This is my 2nd attempt at this one - gonna delete the other one. Somehow when I hit the post button, the all the text went away.

Long story short, after auditioning some different headphones, with some buying, selling and returning involved, I decided to re-buy these, especially since I got a pretty good price from a very cool Reddit user. I decided that I prefer the tuning of the 490 to the 550, with both sets of pads. I think I may be in the minority there, not sure. I am usually pretty happy with single-handed cables, but one of the bonuses of this purchase, is that the seller (if you read this, hi, and thanks for the good deal) threw in a pretty nice balanced mini XLR. For those that don’t know, the 490 can be used with a single ended mini XLR, or a dual jack balanced mini XLR. While, I kind of prefer the one-sided connection using the single ended cable, the other one is very nice, so I will probably use it.

It got me thinking, though, and I am just curious to what people’s preferences and opinions are. Does anyone prefer one over the other, and if so, why? Would you use the dual jack configuration, or would you prefer the single sided configuration? A lot of headphones come with dual jack configurations, especially in the 1/8 inch connectors, and some even include both single ended and balanced cables. What do you gravitate to when you have the choice?

While we’re at it, I am curious as to what people’s impressions are and so far as they had experience with the 550 and the 490. Or, for that matter these two versus some other HP they ended up choosing or preferring. for example, if I had to pick one, I would keep my Arya Stealth over the 490. I think the Stealth is better in certain aspects, including sound stage, resolution, and the speed and definition of the bass. The Arya is also very comfy, for me, but the HD490 Pro is the most comfortable HP I have come across, and I just love the form factor. While I think I have other “better” HP’s in terms if sound quality, when you add in the comfort and versatility with the mixing and producer pads, it ends ip being a keeper for me, and I have been reaching for them frequently since I got them. One other major advantage, they sound really good straight into a phone. They are so easy to drive, just using the Apple dongle into an iPhone. They have a very big, warm yet detailed sound with that source. And because of the form factor, they aren’t too clunky. I don’t know if the Arya Stealth would sound as good or better direct from the phone that way, but they’re kind of clunky, relatively speaking, and for me, they are more of a desktop solution. They are light and comfortable, and don’t stick out much, but they have that long and sorta wide egg shape, compared to the more compact form of the 490.