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

He's also got measurements up for 

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsFidelioM1.pdf

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsCityscapeDowntown.pdf

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsONeilBend.pdf

They don't look too bad either. What I notice that they all got excellent bass extension, while neutral in the Downtowns look how smooth the bassresponse is in the whole range and yea this seems a very midrange forward headphone (could be talking about an upside down V-shape sound signature :P).

Got mine today. 

Edition number: 107

Loving it! 

Philips put up some quite extensive spec page for these :P http://www.usa.philips.com/c/headphones/fidelio-l1_28/prd/en/?t=specifications

I see the Citiscape Downtown has showed up on Amazon.  1 to 3 week shipping notice.  Also the Metro and the Uptown.

Hey, that was my 1000th post.  Cheers to me! 

Love the look on the Uptown... but it seems that sound-wise the Downtowns are better... I'll probably get one just for the heck of it (have some Amazon credit so... ;))

Quote:

Originally Posted by gelocks 

Love the look on the Uptown... but it seems that sound-wise the Downtowns are better... I'll probably get one just for the heck of it (have some Amazon credit so... ;))

Well I haven't seen any comments or anything about the Uptowns so a bit hard to tell yet. :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultrazino 

 

Looks pretty smooth to me. The measurements show a stronger V-shape than I expected, and I also underestimated the warm tilt. (Might be due to my thin head.)

I do like how the bass and mids are one line and I think that's what makes it well rounded. The elevated highs balance out the warm tilt, just like I assumed in my review.

I'm positively surprised by the sub-bass.

 

Considering the price, the L1 remains a respectable option in the upper mid-fi, being favorable to many unportable headphones even.

Thank you for the kind reply.

I think that the L1 are very beautiful and look very well built indeed

I was just looking at the distortion graph, at the thd+noise in the midrange, It seems to me a little more than a same price Sennheiser

Anyway It seems so much better built than a Sennheiser (I read that they tend to develop cracks in the head band ... unacceptable. Actually I have an old 565 Ovation, cracked)

I do not know about the price, more or less that of the Sennheiser HD 600 ? 

I will look for this L1 here in Europe

Thank you very much again. 

Kind regards,

gino

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

 

Well I haven't seen any comments or anything about the Uptowns so a bit hard to tell yet. :P

Well, Tyll responded on that question actually on his comments page on the Philips CES coverage...

Of course, it's just 1 person but that's better than none! lol ;-)
 

Could anyone compare this to the MS1i? This Fidelio kind of interests me a lot.

On the subject of isolation.

I tried the headphones today in two places:

1. The back of a Hong Kong bus (on the bottom deck) near the engine (basically the engine was right behind me)

2. In an MTR train FULL of people.

The isolation (in this case meaning: sound coming in) was good enough.  Not as good as IEMs of course, but good enough.  I may have lost a tad bass detail due to the low frequency sounds getting in.  I could turn up the sound a couple of taps (on the iPhone) to drown it out... which I did.  The major problem was that on the train my head was right next to the announcement speaker (I'm 6'4"). So every time they announced a new stop I got blasted. LOL

So if you don't mind a bit of rumble getting in, it's not too bad for public transport use.  The outside sounds do get in, but mostly they're easy to ignore if you up the volume slightly (I tend to try and listen as quite as possible to preserve my hearing ;) so if you tend to listen pretty loud you shouldn't have any real problems).  

If external noise bothers you get IEMs and be happy.

Overall I kinda agree with the statement that Philips have the right balance of isolation here.  This is an EXCELLENT portable set of cans.  I think you can get better sound getting something less convenient for travel (open backs etc.) but if you want a good balance (and great iPhone controls, I might add. The mic on this is VERY good.  My friend told me it's the clearest he's ever heard me speak on the phone) these might be just what you're looking for.

Just looked at Tyll's measurements for the L1 and Downtown models on inerfidelity.com. The Downtown has one of flatest frequency response curves from 10 to 1000Hz I've ever seen. Frequency response curves and other measurement can't tell you how a headphone sounds until you have it on your head but I believe they can give you a small inclination of the overall character of a headphone. Also some of the other measurements of the Downtown seem to be a little better than the L1. The Downtown may be Audio Nirvana on-the-cheap. Philips can make great sounding headphones because they have in the past; I still believe my HP 910's are some of the best for the money headphones ever produced. The thing with Philips is that their build quality was hight suspect, but that has been addresssed in the Metro line of headphones along with the L1 and M1. Happy Listening.

Now available on Apple Store US

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/H8123ZM/A

$299

Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thermalboyz 

Now available on Apple Store US

 

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/H8123ZM/A

 

$299

 

Hope this helps.

Gah!  That figures.  Now, they're finally appearing in the market, just after I've committed to buying the Hifiman HE-400 for just a small bit over $299.  Though, I still won't second guess my purchase decision, it will still be great to see how these work out once the market gets them rolling and more people buy them.

I went to the apple store yesterday to see if they carried them in store or online and the lady that helped me had a disgusted look on her face and said "we don't carry philips headphones."  LOL.  I said "You will"....and walked out! 

Sheesh.  Do you have to throw a nose in the air?  Try it out first.  I have never ordered anything from the Apple on line store...but I think I will get these pretty soon.