[Pharmaboy]

So here's my X2HR story...grabbed an open box set for $175, one pad was grayish and slightly janky with the foam insert looking slightly melted or something and the other was fine and jet black...lol. So I ordered a new set at full price and low and behold...this one has a better/much more taught "suspension system" too and zero problems with the pads. Gonna do a switcharoo and send the janky pair back claiming that it's defective...because it is. Now I know why somebody else sent them back before me...so I dunno overall about QC vs somebody doing a number on these and returning them.

Having said that, I dunno what a $300 headphone is...I mean, I don't think it's necessarily built better than my Meze Neo or Monoprice M560, but this thing is nice all around. Aside from good build and materials, it sounds different from all of my other headphones...lots of spacing and yes, the sound stage is interestingly wide/detailed. I wouldn't personally call these "bassy" either...it's there and it's nice, but these seem sort of more "trying to be balanced but with some oomph and character" to me. I really like these a lot, but again, no clue if this is actually worth $300...I'm much happier at $175

These also need to be amped IMHO...not as easy to drive as some make these out to be, but not a power hog or anything like that either. I just wouldn't say to use these with a cell phone or standard laptop without some sort of little amp to help get them singing. Pads(on the good set...)seem awesome on these.

But the X2HRs are winners. Wait around/look around long enough snd these will pop-up new for $175-$225 during sales and promotions for different sites...don't drop $300 unless you just don't care.

Interesting post.

As a longtime X2 lover, I have 2 pieces of advice:

1. Burn in your X2HRs. I always burn-in for 150 hrs; some do as little as 50 hrs. Regardless, I found their sound changed somewhat through burn-in (all changes were positive)
2. And really spend some time w/them. These headphones really don't sound much like anything else--certainly not at their price point.

I love the sound, also the fit. I often use the X2's spacious (but not precise/exact) soundstage as a comparator to more expensive HPs that either are said to have a great soundstage (and actually do); or that don't have nearly the soundstage they're said to have.

 

[SuperNovaGoesPop]

Interesting post.

As a longtime X2 lover, I have 2 pieces of advice:

1. Burn in your X2HRs. I always burn-in for 150 hrs; some do as little as 50 hrs. Regardless, I found their sound changed somewhat through burn-in (all changes were positive)
2. And really spend some time w/them. These headphones really don't sound much like anything else--certainly not at their price point.

I love the sound, also the fit. I often use the X2's spacious (but not precise/exact) soundstage as a comparator to more expensive HPs that either are said to have a great soundstage (and actually do); or that don't have nearly the soundstage they're said to have.

I'm not sure if I want to say these are my favorites because I'm not sure if I have a favorite, but they're up there. The headband adjustment mechanism on the second pair is awesome as can be and everything fits perfectly without issue; it has a soft "sproingy" type of thing where it moves, yet wants to return to its starting point. On the first pair, which may have had who knows what done to it...well, it kind of droops and hits the top of my ears in a bad way; it's all loose by comparison and will stay wherever you adjust it without wanting to bounce back, and is just way out of whack. Again, these were an open box pair with some issues, but trying multiple pairs and making some returns is definitely worth it if any issues are noticed for those receiving new pairs. Don't want to feed the "Gibson QC is terrible" fire...but yeah, it's worth it to keep trying if needed.

I had a weird introduction to headphones and used KSC75s at $15 a pop for like 2 decades practically before getting into actual headphones, haha. So I sort of do a double take at the thought of spending hundreds and always go for used/open box items/sales out of habbit. I'll put it this way as an example: the SHP9500s are made every bit as well as the X2HR but with inferior materials, and I can't say they sound "not as good" either...totally different animal. Both benefit from being amped, both seem to sound good with everything, etc. $55($75) vs $175($300) lol, so I dunno what to really say aside from I like them both and am having fun with all of this.

 

[Kerry56]

There is an article showing that Philips has passed the A/V licenses once held by Gibson over to another company, called TPV. They are located in Hong Kong. There is nothing in the article that mentions the Fidelio line by name, but its a logical conclusion that TPV now has the rights to them. https://www.twice.com/news/philips-passes-gibson-held-a-v-licenses-to-tpv

 

[SuperNovaGoesPop]

There is an article showing that Philips has passed the A/V licenses once held by Gibson over to another company, called TPV. They are located in Hong Kong. There is nothing in the article that mentions the Fidelio line by name, but its a logical conclusion that TPV now has the rights to them. https://www.twice.com/news/philips-passes-gibson-held-a-v-licenses-to-tpv

Not surprised...if you're a musician and follow Gibson, then you know how dire that company is and has been for quite some time. They're in massive debt and have no light at the end of the tunnel...owning the Fidelio namesake and producing headphones is the last thing that they should be up to, so selling off assets is predictable.

