Are my ears broke ?

So my now ex-house mate left his Phillips Fidelio X2's behind of which he's collecting next week and I thought I'd give them a try on my rig whilst they are here.

I read up on them and there seems to be quite a bit of hype around these cans.

Now they are only powered with my Sabertooth X99 mobo so nothing too fancy.

Comparing them to my Corsair Void wireless headset I'm actually not impressed, Is it because they need a better audio solution than the mobo can give or are my ears broke ?

What isn't impressing you about them?

Minstadave said:

What isn't impressing you about them?

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Well the fact that an £80 headset to my ears doesn't sound any different than a £200 headphone

I'm no headphone expert but high end phones can sound pretty boring initially compared with consumer stuff because they have a much more flat and accurate frequency response.

The Corsairs are closed back so like most gaming headsets will probably have overblown bass and bright treble to give a dynamic sound whereas the Fidelios are open back and be more neutral and spacious sounding.

Minstadave said:

I'm no headphone expert but high end phones can sound pretty boring initially compared with consumer stuff because they have a much more flat and accurate frequency response.

The Corsairs are closed back so like most gaming headsets will probably have overblown bass and bright treble to give a dynamic sound whereas the Fidelios are open back and be more neutral and spacious sounding.

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Thanks for the reply.

I'm going to use the X2's for a few days and after 2-3 days switch back to the Voids to see if I notice a difference

You're not the first person I've seen say that such and such well regarded headphone is no different to something they bought for much cheaper.

There's probably a few reasons why you are not overly impressed with them. It's a good thing in a way, at least it will dissuade you from spending a bunch of notes on the endless pursuit of obtaining desired perfect sound.

I used to have HD650's, and then got Cloud II's. The Clouds sounded better in every possible way to me.
I do have some audio experience.
I also now have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 35's. These are way off a flat response and anything you would want for critical listening, - but - I still find them more entertaining than the HD650's.

For critical listening I will use my HD650s every time but for just general music enjoyment my favourites are my Sony MDR-1As, which have deep bass and plenty of it, rich, silky smooth mids (great for voices) and a nice bit of sparkle in the highs, ie. far from the reference signature beloved by audiophiles.

The true golden ears are those who cannot tell apple earbuds from state of the art headphones.

Be happy and save the money.

Safetytrousers said:

I used to have HD650's, and then got Cloud II's. The Clouds sounded better in every possible way to me.
I do have some audio experience.
I also now have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 35's. These are way off a flat response and anything you would want for critical listening, - but - I still find them more entertaining than the HD650's.

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I just don't know what to say lol

The X2 are really fun headphones with the right track. They are not technically impressive at all. You also have to factor in adjustment time. A headphone with a different signature is going to go against what your ears are used to. If you are looking to hear more detail than you are used to I really don't believe the X2 is the headphone to show you that but stick some music on with a nice beat and you will soon enjoy them I'm sure.

Well I'm still waiting for my external AMP/DAC to be delivered, I heard good things from quite a few people about the SMSL M3 so went with that

i think you largely answered your own question.

HYPE

They are a good headphone but they aren't exactly special at anything. and once you go past a certain volume they are muddy and and the bass becomes a flabby sloppy mess.

They are like the HIFI jack of all trades and for many they struggle to find something that does everything better so they stick with them.

TwsT said:

i think you largely answered your own question.

HYPE

They are a good headphone but they aren't exactly special at anything. and once you go past a certain volume they are muddy and and the bass becomes a flabby sloppy mess.

They are like the HIFI jack of all trades and for many they struggle to find something that does everything better so they stick with them.

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That's a good way of putting it, I'm not going to use them until my AMP/DAC arrives in a few days then I'm going to use them for a week straight and see if my ears can tell the difference when I go back to my Corsairs Voids

*EDIT*

Ok I did end up using them in Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Used the Corsairs for an hour and then used the X2's for an hour and in that particular games sound there is quite a difference.

The best way I can describe it is with the Corsair Void Wireless it's like going outside and you have your hands over your ears and then with the X2's it's like you remove your hands from your ears.

Odd description I know

Safetytrousers said:

I used to have HD650's, and then got Cloud II's. The Clouds sounded better in every possible way to me.

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I have a pair of DT990's and have just bought Cloud II's. It took a bit at first, but I'm finding the sound to be actually quite good on the Clouds. Vocals are very good and it gives a nice warm sound, although I don't find they produce as full a sound as the DT990's. Thanks to the USB sound thing they're equal/better than the DT's at positioning.

Sometimes headphones are expensive and not all that good. Beyerdynamic stuff always seems to be well regarded and at their price, hard to beat on sound and quality.

Safetytrousers said:

I used to have HD650's, and then got Cloud II's. The Clouds sounded better in every possible way to me.
I do have some audio experience.
I also now have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 35's. These are way off a flat response and anything you would want for critical listening, - but - I still find them more entertaining than the HD650's.

Click to expand...

Aren't the Cloud II's based off a fairly well regarded Denon driver?

HD600 series though very susceptible to what they are driven from - largely if you stick them straight off onboard audio - even with an ok headphone amp integrated - they will sound flat and lifeless with uncontrolled bass and meh treble - even directly off my X-Fi which while it doesn't have a dedicated amp has a fairly high power output that can get them reasonably loud just results in a "collapsed" sound.

^
Yes, you can't really count the clouds as a gaming headset as they are basically a Takstar Pro 80 (a well respected entry level headphone) with a mic.
The Takstar Pro 80 goes for £70~£80 as a stereo headphone, so they are not making a lot by sticking a half decent mic on them.

I found when I used my X1 with On board audio they was very bad. I had to put up with it for around a week while Windows 8.1 Sound Blaster Z driver was getting worked on.

I feel this is why you not noticing the difference tbh plug the X2 into a Sound card or DAC/AMP and I bet you would then.

shankly1985 said:

I found when I used my X1 with On board audio they was very bad. I had to put up with it for around a week while Windows 8.1 Sound Blaster Z driver was getting worked on.

I feel this is why you not noticing the difference tbh plug the X2 into a Sound card or DAC/AMP and I bet you would then.

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My AMP/DAC should be arriving in the next few days so I'll report back with the results