Philips Fidelio X2HR

[cesh me inside b0z]

I looked at reviews and these seem simpeccible headphones for their price.

 

Any user reviews here?

 

Just ordered a pair.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N5VHLUG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[johnt]

I just bought them at the end of November. They were a reasonable price and I was in the market for a new headphone. They are really good in my opinion. Pretty comfy once you get used to them. They aren't as heavy as this guy in the video is making it sound... The cord is absolute garbage. It's super scratchy and you can hear it in the left ear (where it attaches). The pads are removable, but the driver screen/ear protector is attached and cannot be removed... so you can't really wash the pads and clean them like you can with more expensive brands. Just have to be way more careful when cleaning. The headband is very cool. It's shockingly good value in my opinion. I thought I was going to return them and spend another $250 to $500 more on something "better." The X2hr have been good enough.

 

I don't know if this is a rumor, but I heard some units shipped with the left driver reversed. Take the pads off when you get the unit and double check the drivers for symmetry. My unit was fine.

 

The sound quality seems good enough for me. I do prefer them to my DT770 that I've had for years. But that might also be because the X2hr are open back and my whole head doesn't get as warm when wearing them. I have them connected to a Schiit Stack "3", which is absolute overkill, but at least I know the DAC/amp are not causing quality issues. The bass is a little lacking for my preference, and there is a decent roll-off in the high treble range so that even movies/video are enjoyable. I doubt you will be disappointed unless you're an audio die hard. But you probably wouldn't have bought a Philips if you were...

[rice guru]

For the price they are great. A nice open back with a big bass focus.. hard to complain if that's what you are into

[johnt]

13 hours ago, rice guru said:

For the price they are great. A nice open back with a big bass focus.. hard to complain if that's what you are into

Were you able to find an FR curve for this headphone? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “big bass focus.” Are you saying it’s similar to the M50x?

[rice guru]

1 hour ago, JohnT said:

Were you able to find an FR curve for this headphone? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “big bass focus.” Are you saying it’s similar to the M50x?

M50x has an agressive treble and bass response these are very laid back headphones wide presentation and is very bassy for an open back

[ItsTworty]

The x2hr's offer exceptional audio quality at the price where they are at, pair these with a good dac + amp and you are set for both music and gaming quality you cant really get in any pair of gaming cans. They are really nice to listen to music in since they react very well to bassy tracks and offer a little heavier low end than the other typically flat sounding studio purpose ear phones. (In my opinion.)

[rice guru]

2 hours ago, ItsTworty said:

The x2hr's offer exceptional audio quality at the price where they are at, pair these with a good dac + amp and you are set for both music and gaming quality you cant really get in any pair of gaming cans. They are really nice to listen to music in since they react very well to bassy tracks and offer a little heavier low end than the other typically flat sounding studio purpose ear phones. (In my opinion.)

The low end is really substantial on them. I prefer them over a lot of flat or neutral sets cause the low end is just enjoyable just lacks detail some competitors have but that price is too damn good to ignore this set

[cesh me inside b0z]

3 hours ago, ItsTworty said:

The x2hr's offer exceptional audio quality at the price where they are at, pair these with a good dac + amp and you are set for both music and gaming quality you cant really get in any pair of gaming cans. They are really nice to listen to music in since they react very well to bassy tracks and offer a little heavier low end than the other typically flat sounding studio purpose ear phones. (In my opinion.)

The bass is incredible, it is there but most definitely not overpowering, goes REALLY low, the mids are great, i would say perfect really and the high's are crisp without being overbearing.

I really need an amplifier for these though, i do get a sense they are being powered to around 60% of what they can do.

But i am really impressed!

 

CSGO sounded great through these.

 

This track;

 

The bass is just sublime yet everything is separated clear vocals and no muddiness to any of it.

 

Vocals are so clear, the backing of the tracks are clear too.

 

 

Recommendations on a DAC+ AMP combo? i am currently listening straight from HDMI passthrough on my monitor rather than the PC.

[cesh me inside b0z]

https://www.whathifi.com/philips/fidelio-x2/review

 

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/tvs-entertainment/headphones/1402712/philips-fidelio-x2-review

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/upgrade-from-philips-x2hrs.8436/

 

The X2 is said to be bassier than the X2HR.
I tried 2 of those X2HR now and the 2nd one I bought for myself had a substantial (3dB below 1kHz) channel mismatch.

 

 

 

 

The elevated bass can be addressed by modifying the driver slightly but as I don't have one now I can't experiment.
Not going to try yet another one though.
Perhaps using some EQ (lower the bass) could help but can't check.

It looks like Philips doesn't have it's quality control in order or they don't match drivers despite the variations.

A DT1990 (with treble filter) is a more durable and well supported (in parts even after many years) headphone but 2x to 3x more expensive.
That's what I liked about the X2HR, the VFM but am disappointed about the quality control.

 

 

 

 

 

As a user of the X2HR the bass is not overpowering or too much at all.

