Hello
Basically this headphone review is my guinea pig to see how my review will now look in my headphone guide. It saves time and I feel get's the important aspects out there.
Philips Fedelio X2 Review
Review
Basically this headphone review is my guinea pig to see how my review will now look in my headphone guide. It saves time and I feel get's the important aspects out there.
Philips Fedelio X2 Review
Review
Build
The build of the X2 is made mostly of metal. It's a solid feeling headphone that shouldn't have any issues due to this being Philips second time around with the headphone. The ear cups are now removable and have memory foam in them. I don't think the memory foam is a high grade like the ones found on the Annie or K712 Pro. Memory foam tends to get a little hot but I prefer it over the horrid pleather pads that a lot of manufactures use! The cable is also very nice. The headphone has a gentlemen's Grado look to them, I like this design a lot. In time we will see how these stack up for build but going by experience this type of build in general could go either way.
Rating
8.6/10
Time is key here but straight off that bat I think they feel solid and the materials are top notch.
Sound
Bass
The Bass of the X2 feels more boosted than the bass of the X1. I think it's a lively fun bass, it's not a mid bass monster but more sub bass. It goes pretty low for a midfi dynamic and has fairly decent texture to it. The problem I have with this bass is it is quite artificial sounding and it's a harder bass unlike the softer HD650. Still I think this is the best trait of the X2 and it does pretty well.
EDM sounds good through these, they remind of an open Denon phone which is a good thing if you like more energetic headphones.
Mids
The X2's mid range is on the leaner side. I can't seem to agree with a couple of people in this aspect. I've heard from one headfier that the mids are HD650/H600 like then he retracted his statement and said they are dryer less prominent. If it's one aspect I'm a decent judge on it's this area. Right away it was obvious the mids are not intimate, lush and or smooth. They have good clarity in the mids but voices don't have a lot of weight to them. I find this type of headphone will sound good with EDM tracks with women's voices as the energy takes away a lot from the vocals. More vocal prominent tracks kind of expose the mids here.
Treble
This area has extension. Me personally I prefer a rolled off, smoother treble as the X2 has a dry sound. When a treble is enhanced you get this ultra detailed sound but sadly with this you get a sound that lacks smoothness and weight. The X2 is more U shaped than a balanced phone like the K7XX. I'm going to use the K7XX here because they are in the same price range. although I need to be fair here because the K7XX is based on the £400 K702.65 Annie. I found that I didn't really miss any detail with the X2 here. It has quite a toasty treble. I didn't find it super fatiguing but it did bother me slightly.
Soundstage/Imaging
The X2's soundstage is a good size. I think it's slightly larger than the X1's but they are close! probably close enough that most won't tell the difference. Purly for music, those looking for accuracy and soundstage will be happy because it delivers here. If headphones such as the AKG K701.
Rating
8.0/10
For the price it's a good headphone. I think it gets a lot of hype from people who have not heard better headphones or people who get overwhelmed. I get a stick when I start bringing up faults but if I can't be honest what's the point in a review? I recommend this headphone but let's be realistic, it's not a HD650 beater or even a HD600 one although it matches up better with the HD600.
Competitive Gaming
Yes, it bloody delivers. The slightly U shaped sound really helps here. You will find people no problem. I found it quite airy, close in air to the DT990. Compared to the K7XX it's hard to tell. While the X2 doesn't quite have the body of the warmer AKG's like the Annie, it's not a completely thin headphone so it's not going to be K701 level of competitiveness.
Rating
8.7/10
Works really well for competitive gaming just like the X1 but with more detail and a sharper image.
Fun & Movies
I enjoyed it for fun gaming more than music. Again dry headphones help to create the wide soundstage people tend to love. The boosted bass also helps to give low end noises justice. I would tend to use this as a action headphone rather than open world games and RPG's as I prefer a wider soundstage. I enjoyed them with films like lord of the rings when it came to the action scenes but if I'm in the mood for scale, then the K501's come out.
Rating
9.1/10
This headphone is a blast! does what the older X1 did and made it a hair better which translate into one of the most fun headphones in it's class.
Vs other Headphones
Vs HD600
You guessed it, I had to. Reading through Headfi and on here it seems Tylls comments about him preferring the X2 over the HD600 have got people's attention. I'm a guy that likes to analyze things. Whether it's people or equipment. I've found a lot of people just agree with Tyll just because it's Tyll and not because they really believe it's better. I've seen people sale headphones because Tyll later reviews them and gave them a less than fair review or comment; even if they really liked them.
