EDIT: According to one user hifi forum (I registered and questioned) the pads make ALL the difference. If you find the sound muddy, consider buying the soft velour Pads from Brainwavz to see if anything improves. I'm ordering them now myself to see if it changes the sound signature.

Ok guys. I ordered this twice due to the price drop and received 2 clearly different models.

I had considered not typing this up because it would make you guys really paranoid, but I think you deserve to know.
As read in the hi fi forum, (link below) there is 2 or 3 different models in circulation at the moment.

They can be identified in the following ways (these are how I received them)

1st pair GIBSON- Clear writing on the leather padding. Glued on pads. Firmer, courser, thinner velour pads.
2nd pair WOOX-Less defined lettering.Not Glued on pads. Spongier (if you push down you can touch the edge of the cans), shinier, thicker velour pads.

The problem now is that there is no way of subjectively knowing which one you have unless you have the other one so you can compare relatively the other one in your hands.

Now there seems to be tons of differing account on audio quality, but I will say from my experience of receiving both different models:

I prefer the WOOX model.

The main reason is audio quality. Now some say that both models sound identical, but for me, the models I received were different in 1 major way.

BASS

The Gibson models Bass is at first incredible, but the more audio you sample, you realise it is overblown. The vocals get drowned out in it, and although for games it makes explosions sound incredible, your songs will sound distand and thumping regardless of genre.
My warning bells sounded when I listed to "Forth Eorlingas" and "End of Things" in the LOTR two towers soundtrack and return of the king respectively. The crescendo choir voice sounded incredibly far away and not triumphant.

When I received the WOOX model, the super bass was not present (but still pretty bassy, comparable to ATH m50X) and everything sounded like "it should"

looking through the forums some have attributed this purely to the padding quality, but the signature is so different I have my doubts.

Audio is subjective, and I might have received a defective model. I thought maybe ignorance is bliss and it would be better if you enjoyed your product without knowing that there is audio discrepancy between the same product.

[everything except the overexposed bass is identical. The soundstage is excellent, the detail and clarity is still top notch just slightly distant, and the pads are equally comfortable]

AGAIN this is purely my personal experience and I hope you enjoy whatever item you receive.


(TLDR. the easiest way to tell if you received GIBSON or WOOX is probably the glued pads, but not neccesarrily as gibson may have changed procedures. point is if you like the sound keep it, and test everything)

Comparison photos
http://www.head-fi.org/t/723025/philips-fidelio-x2/8535#post_12201762

Just a heads-up, they've just gone down to £117 so I cancelled my original order and bought another couple of pairs... hopefully at least one of them will be a keeper.

This should be hot.

Build quality is definitely an issue with these. I believe you need to look out for older stock before they changed factories that manufactured them.

Good find... have ordered thanks

great phones - comparable with sennheiser 600/650

How are these compared with Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s? Reviews sound very good tbh.

Think I'll grab a pair at this price. Thank you OP.

I just ordered... How do I know whether the ones I receive are the older / newer versions with the quality control issues?
What problems am I looking out for when I receive the headphones? Thanks very much in advance for the advice.

Thank you sir. I'm very much looking forward to trying them out.

Mine were glued on and sound awesome..

Good to know :smiley:

Not seen many reports of those with glued earpads and good audio quality. Ear test is the way to go then.

Gibson made ones came glued but not all of them sounded bad. I think they reduced the amount of glue or did they remove it completely?

Ah, from reviews and discussion board talk that I've read, they implied that Gibson went back to the Woox style earpads once they'd fixed the poor audio. Seems like I've misread. If the deal is still live when I get mine, I'll post in here with my findings.

Okay I just got this yesterday from amazon. It says 1 or 2 months so I was gonna give up, but checked it on amazon prime now, delivered within 2 hours XD. I don't know if this is the Gibson or Woox model (will check later and update you guys) but I received one with a small dollop of glue on each of the 4 contact pins, nothing major. I was able to scrape em off in a bout 5 mins completely clean with my nails.


I use ATX-M50X for pop and general music and Etymotic HF5 for discrete in ear listening at the office and was completely satisfied for music. BUT for gaming they both had very little sound stage so I was using my gamescom 788 with dolby surround which was great for its purpose but didnt really wow in particular.

This headphone makes virtual surround completely pointless(IMO). Its the first time I ever felt true depth in stereo and its just insane how accurate it can be. I tried, Doom, BF4, OW, CSGO and man, its like I can hear through the different levels of floors.

e.g. Zenyattas ball auto attack has a heavy bass rumble that I never knew existed, the Dorado factory area has a low thrum that pulsates compared to the out doors.

Now for movies, music and youtube general streaming, its all pretty even just one sounds slightly different or heavier, but for gaming purposes, woah the positional sounds and immersion is godlike. From what I can gather this is the lowest price point this has been going for a while. I wanted to wait for black friday but frankly I think I'll just keep it cuz I don't see this dropping below £120 or something (watch me eat my words in 2 months time)

Thinking about grabbing another pair from the Amazon Warehouse, does anyone know the warranty situation on Warehouse deals? I have read it but after the initial 30-day returns everything gets a little shady.

Just a heads-up, they've just gone down to £117 so I cancelled my original order and bought another couple of pairs... hopefully at least one of them will be a keeper.