[HumdrumPenguin]

Reviews about these cans were good. I wouldn’t expect them to exceed in any area, but I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

[HumdrumPenguin]

On 12/27/2019 at 2:01 AM, JohnT said:

I just bought them at the end of November. They were a reasonable price and I was in the market for a new headphone. They are really good in my opinion. Pretty comfy once you get used to them. They aren't as heavy as this guy in the video is making it sound... The cord is absolute garbage. It's super scratchy and you can hear it in the left ear (where it attaches). The pads are removable, but the driver screen/ear protector is attached and cannot be removed... so you can't really wash the pads and clean them like you can with more expensive brands. Just have to be way more careful when cleaning. The headband is very cool. It's shockingly good value in my opinion. I thought I was going to return them and spend another $250 to $500 more on something "better." The X2hr have been good enough.

 

I don't know if this is a rumor, but I heard some units shipped with the left driver reversed. Take the pads off when you get the unit and double check the drivers for symmetry. My unit was fine.

 

The sound quality seems good enough for me. I do prefer them to my DT770 that I've had for years. But that might also be because the X2hr are open back and my whole head doesn't get as warm when wearing them. I have them connected to a Schiit Stack "3", which is absolute overkill, but at least I know the DAC/amp are not causing quality issues. The bass is a little lacking for my preference, and there is a decent roll-off in the high treble range so that even movies/video are enjoyable. I doubt you will be disappointed unless you're an audio die hard. But you probably wouldn't have bought a Philips if you were...

The magni 3 + modi 3 are excellent, but far from being overkill to anything really.

[johnt]

3 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

The magni 3 + modi 3 are excellent, but far from being overkill to anything really.

Ehhh any amp for an 80ohm pair is a bit much. I’m not complaining though. The magni does have a lot of horsepower though.

[HumdrumPenguin]

19 minutes ago, JohnT said:

Ehhh any amp for an 80ohm pair is a bit much. I’m not complaining though. The magni does have a lot of horsepower though.

You can still have low impedance headphones that are really hard to drive. It’s not only about resistance, but also sensitivity/efficiency. Probably the best example is the Hifiman HE6. 50 Ohm impedance, and yet requires a power plant to fully drive it.

[rice guru]

49 minutes ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

You can still have low impedance headphones that are really hard to drive. It’s not only about resistance, but also sensitivity/efficiency. Probably the best example is the Hifiman HE6. 50 Ohm impedance, and yet requires a power plant to fully drive it.

Agreed but amp and dacs aren't essential if they sound clean and are loud enough

[HumdrumPenguin]

27 minutes ago, rice guru said:

Agreed but amp and dacs aren't essential if they sound clean and are loud enough

I think good amps not only amplify the wave signal, but also bring body (fullness) to the sound, clarity, a bit of soundstage, and instrument separation. That’s according to what I’ve heard over the years at least.

[Derkoli]

1 hour ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

I think good amps not only amplify the wave signal, but also bring body (fullness) to the sound, clarity, a bit of soundstage, and instrument separation. That’s according to what I’ve heard over the years at least.

Yeah, Even if amplifiers output the same power, they all do sound different, even if they're the same class, some throw a wider soundstage, some add more separation, some sound thin, some sound full, but they aren't as big as a difference as DAC's, or pre-amps.

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

I think good amps not only amplify the wave signal, but also bring body (fullness) to the sound, clarity, a bit of soundstage, and instrument separation. That’s according to what I’ve heard over the years at least.

I completely aggree and am on your side but. for most people IMO the motherboard is enough especially for the fidelio but if they want to go deeper at least they will gain something out of it but not as much as other headphones in the price range. 

[johnt]

3 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

I think good amps not only amplify the wave signal, but also bring body (fullness) to the sound, clarity, a bit of soundstage, and instrument separation. That’s according to what I’ve heard over the years at least.

Can't disagree with you at all. The same is true for speakers. I thought my speakers sounded great until I added a separate amplifier. I didn't know what I was missing.

[ItsTworty]

To be fair im quite biased when it comes to DAC's and AMP combos since i think they just elevate sound more than they actually do. Especially when gaming i feel like i can seperate player caused noise from background noise at a higher degree than i would with a DAC:AMP combo, But that is most likely just placebo xd.

[HumdrumPenguin]

8 hours ago, JohnT said:

Can't disagree with you at all. The same is true for speakers. I thought my speakers sounded great until I added a separate amplifier. I didn't know what I was missing.

You’ve brought a good point to the table. How should one know if headphones / speakers are being well driven by themselves if neither were previously heard when paired with a good amp/dac? There is no way. These new gems (from JDS, Monoprice, Schiit, Topping, etc) arising with a $99ish price tag these days can help quite a lot to solve the question.

[HumdrumPenguin]

Just now, HumdrumPenguin said:

You’ve brought a good point to the table. How should one know if headphones / speakers are being well driven by themselves if neither were previously heard when paired with a good amp/dac? There is no way. These new gems (from JDS, Monoprice, Schiit, Topping, etc) arising with a $99ish price tag these days can help, quite a lot mind you, to answer the question.

 

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, ItsTworty said:

To be fair im quite biased when it comes to DAC's and AMP combos since i think they just elevate sound more than they actually do. Especially when gaming i feel like i can seperate player caused noise from background noise at a higher degree than i would with a DAC:AMP combo, But that is most likely just placebo xd.

Well it's a case by case basis certain sources are cleaner than others.  if you go from something not so clean to a nice DAC amp combo, of course you will get a positive experience. But if your like me who has a pretty clean sounding Mobo and a decent DAC amp combo switching between both of course the DAC amp is cleaner and more powerful  but if I had a easy to drive headphone I could live with just the Mobo.