Philips Fidelio X1 sound total crap?

Frequency graphs of which site?

The X1 are quite dry / sharp sounding and personally I found them pretty dull as well. They are good for gaming and decent for music but not as good as made out on head-fi, just my opinion. "Total crap" is a bit harsh and maybe due to bad amping but I agree they are not that great... Not anywhere near as good as HD600/HD650.

They easily compete with the 600/650....but hey, just my opinion.

It's all just opinions here. I'd take the X1 in general, but the 650 if I were more into music that emphasized vocals, or perhaps classical. But since I'm all over the place in music, I like the X1 as an all-rounder. The 600 would be my last choice, but maybe it's because I had the 580 for 10 years.

Fair enough...the 650 does emphasise the upper bass/lower midrange where the soul resides. I just find the X1 midrange very pure and truthful, if just ever so laid back.

When I had the x1 it totally depended on what song I played.
 
The problem is that on songs that you want to be engaging and full, the sound doesnt fill up. The bass is there but the instruments sound distant. 
If someone is expecting the headphone to sound full and powerful they will be strongly disappointed. There are clear and unmistakeable things that this headphone does really well or better than average. 
 
- The instruments when focused in on individually sound just like how they are supposed to as far as being realistic. They are not dry, not hot, not sibilant, not grainy, not metallic, very natural.
- nice extension on both ends of the spectrum
- warm sounding
- Besides the bass, its really neutral
- Details are moderately good.
- Instrument seperation is above average.
- Bass reaches low and its slam is pretty solid though it is a little loose
- Soundstage is moderately big
- Highs are far from harsh as well as the mids
- You can hear which instruments are louder than others and the imaging is above average. 
- Really easy to drive.
- Hands down the most comfortable headphone I have ever worn and bests hd650, he-400 and others.
- The last thing I would say is that for acoustic music it sounds muddy, actually its quite the opposite. For forward engaging music however I can see this being the case. The drivers don't seem to push the sounds forward enough to make them stand out. 
 
Reading reviews that say that this is a FUN CAN can be misleading. Bass and speed don't equate to fun. For a lot of hip hop songs I found the slower but fuller and stronger hd650 to be leagues more engaging and immersive than the x1 though it had less bass. 
 
The hd650's ability to bring full sounds also means that it will bring the drums and everything else with it too. 
 
x1 = gaming, or relaxing with music without intentions of rockin' out. Not really good for electronic music. But it is a very special can and I miss its qualities. I would buy it again. 
 
The problem is that you always desire to turn the volume up to fill in the air with stronger sounds. However, it just doesn't happen. It gets loud but then feels like its going to cook the drivers. The build quality, while awesome in appearance, is quite fragile. I 
 
I sold them but I would buy them again as a compliment to other headphones as they make the perfect easy listening cans. 
 
For electronic go with the he-400, for engaging vocals and strong but smooth presentation go with the hd650/600. Though if you don't drive them right you will be equally disappointed. 
 
I thought the x1, based on its qualities, would be an all in one can but its not just the individual qualities. It is how they play together. 
I now doubt that exists. Though it does a lot of things in a way that is ideal, as a whole on certain songs it doesn't pan out right. However If I had to have one can on an island with an iphone and no amp the x1 would be 2nd to the momentum.
 
The momentum does mostly the same things right besides air, detail and instrument separation, yet it has a fuller, more engaging sound and its technicalities aren't far off. 
 
Give the Momentum tighter bass and impact, better micro details and instrument separation and imaging and it would be PERFECT.
 
Someone needs to make an equable headphone on all frequencies like they are doing with studio monitors nowadays.

Quote:

grizzlybeast said:

x1 = gaming, or relaxing with music without intentions of rockin' out. Not really good for electronic music. But it is a very special can and I miss its qualities. I would buy it again. 
 
For electronic go with the he-400, for engaging vocals and strong but smooth presentation go with the hd650/600. Though if you don't drive them right you will be equally disappointed. 
 
