[KCXT]

Too soft? As in not loud enough? If that's what you mean, there's a hiccup in your set-up somewhere to iron out. Out of my DAP, which pushes a meager 150 mW, the X2 gets louder than I can handle and sounds pretty great in general. Maybe it is an issue of gain. These are easy to drive.

If you mean soft as in not enough slam or dynamics, see above. That's usually a sign of the headphone being underpowered or mismatched with the source impedance.

Anything is possible and I'm still learning the ins and outs, but my phones and amp have no trouble pushing M50Xs or A900Xs that have very similar specs. The A-100 could get it more than loud and exhibited the same tonal characteristics so tough to point at anything but the headphones and/or cable.

By 'soft' I just mean a pillowy and bass-heavy sort of sound that isn't terribly forward. Again, I totally get why folks would like it and nothing sounded off across the spectrum, just not my preferred sound signature.

 

[WildStyle-R11]

Too soft? As in not loud enough? If that's what you mean, there's a hiccup in your set-up somewhere to iron out. Out of my DAP, which pushes a meager 150 mW, the X2 gets louder than I can handle and sounds pretty great in general. Maybe it is an issue of gain. These are easy to drive.

If you mean soft as in not enough slam or dynamics, see above. That's usually a sign of the headphone being underpowered or mismatched with the source impedance.

I would guess because of the DT1990 it is ear piercingly annoying. You know one of those headphones that shove "details" in your face.
In comparison to X2, yeah I can understand why he would say that.

 

[nil opmas]

My friend has already got his hands on the X3, and I am expecting nothing less from Philip.

 

[KCXT]

I would guess because of the DT1990 it is ear piercingly annoying. You know one of those headphones that shove "details" in your face.
In comparison to X2, yeah I can understand why he would say that.

I found the X2 to have plenty of detail and tonal balance through the mids and treble. They just take a backseat to the bass in the voicing IMO and It's that specific presentation choice that isn't my thing. The Fidelios are a great buy for folks looking for this type of sound signature and I can now add it to my recommendation list when someone I talk to may be looking.

I've been doing music and sound for a long time as a hobbyist and performing musician. As far as speakers go I use Revel/JBL and love lots of other makers as well (Elac, Wharfdale, Paradigm, Jamo, etc) and with headphones the room itself is out of the equation so makers can really target the voicing of their headphones, which is cool to experience. Because of this I think it's easy to find headphones that stray far from a listener's preference (as with the Fidelios and myself) but that also makes it easy to try new things.

 

[gargani]

My friend has already got his hands on the X3, and I am expecting nothing less from Philip.

I didn't think the x3 had been released yet. Where did your friend get an x3?

 

[gargani]

I found the X2 to have plenty of detail and tonal balance through the mids and treble. They just take a backseat to the bass in the voicing IMO and It's that specific presentation choice that isn't my thing. The Fidelios are a great buy for folks looking for this type of sound signature and I can now add it to my recommendation list when someone I talk to may be looking.

I've been doing music and sound for a long time as a hobbyist and performing musician. As far as speakers go I use Revel/JBL and love lots of other makers as well (Elac, Wharfdale, Paradigm, Jamo, etc) and with headphones the room itself is out of the equation so makers can really target the voicing of their headphones, which is cool to experience. Because of this I think it's easy to find headphones that stray far from a listener's preference (as with the Fidelios and myself) but that also makes it easy to try new things.

I own the Beyer dt990 premiums but thier frequency response is similar to the dt1990.
Your comments make sense. Everything taking a backseat to the bass on the x2's relative to the Beyers.
One could turn that around and say everything takes a backseat to the treble on the Beyers relative to the x2's.
That's not exactly correct; that's just a general statement. The beyers do have bass, more upper bass relative to the x2s, but the the x2s have more mid bass relative to the Beyers.
On the Beyers It's the mid treble that has the most energy compared to every other part of the frequency spectrum. On the x2s It's the mid bass.
The x2s do have a spike at 10khz. But It's not as extreme as the well known 9khz. spike on the Beyers.
It's understandable if someone is used to and/or prefers the voicing of the Beyers, that the x2s won't be thier "preferred cup of tea."

 

[GearMe]

I grabbed a pair looking for a complement to my DT 1990s and can see why people like them but man, they just didn't do anything for me. Good bass and soundstage, clear and balanced mids and treble (relative to each other) and comfortable to wear but way too soft of an overall sound signature for my taste.