Tyll uses a lot of measurements and also suffers from some hearing damage. As experienced as you are, if your hearing is damaged then..he's going to hear things slightly different to those who have a younger less abused ear!
That said, Tyll is fantastic, I enjoy his opinion and I personally believe he's possibly the best headphone reviewer out there. But he's not always right and has backtracked a lot as have all of us in life. I feel in case I can't agree with him.
I think graphs play a bigger part in Tylls reviews than hearing and going by graphs some can measure poorly or fair and sound amazing. Look at the graph for the M50, it's complete reversed. They measure balanced and pretty neutral but listen to the and the mids have done a runner and the bass and treble is trying to pick a fight with your ears.
Final Rating
8.6/10
Made improves to the old X1 but I wished they went for a more refined and smoother sound but it's not my decision. I feel it's a solid choice with it's combination of good sound, good gaming tool and a blast!
I personally think the HD600 is the better headphone.
Why?
It's smoother top to bottom
It's grain-less in comparison
Has better mid range detail and vocal presence
Scales better
Has a more refined treble
More comfortable
More tested build quality wise
The X2 has more extension on both ends but it comes across artificial. The HD600 became famous for it's natural tone and that is still relevant today. The X2 isn't an unnatural mess, but it isn't completely natural, especially when compared with the HD600. Coming from lesser headphones, they will sound good. The X2 has more bass, is it better? Yes it's better at bass. It's lower, bit more textured then it goes loose.
The HD600 has a bit of a mid bass hump so it tends to sound lush. The X2 is a bit more linear here. Soundstage wise the X2 is wider, depth is close the HD600 has good depth maybe even better depth but I will have to retest. Imaging the X2 had a cleaner image. HD600 isn't bad though.
Vs K7XX
Ah the other heavy hitter in this price range. I think the K7XX being here is unfair since it's based on the Annie with K712 pads. Still, it's about £160-200 depending on if you buy from a seller or Massdrop.
The K7XX for me is a HD600 which a more extended bass and treble. It's not boosted and it doesn't sound artificial. It's jsut a natural sounding headphone although there's some slight bumps in the upper mids but it's pretty linear overall. The treble is smoother than the X2's but also has more detail. It's less grainy sounding and has a better sense of image. The X2 for me doesn't do anything better than the K7XX, I felt it was beaten pretty soundly.
The build of the X2 is made mostly of metal. It's a solid feeling headphone that shouldn't have any issues due to this being Philips second time around with the headphone. The ear cups are now removable and have memory foam in them. I don't think the memory foam is a high grade like the ones found on the Annie or K712 Pro. Memory foam tends to get a little hot but I prefer it over the horrid pleather pads that a lot of manufactures use! The cable is also very nice. The headphone has a gentlemen's Grado look to them, I like this design a lot. In time we will see how these stack up for build but going by experience this type of build in general could go either way.
Rating
8.6/10
Time is key here but straight off that bat I think they feel solid and the materials are top notch.
Sound
Bass
The Bass of the X2 feels more boosted than the bass of the X1. I think it's a lively fun bass, it's not a mid bass monster but more sub bass. It goes pretty low for a midfi dynamic and has fairly decent texture to it. The problem I have with this bass is it is quite artificial sounding and it's a harder bass unlike the softer HD650. Still I think this is the best trait of the X2 and it does pretty well.
EDM sounds good through these, they remind of an open Denon phone which is a good thing if you like more energetic headphones.
Mids
The X2's mid range is on the leaner side. I can't seem to agree with a couple of people in this aspect. I've heard from one headfier that the mids are HD650/H600 like then he retracted his statement and said they are dryer less prominent. If it's one aspect I'm a decent judge on it's this area. Right away it was obvious the mids are not intimate, lush and or smooth. They have good clarity in the mids but voices don't have a lot of weight to them. I find this type of headphone will sound good with EDM tracks with women's voices as the energy takes away a lot from the vocals. More vocal prominent tracks kind of expose the mids here.
Treble
This area has extension. Me personally I prefer a rolled off, smoother treble as the X2 has a dry sound. When a treble is enhanced you get this ultra detailed sound but sadly with this you get a sound that lacks smoothness and weight. The X2 is more U shaped than a balanced phone like the K7XX. I'm going to use the K7XX here because they are in the same price range. although I need to be fair here because the K7XX is based on the £400 K702.65 Annie. I found that I didn't really miss any detail with the X2 here. It has quite a toasty treble. I didn't find it super fatiguing but it did bother me slightly.
