[GrouchoMarx1933]

I don't think I'm imagining it, the new cans do sound better than the old ones. 

 

[lhayati]

Amazon sending me a replacement on Thursday, fingers crossed this 3rd pair is good. If not they'll probably have to start an investigation here in the UK like they did in the US

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

Are there any closed cans that have a similar sound signature and sound quality to the X2?

 

[punkmanmatthew]

  How do they compare to like a DT 990. Which is my other "on the fence" headphones. 

The DT990 is lighter with a little more clamping force.
 
I really liked the DT990s. They had good sound stage good treble and bass.
 
If you like treble and it doesn't bother you the DT990s have more clarity and don't have the rolled off highs like the X2 has.
 
The X2s will sound a bit muffled coming from something like the DT990s.
 
I would say the X2s have more bass but the DT990s have nice bass as well but with more treble.
 
If you are sensitive to treble then the X2s will be better for you. If you like treble and clarity then the DT990s will be for you but they don't lack bass either but lack mids somewhat.
 
I'm more of a clarity and treble guy so I find the DT990s better sounding. They do have slightly recessed mids which I don't like too much.
 
I wish they were more forward like the 598s but they are not bad. To me the recessed mids give a bigger sounding soundstage than the 598s.
 
They seem on par with the X2s soundstage.
 
 
I liked the DT990s more for gaming than the 598s as a side note.
 
The X2s are good with gaming because the bass is really nice for explosions but they don't pick up the higher frequency details as well as the DT990s like pops, shooting stuff like that.

 

[nahpungnome]

  I don't think I'm imagining it, the new cans do sound better than the old ones. 

Do you happen to know which Amazon warehouse location your replacement shipped from?  I'm going to wait a bit before replacing my set since I have until 1/31 just to make sure that they really did swap out their batch

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

Do you happen to know which Amazon warehouse location your replacement shipped from?  I'm going to wait a bit before replacing my set since I have until 1/31 just to make sure that they really did swap out their batch

Looks like it came from San Bernardino, CA.

 

[nahpungnome]

Looks like it came from San Bernardino, CA.

Interesting...I ordered my replacement before the investigation was over and it also came from the same location as yours.  I noticed that my replacement sounded better than my original set that I ordered during the sale.  The rings are worse, but the bass is less sloppy.  I tried lightly pulling on the ear pads, but I think they're glued in lol.  Oh well, I'll give it some more time before initiating a replacement.

 

[a44100Hz]

If they're using different foam densities for different batches, it could explain differences in sound. The Grado effect.

 

[raybone0566]

What's your OTL? Maybe yours have gain switch. I know Valhallas have. But I'm not sure if Valhalla is an OTL. Mine does not have gain choices, it cannot work well with X2. X2 just sounds unanimated on it.

little dot mk iii & vahalla2, both have variable gain

 

[sikki-six]

  Agree! I saw people compared X2 with HD800. I saw people claimed little improvement of HD800 vs 600. I saw people claimed HE400S is most valued. All HE higher series have minor improvement on SQ. I think I'll also quit headphones investments. And upgrade amplifiers and cable a little bit for my HD600 in the future and take a long sabbath of hifi pursuing. I bought Director from a headier and he upgrade Yggdrasil from Director, who told me it's just a finite improvement. 

HD800 and HD600 are totally different style of headphones vs X2. I wouldn't even try to compare X2's to those models. Better? Both Senns are much worse if you like big bass. If you want resolution, and great mids, they are so much better.
 
And please - oh please, don't put your money into cables, unless you have a broken one.

 

[cuiter23]

Agree! I saw people compared X2 with HD800. I saw people claimed little improvement of HD800 vs 600. I saw people claimed HE400S is most valued. All HE higher series have minor improvement on SQ. I think I'll also quit headphones investments. And upgrade amplifiers and cable a little bit for my HD600 in the future and take a long sabbath of hifi pursuing. I bought Director from a headier and he upgrade Yggdrasil from Director, who told me it's just a finite improvement. 

I wonder where you heard that from. The HD800 is in a different league than the X2.

 

[yangian]

I wonder where you heard that from. The HD800 is in a different league than the X2.

From someone's review here. Search it. He didn't say X2 is on par with 800. He jsut try to emphasize X2 is as great as to be able to compare with 800. I didn't see anyone just said they were in the same tier. What I want to sat is: The price cannot justify their SQ for those higher and much expensive models than 600, X2, HE400S etc.

 

[LaCuffia]

I am not even sure the X2 is that much better than the HD598. Sure more impactful bass but the 598 has a bit more clarity in other areas.

 

[yangian]

Yeah, it's mid and high is not that excellent. 9500 has better middle. Might get better after burn in. But I'm very satisfied with its soundstage/imaging/separation and amazed at its build quality. 

 

[yangian]

  HD800 and HD600 are totally different style of headphones vs X2. I wouldn't even try to compare X2's to those models. Better? Both Senns are much worse if you like big bass. If you want resolution, and great mids, they are so much better.
 
And please - oh please, don't put your money into cables, unless you have a broken one.

Really? Thanks for reminding! At least I feel 650's cable is better than 600's. People say no sound difference with the two cables. But I felt 650 improve 600's sound. Maybe that's a psychological effect.
 
But to be honest, on my gear, 600's bass is not worse than X2. Maybe very little bit. And X2's resolution is not obvious worse than 600. I know 800 is great in this area. But to me to enjoy music, X2 and 600 is enough. IE800 has better clarity and detail, but that's not the reason I like it. Sometimes, I like the relaxed sound of IE80 more.