Am I crazy for disliking the Philips X2 this much?

To me, the 60-70 Hz bass boost and the peaky, uneven treble bothers me so much that it makes listening downright uncomfortable, and yet people are praising these on other forums that they're HD6X0 killers, hell even Tyll said they nearly unseated the HD600 from his wall, which is the first time I scratched my head about one of his reviews. Is it a polarizing headphone, or am I crazy for thinking it's madness to put these in the same category as the HD600?

 

I don't like it as well. It hugely lacks the dynamics of the HD 650, it is less detailed and the treble characteristic is uneven. The sense of space is a bit bigger however and the boom boom bass and glassshards treble adds "excitment" - albeit not in the style of the Ultrasone Grandmaster Pro 900 aka Lord Tinnitus.

I think it gets a lot of praise because it's far easier to drive than the HD 650 so you get more "excitment" (that's its tuning after all) at the beginning of the race with a lowlier source but later down the road it ultimately loses its tires and falls down on its face while the HD 650 runs far away.

 

You're definitely not crazy--for that.

My listening notes from CS:

tl;dr If only Philips would fix that treble spike

Build: 4/5
Fit: 4/5
Looks: 4/5
Sound: 2/5

There's a lot to like about X2--comfort, soundstage, build quality, mild bass lift--but the treble spike is a problem most of the time.

The bass lift is welcome and it doesn't sound loose. I have a suspicion that a mild bass lift helps fill out the soundstage some (HD650 vs HD600). The center of the soundstage is much more filled than HD600, but sometimes it's still not completely filled in. The background seems blacker to me than HD600. The stage itself is consistently at some remove: not abnormally distant, but I didn't feel as if were in the middle of the band or in the front rows.

The treble spike is much less bothersome on vocal tracks. The first thing I listened to was a Perry Como compilation, so I was briefly fooled into thinking that X2 is kinda dark. But then I tried some solo piano works and the spike was immediately noticeable and annoying. Violins sound too harsh, so chamber music is definitely out and orchestral music is a little hard to take. It doesn't sound intolerable, but it doesn't sound good either. I wasn't bothered by it listening to metal but bear in mind that, "I don't often listen to metal but when I do, Grados."

Overall, X2 is a step forward in its category and price range. I'd rather use X2 than DT880 (on solid state) or K701. As long as HD6x0 is still available, I don't see the appeal. I'm hoping that the third Philips X will be the charm.

Gear used: Beresford Caiman II + Meier Classic, GO450 + Leck 6S-II


See also Mav's review. "Mid-fi Challenger: Philips Fidelio X2 vs Sennheiser HD650."

 

Not a huge fan either. I tried them next to the K7xx which I felt did everything the X2 wanted to, but better.

 

Yeah, less detail is a good point. Just overall less resolution, like a photo with overhyped contrast and saturation that impresses on first glance, but actually when zooming in, the details are out of focus.

I don't deny that I probably am mad in one way or another, but in all the best possible ways.

Agree, I did not like classical one bit. The bass boost and the sharp treble together created a really weird effect, like I was sitting in a concert hall with acoustics that are physically impossible.

I feel I absolutely must try these headphones now...

 

I prefer the X2 to the HD650. Totally agreed with Tyll there. However the microdynamics of the HD650 is better and the treble smoother.
The appeal is that it has more subbass and sounds more "open" than the HD650. The X2 is great fun, but it won’t win over neutral-heads. I did not notice any treble spike although the treble seems to be less smooth than the HD650. I simply enjoy my music more on the X2 than the HD650... so for me they are in the same category.

 

I agree with Claritas: there's a lot to like about the X2, mostly for the look and build quality. It feels solid, durable and comfortable to wear. I really like the fact it has a standard trs detachable cable, contrarily to the actual trend from other manufacturers.
And it's also a quite good sounding hp with spacious presentation and good impact.
I sold it because the bass lift was bothering me after some time and mostly for the non smooth treble.
If engineers at Philips will fix it in favour of a more flat/natural sound the X3 could be a winner.
But for now I don't think it can rival the old good HD6X0

Lorenzo

 

I agree, the X2 is pretty fun and it's a good fit for someone that just wants a good gaming pair and doesn't want to worry about all the setup costs of putting together a HD6X0 rig. But it's not my ideal signature. I find sound signatures like that to be better suited for mobile devices, which is why I ended up with a V-Moda M100.

 

I found it hard to enjoy the X2, despite it's 'fun' frequency response. The bass was tiring and that treble spike was really disruptive. I had an X1 before hand and whilst not the most resolving can I didn't find it nearly as fatiguing as the X2.

 

The x2 was a fail for me also. My experience was similar to others here. At first it will wow you with deep impactful sub bass. But eventually the treble and the odd tone of the mids brought me to sell it.

 

Hated it. Too v-shaped. I would rather have an HD 598 or an HE400S that seals if I had to go without an amp. For the price of the X2, you could also just get a K7XX and the Monoprice desktop DAC/amp combo.

 

Can anyone here elaborate on the differences compared to the X1?
Did Philips really screw them up that bad?

I found the X1 to be very non-fatiguing for my tinnitus riddled ears.
When amped by an M-Stage they are quite well behaved.
Bass is fun but not tiring and highs on them never upset me despite being upfront and energetic.

 

Never heard the X1 but Philips changed the tuning of the high frequencies and made a small cut to the bass hump. The innerfidelity review of the X2 states that the 6khz notch was a strategic design/tuning choice on Philips' part. The problem is that there are peaks on both sides of this notch, and the peaks sound louder than they really are because of the depth of the notch. I didn't find the X2's bass overbearing and the mids were pretty smooth, but Philips really screwed up the treble response. Based on the innerfidelity graphs I would probably enjoy the X1 more. Returned the X2 right away, got an HD600, and never looked back.

 

The difference between the X1 and X2 are smaller than the difference between the Fidelios and the HD-650. Tremendous differences between the X1and X2 there is not. The difference are subtle and seems to be noticeable the most in the bass and mids nuances. The X1 warmth can be little too much sometimes compared with more neutral earphones, The treble has bit more bite in the X2 but I do not feel it unnatural compared to what others here have found.

 

Yeah, these are some colored headphones. Especially that treble is weird to me.

Anyhoo, here's a review of my Woox-made pair!


What do you guys think?

 

There are many here who agree with you, Zed Bopp. One thing thing I would like to say though is that I do not think these are colored, but tuned. If it was colored that would imply incompetent engineering, which I simply do not think is the case for the Fidelio line. Most people simply do not like flat, just like flat speakers sounds pretty lame at normal listening levels. Semantics probably, but a very important aspect to keep in mind.

 

Why should intent matter - purposeful colouration is still colouration, isn't it?

 

Perhaps so, assuming you know what uncoloured sounds like in headphones.

 

Yeah, that's one thing. But on the other hand I believe I have an idea how the instruments should sound on some of my favourite mixes. Like cymbals or the attack of the rhythm guitars on Back In Black. I believe that big dip below the 10k boost has something to do with it:




It seems to be in slightly different places in these, but "the dip" certainly is there.

EDIT: The Head.fi X2 thread already found a cure for the problems I stated (colored highs, V-shaped FR): more expensive DAC's and amps. Why didn't I think of that!