[Morph91]

I have been listening to music through these all day on and off and wow. They really are a great set, i just have a problem with the bass sounding a bit lazy and not clear after a certain volume? I have heard people changing the cables over but i'm unsure whether this would cure the problem. I have been using them with the Xonar Essence STX. 
 
Thanks in advance

 

[cel4145]

How long have you had them? Bass can sometimes improve after some break-in.

However, Tyll did measure the stock cables in his review and found them to be a little high in resistance.

 

[Morph91]

Thanks for the reply. I have only had them for one day so maybe i should give them a while. I might just order another cable and give that a go. I have heard the cable isn't a good match for these so i will burn them in and get another cable and see what happens. Thank you

 

[cel4145]

Apparently, V-moda makes a cable that works fine as a replacement. I'd try it if you go with a new cable

 

[Morph91]

Thanks mate. I will check that out now. I also have seen people on the internet buying this cable for a replacement http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fisual-S-Flex-Mini-3-5mm-Jack-To-Jack-Cable-3m-/150986260918?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item23277b81b6

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I have been listening to music through these all day on and off and wow. They really are a great set, I just have a problem with the bass sounding a bit lazy and not clear after a certain volume? I have heard people changing the cables over but I'm unsure whether this would cure the problem. I have been using them with the Xonar Essence STX. 
 
Thanks in advance

 
Hopefully you have disabled the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS.
Try deleting the Asus drivers and install the "Unified Xonar Drivers".
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
Might also consider using Foobar2000, for playing audio files.
 
The Philips Fidelio X1 is 30-Ohms and technically you would want to use a headphone amplifier with an output impedance of around 3-Ohms or less.
So you want the headphone impedance to be 10 times (or more) of the impedance of whatever source your plugging the headphones into.
Otherwise you can get things like a bloated (louder, less detailed) bass.
The Essence STX's headphone output is 10-Ohms.
You might consider getting a Schiit Magni headphones amplifier ($99), which has less then a 1-Ohm output impedance, and plug it into the Essence STX's RCA line-outputs.
The STX's RCA outputs do not provide a headphone surround sound feature, just basic stereo audio, which is fine for music.
 
If you have a limited budget for audio improvements, you could always sell off the Essence STX and get a Schiit Modi (USB or optical) DAC ($99) and the Schiit Magni (Magni)
 
My two cents is you would benefit more from a low impedance amplifier, then swapping the headphone cable.

 

[Morph91]

Thanks for the reply. I already downloaded the Unified Drivers. I could get that amp but i am a fan of Dolby Headphone for music. It's a tough one if they don't improve after the burn in.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for the reply. I already downloaded the Unified Drivers. I could get that amp but i am a fan of Dolby Headphone for music. It's a tough one if they don't improve after the burn in.

 
Sell off the Essence STX and buy the Xonar DX or D1 sound (used, $60), the DX & D1 & STX use the same C-Media CMI-8788 audio processor.
Then just plug the Schiit Magni into the Xonar DX/D1's backpanel "front" speaker/headphone output jack.
and you still get all the Dolby Headphone features as the STX.

 

[cel4145]

Are you boosting the bass with EQ? And when you say that the bass is not clear past a certain volume, is that after you crank it up a lot, near full volume? Could also be you are reaching the limits of the STX.

I haven't heard the X1s, but Tyll did say in his review, "Listening to the X1 is almost overwhelmingly fun. The bass is big, and though a tad loose down real low, is marvelously musical . . . .I think I should elaborate just a bit on the two flaws I heard, the slightly loose bass, and slightly artificial treble. Having an open design means you're sort of stuck with having the bass roll-off as it goes below the primary resonance of the driver; in this case that's at about 70Hz. Below that you not only loose level but also suffer some phase shifting."

 

[Morph91]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't boosted the bass or touched the EQ at all. I have it on the high gain (the middle setting) about halfway up. Quite loud i suppose. It just sounds like the bass is distorted a bit. I use Foobar and listened to 320 and FLAC for the duration of the listening session.

 

[Morph91]

And thanks PurpleAngel i might consider that if it carries on like this

 

[cel4145]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't boosted the bass or touched the EQ at all. I have it on the high gain (the middle setting) about halfway up. Quite loud i suppose. It just sounds like the bass is distorted a bit. I use Foobar and listened to 320 and FLAC for the duration of the listening session.

The sensitivity is 100db for those headphones. Try it on low gain. I always try to use the lowest gain possible. If the headphones drive to loud enough volumes with the low gain, then that's often the better choice.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't boosted the bass or touched the EQ at all. I have it on the high gain (the middle setting) about halfway up. Quite loud i suppose. It just sounds like the bass is distorted a bit. I use Foobar and listened to 320 and FLAC for the duration of the listening session.

 
As the Fidelio is only 30-Ohms, i would think the STX would be set to to low gain (<- 64-Ohm).
You also might consider posting Fidelio questions on this thread.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/623013/new-philips-fidelio-x1