Powered them with my LG G8 and Emotiva A-100. I was actually surprised that max volume on the G8 wasn't very loud but perhaps the X2 didn't trigger the high-output mode.

Too soft? As in not loud enough? If that's what you mean, there's a hiccup in your set-up somewhere to iron out. Out of my DAP, which pushes a meager 150 mW, the X2 gets louder than I can handle and sounds pretty great in general. Maybe it is an issue of gain. These are easy to drive.

If you mean soft as in not enough slam or dynamics, see above. That's usually a sign of the headphone being underpowered or mismatched with the source impedance.

FWIW, my X2's (30 ohm, 100dB/mW) don't "trigger the high-output mode" on my LG phone either; volume of 65-70 / 75 isn't really loud.

If you use the LG 'Adapter Trick' you'll get the power it sounds like you want to drive them at higher levels...which improves the dynamics (imo). Interestingly, the LG phone doesn't need the adapter for the Philips L2...a nice coffee shop combo (when there were coffee shops!).

Beyers vs X2s
TBH, I moved away from Beyers to some degree; got rid of T1s, 990s and 770s when I sold my OTL amp. That said, I kept my 880s and picked up some Amirons for a great deal. Really enjoy the Amirons (and the 880s) without the hassle of tube rolling -- driver tubes/power tubes/matching...UGH!

Just plugged in my DT-880's (250 ohm, 96dB/mW) on the LG and they're 'similar' in dynamics at 65-70 / 75 because they do trigger high-output mode. Maybe a set of these would be 'different enough' from your DT-1990s? Or Amirons? They work well with the LG phone...but I tend to listen to these on a desktop setup...very nice set of cans!

Since many Beyers are more 'crisp' than the Philips X2, I could see where you might not like the X2's signature as much...especially if you lean toward a Beyer signature, I've found that I can enjoy each of them for different things. For me, the X2s are great all-rounders and their more even-tempered signature works wonders on some poorly mastered/recorded music that I love to listen to; yet they're still engaging on the well recorded stuff. The Beyers sound great on acoustic stuff...but I don't typically put them on shuffle.

Regarding the A-100, I plugged the X2s and the DT-880s into the speaker amp's headphone out which I rarely use (still waiting to find a great deal on an HE-6). Liked the DT-880s better based on a brief listen. I suspect that may be due to their higher impedance and the A-100s in-line 220 ohm resistors for the headphone out?

 

[HipHopScribe]

FWIW, my X2's (30 ohm, 100dB/mW) don't "trigger the high-output mode" on my LG phone either; volume of 65-70 / 75 isn't really loud.

If you use the LG 'Adapter Trick' you'll get the power it sounds like you want to drive them at higher levels...which improves the dynamics (imo). Interestingly, the LG phone doesn't need the adapter for the Philips L2...a nice coffee shop combo (when there were coffee shops!).

Beyers vs X2s
TBH, I moved away from Beyers to some degree; got rid of T1s, 990s and 770s when I sold my OTL amp. That said, I kept my 880s and picked up some Amirons for a great deal. Really enjoy the Amirons (and the 880s) without the hassle of tube rolling -- driver tubes/power tubes/matching...UGH!

Just plugged in my DT-880's (250 ohm, 96dB/mW) on the LG and they're 'similar' in dynamics at 65-70 / 75 because they do trigger high-output mode. Maybe a set of these would be 'different enough' from your DT-1990s? Or Amirons? They work well with the LG phone...but I tend to listen to these on a desktop setup...very nice set of cans!

Since many Beyers are more 'crisp' than the Philips X2, I could see where you might not like the X2's signature as much...especially if you lean toward a Beyer signature, I've found that I can enjoy each of them for different things. For me, the X2s are great all-rounders and their more even-tempered signature works wonders on some poorly mastered/recorded music that I love to listen to; yet they're still engaging on the well recorded stuff. The Beyers sound great on acoustic stuff...but I don't typically put them on shuffle.

Regarding the A-100, I plugged the X2s and the DT-880s into the speaker amp's headphone out which I rarely use (still waiting to find a great deal on an HE-6). Liked the DT-880s better based on a brief listen. I suspect that may be due to their higher impedance and the A-100s in-line 220 ohm resistors for the headphone out?

