12hz -25khz
105db
200mW
26ohm
The Fidelio L1 by Philips is without question my new favorite headphone of all time. I feel safe regarding it as the best portable-ish headphone ever made, however I am on the fence about placing it into the world of portables, it might just be a little too large for me to want to tot it outward into the public eye. Well, on second thought...I'm a nutcase and would likely wear a real cat on my face if it emitted amazing sound quality.
Its one of the most well built headphones I've ever held, rivaling the Edition 8 by Ultrasone. I feel like whoever designed it over yonder at Philips had a fixation with using similar style components in the headband area. The framework feels very similar and looks very similar to the Eddy8. Its solid alumninum. By that, I mean its literally a solid piece of metal, it does not feel hollow in the slightest. This applies to every part of the L1, not one piece on this thing feels plastic like or of a lower standard. The headband is well formed and fits extremely well, no large gaps on the side of my head, very comfortable and pliable headband. The earpads are memory foam and have a ton of give to them, which allows for excellent "sinking in". Extremely soft and comfy, among the best earpads I've ever touched. They are on the small side, I fear larger people with mutant Xmen ears will not get a nice fit. Then again, if you are a Mutant, you must also have super powers, maybe even telekenesis and are controlling me as I write this review...nah...maybe? ( Why am I naked all of a sudden? )
The box is beautiful and comes with a velvette like bag and some extra cables: One standard, one with a microphone. Both are of a portable length and styling laced with fabric. Ideal and elegant. Not fond of the removable adapter that extends beyond the earcup, should have been on the earcup itself in my opinion but none the less sounds and looks great.
The L1 is moderately warm on the low end, not neutral via a monitor style, nor is it aggressivly warm as something like my Fischer Audio FA011 is. Its somewhere in the middle with enough warmth to keep me happy yet refined enough to be considered well into the hifi experience. The bass is smooth, layered, well textured, moderately forgiving, immensely deep and broad with again, moderate slam. It is not harsh in the slightest, I was unable to produce ugly unsatisfying bass in my travels through my .flac collection of bass heavy tracks. It presents a solid low end always, and extends deeper yet when high bass instances arrive. This is an entry level Bass Head Can, yes. I agree with some others who said this about the L1. It the right quality and quantity of everything in the low end that I desire personally. Certainly more than the Sony ZX700 and the Hifiman HE300, which both have much harsher and warped bass in comparison. The mids are lush and immensely clean and clear, as are the highs which happen to be the LEAST sibilant of all headphones I've come across this year. Tracks notoriously sibilant like Ms. Dynamites "Fire" off the Magnetic Man album were enjoyable and not sharp in the slightest, unlistenable with the He300 and ZX700. Bass on tracks like Wiz Khalifas - " On my level" reach insanely low and distorted easily on most every headphone I've used lately, the L1 plows through like a champ with no warped sound or grain.
Soundstage is unlike most closed backs and sounds more like a budget model Edition 8 to me. Not quite as dynamic or deep, but significantly more open and spacious than most any closed back ( or semi in its price teir ) that I've heard. Its not at all congested, but not nearly as open as some other open cans of this price range. The sound is large and will satisfy sound stage psychopaths like myself who want a large sound on the go. The headphone is immensely well rounded and sounds bad nowhere. It has the blackest background I've heard to date in a portable headphone. Voices seem to come out of a void somewhere in space and in direct comparison to other sets I currently have like the HE300, which has significantly more grain to it all over the spectrum, the L1 performed on shocking good levels all around. This set requires no amp but does improve very nicely with open and spacious sources. So long as I use my Hisound Studio V as my stand alone amplifier for whatever source I have, the sound is magnificently open and airy. Without it, it falls short. Source quality and large spacious sound is infinitely more important than power amping with the L1
The best portable-ish headphone I've ever heard. I have no gripes beyond the exposed cables above the earcups and the lack of a slightly raised or angled set of earpads that are not removable. The L1 drivers are angled, so too should the earpads or else you get an effect that is masked just like the Sony Zx700. Which itself is capable of insane soundstaging qualities with the HE300 earpads, huge difference from stock to Velours. I fear the L1 is capable of much more sound staging qualities and will never be brought out due to an immensely poor choice in permanently attaching the earpads to the cups. They cannot be removed. Shame really...despite that the stage is excellent. No headphone I've ever used came this close to perfection, it met every single one of my criteria that Ive listed here on head fi for years. By the way, my cat absolutely loves the L1, shes been wearing it around the house for days and keeps it on for extended periods of time...dont believe me? Behold proof:
Here are a ton of HD images, enjoy.
Solid build quality - check
Sexy - check
Affordable at $300 - check
Warm low end - check
Large soundstage - check
detachable cable -check
fabric covered cable - check
easily driven - check
requires no burn in to sound great - check
best budget headphone ever? - check
comfy enough for a CAT to wear indefinitely and not want to maul you to death - check
Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/20/12 at 1:22am
