Koss is a brand that almost every audiophile encounters early in their journey, largely thanks to their legendary budget offerings. When they announced the A/550, a $350 open-back dynamic driver over-ear headphone, it felt like a moment of potential unshackling. Like, Yes! We finally get to see what a brand known for sensible frequency response tuning can do with a proper over-ear platform! 

Unfortunately, while the physical design is beautiful, the sonic performance and overall quality of experience leave a bit to be desired, especially when measured against the heavy hitters in this extremely competitive price bracket. 

The real kicker here is the comfort (specifically the headband), which is stiff and hotspot-inducing enough that I can't even wear the A/550 comfortably for more than 20 minutes. While this is obviously a personal thing, I think the rigid, inflexible headband padding is likely to cause issues for many others as well.

When evaluating the sound of the A/550 on its own, it presents a broadly bass-light, neutral-ish signature, but there are unfortunately frustrating narrow-band colorations that ultimately throw the headphone out of balance.

While the bass integrates decently well with a slightly warm midrange, the headphone suffers from a distinct 2 kHz scoop. This recession robs instruments like electric guitars and bass of their texture and makes pianos sound distant and muffled.

The biggest sonic issue lies in the lower treble between 4-6 kHz, where there's a meaningful elevation relative to what I'd prefer that gives A/550 a scratchy, grainy, plasticky quality that dominates the overall timbre. It artificially emphasizes the attack of kick and snare drums with a hard, clacky character, making the headphone sound somewhat cheap, reminiscent of older entry-level designs rather than a premium product.

When put up against its direct competition, I really struggle to find a clear advantage when it comes to A/550's sound quality or user experience. 

Compared to the Sennheiser HD 650, the Koss simply falls short; the HD 650 offers a much better approach to this sort of "bass-light, neutrali-ish" tuning, the midrange sounds significantly more correct, detailed, and textured, while the treble sounds sweeter and more expensive too. 

Against the Sony MDR-MV1, which aims for a distinctly fun, V-shaped, and punchy experience, the A/550 comes across as boring, dry, and interestingly, more colored in a problematic way (despite the overall "tilt" being considerably more normal). While A/550 might appeal more to someone explicitly looking for a neutral tuning (and this will depend on how the headphone's treble interacts with their anatomy), the MDR-MV1 remains a more engaging, well-rounded headphone overall. 

Finally, when compared to the Edition XV, the A/550 loses pretty completely in both the bass and the treble. The Edition XV offers superior bass extension and a much smoother lower treble response that completely avoids the grainy, sandy character of A/550. While the A/550 is not terrible from top to bottom, its specific quirks in highly sensitive areas of the frequency response make it difficult to recommend over the established giants in this tier.

Conclusion

Overall, I'm sorry to say I don't really like this headphone. It's comfort is poor and the sound quality isn't really up to par for this price range either.

It's really a shame, because I'm a massive fan of Koss's budget headphones and the headphone is extremely to my taste visually. I think if it just had a smoother low treble response, the sound quality could even be excellent... but the comfort would still be an issue.

Sound Score

5.2/10

Overall Score

5.2/10