[varzyl]

Hi guys,
 
I've been forum digging a lot lately, and decided to join the X2 club (waiting that Philips fix their QC issues atm). I wasn't able to find a direct comparison and opinions from X2 owners on different DAC\amp.
I currently own a Fiio E17k Alpen 2. I read someone claiming that upgrading to a Shiit stack would tighten the bass and improve the soundstage, but would like to hear more on this subject. Links to dac\amp comparisons with X2 i might have missed are welcome!

 

[simonwellander]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, I will give these a week or two before I decide what to do. I appreciate all your answers.

 

[Badfish5446]

  Hi guys,
 
I've been forum digging a lot lately, and decided to join the X2 club (waiting that Philips fix their QC issues atm). I wasn't able to find a direct comparison and opinions from X2 owners on different DAC\amp.
I currently own a Fiio E17k Alpen 2. I read someone claiming that upgrading to a Shiit stack would tighten the bass and improve the soundstage, but would like to hear more on this subject. Links to dac\amp comparisons with X2 i might have missed are welcome!

I can say that things get tighter in the bass regions and a slight improvement in soundstage  as I go from X3ii HO>X3ii+E12A>O2 Amp>Lyr.  I can't really say that the X2 is particularly hard to drive and the improvement is no greater than 10-15% going from the X3ii to the Lyr.  It really depends on your own desires... if you will get that constant nagging thought of "I bet this could be better with different amplification" then do it.  Just don't expect it to sound like a different headphone.
 

 

 

[punkmanmatthew]

When I had the Magni 2 and modi 2 stack it pretty much widened the sound stage on any headphone I used with it. Even cheap ear buds.
It was enough for me to notice.
 
I can't comment on the bass.

 

[Mr Trev]

  I understand exactly what you mean. Thanks for sharing your experience. Sometimes analytical and studio-quality flat sound can be nice, but sometimes it can also be too sterile.
 
Update: When I push my X2's cups forward on my head, all the way so that the backsides of my ears touches the pad, it sound better, more open and clearer. I think, maybe this is the way they "should" sit but I'm not sure.
 
Can someone who has a pair of X2's "confirm" this and tell me if they experience the same, the difference in sound depending on how the cups sits.
 
ETA: "Should" the back of your ear touch the pad? Is that normal?

I've noticed a slight tonal shift in the treble regions running sine sweeps if I shift the phones around. Outside of test tones tho, it doesn't really make an audible to me.

 

[yangian]

  I use a ifi idsd micro.
 
The HD700s had their clear sounding moments. It depended on the song.
 
I've heard other reviewers say the same about them.
 
It's like they have a mind of their own lol

Oh, Yes. I agree with Madwolfa said, HD600 is very picky on file recording. It seems 700 is also.

 

[varzyl]

  When I had the Magni 2 and modi 2 stack it pretty much widened the sound stage on any headphone I used with it. Even cheap ear buds.
It was enough for me to notice.
 
I can't comment on the bass.

What were you using as DAC\amp before the Modi\Magni? I myself am enjoying the E17k over the onboard realtek chip, but what I'm looking for are comparisons between E17k and similarly priced DAC\Amp combos (since I still have some time to return E17k to Amazon. If the improvement would be 5% at best I'd rather keep it and enjoy the portability\EQ, even if not often needed)
 
Quote:

   I can't really say that the X2 is particularly hard to drive and the improvement is no greater than 10-15% going from the X3ii to the Lyr.

I'm not sure how X3ii behaves, compared to E17k. Anyways, Lyr is way out of my budget (and even if I had €400 spare, I'd probably use it to get an LCD2 )
 
Thanks both of you anyways!
 
EDIT: grammar

 

[Billheiser]

Position on head: I also find that pushing them slightly forward makes them sound a little better to me. Same goes for my HD600.

 

[punkmanmatthew]

 
What were you using as DAC\amp before the Modi\Magni? I myself am enjoying the E17k over the onboard realtek chip, but what I'm looking for are comparisons between E17k and similarly priced DAC\Amp combos (since I still have some time to return E17k to Amazon. If the improvement would be 5% at best I'd rather keep it and enjoy the portability\EQ, even if not often needed)
I'm not sure how X3ii behaves, compared to E17k. Anyways, Lyr is way out of my budget (and even if I had €400 spare, I'd probably use it to get an LCD2 )
 
Thanks both of you anyways!
 
EDIT: grammar

I didn't have anything before that. All I had was my computer or and ipad or iphone.