Soundstage/Imaging
The X2's soundstage is a good size. I think it's slightly larger than the X1's but they are close! probably close enough that most won't tell the difference. Purly for music, those looking for accuracy and soundstage will be happy because it delivers here. If headphones such as the AKG K701.
Rating
8.0/10
For the price it's a good headphone. I think it gets a lot of hype from people who have not heard better headphones or people who get overwhelmed. I get a stick when I start bringing up faults but if I can't be honest what's the point in a review? I recommend this headphone but let's be realistic, it's not a HD650 beater or even a HD600 one although it matches up better with the HD600.
Competitive Gaming
Yes, it bloody delivers. The slightly U shaped sound really helps here. You will find people no problem. I found it quite airy, close in air to the DT990. Compared to the K7XX it's hard to tell. While the X2 doesn't quite have the body of the warmer AKG's like the Annie, it's not a completely thin headphone so it's not going to be K701 level of competitiveness.
Rating
8.7/10
Works really well for competitive gaming just like the X1 but with more detail and a sharper image.
Fun & Movies
I enjoyed it for fun gaming more than music. Again dry headphones help to create the wide soundstage people tend to love. The boosted bass also helps to give low end noises justice. I would tend to use this as a action headphone rather than open world games and RPG's as I prefer a wider soundstage. I enjoyed them with films like lord of the rings when it came to the action scenes but if I'm in the mood for scale, then the K501's come out.
Rating
9.1/10
This headphone is a blast! does what the older X1 did and made it a hair better which translate into one of the most fun headphones in it's class.
Vs other Headphones
Vs HD600
You guessed it, I had to. Reading through Headfi and on here it seems Tylls comments about him preferring the X2 over the HD600 have got people's attention. I'm a guy that likes to analyze things. Whether it's people or equipment. I've found a lot of people just agree with Tyll just because it's Tyll and not because they really believe it's better. I've seen people sale headphones because Tyll later reviews them and gave them a less than fair review or comment; even if they really liked them.
Tyll uses a lot of measurements and also suffers from some hearing damage. As experienced as you are, if your hearing is damaged then..he's going to hear things slightly different to those who have a younger less abused ear!
That said, Tyll is fantastic, I enjoy his opinion and I personally believe he's possibly the best headphone reviewer out there. But he's not always right and has backtracked a lot as have all of us in life. I feel in case I can't agree with him.
I think graphs play a bigger part in Tylls reviews than hearing and going by graphs some can measure poorly or fair and sound amazing. Look at the graph for the M50, it's complete reversed. They measure balanced and pretty neutral but listen to the and the mids have done a runner and the bass and treble is trying to pick a fight with your ears.
Final Rating
8.6/10
Made improves to the old X1 but I wished they went for a more refined and smoother sound but it's not my decision. I feel it's a solid choice with it's combination of good sound, good gaming tool and a blast!
I personally think the HD600 is the better headphone.
Why?
It's smoother top to bottom
It's grain-less in comparison
Has better mid range detail and vocal presence
Scales better
Has a more refined treble
More comfortable
More tested build quality wise
The X2 has more extension on both ends but it comes across artificial. The HD600 became famous for it's natural tone and that is still relevant today. The X2 isn't an unnatural mess, but it isn't completely natural, especially when compared with the HD600. Coming from lesser headphones, they will sound good. The X2 has more bass, is it better? Yes it's better at bass. It's lower, bit more textured then it goes loose.
The HD600 has a bit of a mid bass hump so it tends to sound lush. The X2 is a bit more linear here. Soundstage wise the X2 is wider, depth is close the HD600 has good depth maybe even better depth but I will have to retest. Imaging the X2 had a cleaner image. HD600 isn't bad though.
Vs K7XX
Ah the other heavy hitter in this price range. I think the K7XX being here is unfair since it's based on the Annie with K712 pads. Still, it's about £160-200 depending on if you buy from a seller or Massdrop.
The K7XX for me is a HD600 which a more extended bass and treble. It's not boosted and it doesn't sound artificial. It's jsut a natural sounding headphone although there's some slight bumps in the upper mids but it's pretty linear overall. The treble is smoother than the X2's but also has more detail. It's less grainy sounding and has a better sense of image. The X2 for me doesn't do anything better than the K7XX, I felt it was beaten pretty soundly.
Last edited:
