Are X2hr for £109 new worth it?

[nice one 7546]

Hi I'm new to the audiophile space but I've heard these headphones are a nice first step into the audiophile world.

For £109 are they worth it?

Use case
Fun gaming
Music + movie listening

From what I understand these headphones are great for the those use cases above but aren't the best for hearing where footsteps are coming from accurately.

maybe I could pick up ad700x when they go on sale if I want to soundwhore?


Or would it be better to just get a single pair of headphones, amp + dac and a mic?

 

[EsaT]

For start remove that shop name.
Forum rules forbid mentioning names of competing shops.

If you want fun above neutral bass punch for balanced game immersion at that price they're very good.
Just like Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro with normal price at that level.
Gaming headsets have nothing over these and they have ability to give sound with also feel of distance besides direction.

Again ATH-AD700x is neutral/light bass "can".
So good if you want the absolutely best distinguishing of details like foot steps in games.
But mediocre for "fun factor" with bass easily feeling shy in games. Same for movies, which benefit from good bass.
(own Beyer DT990, AKG's fun bass K712 and neutral K702 with little more bass than ATH-AD700x)


As for hearing directions of sounds that needs binaural sound.
We can hear in 3D with just two ears, because shape of the head causes direction dependant changes to signal received by both ears from sound source.
Brain then uses those differences to decode position of sound source.
Stereo sound lacks those cues and with headphones doesn't even give proper left-right directionality.
Instead pure speaker mix gives very artificial "inside left or right ear, or in center of head" sound when listened with headphones.

Simulating those binaural cues mathematically (google for HRTF) has been common feature in sound cards for decade.
In fact in Windows XP and earlier DirectSound time sound card was able to get from the game true 3D positions of sound sources as source data.
Nowadays sound cards have to be satisfied to lossy and flattened into plane 5.1/7.1 "surround" sound as source for simulating binaural sound.

Because of shape of the head and pinnae differing between persons, recently released Sound Blaster X3 would be best for good positioning with its head shape customizable Super X-Fi HRTF.

 

[nice one 7546]

@EsaT
Thanks for the information.
between the x2hr and 990s which would you consider the more "fun" of the two?

if I want the best of both worlds of fun and competitive would this be a good setup?

Soundblaster X3 for surround
X2hr for fun and music
Ad700x/shp 9500/shp9600 for sound whoring

if I do get this X3 would it be a waste of money paired with these headphones as they're relatively easy to drive?

Basically I'm trying to get one headphone from one end of the spectrum (fun) and one from the other (comp)

 

[EsaT]

Don't own those Fidelios and not intending (have already enough different ones) so can't say how they would compare directly.
Compared to AKG K712 DT990 is little bit more fun.

For gaming in general DT990's "Beyer's treble" actually balances that bass.
But for music you would want to tone down equalizer's 8kHz band at least if music has been mixed for usual weak treble equipment.

Instead of using multiple headphones and switching between them using different equalizer curves for different uses would be other option.
If you neutralize bass it obviously makes foot steps etc more easy to distinguish in competitive gaming.

Creative actually has Super X-fi profile for DT990, so it likely works extremely well for sound positioning.


Also now before I forget it (again) do you have quiet environment?
All these are open headphones and they basically let environment's sounds through unmuffled and only way to isolate environment's sounds is increasing listening volume.

 

[nice one 7546]

@EsaT

Yeah, my man cave is quiet.

Was just reading about the 990s and they come across as the most polarising headphones lol. "Beyer spike" came up a lot.

I might just buy the x2hrs as £109 seems like a good price (would you agree?), as they don't require an amp and go from there.

I don't know too much about EQing but I've read if you're going to EQ get a headphone with good bass, as bass is easy to get rid of but not so easy to add.

 

[PapaLazaru]

Owned them twice, but don't anymore, but they are worth the current price.

Fun, slightly bass heavy, and easy to drive. Very comfy and well built as well.

X3's are just around the corner, hence why the drop in price.

 

[EsaT]

It's always better and safer to tone down something than try to compensate for lack of:
There's danger of signal clipping from boosting signal or its part.
While there's no such risk in equalizing something down.

 

[nice one 7546]

Thanks I'm going to order them and see how I like em.

Yeah I saw x3s are coming out early next year but they'll probably cost £300+.

If I like the x2hrs and want to upgrade to x3s at a later date when they go on sale, at £109 I probably won't lose much money.

thanks for the help guys

@EsaT

 

[Marine-RX179]

I'm really tempted by the X2HR at the current price as well, and desperately telling myself NO.

I have the Beyer DT770 250ohm, X1, Sony MA900, Sennheiser HD700...I really shouldn't should I?

 

[C64]

I own fidelio x1's they still keep my sennheiser hd650's in the cupboard I'd take advantage of the fidelio deal whilst it's there.Thinking of grabbing a backup set myself for that price.Be interested to see what you think of them if you end up getting them.Personally I love dolby headphones 8 channels with them.

 

[WhiteHartMart]

I bought a pair (arrived today) after regretting selling a pair a while back.

Have them for multi purpose use. Had a set of DT990 also which I enjoyed for gaming but the Phillips just more flexible for me with the removable cable and ease of adding a Mic for gaming.

Personally think they are a bit of a steal at the current price

 

[michty_me]

Currently looking at the X2's at the minute for gaming and music. Are they worth a purchase? (Assuming I can find a deal as the cheapest I have seen are £140)