Philips Fidelio X2?!

[jussi2013]

I just got one brand new for 150€ from a local shop. Good price, eh? 
 
Didn't know anything about the quality issues before buying, of course.. 

 
If they are real (Gibsons sound like **** etc.)
 
Of course box tells mine are Gibson made, but aren't they all these days?
 
They are well built, no glue. Headband is "WOOX" (smooth texture). Inner headband looks good. 
Text is right, and slightly golden. Color is different in the "text section" compared to actual cups (sounds like WOOX-made right?)
However, pads are clearly not "WOOX made" shiny, slightly fatter pads. But they are not thin either. Here's some pictures.
 

 
So how can I know if mine are good or not? Are the pads supposed to be **** now, and I should buy better ones? 

They feel great..
 
And it sounds.. good.. can easily compare it to my more expensive Ultrasone PRO 900, might like it even more, too early to tell.
They can also share the same better quality cable I bought for Ultrasones. 

And I do believe in burn in, be it placebo or not, Ultrasone transformed to a completely different headphone, so this Fidelio might also improve further.
 
 
Overall, im not very worried about the quality issues, as long as it sounds good. Also feels and looks awesome.
Leaks sound surprisingly little too, no more than my closed headphones. And open design is nice. 
I have too many closed ones at the moment (M50X, AH-D2000, PRO 900..).
 
Just worried about those pads, do you think they are worse than the WOOX ones soundwise?
How they are supposed to feel (thickness etc.) compared to "bad ones?"

 

[Sinery]

  I just got one brand new for 150€ from a local shop. Good price, eh? 
 
Didn't know anything about the quality issues before buying, of course.. 

 
If they are real (Gibsons sound like **** etc.)
 
Of course box tells mine are Gibson made, but aren't they all these days?
 
They are well built, no glue. Headband is "WOOX" (smooth texture). Inner headband looks good. 
Text is right, and slightly golden. Color is different in the "text section" compared to actual cups (sounds like WOOX-made right?)
However, pads are clearly not "WOOX made" shiny, slightly fatter pads. But they are not thin either. Here's some pictures.
 

 
So how can I know if mine are good or not? Are the pads supposed to be **** now, and I should buy better ones? 

They feel great..
 
And it sounds.. good.. can easily compare it to my more expensive Ultrasone PRO 900, might like it even more, too early to tell.
They can also share the same better quality cable I bought for Ultrasones. 

And I do believe in burn in, be it placebo or not, Ultrasone transformed to a completely different headphone, so this Fidelio might also improve further.
 
 
Overall, im not very worried about the quality issues, as long as it sounds good. Also feels and looks awesome.
Leaks sound surprisingly little too, no more than my closed headphones. And open design is nice. 
I have too many closed ones at the moment (M50X, AH-D2000, PRO 900..).
 
Just worried about those pads, do you think they are worse than the WOOX ones soundwise?
How they are supposed to feel (thickness etc.) compared to "bad ones?"

New Gibsons are all perfect in terms of build as far as I can tell from the pair I've handled and what I've found on forums.
 

 
Top ones are the ****ty temporary run Gibson ones, bottom are original Woox.
You tell me which pad you got and do reply if you discover if yours have ink bleed.
 
For sound the pair I handled sounded poorly from my phone.
But if you love the sound of the ones you have, it shouldn't matter even if your ears are full of glue.

 

[jussi2013]

Yeah I got those upper ****ty pads.
They don't smell, no glue, no ink bleed. 
 
Are the bass plus pads (ebay) worth 40€? 
Quite disappointed that we have to pay extra to get what once was given.
I emailed Philips about this, but I know  they don't even sell those pads.
I could return them of course but nah, don't think any of them have the better pads anymore.
And the price was good, not so good anymore of course.
 
I don't actually love their sound, Ultrasone is more exciting, these more natural.
And I can't compare them to earlier models of course.

 

[jussi2013]

Hmm interesting, seems like Philips do have some replacement pads. 
Part numbers 996580008846 and 996580008847 
https://north.pl/karta/996580008847-gabka-na-sluchawki--prawa-gibson-philips,707-VE-3625.html
But those are not WOOX either. 

 

[Sinery]

As I said, I have only handled the one pair myself but I have done my research - heard nothing of replacement pads though.

You sure you have the pads on the left?
Because the new Gibson pair I handled had the right pads.

 

[jussi2013]

Philips answered me and told about replacement pads. If you google those numbers, you can find some discussions but not much.
 
Yes im sure. Right one is velvet right? Left is velour. My pair is not shiny at all to eye.
Shape is like in the upper pair when I take them off. Even easier to see.
Oh, that sucks. 

But I live in Finland, maybe that explains? 
 
Looks like they have some more with cheaper price this week too.
I could visit, and see if they have any WOOX labelled boxes.
But thats not probable.
 
Edit. After 3 days burn in and longer listening session, I can now say that Fidelio is superior in rock music (or alike) and Ultrasone in electronic/trance.
Excellent! My cans are definetily not "faulty", and that's the most important thing right now.

 

[Decommo]

Hello,
 
Can anyone help me?  
 
My unit has loose joint between headband and earcup aluminium circular frame (blue highlighted area) so need to tighten it. To do that, I somehow need to remove earcup/driver unit from aluminium frame of earcup and not sure how to do it. I guess that I need to do something on red highlighted part but not 100% sure. I do not want to break the parts so would like to get some advice if anyone has done it before.  
 
Thank you..
 

