[Solero]

My pair has no glued pads, no channel imbalance.I've tried to love these for so long but it is impossible. My setup is Chord Mojo and Herus+, Sennheiser HD 650 and 580 Jubilee, Audeze LCD-2 Rev. 2, Denon AH-D7000, and Beyer 770-32Ω Anniversary Edition. X2 are the less musical from all the above. Comparison with Audeze and Denon is not fair for X2 but even Beyers are more musical and pleasing. X2 are dry, harsh on the treble, voices are robotic, bass is ... (where is the bass really)? I have read ALL 853 pages in this topic, i respect the opinions here but what i read is like it is written for another headphone and not X2. I still have them, the only flaw is that both pads cannot stay on the headphone and they fall and every time i have to put them again... For a strange reason i don't want to sell them, they have something promising in the sound but one year and a half now i have tried very hard to find it but i couldn't.
Sorry for my bad English.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

My pair has no glued pads, no channel imbalance.I've tried to love these for so long but it is impossible. My setup is Chord Mojo and Herus+, Sennheiser HD 650 and 580 Jubilee, Audeze LCD-2 Rev. 2, Denon AH-D7000, and Beyer 770-32Ω Anniversary Edition. X2 are the less musical from all the above. Comparison with Audeze and Denon is not fair for X2 but even Beyers are more musical and pleasing. X2 are dry, harsh on the treble, voices are robotic, bass is ... (where is the bass really)? I have read ALL 853 pages in this topic, i respect the opinions here but what i read is like it is written for another headphone and not X2. I still have them, the only flaw is that both pads cannot stay on the headphone and they fall and every time i have to put them again... For a strange reason i don't want to sell them, they have something promising in the sound but one year and a half now i have tried very hard to find it but i couldn't.
Sorry for my bad English.

Something has to be wrong with your pair. They have a ton of bass. Not the deepest bass but bass is easily noticeable.... they are bassier than the dt770 80ohm pro wich i juat sold, they are as bassy as the sennheiser momentum over ear.... i had 3 pairs pf x2 at the same time and all had plenty of bass.

 

[Falkman]

I have owned the x2 since about a year. I am very pleased with the headphones, but looking for an upgrade. I am not interested in paying 500 euros for a headphone that hardly gives better sound - there must be a noticeable difference. I am thinking of similar sound as the X2, but even more open sound stage with retained bass. Sennheiser 660s, Shure 1540, Hifiman, or the like. I really don't know.. My equipment by the way is Heed Canamp and an Arcam irDac plus all the other belonging to a hifi system. I mostly play vinyl and CDs. I will keep the X2s. Any suggestions?

 

[Slater]

My pair has no glued pads, no channel imbalance.I've tried to love these for so long but it is impossible. My setup is Chord Mojo and Herus+, Sennheiser HD 650 and 580 Jubilee, Audeze LCD-2 Rev. 2, Denon AH-D7000, and Beyer 770-32Ω Anniversary Edition. X2 are the less musical from all the above. Comparison with Audeze and Denon is not fair for X2 but even Beyers are more musical and pleasing. X2 are dry, harsh on the treble, voices are robotic, bass is ... (where is the bass really)? I have read ALL 853 pages in this topic, i respect the opinions here but what i read is like it is written for another headphone and not X2. I still have them, the only flaw is that both pads cannot stay on the headphone and they fall and every time i have to put them again... For a strange reason i don't want to sell them, they have something promising in the sound but one year and a half now i have tried very hard to find it but i couldn't.
Sorry for my bad English.

If the pads aren’t sealed, they will sound like crap. This is why Philips glued the pads on in the 1st place.

You said your pads keep falling off, so this tells me that your pads aren’t sealing.

I’d recommend glueing the pads on, since they won’t stay on by themselves.

If you glue them on, use a heavy book or clamps to make sure they are sealed down until the glue is dry.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I have owned the x2 since about a year. I am very pleased with the headphones, but looking for an upgrade. I am not interested in paying 500 euros for a headphone that hardly gives better sound - there must be a noticeable difference. I am thinking of similar sound as the X2, but even more open sound stage with retained bass. Sennheiser 660s, Shure 1540, Hifiman, or the like. I really don't know.. My equipment by the way is Heed Canamp and an Arcam irDac plus all the other belonging to a hifi system. I mostly play vinyl and CDs. I will keep the X2s. Any suggestions?

I'm interested in open-back upgrades to the X2s (which I love & will never sell)--but I'm finding it much harder than I would have expected. Candidates like Hifiman 400i seem likely to be side-grade.

I do know of a couple endgame new open-back designs that cost a lot but might really get it done:

• ZMF Auteur (open-back variant of ZMF Eikon, an excellent closed design (I've heard the Eikon extensively--spectacular HP).
• Klipsch HP-3

The Klipsch is ~25% less $$ than the Auteur, but informal comments from meeting attendees seem to indicate it doesn't come close to the Auteur. But both HPs are in the "crazy money" realm.

I've been very interested in the Fostex TH-500RP planar open back for some time. It costs way less than the others (saw them on sale on the Deals thread recently for $150, by far the lowest price ever). Even if you don't get in on that discount, these can be had new for ~$330 if you look for them.

 

[gorionn]

Were gibson pads profiled a bit or not? Got myself an used pair and pads look great, although I'm not sure if small tilt on them is caused by wear or they were like that originally.

 

[Pharmaboy]

X2s pad-rolling update:

As mentioned in a post here 3-4 days ago, I've been meaning to try the Brainwavz round velours on the X2s, ever since my rather interesting experiment w/the brainwavz round pleathers several months ago.