I thought the x1, based on its qualities, would be an all in one can but its not just the individual qualities. It is how they play together. 
I now doubt that exists. Though it does a lot of things in a way that is ideal, as a whole on certain songs it doesn't pan out right.
 
The momentum does mostly the same things right besides air, detail and instrument separation, yet it has a fuller, more engaging sound and its technicalities aren't far off. 
 
Give the Momentum tighter bass and impact, better micro details and instrument separation and imaging and it would be PERFECT. (BIGGER CUPS AND SOUNDSTAGE AS WELL)

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Yes I completely agree with this part of what you said 100%
 
I only said HD600/650 because they are the main headphone the X1 are compared to....
 
Overall the HD600/650 are just a much more coherent sound which just sounds "right" the X1 look better on paper but the overall sound is just not as good. They are faster and have more bass than the HD600/650 but overall I would still have the HD650 if I had to choose between those 2.
 
If Sennheiser release a Momentum which is a bit bigger and better then that will be ideal.

 
If Sennheiser release a Momentum which is a bit bigger and better then that will be ideal.

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I agree. I forgot about the bigger part. It is such a promising can and gives me hope for an affordable all in one that nails everything.

 
Overall the HD600/650 are just a much more coherent sound which just sounds "right" the X1 look better on paper but the overall sound is just not as good. They are faster and have more bass than the HD600/650 but overall I would still have the HD650 if I had to choose between those 2.
 

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I have been wanting to see that paper btw(graph). and compare it with others. 

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grizzlybeast said:

 
I have been wanting to see that paper btw(graph). and compare it with others. 

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Hm well what I meant by "on paper" is what you read on head-fi and the FR graphs as well....
 
But a lot of things like "sounds like the HD650 but faster and with more bass" and "open headphones with as much bass as closed headphones" etc. makes them sound like they would be almost perfect headphones.... But in reality they just don't sound very natural or enjoyable in my opinion.
 
If you want headphones purely for gaming then they are excellent but not so much for music. Not saying they are bad but compared to something as realistic / natural sounding as the HD650 there is no competition. If you want open headphones and big bass that sound as good as Sennheiser etc. you need to get planars or both open + closed headphones.

Quote:

grizzlybeast said:

 
I have been wanting to see that paper btw(graph). and compare it with others. 

Click to expand...

Here...
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsFidelioX1.pdf

I mostly agree. 
but to me it is a good can for the money. At the original price though. Freaks no! now it is only 280 or so.  
I know what you meant by on paper. I just wanted to see graphs but never really checked it. I used my ears. 
 that quote sounds like a headphonia one. That is like super misleading. It sounds nothing like the hd650. 
 
I love headphonia pictures and how they respond to people and how overall nice they are but man they have thrown me off more than any other site.
 
I did find its bass better than a lot of closed headphones though. it gets cudos for that. 

Yeh I did not say they are bad headphones but I do not think they are comparable to "faster HD650 with more bass" like some people have said. If you like the sound of them then you could do a lot worse for the current price, out of the millions of headphones I have tried they are one of the better ones at £180.... For £230 that they were going for I would definately get the HD600/650 or HE-400 though... I sent mine back and got some second hand hifiman HE-400 and I think they are a lot better than the X1 if you can find some for ~ £250. Headphonia reviews are a bit misleading I agree.

Quote:

nicholars said:

Here...
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsFidelioX1.pdf

Click to expand...

 
Almost ideal....
 
Quote:

nicholars said:

 
If Sennheiser release a Momentum which is a bit bigger and better then that will be ideal.

Click to expand...

 
It would be ideal if it didn't cost $1200 which it probably would, knowing Sennheiser

oh my.... the graph says I am wrong about bass extension and that the hd650 extends a teeny bit further. I do remember it failing my really deep song I use to test the lowest of low bass. But it is rare to have that low of a bass. Still prefer x1 bass a little though. I like me some bass