Hi-X55 : Professional monitoring headphones

I bought these headphones for isolation and tracking. And to be short they perfectly fit these 2 purposes.

Build quality

Hi-X55 are solid. Very nice combination of metal, plastic and pleather. They are not fancy by any means while they have this truly professional look. Work horses!

Sound

Crisp and clear. Analytical and unforgiving. You won't enjoy most of the music in these. Highs are quite accentuated. Bad mixes sound harsh! The bass is there but it's not as groovy as in Beyerdynamics. The manufacturer describes Hi-X55 as first headphones that have perfect transient attack. This is true. You almost physically feel percussion and plucky sounds - very snappy.

Stereo panorama

These have very wide stereo field like open cans. Very easy to locate instrument panning and sound directions. Great for analysing mixes. Great for gaming too!

Comfort

These headphones are relatively small but they have the right shape to fully cover your ear - your ear doesn't touch the headphones and perfectly sits inside the oval earpad. Due to closed design you have good isolation but it also creates some sort of vacuum between your ears and the caps (because of the pleather pads) which some may find uncomfortable.

Isolation

Isolation is very good! It's quite better than in Beyerdynamic 770.

Cons

It's very relative con but keep in mind you won't enjoy most of the music in these. You will hear harsh highs and resonances in bad mixes which you usually don't hear. These were designed for professional work and not for amusement.

Price / Quality

I think these headphones have a very solid price to performance rating. I highly recommend them!