[bracko]

  i am currently driving the Fidelio X2 with my iBasso D7. My audio chain is as below:
 
Laptop (JPLAY 6.1A) > Uptone Audio Regen (Amber) > LH Labs LPS > iBasso D7 > X2
 
This chain has a very spacious and balanced sound, with smooth treble extension, excellent midrange and punchy extended bass without overhang. Instruments and vocals are very well defined and coherent with a very very black background. Yes the D7 imparts a slightly warm tonality, but the Fidelio sounds just delicious now after 300+ hours of listening.

For me these two chains work nice:
 
Harman Kardon HD990 > Matrix M-Stage > Fidelio X2
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit > Pro-Ject Phono Box > Matrix M-Stage > Fidelio X2
 
Bass is nicely defined and tight, mids are open and treble well behaved. I am taking back what I said about the sound being "warped in cotton" 

 

[mysticstryk]

My x2 should be arriving today, I'll try too give some impressions on them as well as how my uber stack sounds with them.

 

[Quinto]

  Yeah 

 I guess my ears are forever damaged by the AKG sound 

 But I really miss that sparkle with X2. Everything sounds kind of wrapped into cotton. I don't know. And now I am comparing to HD600 which many people consider to be a warm sounding headphone. The problem is that the higher harmonics from acoustic instruments just aren't there. And the vocals are missing sparkle and light. I like warm sound but it's not the warmth that bothers me. X2 seems to be way too dark for my tastes. 

I understand where you're comming from..Big role for me liking the X2 is the tinitus friendly treble..If I didn't have this issue I'd be likely to have the same issues you have, but I MUST love these cans, it's not like I have a choice

 

 

[obsidyen]

 
I understand where you're comming from..Big role for me liking the X2 is the tinitus friendly treble..If I didn't have this issue I'd be likely to have the same issues you have, but I MUST love these cans, it's not like I have a choice

 

 
Hifiman HE400S is also tinnitus friendly, in case you want to try a planar. That said, the most tinnitus friendly headphone is HD650, it's a bit boring though.

 

[bracko]

 
I understand where you're comming from..Big role for me liking the X2 is the tinitus friendly treble..If I didn't have this issue I'd be likely to have the same issues you have, but I MUST love these cans, it's not like I have a choice

 

Oh, I also have weak tinitus in both ears. Actually I believe that my AKG k701 made things worse

. They are quite thin sounding so I was tempted to crack up the volume to be able to hear all the details. There is no such a problem with the X2. 
 
The problem I experienced with the sound of X2 was mainly because of of mismatch with my Marantz SACD-player. Marantz SA-KI Pearl is a super nice CD-player really but has a dark tonality. X2 are also a bit dark so the combination didn't work as it should.

 

[murdokahn]

Greetings everyone, I recently received the X2 and wanted to share my thoughts on it.

A little background on myself - I'm not an audiophile by any means. I own two pairs of headphones (the Sennheiser 558 with foam mod and the Philips X2) so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

The X2 seems to be an underwhelming upgrade coming from the 558. It's definitely an improvement in just about every area (bass, soundstage, clarity, better sounding mids and highs) but just incrementally so.

I'm contemplating sending them back since I paid just over $300 for them and don't see them as a big enough upgrade but I need to know how much they'll sound with a better source/amp.

(1) I don't use an amp
(2) I run it straight from my iPhone 6 head jack.
(3) I often listen streaming from Pandora and use a mixture of music from iTunes.


I don't think my expectations are that high but I want to "feel" the music more so than just listen to it. Do I need a more forward sounding headphone or can this be accomplished with EQ/amp/ better DAC?

I know I'll probably get flame for this but these are my honest opinions. It's a very good headphone, but I already had an almost very good headphone so I'm second guessing now.

 

[WildStyle-R11]

Just got my pair, bit busy with friends and such, but first impressions are good, I like it!

Did somebody mention marantz? I recently obtained Marantz PM8005...Can anybody tell me or at least have a clue what it does to sound?


murdokahn [color=#000000]Unless You leap from 50$ headphone to 1k headphones with an amp the difference is minimal. Mostly just sounds different.[/color]

 

[Quinto]

  Oh, I also have weak tinitus in both ears. Actually I believe that my AKG k701 made things worse

. They are quite thin sounding so I was tempted to crack up the volume to be able to hear all the details. There is no such a problem with the X2. 
 
The problem I experienced with the sound of X2 was mainly because of of mismatch with my Marantz SACD-player. Marantz SA-KI Pearl is a super nice CD-player really but has a dark tonality. X2 are also a bit dark so the combination didn't work as it should.