Yup I'm surprised too.I was refused refund for difference so I'm manually returning them and then reordering at the new price. Hopefully they don't refuse the refund after checking my history. If they do I'll just use it as a birthday gift for my friend because its like audio baptism.

Glad you guys have saved a bit more money... tbh before this thread I'd never heard of the X2s and was going to buy some wireless Sony ones!
Just an update, I ordered mine last night received delivery updates that mine will be arriving around the 1st of October. Got two pairs for 220! Can't be bad.
Thanks again OP.

... and if these headphones had a Sennheiser label on them this deal would be 1000 degrees and sold out at Amazon.
I'm good with being in the minority on this one tbh.

EDIT: According to one user hifi forum (I registered and questioned) the pads make ALL the difference. If you find the sound muddy, consider buying the soft velour Pads from Brainwavz to see if anything improves. I'm ordering them now myself to see if it changes the sound signature.

Ok guys. I ordered this twice due to the price drop and received 2 clearly different models.

I had considered not typing this up because it would make you guys really paranoid, but I think you deserve to know.
As read in the hi fi forum, (link below) there is 2 or 3 different models in circulation at the moment.

They can be identified in the following ways (these are how I received them)

1st pair GIBSON- Clear writing on the leather padding. Glued on pads. Firmer, courser, thinner velour pads.
2nd pair WOOX-Less defined lettering.Not Glued on pads. Spongier (if you push down you can touch the edge of the cans), shinier, thicker velour pads.

The problem now is that there is no way of subjectively knowing which one you have unless you have the other one so you can compare relatively the other one in your hands.

Now there seems to be tons of differing account on audio quality, but I will say from my experience of receiving both different models:

I prefer the WOOX model.

The main reason is audio quality. Now some say that both models sound identical, but for me, the models I received were different in 1 major way.

BASS

The Gibson models Bass is at first incredible, but the more audio you sample, you realise it is overblown. The vocals get drowned out in it, and although for games it makes explosions sound incredible, your songs will sound distand and thumping regardless of genre.
My warning bells sounded when I listed to "Forth Eorlingas" and "End of Things" in the LOTR two towers soundtrack and return of the king respectively. The crescendo choir voice sounded incredibly far away and not triumphant.

When I received the WOOX model, the super bass was not present (but still pretty bassy, comparable to ATH m50X) and everything sounded like "it should"

looking through the forums some have attributed this purely to the padding quality, but the signature is so different I have my doubts.

Audio is subjective, and I might have received a defective model. I thought maybe ignorance is bliss and it would be better if you enjoyed your product without knowing that there is audio discrepancy between the same product.

[everything except the overexposed bass is identical. The soundstage is excellent, the detail and clarity is still top notch just slightly distant, and the pads are equally comfortable]

AGAIN this is purely my personal experience and I hope you enjoy whatever item you receive.


(TLDR. the easiest way to tell if you received GIBSON or WOOX is probably the glued pads, but not neccesarrily as gibson may have changed procedures. point is if you like the sound keep it, and test everything)

Comparison photos
http://www.head-fi.org/t/723025/philips-fidelio-x2/8535#post_12201762

Ordered!
Thanks for the heads up!

Absolute steal at this price. Payday aint till end of next week :disappointed:

They would be a steal at this price... but they've gone up to £147.

Great price but gone up now.

Currently unavailable? Blimey, I'm getting worried about mine now.

... Yep, I could see that tbh :disappointed:
The whole thing is weird though, don't understand why they've completely pulled them now.

Mine should be dispatched tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Funnily enough, I just checked and mine have been dispatched and will be arriving tomorrow! How exciting.

Good luck. Hope they sound good :smiley:

haha! I'm getting quite nervous about the sound testing tbh!

Mine arrived, both X2/00 Gibson on the box. Haven't tried them yet though.

Tbf I was kinda expecting them to be Gibson, all the new ones are Gibson I think, only the open-box ones were ever gonna be old Woox stock.
Hopefully they'll be the new, improved not glued ones... will update as soon as I try them.

This is the code.

What are they like? Mine still hasn't dispatched.

Will let you know as soon as I get home!

rev6 I in page 1 I wrote what I got of the 2 models. But I love the one I kept.

I'm no expert on headphones but these sound pretty damn good, better than anything I've ever heard before... tight bass and everything else is super-clear. Drive brilliantly from my phone, my old iPod and my Arcam amp. I'm not in any position to compare them with any other high-end cans but I've listened to Bose QCs in the shop and these are noticeably better in my opinion.
The earpiece things are removable too... Think I'll keep them both at this price, maybe sell the others at some point.

Any glue on the ear pads?

Nope :smiley:

... Have yours been dispatched yet?

No not yet. Saying dispatching tomorrow now. Hopefully from the same batch as yours!

Fingers crossed for you mate.

Mine have been cancelled

Well...I got the "Apology" email:

Hello,

We're writing to let you know that your order for 'B00MRUPSHQ' (Philips X2 Fidelio Headphone) has been cancelled.

Unfortunately, we had a very high demand for this item and are now out of stock and unable to source more. Please be assured that you have not been charged for it.

As an apology, we’re providing you with a £10 gift card.

I guess we'll see an announcement for the Fidelio X3's soon.