 

[simonwellander]

  I've noticed a slight tonal shift in the treble regions running sine sweeps if I shift the phones around. Outside of test tones tho, it doesn't really make an audible to me.

Seriously? For me, the difference is very noticeable.
 

Position on head: I also find that pushing them slightly forward makes them sound a little better to me. Same goes for my HD600.

Okay. Maybe it has to do with head size and shape, ear size and maybe also the angled drivers.
 
For me, they sounds the best if I push them forward, so the top/back of my ears are slightly touching the cushions at the back and the headphone slightly tilted forward. That's how they sound the most open and "trebly"/bright to me.
 
If I instead push the earcups way back on my head, in an excessive way, so that the front of my ears are touching the front of the cushions, then they sound really closed/capsulated, and darker.

 

[d4rkch1ld]

To me they also sound best when pushed little forward. Probably its all about aiming these angled driver directly to your ear canal.

 

[Pickaxe]

I prefer these headphones after EQing for slightly less subbass and slightly more mids. I feel like the bass hurts the clarity a little.

 

[simonwellander]

   
Nah, much better than M50x. But pretty close sound signature.

Ok.
 
I am comparing my new X2's with my old M50's side-by-side right now and I really want to just enjoy my X2's and forget about it, but I just needed to compare them again quickly. I still think that my M50's are more "fun", and more "alive" and colder and more in-your-face. My X2's are more fatiguing in some way. I get more tired in my ears with the X2's, but I'm hopeful that that will get a little better after breaking in.
 
ETA: I know what I'm going to do. I am going to use only my X2's for a week, and then I'm going to compare them again, when my ears are more "used" to the sound of the X2 and by then they will be more "burned in".

 

[Hammy]

So my 'special edition' Fid elio pair (Gibson) sound a lot better compared to my first Gibson pair.  I'm not sure I could A/B this pair with my WOOX pair.  The bottom line is that there doesn't seem to be any good or bad (Gibson/WOOX) pairs, per se, but rather some radical differences in each individual sample.  Three pairs for me, all sounding slightly/drastically different.
 
The most interesting thing I discovered tonight though is that my WOOX pair doesn't actually seem to have an imbalance in the driver.  I switched the Gibson pads onto my WOOX for the lulz and, lo and behold, they sounded very balanced.  I tinkered for a few hours swapping things around and the problem lies with the left pad on my WOOX pair - it blocks more frequencies (especially sub-bass) than all the others.  I checked by putting it over on the right side of both pairs and such, all different combinations, and the side it was on was always lower in volume.
 
All three pairs have had identical looking pads (to my eyes..) so I have no explanation as to why one particular pad could cause such an imbalance.  It's quite a revelation for me, as I never would have imagined a pad could change the sound so much.
 
On principal, I don't think I can keep my Fid elio pair, but I'm seriously considering keeping the swapped left pad for my WOOX pair.  Whichever one I send back is going to sound/look faulty in one way or another.
 
And now for something completely different..
 

 

[Jotunblod]

  My M50's really do sound cleaner and clearer. Less "boxy"-sounding and more open :S I don't understand. Does anyone think it might get better after a burn-in or could it be something wrong with my pair?

ETA: I mean, the difference is big. When I compare them, the X2's sounds muddy, dark and bass-heavy in comparison with my M50's. The soundstage is wider and the treble is softer on the X2 but Hmm?

I've come from the same place as you - from m50 to X2, with these being my first open back headphone. The X2 is definitely darker/warmer, the entire bass region is filled in, whereas with the m50, the bass is hitting at a much narrower range and the m50 has no mids to further muddy the sound. Obviously this is good or bad depending on what you're listening to - but I have to EQ the bass on everything that has the slightest hint of it, it's that thick on the X2. The highs on the m50 are overdone, just too grainy and artificial whereas the highs on the X2 are laid back, which works well on bass light tracks, but with bass heavy tracks, the sound is too full and suffocating. To me, the X2 is missing some harmonics, but I like how it handles the mids of a guitar much better than on the m50. 
 
The m50, being V shaped is more versatile, but it doesn't excel at anything other than aggressive/hard hitting music, while the X2 sounds good/great for quite a bit of music, but can also sound pretty miserable on tracks that have too much low end/mids or tracks that are overly compressed. The X2 is awful for other purposes, like gaming, the bloated bass sounds so unnatural in this setting, plus that suffocating sensation is on full display. They're strictly for music. So far, I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to return them and go for something else - or just use these for the music that they can render better than the m50s, which is quite a bit(if bass is tamed).