Sennheiser HD558 vs AKG N700NC

The Sennheiser HD558 and the AKG N700NC are decent Over-Ear Headphones at their respective price points, but don't manage to stand out from their direct competitors in any meaningful way. We suggest that you also look at some alternatives that can be found for around $340 or $50.

If you're still interested in learning a bit more about the Sennheiser HD558 and the AKG N700NC, however, read on for a summary of what we could gather about them:

The Sennheiser HD558 hasn't managed to earn a top spot in any roundups from sources that conduct trustworthy hands-on testing. Nevertheless, reviewers from sites, such as Expert Reviews, TrustedReviews, Head-fi, and What Hi-Fi? all gave it a spot on their list.

Moving on to the AKG N700NC: it was unable to reach the very top of any roundups from sources that conduct reliable and unbiased testing. Nonetheless, it still managed to impress reviewers from a number of such sites, like Head-fi, SoundGuys, CNET, What Hi-Fi?, Techradar, Rtings, Android Authority, and Wirecutter (NYTimes), enough for them to include them on those lists.

We analyzed all of the review data that we could find on these two Over-Ear Headphones. First, we examined sources that tested and scored both of these products - Head-fi favored the AKG N700NC over the Sennheiser HD558, whereas reviewers at What Hi-Fi? haven't shown a preference for either.

Then we took a look at which sources liked them the most - we found that the Sennheiser HD558 was best received by Expert Reviews - it gave it a score of 10, whereas the AKG N700NC got its highest score of 9 from reviewers at Head-fi.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Over-Ear Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Over-Ear Headphones being 7.5 out of 10, whereas the Sennheiser HD558 and AKG N700NC managed averages of 8.9 and 8.1 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sennheiser HD558 vs. AKG N700NC comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.