Audio Technica ATH-WS550iS: A good solid bass headphone with mic [GoAndroidAuthority.Com]

Audio Technica, a Japanese company that started off as a phonograph cartridge manufacturer in 1962 quickly expanded into other audio equipment such as headphones and microphones. Fast forward today and we have Audio Technica’s ATH-WS550iS Solid Bass series headphones which can hook up to smartphones with an in-line remote. This headphone/headset is big, bass driven and claims to offer “impactful bass, along with smooth, accurate midrange and treble”. Let’s see how it sounds.

Build and Design: 7 / 10

The overall build and design of these headphones is good. You have a full light plastic body that keeps the weight down to 254 grams with a large amount of padding on the ear cups. The metallic ring behind is for effect, as this varies as per the design.

WS550’s have a closed-back headphone design that offers passive noise cancellation, while ear cups that house the 53mm drivers ensure that the design goes around even big ears like mine. The ear cups have a swivel design which is perfect for storing these large headphones in a bag.

The cable is tangle-free with a nice and flat design measuring 1.2 metres. The L-shaped 3.5mm jack design is perfect for smartphones as it doesn’t stick out like a sore-thumb.

Performance: 6.5/10

Right out of the box, the sounds certainly had more bass but the bass felt a little loose while eating into the mids. The bass certainly had the boom but not the well-defined tightness that I’ve come to enjoy with Audio Technica’s very own ATH-M50. Thankfully the bass isn’t over-powering unlike the Sennheiser’s CX3.00 earphones.

The mids and the treble sound even, it will not impress, nor would it disappoint you. While this may sound bad, it actually means the headphones do not lean towards any particular frequency. The sounds do tend to lack the clarity that higher end headphones like the ATH-M50’s can offer, but for the price of Rs 6,000, it just makes sense.

Interestingly when I turned on the EQ and/or other digital enhancements in my tests, the headphones came quite alive. This, I did not expect. Maybe my ears have just gotten used to a particular kind of sound but with the right EQ settings, you can get a punchier bass, pronounced mids and clearer highs.

Honestly, I loved the big ear cups and the extra space they offer between the ears and the driver. This ensures that I get a better soundstage than the ATH-M50’s where the music sounds as if it is coming directly in from the front rather than spaciously as from these headphones.

Bigger headphones and more padding also means sweating around the ear in our Indian weather. While my ATH-M50’s sit on my ear and give me an earache after a few hours of use, the ATH-WS550iS started to give me a pain under the ear near my neck. But your mileage would vary.

Call Quality: 8/10

The call quality of the headphones is good. The design is made in such a way that the mic is close to the right ear cup and can catch voice very well. So when in-between a call, I switched from talking on the phone to the headphone mic, the caller on the opposite end couldn’t make out the difference.

I find it really odd that Audio Technica has such a large headphone with a built-in mic “for smartphones”. Aren’t such headphones suited more for home, office rather than outside or for sport activities? While that is true, mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops dominate our life, the convenience is of mic is an added benefit but not really a selling point.

Verdict and Price in India

These headphones are good and I enjoyed them. For around Rs. 5,200 (street price), there are very few headphones with large 53mm drivers and the spacious soundstage that these can give. Just keep in mind that you will need a good sound source or better EQing to really get the best out of these.

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