Very good breakdown. It's very possible not to like the X2's sound signature, especially coming from a Beyer, but there are definitely other issues here. The A-100s headphone out is just a bad choice for low-impedance headphones (output impedance too high with the resistors in place, potentially way too much output with the resistors removed), and some headphones are gonna sound more off than others, so it's really hard to say. And the X2s won't trigger the high impedance mode on the G8, which is definitely an issue as they won't get enough power without the adapter trick. They're not hard to drive headphones, but they need more than the default mode on LG phones.

 

[hifi80sman]

I own the Beyer dt990 premiums but thier frequency response is similar to the dt1990.
Your comments make sense. Everything taking a backseat to the bass on the x2's relative to the Beyers.
One could turn that around and say everything takes a backseat to the treble on the Beyers relative to the x2's.
That's not exactly correct; that's just a general statement. The beyers do have bass, more upper bass relative to the x2s, but the the x2s have more mid bass relative to the Beyers.
On the Beyers It's the mid treble that has the most energy compared to every other part of the frequency spectrum. On the x2s It's the mid bass.
The x2s do have a spike at 10khz. But It's not as extreme as the well known 9khz. spike on the Beyers.
It's understandable if someone is used to and/or prefers the voicing of the Beyers, that the x2s won't be thier "preferred cup of tea."

Completely agree. I've been running my X2HR from a FiiO Q5s (streaming via LDAC) on High Gain with Bass Boost. Just goes to show how preferences dramatically differ. I avoid "crisp" headphones like that online profile with no picture. I need that bass, sucka!

 

[KCXT]

Some great discussion here - thanks to all for the input and thoughts on what may work best with the Fidelios.

FWIW, my X2's (30 ohm, 100dB/mW) don't "trigger the high-output mode" on my LG phone either; volume of 65-70 / 75 isn't really loud.

...

Great thoughts overall (abbreviated for ease of reading). My specific dislike though wasn't volume, as the A-100 pushed it well beyond a loudness I could tolerate, it was just the presentation. Also, with my phone serving as my source into the A-100 there wasn't any variation there and the Fidelios sounded the same on both amplifiers.

Very good breakdown. It's very possible not to like the X2's sound signature, especially coming from a Beyer, but there are definitely other issues here. The A-100s headphone out is just a bad choice for low-impedance headphones (output impedance too high with the resistors in place, potentially way too much output with the resistors removed), and some headphones are gonna sound more off than others, so it's really hard to say. And the X2s won't trigger the high impedance mode on the G8, which is definitely an issue as they won't get enough power without the adapter trick. They're not hard to drive headphones, but they need more than the default mode on LG phones.

Again, my specific dislike had nothing to do with volume. The output impedance seems like it would be a bigger concern with the Emotiva; LG output impedance was measured <2 ohms on the G7, so I assume it's not widely variable on my V30 or G8. They also sounded the same to me on both the LG and Emotiva power source so if there was significant output impedance impact I'd expect a difference there. I didn't put the A-100 jumpers in but maybe I will someday. As noted in my original post my M50X and A900X phones aren't particularly high resistance at 38 and 42 ohms, though perhaps appreciably higher than the Fidelios in reference to each other, and no issues with either of those.

I did end up getting notification that my THX 789 is shipping so perhaps my personal results would be different with that. I don't think so though.

Completely agree. I've been running my X2HR from a FiiO Q5s (streaming via LDAC) on High Gain with Bass Boost. Just goes to show how preferences dramatically differ. I avoid "crisp" headphones like that online profile with no picture. I need that bass, sucka!

Bass and 'crisp'/good overall presence aren't mutually-exclusive IMO and IME. I'm a bassist and also appreciate plentiful bass... I just like the rest of the range nice and present as well

 

[hifi80sman]

Bass and 'crisp'/good overall presence aren't mutually-exclusive IMO and IME. I'm a bassist and also appreciate plentiful bass... I just like the rest of the range nice and present as well

Indeed. To clarify, I'm treble sensitive, so irrespective of other frequencies, brighter treble response is like a mouthful of cilantro.

 

[phthora]

Indeed. To clarify, I'm treble sensitive, so irrespective of other frequencies, brighter treble response is like a mouthful of cilantro.

So... especially good with fish tacos?

 

[hifi80sman]

So... especially good with fish tacos?

Even better on Taco Tuesday.

 

[nil opmas]

I didn't think the x3 had been released yet. Where did your friend get an x3?

I have no idea, he did snap me a few pics of it.

 

[gargani]

I have no idea, he did snap me a few pics of it.

Okay, l was just curious to know if the x3 had been released yet.