Review: Philips Fidelio L1 [Updated 5/14] - Page 11

has anyone heard the M1s yet?

I appreciate that Stealthy Ninja, I thought it was aimed at me because you started off by quoting me, no worries. I agree that the pair of L1s I received seem to have something weird going on so I am exchanging them and hopefully the new pair of L1s will not have this bass hump. I have to send this pair back and then wait for the new pair so it will be next friday before I will know.

 

zzffnn, they are just a little cooler than my closed headphones.

To those who think the L1 is too bassy, what other cans with strong bass have you heard? I'm just interested how these compare to say the Denons and Ultrasones.

Any new reviews of these headphones are out yet?  I'm getting ready to purchase my first $200-300 pair of headphones and these look really nice.  I'm moving up from the Klipsch S4 which I love but would like to get a full size headphone for night listening while reading at home.  No outside or travel use for me so I'm not worried about the leakage of sound.

 

Los

Thanks a lot for your help, Geared4me.

 

So L1s are a little cooler than HDJ-200. I guess they may still be too warm for wearing in hot summer days?

 

I am hoping for Grado kind of weightlessness and coolness (although I do not like the Grado sound)...............maybe I am asking for too much from circumaural headphones. Sometimes I do not feel like using IEMs but circumaural headphones make me sweat (Houston gets really hot in summer).

 

 

 

I have the same question/concern. If someone can provide bass impression vs Denon D2000/5000 or DT990 it would greatly be appreciated.

 

 

The pair I reviewed had a pronounced deep bass hump that didn't fit with other opinions of the L1s so I returned them and am awaiting a new pair to see if this was some kind of anomaly. When I get the new pair I will be able to compare them with my Pioneer HDJ-2000s, AKG Q701s, and Denon D5000s as I have them all on hand now. All of these phones have nice smooth bass with my gear and the 5000s have the deepest and strongest bass. I will have to let you know more next week when I get the new L1s.
 

 

Edited by Geared4me - 2/25/12 at 8:09am

Tyll's measurement pretty much shows more bass in L1 than D5000 for example. D5000 about ~6dB boost (peak), L1 up to about 10~11dB (peak) (about the amount I personally find suitable as I'm a basshead).

 

Here check the graphs, draw a green line for easier comparision of bass, check how high the lows elevate above the green drawn line for a better picture of the bass quantity.

 

D5000:

 

L1:

 

So yea I'm not suprised you find them relatively bassheavy, maybe about twice as bassy as D5000 if disregarding the character which the graph doesn't tell anything about (punchy/fast? or slow/softer?) good thing for me, as I thought it would be lacking for my taste but I think it would be pretty suitable.

 

 

Edited by RPGWiZaRD - 2/25/12 at 9:24am

I'm super excited about these phones, though I'm trying to not let my lusting over the looks blind my search for the sound I want.  I'm not entirely happy with my Denons, trying to find something that's a little more aggressive, with a little less offensive treble.  I'll probably have to hear these myself to know for sure, but definitely eager to read more reviews.  I'm debating between dropping $300 now on Apple, or waiting a few months to possibly get them for 50-100 less.

 

I am a little worried about the talk of more bass than Denons, I found the bass on the Denons a little overblown, but at the same time not authoritative enough.  The complaints about it being too warm I'm not too sure what to think about, I haven't really been able to distinguish a difference between "warm" or "cold" mids in the few headphones I've tried so far.  I'd almost be curious enough to get these just to experience what a warm sound from headphones was like.

Taking a second look at that graph, that's pretty impressive. Not too many cans that aren't rolled off in the sub-bass region. Hopefully it is tight textured bass.

For anyone interested, I have some brief impressions posted in my diary thread about the L1 (versus the Z1000):

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/591852/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-nearing-30/1350#post_8154344

 

I'll probably post some follow up impressions later, but my hands are a bit full at the moment with other audio gear.

Thank you MuppetFace for the helpful review!
Please kindly comment: comparing your LCD-2, AKG K701/501 and Sen HD598, do L1s heat up your ears less or more? Thanks.
Please let us know when you have more review about L1s.

After reviewing the graph I'm a bit worry that the bass is too dominant. MuppetFace thank you for your impressions.

I'm a little bit surprise that you did not call them bassy on your first impression. Based on what I read you seem to favor a balance signature so maybe Philips really found a way to integrate the bass without overpowering the mid/hi.

Thanks Ultrazino for your comment.

 

Imho, in terms of cooling, K701/501 > HD598/595 > LCD-2, although all are "open back" on paper. LCD-2s warms up my ears (still aceptable) and almost feel like semi open in terms of cooling, they sound balanced to me though they require an amp and are not portable. K701/501 sound deficient in bass and also require an amp, otherwise they feel light and cool on head.

 

I was asking about L1's cooling because we have a warm winter/spring this year in Houston. In some days highs go to 27c, while in other days lows are at 10c.