Good price for Philips Fidelio X2HR.. it's been a while since it was this low I suppose.
CamelCamelCamel.
I completely disagree. The Fidelios are super easy to drive, have a very pleasant V-shaped sound signature with plenty of bass. Not sibilant and treble quality can be improved by replacing the cable with a higher quality one.
Seriously, over the last 10 years I have tried many different mid- and Hi-Fi headphones including the hifimans, and I keep coming back to the Fidelios. These have Some of the best build quality for low price, comfortable to wear for long periods, amazingly wide soundstage and plenty of bass and details in highs.
I'll be buying a new pair today because my old ones are worn out. Can recommend 100%
I'll be buying a new pair today because my old ones are worn out. Can recommend 100%
Please don't encourage people to buy new headphones in lieu of buying new pads, headbands, etc… that's bizarrely wasteful.
I tried this, unfortunately the new pads change the sound signature too much to my liking.
The old pair of headphones will be recycled on ebay, nothing is wasted
Have you compared Fidelio X2HR/00 with Fidelio L2? L2 driver is 40mm, 10mm shorter than X2HR/00. Seeking opinions. Thanks.
Also interested in comparison to L2 which i picked up a couple of months ago on a deal here. Have thoroughly enjoyed owning it. Was thinking of X2 or a pair of HE-X4 bc it's planar.
You should not consider driver size as a factor when choosing between headphones. Its not about the size but how the acoustical engineer uses it ;)
In my research the X2HR will be harder to drive if you don't have a DAC. Think i will be happy with L2 and continue to enjoy it for what it's worth. Money saved is the best bargain!
I never said it lacked bass as a whole. I said it lacked sub bass. It has plenty of midbass for all I care.
I'm gonna completely disregard your comment because you said cable improved treble quality. Absolute nonsense outside of cable output impedance 's effects on the sound, in which higher impedance cables increase subbass and upper treble. The idea of a "better" cable to "improve" the sound of a headphone outside of this fact is ridiculous to even think about when commented on the post of an entry level headphone. If you have to spend extra to "improve" the treble via a cable, buy a better headphone.
Youre free to disregard my post
I'm just speaking from personal experience. Stock cable is fine, but it's a bit long. I have a shorter cable made of higher grade components, which has improved the upper frequencies. This was after trying a friends custom made mogami cable. Im not going to waste time arguing with you in regards to the impact of cable quality on sound reproduction, take that to some audiophile forums
I am here to say the exact opposite, you must have got a dud pair or sth.
Bus/sub-bass is Amazing. Highs are super clear.
With EQ easily the best passive headphones I have. I have plenty including dt770, Dan Clark Audio Aeon closed, HD6XX, hd58X, HE-X4. (Hi-fi man already dying, not surprise to anyone…)
I never said it lacked bass as a whole. I said it lacked sub bass. It has plenty of midbass for all I care.
The subbass is literally measured to be rolling off significantly. I find that midbass without the compliment of subbass is the worst kind of bass response.
The treble is too peaky for my tastes and results in some sibilance for my hrtf and an uncanny valley effect on the harmonics of stringed instruments
I do have praise for the build quality though. They are built amazingly. Feels super premium for the price. But I can't deal with the sound compromises.
HIFIMAN HE400SE is $209. DROP + HIFIMAN HE-X4 is US$99 + delivery + GST.
Links?
One in Amazon AU. One in Drop website. Both are easily found.
Not as good in my experience + Quality control issues. One channel is already dying.
Contact Drop about your warranty if you haven't already, but I'd imagine it's a simple solder repair.
Just as a heads up you really do need an amp to drive the hifiman options but they are a much better headphone soundwise (I just made the transition from the Fidelio to the X4.
I haven't really had a problem driving them from my iphone w/lightning adapter or my Rpi w/ a DAC Hat. I did notice them sound very poor when using some desktop speakers headphone passthru jack, however.
HEX4s to be specific.
Don't forget Cash Rewards 3.5% on headphones at moment
How do these compare to Phillips SPH9500?
Every time a Philips headphone deal gets posted, all the Hifiman fans seem to drop in.
Hifiman, especially the HE-X4s, are good value. Back to back with my other open back headphones (SPH9500s, Astro A40s) they definitely have a much 'airier' feel to them - like all the instruments have space between them. its a subtle difference, but an important one imo. they lack a bit of bass for my taste. Im yet to try them with an amp though.
