Gobsmacked about the Philips Fidelio X1

ThatAsianGuy

ThatAsianGuy

ThatAsianGuy

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I have just got these headphones and at the price for £150 a recent sale from that rainforest place.

WOW, Amazing, and MIND BLOWING.


I had the Sennheisers HD598's and they were amazing, infact really good ONLY downside was the bass was not punchy or strong enough for my taste in music. The soundstage on the HD598 are amazing, and infact is a tad bigger the the X1's.

However the X1's offer everything the HD598's with a much better bass response. with a tad smaller soundstage. I cannot comment enough on how amazing these headphones sound. If i got them for the full £270 RRP, I would still be happy.

What headpones do you guys enjoy the most? I use my asus phoebes sound card, but might be upgrading soon to a dedicated amp and dac.
 
Sennheiser HD580 is my everyday cans (if I use them).

If I am lazy and don't want an amp then Sony MDR-7506.

If I am feeling it's something special then I'll get my HD600 out.

So tempted to get the X1 just to see what it sounds like.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Sennheiser HD580 is my everyday cans (if I use them).

If I am lazy and don't want an amp then Sony MDR-7506.

If I am feeling it's something special then I'll get my HD600 out.

So tempted to get the X1 just to see what it sounds like.
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Go on headfi, and see the reviews people give the X1's. They are comparing it to the HD600 which cost RRP 400, the X1's at RRP cost 270! As much as I like sennheisers sometimes you are also paying for the name.
 
ThatAsianGuy said:
Go on headfi, and see the reviews people give the X1's. They are comparing it to the HD600 which cost RRP 400, the X1's at RRP cost 270! As much as I like sennheisers sometimes you are also paying for the name.
Click to expand...

I paid £120 for my HD600 and have had them for 10 years ! :p

I've been a member of Head Fi since day 1, I just don't post there much since I bought my speakers, headphones are fun and that forum is friendly so I go back now and again. Head Fi used to be a LOT smaller, I remember when there were no ads, now it is everywhere (I know that's how they pay for the forum). It got from a small headphone community to the biggest headphone community online.
 
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Paid £300 for mine... likewise 10 odd years on em.

Sometimes though its just the synergy between use and sound, for me Sennheiser usually sound so much more pleasing than anything else.
 
ThatAsianGuy said:
What headpones do you guys enjoy the most? I use my asus phoebes sound card.
Click to expand...
I always opt for the sennheiser open back design, the ones i have had over the years were for good enough for me in music and gaming plus the velour ear pads for pure comfort and price range is not too bad.
 
Re the HD580/600.

Their ear pads are replaceable and still made today and the headphones first came out in 1998. That's one thing the Philips don't do and I worry in 10 years I'll have a pair of headphones that is not as comfortable as today.
 
I went Senn hd598, Beyer dt 990 pro, Beyer mmx 300, Fidelio X1. (plus loads of others but these are my pc/gaming cans)

Really really enjoy them. Like a mix of hd 598 and Beyer dt990 without being over the top anywhere.
 
ThatAsianGuy said:
I have just got these headphones and at the price for £150 a recent sale from that rainforest place.

WOW, Amazing, and MIND BLOWING.


I had the Sennheisers HD598's and they were amazing, infact really good ONLY downside was the bass was not punchy or strong enough for my taste in music. The soundstage on the HD598 are amazing, and infact is a tad bigger the the X1's.

However the X1's offer everything the HD598's with a much better bass response. with a tad smaller soundstage. I cannot comment enough on how amazing these headphones sound. If i got them for the full £270 RRP, I would still be happy.

What headpones do you guys enjoy the most? I use my asus phoebes sound card, but might be upgrading soon to a dedicated amp and dac.
Click to expand...

What amp is powering your X1s?

I found the X1 soundstage wider than the HD598 which is in turn wider than the HD595. NAD amps. Play music that's been recorded for spacial feeling like live acoustic - You'll see!

BUT!
If you've not changed the stock cable then that might explain why you found the soundstage slightly narrower than the HD598.
 
mrk said:
If you've not changed the stock cable then that might explain why you found the soundstage slightly narrower than the HD598.
Click to expand...


I got the S flex mini cable 3 metres from amazon, cost me bloody 13 quid. I read that the stock cable needs to be replaced so I did, and the soundstage is a tad smaller then the HD598 but still a wide soundstage nonetheless
 
I love my 598's too but I know from my Beyer DT-1350 facelifts that the bass is not at all accurate, let alone impactful.

I saw these X1s online before xmas and thought they looked stunning, I owned £30 philips IEMs before (gold-series or something like that) and they were really really good.

I am looking for something like my Beyers (absolutely amazing btw) but for desktop use, I wonder if these by Philips are the answer without going into hifiman or Audeze money
 
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3t3P said:
I love my 598's too but I know from my Beyer DT-1350 facelifts that the bass is not at all accurate, let alone impactful.

I saw these X1s online before xmas and thought they looked stunning, I owned £30 philips IEMs before (gold-series or something like that) and they were really really good.

I am looking for something like my Beyers (absolutely amazing btw) but for desktop use, I wonder if these by Philips are the answer without going into hifiman or Audeze money
Click to expand...

philips are amazing up there with Sennheiser IMO, but I read somewhere recently that philips was taken over by a new company cant remember the name but it began with an F, SO if they do decide to release new headphones, I doubt they would be as good as the Fidelio Range.
 
If that's true then an even better reason to get a pair of Fidelio now before they're gone and/or increase in price even further.
 
This sounds like a good deal but not quite as good as when I got HD600s new for £100.

I have to disagree about gaming and a wide soundstage negating the retirement for virtual surround sound. In Head-Fi terminology, the headphones have Headstage. Yes, it seems more immersive but games generally have rubbish stereo imaging (the equivalent to a recording's soundstage. There are exceptions, for example trackmania2, Dirt2 or other games that have a HRTF mix intended for headphones.

I find games that have no headphone mode natively need something extra, such as Dolby Headphone, CMSS-3D headphone or similar to give convincing directional information.
 
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Most good games have a headphones mode, hell even the ps3 games I'm playing do too which makes it excellent. Virtually all Valve games do on Steam and it works brilliantly.
 
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