PHILIPS Fidelio X3 headset test

Today, I would like to tell you about the headset of Philips. This headset was released in 2020, which should be regarded as the relatively standard positioning of Philips.

First, lets take a look at the overall situation of this headset. It is a high-end series of Philips brand. Before SHP8900 and 9000 series were discovered more than ten years ago, everyone thought that Philips was a mid-range brand.

The Philips headset retails at a high price when it was released, and if the SHP series is any guide, it is quite expensive, but the design and construction of the headset is quite different from the SHP series. The appearance of SHP series is very ugly, and the appearance of this earphone is really very interesting, and it is also very elegant to wear. Its overall size is also relatively small, a kind of nearly full headphone face looks stable, the design style is also very high-end.

The positioning of the headset is high-end, so he added a lot of new features. The top frame of this earphone is hand-sewn from Scottish leather. Although some customers said from the picture is not so perfect, but in my actual eyes, it is still good and the process is very good. There is an outer layer on the back of the speaker, which is made of a very high-end, sound-permeable woven fabric that feels very good.

Here are some objective descriptions of the headphones. The left and right sides of this earphone have 3.2mm three-section detachable earphone cable, and a 2.5mm balance conversion cable is provided as standard. The left and right sides are connected separately, which is convenient for balanced connection. Shp series does not have such a connection port. The original cable is 3m long, which feels a bit long.

This earphone adopts the adaptive head frame with elastic band structure. When worn on the head, the comfort of this earphone is not so good for users who care about the pressure on the top of the earphone. However, there are many ways to fix headphones, and each way has its advantages and disadvantages. If you choose headphones, you have to accept the disadvantages of headphones. The weight of this earphone is 340g, which is not light. The thickness of the earphone pin is also thick, and the surface is made of material similar to flannelette. The air permeability is quite good, but it still feels a little stuffy when used in summer. The phone uses a 50mm diameter LMC multilayer composite diaphragm speaker. The impedance of the headset is 30 ohms and the sensitivity is 98dB@1mW.

Next, we enter the audio sources of the subjective listening sense test. We select two type C small sound cards, Paw of Lotoo and S1 Moon River2, and reference sound MR1, including balanced output of earphones. Philips SHP 9600 is the main choice for comparison headphones.

The result of the test is that the headphones can be played up, which is an improvement over the previous series.

The fabric of the outer layer of the earphone cannot be removed, and the opening hole of the earmuff of that layer is quite large, so the recording level also belongs to the standard level of open earphone, and the sound leakage is quite strong. If you use it, please consider the surrounding environment.

The sound trend and style of this earphone are basically the same as that of SHP, but the appearance, size, shape, open design and other aspects are very different. His voice is a little tighter, but a little more refined.

High performance, this headset soprano, quality, style, detail can we mainly listening to the music frequency is given priority to, such as the violin solo voice is exquisite, have very good under the pressure of loudly to smooth control, if you can match Mr A this with a little modification, high quality high frequency can appear stretch is exquisite, rich layers, On the neutral front end, the high frequency is not stiff or distorted, and the resolution is good on the weak front end, such as paw S1 or even weaker, SONY A55 and so on, the dynamic performance of this model is weak.

As for the performance of mid-tone, the vocal performance of this earphone is full, mild and soft. You can match the neutral and hard front end according to your preferences. It is recommended not to match the soft and weak front end and AKM family devices, because in such front end style, the slow voice will appear insufficient tension. The middle tone part of this earphone is normal, soft, mild and neutral. The middle and high frequency parts are not as slow as the middle and low frequency parts, and the support strength is not good, but it also creates his mild and soft auditory feeling.

Under the balance wiring output, the thickness, dynamic, strength and so on of the mid-frequency part will be improved to a great extent. If conditions permit, in listening to dynamic music, symphony, or even vigorous life, choose the balance line front end to use according to their own taste.

In terms of the performance of bass, the deeper the dive, the slower the relative instantaneous state, in terms of the intensity of low frequency and the performance of large motion. The headphones dont have as many ups and downs, but the mid and low frequency connections are balanced and full. If you want to improve the low frequency, consider using a balance line and a front end, but if so, we feel that the sound transient state is still a little too slow in the deep part of the low frequency.

Better than the standard Fidelio X3 with a balance cable, of course, because of the interchangeable balance cable wiring, we can consider a balanced output front end. The actual test shows that the balanced output has a good effect on this headset, which is relatively obvious. And in the middle and low frequency to middle frequency part, the dynamic improvement of the sound is obvious, the three-dimensional sense of the voice, the momentum of the symphony came out. Therefore, it is recommended that you use a balanced output system with headphones.