 

[Slater]

There is an article showing that Philips has passed the A/V licenses once held by Gibson over to another company, called TPV. They are located in Hong Kong. There is nothing in the article that mentions the Fidelio line by name, but its a logical conclusion that TPV now has the rights to them. https://www.twice.com/news/philips-passes-gibson-held-a-v-licenses-to-tpv

According to this, they already had their hands in Philips for the last 10 years:

• “Hong Kong-based TPV and its TP Vision unit have licensed the Philips brand for more than 10 years”

I’m also sad to hear that Onkyo got carved up and sold off to a Chinese company.

 

[Kerry56]

According to this, they already had their hands in Philips for the last 10 years:

• “Hong Kong-based TPV and its TP Vision unit have licensed the Philips brand for more than 10 years”

I’m also sad to hear that Onkyo got carved up and sold off to a Chinese company.

Yep, but they've only got the licenses once held by Gibson this month, and those included the Philips brand headphones. I have to wonder how long we'll be waiting for them to refresh the Fidelio lineup.

Its hard to keep track of which brand belongs to who these days. Famous names wind up in the hands of people who really only produce trash sometimes. Look what happened to Polaroid.

 

[SuperNovaGoesPop]

Yep, but they've only got the licenses once held by Gibson this month, and those included the Philips brand headphones. I have to wonder how long we'll be waiting for them to refresh the Fidelio lineup.

Its hard to keep track of which brand belongs to who these days. Famous names wind up in the hands of people who really only produce trash sometimes. Look what happened to Polaroid.

Oh I hate it...as far as Gibson goes, I just hope for something ridiculous to happen like Fender buys them out. The whole company is just a joke and completely out of touch with pricing vs quality...nobody wants a $3000 Les Paul with crap like robotic tuning pegs and an oboard distortion circuit. Gibson has honestly lost its marbles and the people have revolted for about two decades without them making a single proper move to save itself, so this is all deserved. Kind of like Harley Davidson, the company has screwed itself and hasn't connected with a new audience in decades...combine that with their old audience sort of peaking-off with no reason to buy new products, and you have one major disaster on your hands. Other companies have out-Gibsoned Gibson for dramatically less $$$ and Gen Y has appropriately left the company high and dry...same thing as Harley since I went there, lol. The whole headphone venture was just weird for them.

As for the Fidelio line...yeah, considering how it went from The M and L and X series among other side shoots to just the X2, this might be a good thing overall. Maybe we'll see the lineup expand again and possibly an X3 to put an end to all of the X2 revisions and drama. If the new proprieter has been working with Philips for a long time already, then that's possibly a good start. I honestly don't think Gibson would have taken the Fidelio Line into new territories and would have just sat on it for as long as they could, which apparently is what may have already just happened. From an avid musician who knows the company well, I say good riddance.

 

[Slater]

Yep, but they've only got the licenses once held by Gibson this month, and those included the Philips brand headphones. I have to wonder how long we'll be waiting for them to refresh the Fidelio lineup.

Its hard to keep track of which brand belongs to who these days. Famous names wind up in the hands of people who really only produce trash sometimes. Look what happened to Polaroid.

I see, that makes sense.

So they had the Philips brand, but not the properties that Gibson had (ie the headphones). So now they have everything.

 

[Slater]

Oh I hate it...as far as Gibson goes, I just hope for something ridiculous to happen like Fender buys them out. The whole company is just a joke and completely out of touch with pricing vs quality...nobody wants a $3000 Les Paul with crap like robotic tuning pegs and an oboard distortion circuit. Gibson has honestly lost its marbles and the people have revolted for about two decades without them making a single proper move to save itself, so this is all deserved. Kind of like Harley Davidson, the company has screwed itself and hasn't connected with a new audience in decades...combine that with their old audience sort of peaking-off with no reason to buy new products, and you have one major disaster on your hands. Other companies have out-Gibsoned Gibson for dramatically less $$$ and Gen Y has appropriately left the company high and dry...same thing as Harley since I went there, lol. The whole headphone venture was just weird for them.

