I was centimeters away from pressing that buy button. Must stay strong lol
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I’ve bought it yesterday. Waiting for it to arrive. Hope it is an upgrade because $100 today is close to what the Fidelio X2HR costs in some sales in US. Sadly X2HR is $170+ in china, and i live outside US so i am limited to buy in china for good prices.
Also, maybe i will buy the X3 when they release it on china.
I own the x2 for a few years now. It would be interesting to read a comparsion between x2(hr) vs. x3 vs. shp9600 or just between two of the three headphones. I think i’ll upgrade from the x2 to the x3, but i’ll wait for first impressions/reviews. I am very excited, which elements of the sound signature will be different
If you liked the x2 hr, you’ll like the shp9600 a lot.
Interesting, that would be a departure from the 9500. Are we talking sound signature here or another element of the headphone?
The SHP9600 is not an improved SHP9500.
It’s another sound signature. For me it comes to “compete” against the Fidelio X2HR.
Is it better than the SHP9600?
Depends on the person. For me, all the use I gave the X2hr I give to the SHP9600 and I like it better. Everything. It does not matter the gender. Of course, what I want is to listen to music and have fun with music.
Soundtage: I consider the soundstage of the x2 big, wide everything, because there is nothing inside your head. Everything is somewhat remote, but not much. This makes the songs lose detail and body for me.
The soundtage of the SHP9600 is dynamic, there are things inside your head and others outside of it. I consider that it punctually reaches more soundstage than the fidelio.
Image: In image I would say that the fidelio wins. But like I said, what I’m looking for is listening to music, not analyzing it. Both are even but perhaps the fidelio is better in this sense.
Frequencies: In the frequency section the only thing that I have clear is that the SHP9600 has a stronger and more impressive bass than the X2hr.
In media even the V-shape, the Shp9600 is more revealing, more fun. The media feel more lost in the fidelio.
Treble theme I enjoy them more on the shp9600. It is not hissing or stabbing.
Price: € 85 for Shp9600 and € 180-200 on average for Fidelio.
Most Use: Certainly for movies. The shp9600 looks great in movies. Better than the fidelio for the sum of everything mentioned above.
Comment that although they are headphones with low impedance and medium sensitivity, they benefit a lot from dacs / amps. Although they are low power … better than a mobile without a doubt.
If you want a big difference, you have to look for that first.
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Huh, $500 for the X3’s. Might have to pass. I can’t tell if the AE link is for a pre-order or if they’re ready to ship. Hell, I don’t even know if that’s going to be the real retail price.
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I would wait till other shops do ship the X3. Official Philips PR said that retail price will be 350.
Yeah, mine is stuck in shipment hell. Looks like it will be some time.
@Roberto_Enther are the pads the same as the shp9500? Same adapters and everything? Curious if the modhouse adapters will work.
lol that sounds like some crazy pre order pricing or something. Will probably hard pass that at $500 till I hear reviews
$500 does seem like a lot to ask, but they’re going all out with at least the marketing
- fancy real scottish leather for the headband
- acoustically transparent fabric from a big name architectural fabric company on the cups
- angled drivers
- I think a 2.5 mm balanced cable included with a 2.5 to 4.4 mm adapter included?
Now to see how it sounds. I feel like even if it’s not great it might sell a lot based on the looks and market positioning at least.
I wonder if the Aliexpress version comes with different accessories than what the west is getting, because while I saw pictures of the two different cables on western Philips websites, none of them mentioned the 2.5mm balanced cable or its adapter, just that that it comes with a “detachable Oxygen free cable (3m)” and 3.5 - 6.3 mm adapter. So this might be where the price difference is coming from.
I am from germany and i have found this german site, where you can preorder the x3 for about 350 euro:
https://m.alza.de/philips-x3-d5881383.htm?country=DE&language=en&kampan=adw_alza_pla_all_alza_produkty_m_9044667_JPI903c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoYbatZ-O6wIVhIxRCh2oSAYAEAkYAiABEgKHYvD_BwE
The shop seems to be a little bit suspicious. It is some kind of b2b buisness. I have never heard of this shop before. But the price seems to tend in the direction of the official philips price
These are now up on Amazon for pre-order:
Philips X3
Philips SHP9600
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Detachable Balanced and Unbalanced 3 m oxygen-free cables included
Very interesting, so the aliexpress one was the same thing after all. $350 seems to be a more reasonable price, now to see if they put as much attention to the sound as they did to the aesthetic and material design.
And… pre-ordered…
Still love my X2HR, was my first headphone that opened me up to what else is out there. Figured I would give them a try and if it doesn’t work out, just return them.
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349 whew. Quite the stiff competition it will have there. And considering that the x2 was considered a “beginners” headphone to enter the hi fidelity headphones it’s quite the price difference. Curious as to how they will do in the market
It’s not that much higher than the original MSRP of the X2, that used to retail for $299. It wasn’t always a budget headphone, regardless of the performance. SHP9500 used to cost more than X2 can be had for now.
anyone know if you pre order this on amazon can you still return them?
Screw it. Shp9600 is already on the way as it is… should be here this week actually. x3 ordered.
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Hmmm… well I guess it doesn’t specify that we can, but I would assume since this is a new product that we will be able to. However I know it can depend on the vendor that is selling the product.
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To anyone who has either of these two can give some first impressions? I ordered the 9600 and will be receiving them tomorrow so I’ll be able to give my first impressions by then as well as compare to the 9500.
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