Sennheiser PXC 550 review - active noise canceling headphones with exemplary sound

Equipment

The box contains even more than you might need: the headphones themselves, a cloth case, a charging cable, a cable with a mini-jack plug for connecting via AUX, an adapter with a mini-jack to 6, 3 mm, an air adapter for two mono-outputs and instructions.

Appearance and ergonomics

The body is made of matte black plastic with metal inserts in the frame and near the shackle attachment.

Sennheiser PXC 550 headphones: appearance

The ear cushions and headband are made of artificial leather.

The body is equipped with a hinge mechanism. With its help, the headphones can be extended under any size head.

The gadget is quite bulky, so be prepared to carry it in your bag or backpack. At the same time, the headphones are reliably and efficiently assembled: nothing loosens, does not stagger and does not deform from bending. To prevent you from scratching the plastic of the device with the keys on the bottom of the bag, Sennheiser has included a carrying case.

Headphones tricky fit into a fabric case. The instructions on the bottom of the case will help you figure it out.

The earbuds are comfortable - they can be worn comfortably for several hours.

At the same time, the PXC 550 is a closed model, the weight of which you will always feel. If you have used earplugs before, be sure to try on the device before purchasing. And if you're looking for a sports gadget, check out something else: closed-back headphones with leather ear cushions are definitely not the right choice.

Connection and management

The PXC 550 supports two types of connection: Bluetooth and an analog cable with a remote control. Fast sync via NFC is available for Android devices. It also supports working with two sources at the same time: the headphones are automatically reoriented to the connection in which the sound is playing.

To turn on the gadget, you need to turn the bowls towards each other. When rotated 90 degrees, the device turns off. You can forget about the power button - the headphones themselves will be activated and "fall asleep".

All buttons and switches are concentrated on the right earpiece. These are toggle switches for Bluetooth, noise reduction mode, two levels of intensity, and preset equalizer presets. With the help of the latter, you can turn on the sound settings for watching a movie or listening to speech. There is also a battery indicator and connectors for charging and cable connection.

You can control playback using taps and swipes on the headphone panel. It's simple: one tap - pause, swipe forward - go to the next track, swipe up - increase the volume. You will find a complete list of gestures in the instructions.

The PXC 550 did not receive the "transparent hearing" function, as in the wireless Sennheiser Momentum, but instead there was another one - you can turn it on by double tap on the sensor. The sound from the microphones will be duplicated in the headphones - you will perfectly hear everything that the interlocutor is telling you, and the music will pause.

Sennheiser PXC 550 does not have a gesture to call the voice assistant, which means that it will not work to communicate with Siri and Google Assistant.

Application

To tune the headphones, Sennheiser has developed the CapTune app for iOS and Android devices. In it, you can select the language of the sound prompts of the system or completely remove them, as well as enable the automatic pause function when removing the headphones.

Also in CapTune there is an equalizer and effects, with which you can customize the sound of the device for yourself. But this feature is not very useful. Firstly, it only works with the built-in player, which does not pick up music from streaming services (we checked it on Apple Music), and secondly, the PXC 550 provide excellent sound without custom edits.

Sound

The headphones produce clear and balanced sound: there are no conflicting frequency intervals and slack, each instrument remains distinguishable. Low frequencies sound dense and sharp, mids are easy to read and retain a sense of space, and high frequencies are not lost, but at the same time they do not tire the ear. You will hear the music the way it was intended by the author. That is why many Sennheiser models are held in high esteem by sound engineers: mixing flaws are clearly audible in them.

The headphones also support the aptX codec, which is responsible for playing Hi-Fi audio via Bluetooth. If you are used to listening to music in uncompressed formats, the PXC 550 is for you.

On the one hand, noise cancellation in this model is noticeable: when you put on the headphones, you almost completely cut off sounds from the outside world. On the other hand, it works unobtrusively and does not strain your hearing. Recall that this happens because the headphones in this mode emit a sound wave with the amplitude of the environment, but with an inverted phase. As a result, the waves collide and "eat" each other, and we hear only silence. The technology needs to be precisely calibrated to keep active noise canceling from bothering you, and Sennheiser has done the job with a bang.

Autonomy

The manufacturer claims that the headphone charge lasts for 30 hours of playback. For several days with the device, we have not yet managed to discharge the PXC 550, so we take our word for it.

An important nuance: if the battery runs out, you won't be able to listen to music via cable. Therefore, if the battery is running low, take the charging cord with you.

Specifications

Headphone type: closed.
Emitters: dynamic.
Frequency range: 17-23,000 Hz.
Resistance: 490/46 ohm.
Maximum sound pressure level: 110 dB SPL.
SOI: less than 0.5%.
Noise suppression: up to 30 dB.
Source connection: Bluetooth 4, 2, NFC, cable.
AptX support: there is.
Cable included: 1.25 meters, mini ‑ jack ‑ connector.
Charging port: microUSB.
Functions: preset modes of equalization, noise reduction.
Battery: lithium-polymer, 700 mAh.
Autonomy: up to 30 hours.
Charging time: about 3 hours.
Air adapter: there is.
Mini-jack / jack adapter: there is.
The weight: 227 grams.

Outcomes

The Sennheiser PXC 550 are urban headphones that are hard to find flaws in. They give out clean and powerful sound, are suitable for listening to music in any genre, confidently suppress the noise of the subway, and look restrained and stylish.

If you are looking for closed headphones that will last a long time and are not limited in finances, pay attention to the Sennheiser PXC 550. The price is 25,990 rubles from the manufacturer and from about 20,000 rubles from distributors.