As for the Fidelio line...yeah, considering how it went from The M and L and X series among other side shoots to just the X2, this might be a good thing overall. Maybe we'll see the lineup expand again and possibly an X3 to put an end to all of the X2 revisions and drama. If the new proprieter has been working with Philips for a long time already, then that's possibly a good start. I honestly don't think Gibson would have taken the Fidelio Line into new territories and would have just sat on it for as long as they could, which apparently is what may have already just happened. From an avid musician who knows the company well, I say good riddance.

Unfortunately this happens more times than I can count. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion - companies going downhill without a clue, before finally crashing and burning.

I’ve watched clusterf**ks happen to everything from top tier audio brands like Nakamichi to 30+ years of the downfall of the BMX/bike industry. Companies eventually reduced to nothing but a name, and just whored out.

A lot of these companies do it to themselves, but some just fall on hard times, changing markets or demographics, or just victims of unfortunate circumstances.

Regardless, it really is sad, and breaks my heart.

 

[Pharmaboy]

"Companies eventually reduced to nothing but a name, and just whored out."

(that actually describes my business pretty well!)

Seriously, this sell out/die/rebirth cycle is so familiar to anyone involved in trad 2-channel audio (big speakers, amps, whatever). Just go to any audio classified board and look at picture after picture of huge/expensive speakers & amps whose mfrs (esteemed, but bankrupt) left the business long ago: a Festival of Orphaned Brands.

Audio gear at anywhere but the least expensive level (which is bubble-pack/commoditized, requiring only distribution network) is a complicated business. Besides spend often big $$ on R&D, the company must have production (in-house or off-shored; both cost), service/customer support, someone answering phones, interfacing w/new and old customers, attending shows. Endless to-do list. Bank loans are notoriously hard to get; margins tight.

The Fidelio X2s aren't at the bottom rung of the audio food-chain, not by any means. Then again, they couldn't have added much to the bottom line of Phllips/Gibson, Plus there was that big Amazon kerfluffle a couple years ago that effectively sidelined the brand for ~1 year...when I bought mine I didn't dare buy brand new, for fear of getting a defective headphone. I bought NIB off ebay, with jpgs proving the pre-problems provenance of this particular set of X2s.

They're terrific headphones, maybe my favorite all-rounder--but the company is & was very troubled financially. Gibson obviously has far greater roots in the music community than headphones. Hate to see companies like that go down.

 

[audioot]

It probably looks like the production of the fidelio x2 stops and the current one
owners are going to have a collectors item.
In other words, in Europe you pay 380 euros for the X2 HR, which is 440 us dollars.
I have shipped the mine for $ 300 from Australia to the Netherlands.
So for us a bargain.

 

[ohsigmachi]

I've had my gently used second hand X2HRs for about 3 weeks now and am really loving them!

They are so easy to drive, and deliver a big clear and spacious sound without the need for an amp.

As a matter of fact I like the sound of them straight off my LG V30+ better than through my DV 336se tube amp, which is not true for any of my other headphones.

 

[Lurk650]

According to this, they already had their hands in Philips for the last 10 years:

• “Hong Kong-based TPV and its TP Vision unit have licensed the Philips brand for more than 10 years”

I’m also sad to hear that Onkyo got carved up and sold off to a Chinese company.

That's weird, I thought that Onkyo was part of Pioneer as their DAPs are pretty much the same

 

[Slater]

That's weird, I thought that Onkyo was part of Pioneer as their DAPs are pretty much the same

Not sure, but the last sentence of that press release read:

“As part of its Chapter 11 reorganization, Gibson is shedding its Gibson Innovations CE operation, which it acquired from Philips in 2014. Global rights to its jewel-in-the-crown Onkyo brand went to Chinese TV manufacturer TCL last month.”

And this kind of makes sense, as I heard the A800/A900 were related to Philips/Gibson somehow. Either developed, tuned, and/or manufactured by Philips/Gibson. Basically a sibling of the Fidelio X2.

 

[Lurk650]

Not sure, but the last sentence of that press release read:

“As part of its Chapter 11 reorganization, Gibson is shedding its Gibson Innovations CE operation, which it acquired from Philips in 2014. Global rights to its jewel-in-the-crown Onkyo brand went to Chinese TV manufacturer TCL last month.”

And this kind of makes sense, as I heard the A800/A900 were related to Philips/Gibson somehow. Either developed, tuned, and/or manufactured by Philips/Gibson. Basically a sibling of the Fidelio X2.

Guessing all these Japanese companies are just one big company LOL

I believe TCL is the brand of that apparently awesome Budget 4K TV that some people are raving about