 

[Shawn71]

Hello,

Can anyone help me?  

My unit has loose joint between headband and earcup aluminium circular frame (blue highlighted area) so need to tighten it. To do that, I somehow need to remove earcup/driver unit from aluminium frame of earcup and not sure how to do it. I guess that I need to do something on red highlighted part but not 100% sure. I do not want to break the parts so would like to get some advice if anyone has done it before.  

Thank you..

Yes thats right, there are 2 screws,on left & right position,when you hold the cup(you lookin at the grill) are the ones that need to be unscrewed first, in-order for you to get the access to the headband screws that are facing down......BUT,yes But be careful with the screw thats on left,as thats the one that routes the thin cable to the right ear cup,thru one of the metal arch.

PS.: Since yours a X1(from the picture) and I believe the design of both X1 and X2 are same. Still be cautious with what you doin and you are on your own,dont point your finger @ me if something goes bad.

Let me tell you an easy way w/o you touching those left & right screws,bend a small flat screw driver and reach those headband screws!

Edit: bend 90degree at flat end.or a thin metal sort to fit the screw head.

 

[Decommo]

 

Hello,

Can anyone help me?  

My unit has loose joint between headband and earcup aluminium circular frame (blue highlighted area) so need to tighten it. To do that, I somehow need to remove earcup/driver unit from aluminium frame of earcup and not sure how to do it. I guess that I need to do something on red highlighted part but not 100% sure. I do not want to break the parts so would like to get some advice if anyone has done it before.  

Thank you..

Yes thats right, there are 2 screws,on left & right position,when you hold the cup(you lookin at the grill) are the ones that need to be unscrewed first, in-order for you to get the access to the headband screws that are facing down......BUT,yes But be careful with the screw thats on left,as thats the one that routes the thin cable to the right ear cup,thru one of the metal arch.

PS.: Since yours a X1(from the picture) and I believe the design of both X1 and X2 are same. Still be cautious with what you doin and you are on your own,dont point your finger @ me if something goes bad.

Let me tell you an easy way w/o you touching those left & right screws,bend a small flat screw driver and reach those headband screws!

Edit: bend 90degree at flat end.or a thin metal sort to fit the screw head.

 
Thank you so much for your advice.  I tried to bend flat screw and it did not bend but break into half.

   I tried to unscrew the plastic screw parts on both left and right side of earcups but failed. I somehow managed to tighten the joint by using tweezer. It is still not rock solid tight but tight enough to be able to use again. 

 

 

[discape]

  New Gibsons are all perfect in terms of build as far as I can tell from the pair I've handled and what I've found on forums.
 

 
Top ones are the ****ty temporary run Gibson ones, bottom are original Woox.
You tell me which pad you got and do reply if you discover if yours have ink bleed.
 
For sound the pair I handled sounded poorly from my phone.
But if you love the sound of the ones you have, it shouldn't matter even if your ears are full of glue.

 

  Yeah I got those upper ****ty pads.
They don't smell, no glue, no ink bleed. 
 
Are the bass plus pads (ebay) worth 40€? 
Quite disappointed that we have to pay extra to get what once was given.
I emailed Philips about this, but I know  they don't even sell those pads.
I could return them of course but nah, don't think any of them have the better pads anymore.
And the price was good, not so good anymore of course.
 
I don't actually love their sound, Ultrasone is more exciting, these more natural.
And I can't compare them to earlier models of course.

 
 
Phillips said they changed the pads to improve them to make them more durable, I believe the original pads had seams going along them, seams often split at some point. Happened to other headphones of mine before.

 

[r343]

Which is recommended sound card for these? I prefer Dolby Headphones or equal for gaming. SoundBlaster Z maybe? Now i have ALC892 and i fear that i am lacking something if using it.

 

[Sinery]

  Which is recommended sound card for these? I prefer Dolby Headphones or equal for gaming. SoundBlaster Z maybe? Now i have ALC892 and i fear that i am lacking something if using it.

 
Well if you want virtual surround, the Sennheiser GSX 1000 seems to be king now.

 

[r343]

   
Well if you want virtual surround, the Sennheiser GSX 1000 seems to be king now.

 
Thank you but i was looking for little bit cheaper first

, i got headphones for ~150€ so i was thinking sound card around 60-90€

 

[Sinery]

   
Thank you but i was looking for little bit cheaper first

, i got headphones for ~150€ so i was thinking sound card around 60-90€

 
You can't use just an internal soundcard with the X2s though.
X2s have stupid low impedance, internal soundcards have stupid high output impedance, the two are unusable together.
 
As far as I know there are no internal soundcards with virtual surround with less than 10 ohm output impedance, hell the cheapest SBZ has over 20 ohm.
With the X2s you want 4 ohm or less.
 
If you want to be real cute, get the Creative G1 and a BoomPro.
Though I suspect the virtual surround is going to be garbage.

 

[discape]

   
You can't use just an internal soundcard with the X2s though.
X2s have stupid low impedance, internal soundcards have stupid high output impedance, the two are unusable together.
 
As far as I know there are no internal soundcards with virtual surround with less than 10 ohm output impedance, hell the cheapest SBZ has over 20 ohm.
With the X2s you want 4 ohm or less.
 
If you want to be real cute, get the Creative G1 and a BoomPro.
Though I suspect the virtual surround is going to be garbage.

Can you please explain why such low impedence is important? x2 are 30ohm, why wouldn't an amp rated as low as 10ohm be suitable?