You have to more or less sacrifice a pair of aftermarket pads to do this--in the sense that the pad on earcup w/the cable entry has to have a hole cut in the pad's back-flap to permit cable connection to the earcup.

Anyway, I just got one of these Black Friday emails from Brainwavz, offering the exact pads I want for just $14 (~10 less than retail). Shipped, the today cost is less than $20. So I ordered a pair of black velours. In a week or two I'll put them on the X2s and see if they can better that terrific stock sound.

I don't expect a lot of change in overall tonality/frequency range, putting a velour pad on in place of stock velour. However, there will be ~1/4" of increased earpad depth after swapping pads--and that may/may not have a slight effect on soundstaging and/or bass.

Whatever I find, I'll report here.

BTW, it's a testament to the X2s that I only consider pad-rolling (which isn't as easy to do as it is w/many other designs)--not because the X2s have annoying sonic deficiencies (far from it!), but instead just to see if I can somehow better their very satisfying stock sound.

 

[gorionn]

You don't have to cut a hole in it, just slide the overlapping stuff a bit, plug and let go. Pads stay firmly, no issues with cable either.

 

[Pharmaboy]

You don't have to cut a hole in it, just slide the overlapping stuff a bit, plug and let go. Pads stay firmly, no issues with cable either.

Interesting suggestion--I'll be happy to try it.

That tactic didn't seem possible the other time I messed around w/Brainwavz Rounds on the X2s, but maybe I wasn't looking at things the right way...

 

[Metewat]

I've got basically zero experience with cleaning earpads. I've got the early model of the X2's with removable pads that have gathered a fair bit of dust but also wax. Is a gentle hand wash + slow room temperature dry fine?

 

[peter123]

Interesting suggestion--I'll be happy to try it.

That tactic didn't seem possible the other time I messed around w/Brainwavz Rounds on the X2s, but maybe I wasn't looking at things the right way...

I also got interested when reading that the pads won't have to be sacrificed so here's my pair with the round Brainwavz velour pads:

Don't want to say anything about the sound until you've tried for yourself but I'd be happy to compliment notes later.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I also got interested when reading that the pads won't have to be sacrificed so here's my pair with the round Brainwavz velour pads:



Don't want to say anything about the sound until you've tried for yourself but I'd be happy to compliment notes later.

Very interesting! Terrific images, too.

But looking at closeup of cable entry, I'm concerned the whole earpad lifts off the earcup when that section of backflap is tucked up from earcup to allowing cable connection sans hole in back-flap. Maybe it doesn't matter when you actually wear the headphones, but it looks a little wonky to me.

Did that make any difference in wearing the X2s?

Pls share notes anytime. It will be at least 1 week until I get the new round velours & try them out...

 

[peter123]

Very interesting! Terrific images, too.

But looking at closeup of cable entry, I'm concerned the whole earpad lifts off the earcup when that section of backflap is tucked up from earcup to allowing cable connection sans hole in back-flap. Maybe it doesn't matter when you actually wear the headphones, but it looks a little wonky to me.

Did that make any difference in wearing the X2s?

Pls share notes anytime. It will be at least 1 week until I get the new round velours & try them out...

Yeah, I wouldn't keep them this way if I decide to keep them on the X2's but it's good enough for a tryout and the sound on both sides are similar.

The memory foam seem to seal a bit better than the pretty stiff stock pads (the adjust better to the area around my ears).

I do find them to add more bass than the stock pads (which is something I don't need) though so they'll most likely go back on the HE400i.....

 

[Pharmaboy]

X2's pad-rolling update:

Have a new pair of (Black Friday discounted) Brainwavz round velours, which I planned to try on my X2s in the manner described above & elsewhere in this thread. Just tried to take off the stock velours by rotating them counter-clockwise, when they "unlock" and can be removed. No luck at all. These pads on their mount/plate are not moving.

Twisted as hard as I dare, counter-clockwise, then clockwise. I don't dare try even harder, since I could warp the gimbal that connects each earcup to the headband/frame.

I'm totally mystified. I did this several months ago, rather easily, with a pair of Brainwavz round pleathers. No problem then.

Oh, well. It's a good thing I love the sound of the stock X2s and wasn't expecting any improvement from the experiment. Now I have a pair of velours kicking around (no other use for them).

 

[Slater]

X2's pad-rolling update:

Have a new pair of (Black Friday discounted) Brainwavz round velours, which I planned to try on my X2s in the manner described above & elsewhere in this thread. Just tried to take off the stock velours by rotating them counter-clockwise, when they "unlock" and can be removed. No luck at all. These pads on their mount/plate are not moving.

Twisted as hard as I dare, counter-clockwise, then clockwise. I don't dare try even harder, since I could warp the gimbal that connects each earcup to the headband/frame.

I'm totally mystified. I did this several months ago, rather easily, with a pair of Brainwavz round pleathers. No problem then.

Oh, well. It's a good thing I love the sound of the stock X2s and wasn't expecting any improvement from the experiment. Now I have a pair of velours kicking around (no other use for them).

I thoroughly investigated the X2 pad "swapability" when I first got my X2 a few months ago. The only way it's gonna happen is if the old pad is torn free from the plastic "mounting frame", and the new pad is re-glued in it's place. The back of the new pad will have to be trimmed with scissors (so they match the stock pad) and/or holes trimmed in the material to accommodate the 4 mounting posts in the plastic "mounting frame".

So bottom line is that it's definitely doable, but it's not a quick and easy procedure. And certainly not suitable for pad rolling, as the plastic "mounting frame" from the stock pads have to be reused.