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Sennheiser HD 550 review: One-minute review
The Sennheiser HD 550 headphones are some of the finest audiophile headphones for gaming I’ve ever tested. This open-back model excels in its audio prowess, comfort, and simplicity in every manner of my testing, and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for a top gaming headset for console or PC.
While cut from the same cloth as other Sennheiser headphones aimed at those who value audio quality above all else, the HD 550 headphones are very much intended to appeal to gamers who crave high-quality audio. They absolutely succeed in this: across PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC, audio is a dream.
Combine this with the expected excellence Sennheiser has for enhancing music, entertainment, and easy listening, and it really is a winner. It also means the HD 550 is ideal for work and everyday use, too.
Price is perhaps one wrinkle on the score sheet, as it’s a little on the high side when you compare it to the immediate competition.
For example, you could bag a complete premium wired gaming headset like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro if you want more features and a built-in mic. You could even save money compared to the HD 550 while sticking with Sennheiser with slightly cheaper models like the HD 560S or 650 sets. Still, I think anyone buying them at their list price won’t feel any buyer’s remorse, such is the quality here.
That begins with a simple and elegant design, but one that’s also robust and very comfortable. The open-back cup covers are made of high-grade metal mesh, while the strong plastic frame elsewhere inspires confidence. The synthetic leather of the headband and velour of the earcups are wonderfully soft, providing the right amount of cushioning and support.
Coming in at just 8.35oz / 237g, the HD 550 are incredibly light. You’ll barely notice that you’re wearing them, even after long sessions. There’s simplicity onboard too with only a 6ft / 1.8m cable attached (a 3.5mm to 6.5mm adapter is also provided).
All this comes together to provide an audio experience that I’ve not experienced for a long time – if ever. The HD 550 excels in all that you throw at it, and really can be the audiophile gaming-focused headphones you’ve been looking for. I’ve heard details in games I’ve not heard before, and enjoyed rich, atmospheric, multi-layered audio in game worlds. Combine this with Sennheiser’s established excellence for music, easy listening, and everyday use, and the HD 550 offers it all.
Brilliant for everything, and perfect for immersion-heightening single-player gaming, the HD 550 might be the last multiplatform gaming headset you ever need to buy – even if it’s not a traditional gaming headset.
Sennheiser HD 550 review: Price and availability
- List price: $299.99 / $249.99 / AU$479
- Premium gaming headset territory
- Faces stiff competition from its Sennheiser brethren
At $299.99 / $249.99 / AU$479, the Sennheiser HD 550 headphones are pricey, but not wildly so. At this point, it’s pitched squarely against some great audiophile headphones and gaming headsets.
In terms of the latter, I see something like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro or the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro or 330 Pro headsets as comparable alternatives. These are different propositions in terms of feature set, target audience, and what they’re built to do, of course, but if you’re looking for something in this price range that’s focused on gaming, then this is the sort of competition the HD 550 has.
On the other hand, the HD 550 does face a lot of competition its own Sennheiser brethren. For example, the HD 560S is a tremendous set of headphones that can still very much hold their own in the gaming sphere. In the US, these are around $20 cheaper than the HD 550, but in the UK, they are a staggering £99, which is extraordinarily good value and hard to ignore if saving cash is one of your top priorities.
Overall, the value the HD 550 offers is still superb. However, when price cuts inevitably come, the HD 550 are going to be very hard to beat and extremely attractive as a pair of top audiophile headphones for gaming.
Sennheiser HD 550 review: Specs
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Sennheiser HD 550 |
|
Price |
$299.99 / $249.99 / AU$479 |
|
Weight |
8.35oz / 237g |
|
Drivers |
38mm |
|
Compatibility |
PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile (where audio jack is present) |
|
Connection type |
3.5mm audio jack; 6ft / 1.8m cable (3.5 to 6.5mm adapter provided) |
|
Battery life |
N/A |
|
Features |
38mm transducer, 150 Ω nominal impedance, 6Hz – 39.5kHz frequency response, synthetic velour ear pads |
|
Software |
N/A |
Sennheiser HD 550 review: Design and features
- Open back design
- Lightweight and wonderfully comfortable
- No onboard controls or mic
The design of the Sennheiser HD 550 headphones is incredibly stripped back and sleek – there’s no overcomplication here, and if you’re familiar with Sennheiser’s style, then it’ll look satisfyingly recognizable.
It’s a symphony in black with metallic accents offered by the Sennheiser logo on the cups, and metallic edging adjacent to the ear cups punctuating that sleek look. The headband is made of faux leather and has a good amount of padding across almost its entire length to ensure head comfort, while the plush synthetic velour earbuds are delightfully soft and comfy around the ears, with the headphone’s clamping force being just right.
The ratchet on the headband for finding the right fit is also perfect, offering a good amount of resistance and hold, and you’ll also get a neat drawstring bag for the headset, too.
Under the hood, you have the 38mm, 150-ohm transducer (driver) offering a dynamic range of 6Hz to 39.5kHz. The driver is, of course, Sennheiser’s own, made in Ireland, and I’m told by the brand in terms of construction that “the diaphragm is made of a laminate plastic foil material. The voice coil is made of copper, and the chassis is made of plastic.”
Feature-wise, the HD 550 are equally simple and stripped back: there are no onboard controls here like you’ll find on gaming headsets, and there’s no microphone present either. All you have is the 6ft / 1.8m (non-braided, non-detachable) cable that ends in a slightly chunky 3.5mm audio jack connection, and that can also be fitted with a screw-on 6.5mm adapter.
