Philips Fidelio X2?!
Jul 24, 2015 at 8:15 PM Post #5,418 of 15,268
  Oh man, stop it!! hahahahah
you make it want it so bad. There's only 3 on stock on Amazon. Tomorrow I'll get my paycheck and buy this bad boy 8)

 
Ha ha!
evil_smiley.gif
Let me know how you like the Little Dot with your X2s. Another plus is the tubes are super cool, nothing beats that tube glow.
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 2:58 AM Post #5,419 of 15,268
  The Little Dot will definitely improve the midrange. Different tubes accentuate this in different ways. Tubes can also affect the soundstage. I think the Muse opamp really helped widen the soundstage and give warmth and body to the midrange on this amp. I have more experience with speaker amps, but the Little Dot sounds special to my ears. Trying different tubes can be really fun. I think being able to tailor the sounds on the Little Dot is a very nice feature. That said, with the Muse 02, I really dig the 6j1 tubes it comes with and I have several tubes in my collection.

Doesn't Little Dot have an output impedance of over 30 Ohm? Is that really suitable for low-impedance headphones like X2? The damping factor would be insanely low resulting in higher distortion.
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 3:13 AM Post #5,420 of 15,268
  Picked up some AHD2000s, they are way better than the X2. If you can find an used pair highly I recommend them.

 
From what I have read, they are great. But they are a lot different than the X2's, and I suspect that they would only be "way better than the X2" based on personal preferences. What do you like more about the 2000's? Fwiw, I haven't heard either the 2000's or the X2's (but I have both of their cousins).
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 3:40 AM Post #5,421 of 15,268
  Doesn't Little Dot have an output impedance of over 30 Ohm? Is that really suitable for low-impedance headphones like X2? The damping factor would be insanely low resulting in higher distortion.

 
The Little Dot was made for low impedance headphones. Transistors as used in the 1+ deliver MUCH more current than tubes. Low impedance headphones need high current. Current would determine how well the driver performs even more than just it's MW rating. I don't know how much current it supplies, but it seems plenty adequate to my ears.
 
I have never seen the output impedance listed for the Little Dot 1+. 30 Ohms seems a bit high. Where are you getting this number? To my ears the amp sounds fine and compared to several other high quality sources at my disposal. I perceive no attenuation in the bass that would be caused by excessive output impedance. Since the Little Dot was designed for Low Impedance phones, the output impedance should be quite low. One would need to know this first before making an assumption on distortion in low frequencies related to a low dampening factor.
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 9:49 AM Post #5,423 of 15,268
  CD quality is more than enough. If you're going to use iPhone 6 as source, which has a very good dac, you could add an amp to drive X2 to its maximum potential. I use iDSD Micro myself, which is dac+amp, but if you want just an amp, iFi Micro iCAN is very good.

+1 for the iFi Micro iCAN
 
Paired very very good with X2. 
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 10:42 AM Post #5,424 of 15,268
+1 for the iFi Micro iCAN

Paired very very good with X2. 


They pair good with them,
but you do need attenuators with the ican, because its a lot of power for the X2.
On the iDSD they sound the best at eco/high sensetivity mode, but the ican has better amp then idsd, unless you are going to drive very demanding HPs, then iDSD has more power, but a bit less refined sound.
I use micro idsd> micro ican
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 12:55 AM Post #5,425 of 15,268
Would the Objective 2 (O2) amp be a good match with the X2?

Looking for well-controlled and boom free bass, lush midrange and smooth, unobtrusive highs.

Also, would you say that the O2 (or any other amp, or dac/amp) would make a substantial difference compared to driving the X2 directly from my iPad mini 2?
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 1:49 AM Post #5,426 of 15,268
Would the Objective 2 (O2) amp be a good match with the X2?

Looking for well-controlled and boom free bass, lush midrange and smooth, unobtrusive highs.

Also, would you say that the O2 (or any other amp, or dac/amp) would make a substantial difference compared to driving the X2 directly from my iPad mini 2?


I found that adding an amp really helped to bring out the highs, it was a bit too dark beforehand.  Not harsh at all, though, sibilance is near non-existent and the sound is still noticeably warm.  Bass is a slightly more controlled, though I didn't find it to be particularly boomy in the first place, but the main thing i noticed was the improved treble quality.  This was with a Magni, which is more or less the same as the O2 in sound quality.  Also, O2 is currently $70 on massdrop.
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 2:05 AM Post #5,427 of 15,268
Would the Objective 2 (O2) amp be a good match with the X2?

Looking for well-controlled and boom free bass, lush midrange and smooth, unobtrusive highs.

Also, would you say that the O2 (or any other amp, or dac/amp) would make a substantial difference compared to driving the X2 directly from my iPad mini 2?


I found that adding an amp really helped to bring out the highs, it was a bit too dark beforehand.  Not harsh at all, though, sibilance is near non-existent and the sound is still noticeably warm.  Bass is a slightly more controlled, though I didn't find it to be particularly boomy in the first place, but the main thing i noticed was the improved treble quality.  This was with a Magni, which is more or less the same as the O2 in sound quality.  Also, O2 is currently $70 on massdrop.
Thanks a lot!
If I may ask, what did you connect X2 to before the Magni and/or have you tried them with an iPad/iPhone noticing any difference?
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 2:11 AM Post #5,428 of 15,268
Thanks a lot!
If I may ask, what did you connect X2 to before the Magni and/or have you tried them with an iPad/iPhone noticing any difference?


Haven't tried with an iPhone/iPad, tried with my galaxy s5 and PC with Realtek ALC892 built-in audio, which I thought were similar in quality, a tier below my Magni/Modi but still very listenable.
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 10:16 AM Post #5,429 of 15,268
So due to some issues with my X1 (audio jack is messed up leading to a sometimes dead left side) I was looking into getting a backup while my X1 is gone. As someone who loves the X1 and how it fits (it may even be a little big after 2 years) would going to an X2 be something to do? I love the X1 and how it sounds (I am a complete noob) and it's comfort and need something to tide me over for the next month or so. 
 
Does this version also have the issue with the audio jack being weak?
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 2:58 PM Post #5,430 of 15,268
  So due to some issues with my X1 (audio jack is messed up leading to a sometimes dead left side) I was looking into getting a backup while my X1 is gone. As someone who loves the X1 and how it fits (it may even be a little big after 2 years) would going to an X2 be something to do? I love the X1 and how it sounds (I am a complete noob) and it's comfort and need something to tide me over for the next month or so. 
 
Does this version also have the issue with the audio jack being weak?

 
I went from X1 to X2 last week actually. I would say the X2 sounds better across the spectrum. As much as I like the X1, I have always thought it is a little too dense in the bass. The X2 fixes that and has more presence in especially the midrange, which is most welcome. Meanwhile you keep the powerful bass, that's not as dominant but has just the same potential for texture and extension, if not more.
 

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