortable, having worn them for over 3 hours continuously, I can definitely say that these headphones are very comfortable, almost to the extent that I forgot I was wearing them!The built-in mic is very convenient as I no longer have to take my phone out of my pocket when receiving phone calls. The sound modes actually enhance the listening experience, especially the club and movie modes.The Active Noise Cancellation almost completely blocks out lower frequencies so people who travel a lot and students will find them very useful.

11.4.2019

I am really happy with the PXC 550 headphones. The sound from the headphones has a great quality especially with the different affect modes. The speech mode is great for podcasts to give a really clear sound and the club mode is great for music.The ease of turning the headphones off by twisting the ears allows for the battery to last much longer than other headphones. I have used these headphones for both general listening and running and love them for both. The choice between noise cancelling and ambient noise is also extremely useful when using them for work.The only downside would be a vanity one as the headphones sit quite wide on the head but this is nothing major.Overall I am extremely happy with this product and would recommend them.

27.3.2019

These headphones are nothing short of amazing. First off, they look great and are super comfortable. The battery life is excellent and the wireless connectivity and functionality make them perfect for all aspects of use. But, most importantly, the sound quality is exceptional. I also own a pair of wired Momentum II over ears and these are a cut above, primarily due to the active noise cancellation features. This is so good, that I often use them just for reading on the train or to zone out when travelling. I can’t say enough good things about these headphones, they are well worth the investment. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]

8.4.2019

These headphones are top of the market for their price point. I'll start with the size and fit, which is very comfortable. It pairs with bluetooth or USB, and can be used while charging, which is a feature I appreciate. They offer excellent noise-cancelling and the sound comes out crisp, with bass thumping without overshadowing the acoustic. Long battery life - in my case, I needed to recharge once every 10 days and I use them about 2-3 hours a day. Overall high quality headphones with a sleek design and excellent sound configuration. I highly recommend. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]

18.11.2017

The headphones come with a carry case which is a plus if you want to travel with them. Once I read the quick guide instructions which are very easy to understand I tried on the headphones and was connected to my phone within seconds, the sound quality was unbelievable and I couldn't hear any external noises I even turned my tv up to max and nope I still couldn't hear anything other than my favourite song playing in my ears from these amazing headphones. I love the swipe feature on the headphone.

15.11.2017

These Headphones are something quite special. The Sound quality is absolutely fantastic for all types of music. They Look very stylish and fit well on both my head and my ears. The bluetooth connectivity is quick and doesn't lose connection like some other headphones I have had previously and also easy to use as is the sennheiser's noisegard noise cancelling feature which is miles better than any other headphones with the same feature. Love the Touch Pad feature too. I am so impressed with these

12.11.2017

Over the weekend, I have wore these fantastic headphones, listening to a huge variety of music.The instructions were straight forward, and had them set up to my phone in minutes. Once I put them on and played my music, the quality was like no other headphones I had tried before. The sound was crystal clear, and love the app where change the sound settings to suit you.I wore these for many hours, and are so light and comfortable, yet stylish.I would highly recommend these headphones.

Sennheiser PXC 550 - Reviews

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