[Profoundsoup]

What is the next natural upgrade from the Phillips X2's as far as a similar sound signature? I love the bass in these things, how you can turn them up loud and they NEVER get harsh. Also they are one of the only headphones where they sound good at all volume levels. You can play them quiet and still hear the voices clearly and like I said you can play them loud and they never are harsh. I was just curious are there any headphones above them that share the same characteristics?

 

[waynes world]

What is the next natural upgrade from the Phillips X2's as far as a similar sound signature? I love the bass in these things, how you can turn them up loud and they NEVER get harsh. Also they are one of the only headphones where they sound good at all volume levels. You can play them quiet and still hear the voices clearly and like I said you can play them loud and they never are harsh. I was just curious are there any headphones above them that share the same characteristics?

Sounds like you're talking Nighthawks.

 

[midlandcanary]

  What is the next natural upgrade from the Phillips X2's as far as a similar sound signature? I love the bass in these things, how you can turn them up loud and they NEVER get harsh. Also they are one of the only headphones where they sound good at all volume levels. You can play them quiet and still hear the voices clearly and like I said you can play them loud and they never are harsh. I was just curious are there any headphones above them that share the same characteristics?

Have you thought about the Denon D600? You can get them cheapish in the UK on Ebay and to me they sound like a clearer Nighthawk. 
 
Anyway waiting for my X2 to come in, will compare the D600, X2, Thx00 and Nighthawks. The Thx00 (Purpleheart or Mohog) would be a great choice if you don't mind the stupidly long cable or getting them modded. 

 

[slex]

Anyone using with x2 with fulla2? Impression with the double 2s?

 

[ShreyasMax]

Don't get me wrong they sound great, but anyone else find the highs just  slightly sibiliant? Just a bit too much sharpness to the highs which gives a slightly unrelaxed feeling to the music? Things like claps, rim hits, cymbals. Lows and mid sound lush and lovely, just those highs need reigning in, or need the edge taking off.

Agree fully.

 

[Selbi]

Agree fully.

To be fair, it's due to that reason that I'm actually using an equalizer to turn down the highs just a tiiiny bit at roughly 10kHz+ (not more than 4dB). Normally I'd say that no headphone ever should need to be manually be reconfigured by the user, but since the X2 sound so damn great otherwise, I have absolutely no problem doing it here.

 

[ZapX629]

Yeah, there's definitely an edge to the treble and it's no doubt due to the changes made to give the X2 more air. It's the same thing that a lot of Audio Technica cans employ to get that airiness. From all the improvements to the overall package, the X1 beats has a better treble, but lacks some of the clarity of the X2. The X2 is very much like an X1 had a baby with an SHP9500.

 

[wolfmath]

Good Grief!!!!
I paired the X2's with the Aune T1 SE and they sounded awful. They were very flat sounding, and had way too much bass. Now I've got 2 DAC/AMPs connected to my computer. The Aune is powering HD6XX's and the X2's are powered by the Monoprice DAC/AMP (not the monolith series, the older one). I think the X2's rival the 6XX's. 
 
I've been playing with a new DE in Ubuntu called Budgie. It's got a really slick and easy way to change the output. Switching headphones (on different amps mind you) takes less than 10 seconds. I'll try to get a screen shot when I can.

 

[Selbi]

I could scream. Why does life hate me so much?
 
After getting my new X2's and at first being certain that they finally fix my imbalance problem, after two days of extensive listening I can indeed confirm that it's happening on these as well. Only this time it's favoring the other channel...
 
To confirm I'm not hallucinating, I've grabbed out my old X2's again (which were ready to get sold), plugged it in, and could indeed make out the subtle audio differences between the channels, here favoring the left channel. I've been switching back and to the two headphones for the past hour now, trying different cables, putting the headphones out with the earcups swapped, putting the velour pads on each other pads.
 
But nope, it's just the way it is. My old pair favors the left channel, the new pair favors the right channel.
 
However, one thing I've noticed on both headphones is that the channel sounding quieter has a "more airy" feeling to it, even when the headphones aren't even plugged in. This was very obvious when simply wearing the headphones unplugged and constantly swapping earcups. The quieter side would allow more air to come in. It sounded more open, like the ventilation from the metal grills to the ear was more out there than on the other side.
 
What the hell is going on? I don't want to have to buy a third pair.

 

[Mr Trev]

Just swap the left earpiece from one with the other between the 2 pairs. Then you can have 1 pair with 2 matched sides and 1 pair with 2 unmatched

 
Seriously, try shifting them round on your head. I know with mine I could hear a tonal imbalance between the sides depending on how they are sitting on my head - only really noticeable with test tones though. Check the mesh. There is a fabric behind that could be damaged/shifted. Was going to suggest swapping earpads, but seems you already tried that. Also make sure you try them with different sources, and get a second opinion too. See if somebody else can hear the difference 

 

[Selbi]

I've tried just about every way a human could wear headphones, for both of them. Didn't help. The "imbalanced airiness" is way too noticeably different on both headphones to be just caused by not wearing them correctly, cause I put them on and wear them the same way and still get the exact opposite airiness for each headphone pair. I can feel this without test tones, although playing around with SineGen for a while did confirm me further.
 
Fabric is undamaged and perfectly centered on both cups for both headphones.
 
As for sources, well, as the airiness is noticeable without having anything plugged in at all, that's hardly going to make a difference. Plus, the exact same headphone model sounds literally the opposite way around on the same audio interface.
 
I could ask my flatmates for their opinion, though it doesn't matter in the long run, as I can definitely hear this and I will be the one to use them, so...

 

[PopZeus]

IIRC the X2s have a manufacturer's recommended burn-in time of around 400 hours or something insane like that. The channel imbalance I heard early on went away after a few months. Not sure that helps but if its really subtle, it might end up fixing itself.

 

[Mr Trev]

I guess you could try a 48-72 hr. burn in over the weekend and see if anything changes. How you can hear the airiness with them not even plugged in completely baffles me. Some sort of mismatched damping material inside the earcups maybe, but I haven't seen what the insides look like.
I'd say your best bet would be an exchange (if possible) at this point.

 

[Selbi]

  How you can hear the airiness with them not even plugged in completely baffles me.

Yeah, me too. At first I thought it was my ears being hallucinating, but since that feeling follows the louder cup even when rotating the headphones I knew that I was not insane. Meh.
 
Gonna try to burn them in for a while. Is this okay or do you recommend anything else?
 
EDIT: Well, three hours in and I hear literally zero difference at all. Or rather, feel, as the imbalanced airiness is still as noticeable as before. I know you said to do it for two whole days, but with such a significant difference I can tell that a long-term experiment will not change anything either. Looks like I have to get a third one after all...

 

[Selbi]

Talked to Philips' customer service. They're well-aware of the problem and have immediately given me the opportunity to get a replacement.

Damn, what an uplifting twist to the story. Not even that they directly offered a replacement, but that they openly admit that this is a known problem.