[madwolfa]

 
HD650 should have been the better headphone for you, in the long run.

 
I had them for about 6 months before I bought my LCD-2F. I've missed the clarity of HD600 and they couldn't quite match the big sound of Audeze. So between those two they just seemed like a 'meh' headphone to me. X2 brought back some of that HD600 clarity and matched the slam of LCD-2 for me. Superior soundstage and imaging as a bonus.

 

[peter123]

To call the bass on the X2's huge is quite an exaggeration in my opinion.

 

[madwolfa]

  EDIT: I don't know why you bought the 600's?

 
HD650 didn't exist when I bought my HD600. 

 

[shuto77]

I have both on hand here. Link me to a HD song on YouTube and I'll tell you what I think.

Damn, that is so not good quality. Listen to that compared to a CD, man. (Because CD is very good quality). 

Something lighter, with a string intro, Bring You Down by The Dear Hunter: https://youtu.be/_QGoS9MCVJ0.

I appreciate any feedback you have. I'm mostly into heavy music, and I'm trying to figure out if the 400i might be a good complement.

Yeah, I spent an hour trying to find hi quality rips on YouTube. I hate YouTube for music. Brutal, but not in the good way.

 

[madwolfa]

The whole head-fi scene was a bit different 15 years ago. You could either get the stupid bright Grados/Beyers or neutralish / laid-back Sennheisers. Neither had particularly good bass. I hate shrill treble, so my choice was obvious at the time. Finally we have headphones that are truly well-rounded for a wide range of music genres. HD650 was a mere compromise at the time. They sure do have "some" following, but I didn't get it.

 

[sikki-six]

Here's Lateralus by Tool https://youtu.be/_tcW-j7KFgY.

Damn, that is so not good quality. Listen to that compared to a CD, man. (Because CD is very good quality). 
 

 

[shuto77]

The whole head-fi scene was a bit different 15 years ago. You could either get the stupid bright Grados/Beyers or neutralish / laid-back Sennheisers. Neither had particularly good bass. I hate shrill treble, so my choice was obvious at the time. Finally we have headphones that are truly well-rounded for a wide range of music genres. HD650 was a mere compromise at the time. They sure do have "some" following, but I didn't get it.

This is true, but I still wish I found headfi sooner. I bought myself a 5.1 system while still living with my parents in 2006. Bad idea. I should have just gotten a nice stereo amp and the Sennheiser Hd650, and I'd have been set for five years.

Was the 650 out in 2006? I should probably check my facts, lol.

 

[sikki-six]

  The whole head-fi scene was a bit different 15 years ago. You could either get the stupid bright Grados/Beyers or neutralish / laid-back Sennheisers. Neither had particularly good bass. I hate shrill treble, so my choice was obvious at the time. Finally we have headphones that are truly well-rounded for a wide range of music genres. HD650 was a mere compromise at the time. They sure do have "some" following, but I didn't get it.

 
My first good headphones were DT770 80's. That was maybe 2001. Then I bought K701's, hated them.... They are truly bad headphones.

 

[sikki-six]

Heed Canamp was my first amp.... It didn't make a difference with my D2000's. That's when I sold it.

 

[madwolfa]

I think we all can agree it's a great time to be alive for a headphone enthusiast.

 

[TenMoonsNorth]

A lot of people on /r/Headphones have been having major issues with QC on the Philips Fidelio X2.
 
The Philips audio division named Woox was sold to Gibson Innovations and Gibson has just paid to use the Philips brand name for 7 years.
 

 
http://www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/news/press/2014/20140428-philips-to-sell-woox-innovations-to-gibson-brands.wpd
 
Quote:

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced that it has signed an agreement regarding the sale of WOOX Innovations, its Audio, Video, Multimedia and Accessories business, to Gibson Brands, Inc., a global music and lifestyle company. Under the terms, Gibson Brands will pay $135 million and a brand license fee, relating to a license agreement for an initial period of 7 years.

 
Here is an example of the stark difference between two X2 headphones.
 

I would guess they're entirely different headphones... They don't feel or look even remotely the same. One is a very soft velour, the other is a department store felt. It's horrible.

 
Here is an article talking about horrible QC from Gibson Innovations.
 
So be very wary of poor QC. QC is more than aesthetics but also channel imbalance tolerances, frequency response tolerances and general driver quality tolerance. If there is bad QC then you have no ability to know if the headphone you bought is up to standard. Consistent and high standards of QC is a fundamental part of high end headphones.
 
Check the X2 box.
 

 
Someones has said:
 
Quote:

I got mine yesterday and on the bottom of the box it says "Imported by Gibson Innovations USA Inc." You could check to see if your box says the same thing.

The two I have are manufactured by 'WOOX', not Gibson, as stated on the box.

 
Someone elses had said:
 

It says "Imported by P&F USA, P&F Mexico". I think it's from before then.

 
I think that might stand for Philips&Fidelio but I don't know.
 
If you have the X2 box then please state what it says on the bottom on who manufactured/imported it.

 

[tonyo123]

For you posters supporting the great Sennheisers HD500/650s, the main reasons to go with the X2s are that they are low impedance and can be used with standard PC output, portable phones, and ipod/iPads, all without an amplifier. Versus the HD598s, the X2s bass emphasis gives them more depth and warmth.

As for classical music, the X2s sounds great, as do vocals, jazz, well recorded/produced rock. The only type of music that doesn't sound good are over-saturated loudly produced music (would usually come from some rock and metal). I think the headphone try to do too much and the instruments tend to blend into noise somewhat.

 

[a44100Hz]

  If you have the X2 box then please state what it says on the bottom on who manufactured/imported it.

Gibson here, got them in the Amazon BF sale. They have glued and mismatched cups (very different foam densities). Sound seems good.

 

[madwolfa]

Actually the main reason to go with X2 is if you don't want to have a ton of genre specific headphones. Otherwise I'd probably leave LCD-2F for EDM and HD600 for jazz/vocal and acoustic.

 

[TStewart422]

I still have the HD650s and find them to be very mediocre for metal. Just missing so much of the high-end (needed for guitar harmonics) and low-end for it to be considered truly great. Their mid-centric presentation is very nice for vocals, jazz, and orchestral music - but I find the X2s to be a much more fantastic all-arounder that is surprisingly neutral.