I'll also champion QCY T13s, which price-wise are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Absolutely the best bang for buck in-ear TWS you can buy, and only $25 when on sale.
Exactly. LOL.
No idea why people are giving detailed feedback on Hifiman + recommending QCY TWS???
I still have the original X2, prefer them to the hd58x for fun listening. I'm using a Topping DX3pro (also a rather controversial piece).
The X2 really seem to be one of the most controversial cans.
Really love these cans, decent value at this price for sure. Wish there was a wireless variant, I'd be wearing them out and about all day long, strange looks from bystanders be damned.
L3s?
Thanks for the suggestion and sorry for late reply, per my reply to the other comment though what I'm really after would be an open-back wireless set, which is understandably a niche item.
Thanks for the suggestion, what I'm really after though is an open-back wireless set which there understandably isn't a lot of demand for, as folks usually want the exact opposite (i.e. noise cancelling) when going wireless for commuting etc.
"what I'm really after though is an open-back wireless set which there understandably isn't a lot of demand for, as folks usually want the exact opposite (i.e. noise cancelling) when going wireless for commuting etc."
Yeah I think you are right about that one. Don't think I have ever seen a open-back wireless bluetooth headphone before. ANC headphones like the one I linked sometimes have transparency mode though? So you might be able to switch that to "on" permanently, which might give you a bit of an open back experience??
@harshbdmmaster718: Currently using the Plantronics BackBeat FIT 6100 for my wireless needs and the transparency mode does help somewhat with hearing what's going on around you (albeit with a small but kinda off-putting delay).
Doesn't help at all with soundstage though or breathability around the ears which are the main things I like about open-backs. Can't win em all I suppose, appreciate the suggestion all the same!
@itscyanide: Hey I was browsing Amazon JP last night (recently $1 AUD was = 100JPY) and found exactly what you are looking for.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Audio-Technica-ATH-HL7BT-Headp…
Open back wireless headphones.
If you want to know how to purchase from Amazon JP. A recent forum post shared that they recently allowed you to login to Amazon JP with your Amazon US account, and if you set your address to Australian address Amazon JP will ship to you. If you don't have a Amazon US (.com) account then you can try logging into Amazon JP with your Amazon AU account but some comments say this didn't work.
Currently 1AUD=93JPY so not too bad compared to the usual 80JPY or so that it was for the longest time.
The headphone is ¥17,218 + ¥4,725 delivery to Australia. So total around ¥21,943 or $233 AUD.
Edit: I am so sorry I swear it was in stock last night, but now it's showing as temporarily out of stock. Not sure if you are willing to wait a bit after ordering but anyway thought I would share this with you.
@harshbdmmaster718: Hey that's awesome! No worries about it being out of stock, it's cool to know such a thing does exist after all, and in reputable brand which is a bonus. Thanks a bunch, will definitely check them out :)
@itscyanide: No problem at all. I was searching for something else and it just popped up, I couldn't believe it myself lol.
Anyway I have been watching the page in a open tab just in case, and it changed from "Temporary out of stock" to "Ships in 1 to 2 months", then it went back to "Temporary out of stock".
So maybe worth keeping an eye on.
When searching for reviews on "ATH-HL7BT" and sorting by "upload date", looks like it's a only available in Japan product so all the reviews are Japanese.
But if you want to know at least something about them, you can open up a youtube review in the Youtube App e.g. https://youtu.be/6IXT1xUw5lQ and then click the 3 dots, then c
"Captions" and there should be an "Auto translate" option, then click "english". It won't be perfect but this is how I get info on international products. The "Auto translate" option is not there when watching using the browser on PC however I don't know why.
Got them used on eBay for $100, they’re ok but have better headphones in my collection although these are 5th place in my top 5.
One of my fave headphones, no need for EQs or new cables. Love how they look and sound. If you're new to audiophile headphones these will blow you away. Heck I'm old to audiophile headphones and they still blow me away. Just plug in and enjoy.
edit: we are seriously splitting hairs over a sub $200 headphone, in the audiophile world this is bargain bin stuff, but it sounds anything but.
They're $292 now. Just missed out :/
![[Prime] Philips Fidelio X2HR/00 Over-Ear Headphones $173.03 Delivered @ Amazon UK via AU](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/75/729975.jpg?h=07f7b970)
This headphone has no subbass extension and the treble is grainy. Look elsewhere such as he400se/hex4 for much cheaper and performs on another level