Ahh I see, sorry to hear about your tinitus, I got it from many hours of (low volume) listening to my GS1000 I think..it's much better now I sold those, thank god..

 

[bracko]

Did somebody mention marantz? I recently obtained Marantz PM8005...Can anybody tell me or at least have a clue what it does to sound?
 

 
I mentioned Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite SACD-player. It has a typical Marantz lush and warm sound and I didn't like what X2 did to it 

 

[Bibo]

Greetings everyone, I recently received the X2 and wanted to share my thoughts on it.

A little background on myself - I'm not an audiophile by any means. I own two pairs of headphones (the Sennheiser 558 with foam mod and the Philips X2) so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

The X2 seems to be an underwhelming upgrade coming from the 558. It's definitely an improvement in just about every area (bass, soundstage, clarity, better sounding mids and highs) but just incrementally so.

I'm contemplating sending them back since I paid just over $300 for them and don't see them as a big enough upgrade but I need to know how much they'll sound with a better source/amp.

(1) I don't use an amp
(2) I run it straight from my iPhone 6 head jack.
(3) I often listen streaming from Pandora and use a mixture of music from iTunes.


I don't think my expectations are that high but I want to "feel" the music more so than just listen to it. Do I need a more forward sounding headphone or can this be accomplished with EQ/amp/ better DAC?

I know I'll probably get flame for this but these are my honest opinions. It's a very good headphone, but I already had an almost very good headphone so I'm second guessing now.

Well, you should already use an amp for your Sennheisers. These Headphones are not made for portblable use. Their rated impedance is 50 Ohms but this is only at 1 KHz. It is over 220 Ohms at 100 Hz. So I believe they sound thin out of any Smartphone. Using an amp should already make your Hd558 sound noticebaly better. The X2s are much easier to drive so they may sound good from out of a smartphone but I really doubt they can reach their full potential. So if you want to stay with full size open Headphones of any kind you should get an amp.

 

[murdokahn]

Thanks for the advice. Any input on what kind of amp I should get? Preferably one that is portable, cheap, but is high quality for the price. It also must be compatible with the iPhone 6 (I'm not sure if this would be an issue?) thanks!

 

[Marso]

I heard a lot good about the topping nx1 as cheap portable amp.

Gesendet von meinem Nexus 7 mit Tapatalk

 

[arcwindz]

Greetings everyone, I recently received the X2 and wanted to share my thoughts on it.

A little background on myself - I'm not an audiophile by any means. I own two pairs of headphones (the Sennheiser 558 with foam mod and the Philips X2) so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

The X2 seems to be an underwhelming upgrade coming from the 558. It's definitely an improvement in just about every area (bass, soundstage, clarity, better sounding mids and highs) but just incrementally so.

I'm contemplating sending them back since I paid just over $300 for them and don't see them as a big enough upgrade but I need to know how much they'll sound with a better source/amp.

(1) I don't use an amp
(2) I run it straight from my iPhone 6 head jack.
(3) I often listen streaming from Pandora and use a mixture of music from iTunes.


I don't think my expectations are that high but I want to "feel" the music more so than just listen to it. Do I need a more forward sounding headphone or can this be accomplished with EQ/amp/ better DAC?

I know I'll probably get flame for this but these are my honest opinions. It's a very good headphone, but I already had an almost very good headphone so I'm second guessing now.

I had hd558 too before getting the x2
I can relate how it feels underwhelming at first, but i got over it pretty fast.
The x2 is like the better version of hd558, so it's not like jumping from a grado to sennheiser which will give totally new experience. But x2 is better in every way, so the more i listen, the more i like it (maybe except for the weight).

An amp/dac combo will help improve the sound imho, but not amp only, it'll be underwhelming judging from your experience.
Note that not every dac will work nicely together with x2/558, i personally have an fiio e10k and it has small soundstage presentation and leaning toward the warm musical side of things, which make x2 a bit too congested for me.

My suggestion would be stuffs from schiit or o2+odac, never tried it myself, but it comes pretty recommended here.

 

[Ravenous]

   
I think Fidelio X3 release is more likely, lol. This time with smooth highs.

 
This makes me think Philips only intended to make the earpads removeable, not replaceable, which is very troubling for the countless people who bought the X2 over the X1 due to removeable earpads...

 

[voldemortnbk]

Anyone here tried use the X2 with the Audio GD NFB 111/15? Help.