[Sofacykel]

Bought a 2014 model used, says Woox on the box. Shiny lintbomb earpads. Previously had a 2016 Gibson pair brand new, matte earpads. No glue on either, though the outer metal ring on the Gibson pair was sticking out quite a bit on the right earcup.
 
Gibson pair were imbalanced out of the box, my initial notes (yes I take notes) were: "The right driver plays treble at an exponentially higher volume the higher you turn them up (starts very, very slight and gets worse)". This was before I had done any research on the matter, but my issues with the pair made me Google around to confirm my brain wasn't playing tricks on me. I cross referenced with an original ATH-M50, 2015 China made AKG K240 and some JVC HA-FXT90 in ears all sounding perfectly balanced to me. Ended up returning the brand new Fidelio X2's.
 
I was impressed with the general build and comfort though, and I kind of enjoyed the sound except the treble was grainy and the bass was bloaty. I've been on the lookout for really wide and bassy headphones ever since and decided to try an earlier model of the X2 as I really wanted to like them.
 
My 2014 Woox sounds much, much cleaner. Treble is fine, absolutely not as grainy or artificial as the other pair and bass is fairly well balanced. The difference is very clearly tangible. Burn-in can't possibly do this much. But! The imbalance is still present with this pair, just in another way. Bass and treble is fairly balanced this time around, but voices, especially female or high pitched are more to the right. We're talking 2-8% adjustment in my sound card's digital volume adjustment (widely depending on song) - But I can only adjust volume, so I'm shifting a lot of sound to the left ear to balance frequencies around the vocal area... Again; I've cross referenced balance with other pairs of other makes, models and types (in ears, over, open back, closed back) but it's only my Fidelio X2's producing this discernible difference in balance.
 
It is driving me nuts. I LOVE them, but I'm not happy with them. It's an abusive relationship and I want to get rid of them after a week of owning them already, but I'd feel like such a bad person selling a relatively defective product to some unknowing poor sod. I kind of feel like giving up on the X2 entirely.

 

[MisterMudd]

Man, I feel for everyone that got a crappy pair over the years. I really do, and saddened by it all. My 2014 pair has been flawless from day one to today and I will likely keep them always,but I can't fathom Philips falling down like this. Just sad. Guess I am one of the lucky few.

 

[nplateau]

My Gibson pair doesn't seem to have any real issues that I can discern, but that said my ears are not equal, so it's difficult for me to tell definitively whether any problems are due to the headphones or my own ears. 

 

[OldDude04]

Man, I feel for everyone that got a crappy pair over the years. I really do, and saddened by it all. My 2014 pair has been flawless from day one to today and I will likely keep them always,but I can't fathom Philips falling down like this. Just sad. Guess I am one of the lucky few.

 
I feel the same way, bad for those that got a crappy pair. I got mine in 2016 and they have been great from the start. When it is a good pair, they are a phenomenal bang for the buck. 

 

[vertical]

Man, I feel for everyone that got a crappy pair over the years. I really do, and saddened by it all. My 2014 pair has been flawless from day one to today and I will likely keep them always,but I can't fathom Philips falling down like this. Just sad. Guess I am one of the lucky few.

+1

Received mine as a gift in December 2014 a couple of months after the X2 was launched in North America, and they continue to sound great. It's sad what others have gone through due to quality issues.

 

[Sofacykel]

Yes, I am happy everyone got working units, I'm just saddened that some people would like to brush these issues to the side as being one-off's or subjective bias. Also the fact that the two pairs I've heard sound vastly different is concerning, because now I don't know which signature people are actually praising. One was very dark with great amounts of bass (though hissy, grainy highs) and the other is a bit wider, more balanced and with really nice highs but definitely not as oomphy and bassy as I had come to expect.
 
I am just saying these issues are real and I just want people to recognize that. While some people might not be able to tell 2-8% difference in volume at certain frequencies, I can and I do. I am no audiophile by any means, but I do have ears that are very sensitive to balance in particular and this Fidelio X2 throws my head for a spin if not fixed somewhat in my sound card.
 
Changing earpads to Brainwavz Hybrids muffles and booms the mids enough to combat the effect a bit, but it negatively affects sound quality too much. I didn't buy an X2 for it to sound like garbage, so I'm selling them before I get too angry and disappointed with them.
 
Cheers
 
(I love the design btw... anything else like it out there?)

 

[JKDJedi]

I feel the same way, bad for those that got a crappy pair. I got mine in 2016 and they have been great from the start. When it is a good pair, they are a phenomenal bang for the buck. 

+1 got a Gibson 2016 pair myself and they are phenomenal, my only complaint really is that everything else I own sounds like crap compared to these..lol. And yes burn in does make a difference, with amps and headphones.

 

[oscarc]

If anyone wants a pair of X2 for cheaper, let me know. I have a pair that had one of the two pins/screws that attaches the left ear cup to the headband break off. Someone that is handier than I can probably fix it. They function perfectly fine except the left earcup swings more when taking it off due to the missing pin. 

 

[thrgk]

How much ? Got a picture of what you are talking about ?

If anyone wants a pair of X2 for cheaper, let me know. I have a pair that had one of the two [COLOR=333333]pins/screws that attaches the left ear cup to the headband break off. Someone that is handier than I can probably fix it. They function perfectly fine except the left earcup swings more when taking it off due to the missing pin. [/COLOR]

 

[oscarc]

$100. Here is a link to the post on the Philips forum which has good pictures of the issue. I can provide my own pictures as well through email.

http://www.supportforum.philips.com/en/showthread.php?42388-Fidelio-X2-replacement-screws

 

[thrgk]

$100. Here is a link to the post on the Philips forum which has good pictures of the issue. I can provide my own pictures as well through email.

http://www.supportforum.philips.com/en/showthread.php?42388-Fidelio-X2-replacement-screws

Is it under warranty / have original invoice ?

 

[oscarc]

Is it under warranty / have original invoice ?

Not under warranty and not the original owner. Purchased from original owner on here back in November 2015. I checked and the warranty is only a year from original purchase.

 

[JediMa70]

Ordered mine, they will arrive on monday.. I can't wait to "use" them, i've read so many good reviews and so many bad comments, so it will be interesting to check by myself.
To play safe I bought them on Amazon, so if anything will go wrong, i can send them back for free ...

 

[Joong]

I ordered and get them very soon.
Dynamic cans are generating sound as I listen to them inside a can.
They reverberate without fast decaying preceding notes.
I am coming from planar phones to dynamic phones for some experiment for big band music, the planars are faster than dynamic phones.
I am curious about the speed of X2.

 

[wigglepuff]

asking here since the x1 thread seems dead, anyone know how to remove the metal parts holding the cushion band on the X1 its the same with the X2 right?
 
need to repair the cushy thing since the plastic part on the sides ripped.