Sennheiser HD 550 review: Performance
- Superb Sennheiser quality audio for games
- Exceptional for music and entertainment
- Perfect for immersive single-player gaming
In short, the Sennheiser HD 550, as a set of gaming and entertainment-focused headphones, are nothing short of spectacular. The headphones may well have killed off using a gaming headset for single-player games for me, and I have nothing but praise for the gaming audio it’s given me throughout my testing.
On PS5, the booming soundtracks and sound effects of Doom and Doom Eternal have never been given to me so fulsomely and richly, with each heavy metal riff and combat finisher move sounding as raw and dense as they should. In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, character dialogue was crisp and clear without ever being scratchy, and environmental noises were a joy.
Even the busiest of combat encounters in both translated well through the HD 550 headphones. The same was true for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Botany Manor on Xbox, but also the delicate and detailed audio in games like Frostpunk 2 on PC, and Control, with its atmospheric and spooky audio that emanates from the FBC building and its tenants.
The audio jack connection made it the easiest headphone set to use across all the platforms, too, which is a dream. Of course, you’ll be relying on your devices or an amp to really push the headphones as there’s no onboard volume dial, but simply managing them in such a way has provided me with some real excellence and memorable audio moments in games.
Using the HD 550 for work meetings and video calls is great too, though you’ll naturally have to team it with a standalone, separate mic. I did that with my SteelSeries Alias Pro, and the combination worked like a dream. There’s a warmth to ‘real life’ voices from the HD 550, and there were never ever any piercing peaks or rough troughs.
When I wasn’t in meetings, I kept the HD 550 on to soak up music, and I was treated to a truly fantastic experience here. Playing tunes from my usual playlists on Spotify, but also using hi-res audio on Tidal, and even down to browsing tracks and videos on YouTube, the HD 550 kept providing me with some of the finest audio I’ve experienced.
The excellent bass response is brilliant and almost gave me a new appreciation for Tool’s back catalog, and the mids and highs dealt beautifully with modern country and punk pop music, and even classical music such as Allegri’s Miserere and Jan Garbarek’s Officium record.
Taking all this sheer audio excellence and putting it in a sleek, comfortable, and lightweight headset like the HD 550 means Sennheiser has a real winner on its hands that is fantastic to wear and use at all times, and for a long time.
Should you buy the Sennheiser HD 550?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Sennheiser HD 550 review: Also consider
Still not sold on the Sennheiser HD 550? Here are two competing headsets for comparison.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Sennheiser HD 550 |
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro |
Sennheiser HD 560S |
|
Price |
$299.99 / £249.99 / AU$479 |
$249.99 / £179.99 / AU$405 |
$229.95 / £169 / AU$339.95 |
|
Weight |
8.35oz / 237g |
16.08oz / 456g |
8.46oz / 240g |
|
Drivers |
38mm |
40mm |
38mm |
|
Compatibility |
PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile (where audio jack is present) |
PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile (where audio jack is present) |
PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile (where audio jack is present) |
|
Connection type |
3.5mm audio jack; 6ft / 1.8m cable (3.5 to 6.5mm adapter provided) |
USB, 3.5mm audio jack |
3.5mm audio jack; 6ft / 1.8m detachable cable (3.5 to 6.3mm screw-on adapter provided) |
|
Battery life |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Features |
38mm transducer, 150 Ω nominal impedance, 6Hz – 39.5kHz frequency response, synthetic velour ear pads |
40 mm Neodymium drivers, Bidirectional microphone polar pattern, ClearCast Gen 2 microphone, GameDac Gen 2 control panel |
38mm transducer, 120 Ω nominal impedance, 6Hz – 38kHz frequency response, velour ear pads |
|
Software |
N/A |
SteelSeries GG |
N/A |
How I tested the Sennheiser HD 550
- Tested over the course of several months
- Used in conjunction with PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, and PC
- Compared directly to the premium gaming headset competition
I have used the Sennheiser HD 550 headphones as part of my work and gaming setup for a few months now, integrating them into my setup and using them alongside a host of other gear to test them out.
On my two PlayStation 5 setups, I plugged the headphones into a standard DualSense Wireless controller to test them with my PS5 Pro and PS5 Slim. I used them on both consoles for hours at a time, and also plugged them directly into my PlayStation Portal, too.
On PS5, I played Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, almost my full playthrough of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and all of my Indiana Jones and The Great Circle playthrough. I also gave the headphones a test on Xbox Series X, plugging them into a Victrix Pro BFG for Xbox controller or a Thrustmaster eSwap X2 controller to play games like Botany Manor and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
When testing on my RTX 3090 gaming PC, I plugged the HD 550 directly into the machine to play Frostpunk 2, Control, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, and then also teamed the HD 550 with a SteelSeries Alias Pro mic for work and video calls.
Putting the HD 550 set to test with music and entertainment, I used them as I normally would with the likes of Spotify and YouTube, but also hi-res audio providers like Tidal to really hone in on the audio offerings.
During my testing, I was able to compare the HD550 directly to the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro wired headset, the wireless variant, an Arctis Nova 7, and an Audeze Maxwell.
First reviewed March – May 2025
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rob.dwiar@futurenet.com (Rob Dwiar)
