So I went out and bought the Philips X1 headphone. It’s expensive. It comes in a HUGE box, the unboxing experience is nice, although it’s kind of hard to get the cable out. I plugged the cable into my tube headphone preamp, put in the SACD remastered version of “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis and hit Play.
Wow!
Wow!
This isn’t the fastest headphone, it doesn’t have the “air” or agility of AKG 702s or Sennheiser HD 700 let alone HD 800, but: This headphone is FUN! I started listening when I was tired, it was 11pm and I was ready to go to bed. But an hour and a half later I was still popping in disc after disc and listening, dancing, playing air guitar, and smiling, smiling. This headphone made listening to music so enjoyable. I didn’t even realise that my girlfriend woke up and went to the toilet while I was playing monster riffs on my air guitar… Slightly embarassing that one, ha!
One word about comfort: Superb! The earpieces are from a material that feels very comfortable, they don’t press your head, the headband is also very comfy. I stopped noticing that I was wearing them after 15 minutes.
So for those purists, technophiles and spec-sheet lovers: Go and shell out 900€ for the Sennheiser HD800. For those that want to have fun: buy the Philips. It’s that good, you’ll love it!