Actually saw a few showgirls @ Pikom PC fair with the Fidelio L1s. They have no idea what they were wearing on their necks. Its overpriced in Malaysia however. They were meant to be at the same price as the AGK K550 while offering a slightly more portable form factor.

These were selling at 1200-1300 at the PC fair according to the Phillips booth guys. If Jaben has the AKG K550 for 1000-1100, its a knockout there.

Having heard both, the AKG is slightly better, with the L1 abit more commercial sounding

Depends. On the move, the L1 is more neck friendly, looks classier and has the option of an i-remote. They're also more lenient towards lossy/compressed media. Warm, lush, creamy, slightly sweet with gobs of detail. Good for commercial and popular music and hits.


AKG K550 will sit on your cheeks when worn, and will look like an akward neckbrace around your neck. Comfort-wise about the same, the cushioning on the K550 is excellent, but the headband is metal with very little cushioning. This metal headband may also get in the way when worn on the neck (your neck will feel some cold hard steel on it). Soundwise its more judgemental on compressed media. Higher detail, airier.. more spacious presentation of music. Its also much less U shaped in signature. Great for classical, jazz music. Still okay for popular hits but... this all depends from label to label and quality of recording (not just the compression but the recording studio quality itself)

I like the K550. I really do. They're also cheaper in Malaysia vs the fidelio L1, which says alot. Jaben's website has them for 1000 which is mindblowing! great job on the pricing guys!!

I've been b****ing non-stop bout mad-high prices of headphones in Malaysia especially when compared to USA and AUS (where I spent 7 years at). But if I was in AUS, I'd be paying RM1300 for the K550.

So with this... I'll fully recommend the K550 as a mid-fi beast. An excellent bridge to the hifi TOTL headphones. And they actually will compete well versus the big boys as well (from my experience with high end closed headphones like the Edition 8, SigPro, T5P and T70p)

Jaben has the 8.As on demo I think.

The B&W P5s are one of my favourite ever. I'm trying very hard to convince myself not to put them up for sale.. but they're really not being used at all at this moment.

However, in terms of audio quality. The P5s are a portable supraaural headphone, therefore its rather unfair to compare them to the K550. The Fidelio L1 is more of P5's category, and TBH I think the L1 comes up slightly better in terms of sound. Still I <3 the P5s for what they are.

The best on-ear portable I've listened to so far would be a close tie between the ATH ES10 and V-Moda M80. But the ES10s are more comfortable so they take my vote. However, I have not had a listen to the Amperior, which should provide the ES10 a good run for the money. (I'm sorry DT1350 fans, I lost love for the DT1350 after awhile)

This post has been edited by wilzc: Jul 25 2012, 12:22 AM