Nice review Listener, how would you personally compare the Edition XV to the HD 550? The bass of the HD 550 is almost ideal for me, I would prefer just a tiny bit more, maybe 1.5dB-2dB more from where it begins to roll off. And then the midrange is incredible in isolation, as is lower and upper treble. I wouldn’t mind a tiny bit more warmth to the midrange for some tracks as well.
But again, I speak of those in isolation because an elevation around 5-6kHz heavily dominates the timbre of this headphone for me in a negative way. It causes a sense of “Scratchiness” or “Dryness” and even sibilance. The latter being the most annoying aspect.
This is fixable with EQ of course, but I am curious how you would compare the stock sound between the Edition XV and the HD 550, as well as the comfort and build quality. For me, the comfort of the HD 550 is “Fine” but not spectacular, the headband is a bit stiff, and then the inside of the cups have a strange piece which sticks out and can poke the ear. The build is a bit cheap, I would not pay for full price for it personally, but these Sennheiser headphones apparently last a long time.
Not sure if it matters, but I bought the HD 550 new and sealed on sale for $179USD(converted from my currency) and the Edition XV is almost 3x the price where I live.