[CoiL]

Matter of taste

 

[lofthanza]

Please! For those who own the X2s and also own/owned the ath-m50s? Which ones are darker sounding?

 

[ThurstonX]

Here are some photos of the pad mod and cable I made.
 
The idea behind the pad mod was to stop the dust screen from touching my ears, but not to create too big a gap, which definitely affects the sound in a negative way.  A possible added bonus is a better seal between pads and cups, but that would likely require the semi-permanent step of adhering the pads to the cups.  As you can see, all I did was fashion risers out of crafting foam (self-adhesive Creatology from Michaels).  I used a compass to make outer and inner circles, cut out the rings, stuck one to the other, lined up the non-adhesive side over the cups and pressed to get the mounting posts to make impressions.  I did some rough trimming of the opening to conform to the oval shape of the pads.  From there it was a simple task to cut out the holes for the posts, peel off the adhesive, line up the holes in the risers with the holes in the pads, and finally press them into place.  After that, the pads mount as they always do, and my ears are far less irritated.
 
 

 
 
For the cable I used three of the four wires from a Mogami W2799 cable, sheathed them in 95 lbs paracord, then braided.  The plugs are a Switchcraft 3.5 mm and a Neutrik NP3X-B 6.35 mm.
 


 

 

[Desertblood]

Those cables look beautiful 

 

[ThurstonX]

  Those cables look beautiful 

 
Thanks

  I really took the inexpensive route: reused cable, no fancy plugs, but kept the nice all-black theme.  For anyone wanting to DIY a cable, this is about the easiest one I could suggest.  Even the braid was ridiculously simple, esp. compared to a four-strand braid, which isn't all that difficult.  Oh, and zero noise when tapping or rubbing it, not too mention the perfect length for my environment.

 

[Desertblood]

What's the impedance looking like?

 

[MartinHa]

The x2 is my first high-quality audio-gear, and my, it's so nice! 

It's just the beginning of my interest in headphones! I have no experience what so ever when it comes to pairing headphones with external dac/amps or dedicated soundcards. Currently using them with my onboard soundcard (desktop computer, realtek ALC892). Will buying an external amp/dac or perhaps a dedicated soundcard give an even better experience? I'm using them for gaming, as well as music. What would you recommend? Read a lot about the magni+modi, but they are a little expensive here in Norway! The aune x1 I can get for a fairly good price (90usd less than schiit stack), but their output is 2ohm, it would be better with the sciits lower output, right?

 

[conquerator2]

The x2 is my first high-quality audio-gear, and my, it's so nice! 


It's just the beginning of my interest in headphones! I have no experience what so ever when it comes to pairing headphones with external dac/amps or dedicated soundcards. Currently using them with my onboard soundcard (desktop computer, realtek [COLOR=333333]ALC892). Will buying an external amp/dac or perhaps a dedicated soundcard give an even better experience? I'm using them for gaming, as well as music. What would you recommend? Read a lot about the magni+modi, but they are a little expensive here in Norway! The aune x1 I can get for a fairly good price (90usd less than schiit stack), but their output is 2ohm, it would be better with the sciits lower output, right?[/COLOR]

2 ohms is still fine. Anything under 1/10 of headphones impedance is OK (X2 is 30 ohm so :10 = 3, so 2 is fine.)
I am sure the Aune will be good, much better than onboard
The Audio-gd entry level DAC/amps are also worth checking out but I guess they are even more pricey than Schiit

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

2-3ohm output impedance should be the gold standard, I feel. It doesn't suck out the warmth, and doesntbbloat a headphones signature either. Too much damping kills euphony, and too little messes up the frequency.

When you consider that 2ohm is 1/12th of a 32ohm headphone, you see its damping is fine.

 

[shigzeo]

2 ohms is still fine. Anything under 1/10 of headphones impedance is OK (X2 is 30 ohm so :10 = 3, so 2 is fine.)
I am sure the Aune will be good, much better than onboard

The Audio-gd entry level DAC/amps are also worth checking out but I guess they are even more pricey than Schiit

It's amazing that this conversation can be had today. Back in 2007-2010 when I posted here like mad, you couldn't talk impedance without being labelled a troll, or a wannabe scientist. Today's headfi is a lot more friendly to objective realities, and to electronic science. And thankfully, product-makers are picking up on this and making changes and making better products. But the X2 isn't hard to drive- not from a voltage perspective, and not from a current perspective. 

 

[NinjaQuick]

heh, just saw someone here wants the X2 on Massdrop.
 
Voted as well. I'm waiting for the 7XX, but wouldn't mind having the X-siblings at my desk as well.

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

Quick question, Is the X2 a Fully Open-Back Headphone or Sami-
 
Thanks.

 

[thatBeatsguy]

  Quick question, Is the X2 a Fully Open-Back Headphone or Sami-
 
Thanks.

It's fully open.

 

[obsidyen]

  The x2 is my first high-quality audio-gear, and my, it's so nice! 

It's just the beginning of my interest in headphones! I have no experience what so ever when it comes to pairing headphones with external dac/amps or dedicated soundcards. Currently using them with my onboard soundcard (desktop computer, realtek ALC892). Will buying an external amp/dac or perhaps a dedicated soundcard give an even better experience? I'm using them for gaming, as well as music. What would you recommend? Read a lot about the magni+modi, but they are a little expensive here in Norway! The aune x1 I can get for a fairly good price (90usd less than schiit stack), but their output is 2ohm, it would be better with the sciits lower output, right?

 
ALC892 is a very good dac, ALC1150 is even better. If the amp section of the soundcard is good too, there's no need to buy an amp/dac. The amp section of Aune T1 is not very good, I would not recommend it. The dac is good though. I also don't like Schiit house sound but it all comes down to preferences.
 
If you really want an external dac, I recommend waiting for the upcoming Meridian Explorer2. Meridian products have a European sound tuning with natural, smooth sound which in my opinion is very good. The original Explorer had an awesome sounding amp (the dac was merely alright) but output impedance was a bit high at 5 ohms. Explorer2 is going to have an output impedance of 0.47 ohms so the only problem with the original Explorer will have been solved. Also, apparently Meridian added some new things from their high-end products so I think it'll be a good choice for low impedance headphones like the X2.

 

[CoiL]

 
The amp section of Aune T1 is not very good, I would not recommend it. The dac is good though. I also don't like Schiit house sound but it all comes down to preferences.

They were talking about Aune X1 not T1. But Aune T1 amp is good enough and powerful with 3 different gain settings... just littlebit bright sided sound as stock.
With capacitor upgrade amp section also turns to very good sounding. I use it @ mid gain (~400mA output) with my Fidelio X1 and sound is amazing and I have no wish for better one. Of course these are better amps to go with T1 DAC section but upgraded amp section is also very good, IMHO 

 
As much as I`ve read about Aune X1, then it isn`t so good match for Fidelio X1/X2.