[Architeuthis]

95% of the music I listen to is 60's-90's rock, or pop. If I had to choose one era that does not sound as consistently good as others, it would be 80's.
I feel 90's rock with the Fidelio X2 has probably exceeded my expectations.

 

[Hammy]

  Yeah that was because of me lol. I was asking if the glue, metal trim issue and sq differences was sorted because so far i've had 3 pairs since around 20th of Dec and all had issues. They told me in Dec that it would go under investigation but it never did, so they told me they'd do it now.


 

 
Did you ever get all your pairs to sound the same?

 

[lhayati]

   
Did you ever get all your pairs to sound the same?

First pair I had, which had a slightly different serial number to the 2nd and 3rd replacements (i assume it was slightly older, but was still gibson) actually sounds the best by far and is more comfortable too which is weird. They all had glued on pads. I didn't even bother listening to the 2nd pair because the metal band issue was so bad. The third was cosmetically sound (apart from the glued pads), but the sound stage was so small like directly in my ear, I though it might just require burn it so I used it solo for a week and they sounded pretty decent, as soon as I put my initial pair back on though just for comparison the difference was so obvious, the SQ seemed to have somehow deteriorated from my initial A/B. The soundstage on the 1st pair was far wider, the highs weren't so sharp and the bass was actually there (the bass surprised me the most). The annoying thing is that if I didn't have the 1st pair to compare with I would have thought that the bad pair were good.

 

[Hammy]

  First pair I had, which had a slightly different serial number to the 2nd and 3rd replacements (i assume it was slightly older, but was still gibson) actually sounds the best by far and is more comfortable too which is weird. They all had glued on pads. I didn't even bother listening to the 2nd pair because the metal band issue was so bad. The third was cosmetically sound (apart from the glued pads), but the sound stage was so small like directly in my ear, I though it might just require burn it so I used it solo for a week and they sounded pretty decent, as soon as I put my initial pair back on though just for comparison the difference was so obvious, the SQ seemed to have somehow deteriorated from my initial A/B. The soundstage on the 1st pair was far wider, the highs weren't so sharp and the bass was actually there (the bass surprised me the most). The annoying thing is that if I didn't have the 1st pair to compare with I would have thought that the bad pair were good.

 
Mirrors my experience almost exactly.  It's less to do with WOOX/Gibson and more to do with driver matching and/or pad matching.
 
Anyone who has 2 or more pairs in hand, a little test.  Switch the L pad from one pair to another and take a listen (try the R too, or both!).  Report back if you hear any differences.  Check for soundstage and L-R balancing.

 

[lhayati]

After reading the Phillips statement, I contacted Amazon again to ask if they knew about this and when the new stock would come in.
 
Ankith:
 
I've checked and see that the new stock is not available with amazon and is available with different sellers, The new stock would probably arrive in a week.


Me:
 
So in a week you'll 100% have pairs with the new non-glued pads?


Ankith:
 
Yes Louis, maximum it would take 10 days and not more than that."
 
Me:
 
So just to confirm because i've had a lot of bad luck with this product so far, once the "ITEM UNDER REVIEW" message is gone and I am able to order from Amazon it will be new stock

Ankith: 
 
Yes, I can confirm you that it will be new stock Louis.

 

[VeggiePopper]

What kind of music do you listen to through your HD598's? And (you might have answered this earlier but im too lazy to check) have you played games with the headphones, like Battlefield, Call of Duty, The Witcher, Skyrim etc.. And how are the headphones for gaming?

I kisten mostly to "soft" music, such as classic rock, jazz, blues and classical music. However, I also listen, from time to time, some prog rock and punk rock. Granted, I'm not too much into bass heavy music like EDM or hip-hop, but for the music I like, the 598 has the right amount of bass.

In regards to gaming, of the ones you mentioned I've only played Skyrim. And it sounds fantastic on the 598! I've also played very heavily GTA V and Super Smash Bros., and some 3DS games. All of them beautiful experiences with my black 598s, particularly Zelda and Skyrim, they just can't be better.

 

[DADDYDC650]

  I haven't seen anyone post this:
 
http://www.supportforum.philips.com/en/showthread.php?22285-Philips-X2-Statement

Can't wait for the new stock to arrive. I just got some backup X2 ear cushions and all I need now is a some X2's without glue! I have about 3 weeks left to return my glued pair.  Thanks for the link.

 

[ThomasHK]

   
Does anyone know about the process for testing against "identical golden samples"?  Is this done when the driver is in the headphone, with the earpads in place?
 
I take issue with much of the statement, but bravo to Philips for coming out and addressing some of the problems.

 
Typically both on drivers individually and fully assembled headphone, each using specifically designed measurement jigs (or couplers in professional jargon). A golden sample is essentially a physical sample closest to the statistical mean performance seen after running an initial batch of mass production (so not prototypes). Production tolerances are set based on this golden sample. Typically: frequency response, left-right balance and THD.     

 

[Townyj]

I am going to laugh if the new stock has glue and sound amazing.

 

[AkamShatab]

Going to pick up my new X2 from webhallen,If i can get my money back i will purchase HD650 instead i think.. Or just a pair of Mad dogs from mrspeakers

 

[trickards]

I just received my delivery from Amazon UK (dispatched at 3am, delivered at 9:30am - how's that for service?).  I have to say, the phones look and sound great (balance, bass, mid-range clarity) from the last 30 min or so I've spent listening.  I don't have any ability to A/B test with another set, but my I do listen on a relatively high end Hi-Fi (Naim/B&W) and the reproduction from these cans is really quite stunning out of the box to me.
 
Can confirm the pads are glued - but they came off without too much effort.
 
I will be keeping this set for sure.  People have clearly had issues here, but I though it was worth adding one mild success story to the pile.

 

[AkamShatab]

I just received my delivery from Amazon UK (dispatched at 3am, delivered at 9:30am - how's that for service?).  I have to say, the phones look and sound great (balance, bass, mid-range clarity) from the last 30 min or so I've spent listening.  I don't have any ability to A/B test with another set, but my I do listen on a relatively high end Hi-Fi (Naim/B&W) and the reproduction from these cans is really quite stunning out of the box to me.

Can confirm the pads are glued - but they came off without too much effort.

I will be keeping this set for sure.  People have clearly had issues here, but I though it was worth adding one mild success story to the pile.

Everyone gets good sound and good quality but they also cry because someone tells them that glued pads are bad... Everyone X2 hesdphone is good, its ju that some of them are from Gibson and some from WOOX. Just a bit difference in quality.

 

[AkamShatab]

Can't wait for the new stock to arrive. I just got some backup X2 ear cushions and all I need now is a some X2's without glue! I have about 3 weeks left to return my glued pair.  Thanks for the link.

Why? The glued ones are the new ones and there is zero difference if theyre both from WOOX or Gibson. People just regering because of glued pads that makes literally no difference unless from the glue itself.

 

[ustinj]

All this complaining about glue, when you can't even buy pads to replace them with ;o

 

[AkamShatab]

All this complaining about glue, when you can't even buy pads to replace them with ;o

You can but u need to buy custom ones