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Author Topic: Philips Fidelio X1  (Read 4133 times)

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Solderdude

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Philips Fidelio X1
« on: June 13, 2014, 06:13:18 PM »

The Fidelio X1 is Philips‘s flagship headphone. The build quality is excellent and the looks are really great.
The picture just doesn’t do it justice.


The used materials are very nice and seem high quality materials.
The detachable cable (ordinary 3.5mm stereo jack) is a good thing. The headband is very soft and comfortable. TheX1 has velours pads.
It is clearly intended for home usage even though it has a relatively low impedance (around 30 Ohm). The give away is the fixed (nice looking) 6.3mm stereo jack and thick long cord. There is a 3.5mm converter but you really do not want to use such a heavy construction (big adapter, big 6.3mm plug and thick cord) plugged into your DAP.

It is an open headphone which means that
A: you can still hear what’s happening around you and
B: others around you can hear what you are playing very well.

So far only positive remarks. BUT there are also some negatives. The velours pad material isn’t as soft to the skin as other velours pads. Directly out of the box it smells considerably (a bit like those NASA foam pillows) but reckon this will go away after a few days. It won’t be with me long enough to know this for sure though. The reason being; my expectation which may have been a tad too high.
Another thing that annoys me is the cable which is a bit stiff and is microphonic. Fortunately the cable can be easily replaced.
The little hears on the velours  pads aren’t as ‘comfy’ as Beyerdynamic ones.

Below the frequency plot of the ‘high definition’ Fidelio X1 (red = right, blue = left)



Everything from 30Hz to 1kHz is well balanced and sounds good. Also the treble part isn’t raised which ensures it doesn’t sound shrill, sibilant or harsh.
The problem area is between 1kHz and 6kHz though. There is a dip there which takes away a bit of the sharpness of voices and instruments which can be a pleasant experience with some (harsher sounding) recordings.
On well recorded music it takes away too much and makes the X1 ‘darker’ sounding but without bloat or heavy bass.
The treble being present again masks this a bit as you do hear the treble in the proper amount.
Another downside is the treble extension. it drops of quickly above 17kHz (on the left) but on the right it drops off quickly above 13kHz.
In my opinion it doesn’t deserve the ‘high definition’ markings on the nice looking enclosure.
It isn’t high definition and aside from some ‘clarity’ that is missing it also looses out on the 'finesse' in strings and cymbals etc., it lacks ‘air’ and 'high definition'.
I would like to have said it is a reference grade headphone but it is NOT.
Even though the looks and quality appear top notch the sound is good to decent and a bit darkish (lack of clarity) but with the right amount of treble.
Definitely NOT flagship-type sound quality and would simply say to pirates ... skip this one  :)p2.

The CSD below shows little to no ringing which actually is good thing… yet… it can’t convince me of it’s purported greatness.



Verdict: a nice looking and well made headphone that screams ‘high quality’ but has some let-downs on the audio side of things (missing clarity and top-extension). It is NOT a bad sounding headphone but also isn’t a very good sounding headphone.
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mkubota1

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2014, 06:38:58 PM »

I hear them pretty much the exact same way.  They reminded me of the HD650 a little bit in terms of tonality.  I thought they were super comfy too!  This being a relative newcomer, I thought it was in the ballpark of the old ~$300 stalwarts: HD580/600, DT880, K/Q701, etc.  It looks like their price has come down quite a bit in the last year- from $400 to $232.  Yep-  not bad at all.
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CEE TEE

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2014, 07:38:48 PM »

Do either of you hear euphony and bloom/slower decay on these?  Surprised to see realtively clean/fast CSDs.  I feel like these are an inexpensive way to get a "luxurious" or "very tubey" sound.

Cushy in comfort and sound.  Not fast, but really forgiving is how I heard them.  Attractive/easy at first listen but not that good for electronica or fast music. (IMO, YMMV, etc.)
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Sorrodje

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2014, 08:43:00 PM »

I had this headphone a few weeks ago. It's a surprisingly good mix of fun & clean sound. The cleanest fun can I've ever tried. Nevertheless I found it too far from neutrality for me. I fully agree with Tyll's review : http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-bottom-and-lively-top-philips-fidelio-x1-page-2 . The 10khz Treble peak is obvious during listenings. it could bothersome for treble-sensitive people.  Overally it's an headphone I really can recommand for non-audiophile listeners. The X1 is comfy despite its stiff pads and looks nice on my desk.  I thought I could keep it besides my HD800 when I want more "fun" for some genre but obviously I have all fun and pleasure I need with the Senn.

My 2 cts
« Last Edit: June 14, 2014, 09:44:34 AM by Sorrodje »
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thegunner100

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2014, 09:00:03 PM »

Yeah the X1 have a nice and euphonic sound, but ultimately doesn't work for some genres that require a bit more attack and impact. One complaint of mine is that the pads aren't removable, so eventually they'll wear down and alter the sound a bit.
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lmswjm

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2014, 10:33:57 PM »

Definitely not reference but I really enjoy these from time to time. I'm a sucker for open cans that can produce some fun bass. I think they're a pretty good buy at $230.
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zerodeefex

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2014, 11:29:19 PM »

The stock cable is apparently high impedance. I never used it and used a v-moda cable instead.

QuestHate has my pair, but I remember mine being damn good for under $200 new that I paid.
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mkubota1

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2014, 12:04:35 AM »

Do either of you hear euphony and bloom/slower decay on these?

Definitely warm… can’t confirm the euphony (not denying it).  “Cushy in comfort and sound” would be a perfect way to sum these up.  They probably wouldn’t be my ‘one headphone on an island’ like the HD600 or FSP.  But they’re far from crap and I wouldn’t mind long sessions with them.

Note: I am not super-sensitive to (minor) treble issues as many are around here.  So if you are sensitive I guess I could say as we do with IEM measurements, “Please ignore my impressions above 5k.”
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Anaxilus

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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2014, 01:12:14 AM »

Definitely concur with all the lower-fi baby HD650 impressions.  At $200-$250 they make a decent argument based on SQ.  I do love the design and build quality.  It is certainly not a ToTL phone or a PoS. 

I thought they were a bit laid back and slowish sounding as well.  But not super slow or laggy. It's actually a bit tough for me to see the time intervals on those CSDs but I'll take your word for it CT.   :P

Nice stuff solder!
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Re: Philips Fidelio X1
« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2014, 01:31:06 AM »

Had a chance to hear these a few months back. I'm surprised to see how level the bass is; they seemed far more bass tilted to my ears.

I do agree with CeeTee that these felt kinda boomy to me. Just enough to make it rumbly fun without distracting too much, and I guess that's what made the bass seem elevated to me. I thought the suspension headband was really comfy, but would have liked some softer pads.

I also agree with the baby HD600/650 comments. At their current MSRP they seem like a solid buy, and don't need much in the way of amping which is nice on the wallet. I'd really like to hear the L2 one of these days.
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