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Post by ukemaxxer on Aug 12, 2012 20:45:50 GMT
Anyone own a pair of these new cans from Philips. I have just ordered a pair direct as there is a discount code for 40% off. Made them £138 delivered. They have a 28 day money back guarantee as well,so if they aren't up to scratch, they can go back!
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 12, 2012 23:08:05 GMT
That's a big discount for such a well-made and great-sounding headphone. Just make sure to check them carefully when they arrive to make sure they are genuine and there are no anomalies. I love mine dearly, although I use a bit of bass reduction to make them more hi-fi (and the fi is very hi!)
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Post by ukemaxxer on Aug 13, 2012 17:35:49 GMT
Hi Dale, it is a genuine discount from the Philips online shop. Code seems to work on anything. Code can be found on hotukdeals. I have no connection with either them or Philips.
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 14, 2012 4:24:34 GMT
Hi Dale, it is a genuine discount from the Philips online shop. Code seems to work on anything. Code can be found on hotukdeals. I have no connection with either them or Philips. All of a sudden this is very interesting. I don't need another one, that's not why it's interesting. What intrigues me is the L1 is supposed to be their flagship - their first hi-fi headphone. And now it's 40 percent off? I'd sure like to know what's going on. I'm still waiting on the M1.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Aug 14, 2012 10:45:13 GMT
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 14, 2012 12:08:56 GMT
This can't be - they say the M1 is bassy and not like the more balanced L1. I think someone switched samples or text. The L1 is very bassy, and nearly all reviews agree.
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funk1969
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Post by funk1969 on Aug 14, 2012 12:09:18 GMT
"their first hi-fi headphone"
Are you sure? I wouldn't be surprised if Philips had another trick up their sleeve. They have decades of experience in the realm of technology, especially in audio.
Besides, isn't the L1 more a consumer headphone?
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 14, 2012 15:03:53 GMT
"their first hi-fi headphone" Are you sure? I wouldn't be surprised if Philips had another trick up their sleeve. They have decades of experience in the realm of technology, especially in audio. Besides, isn't the L1 more a consumer headphone? It's definitely consumer, and definitely not a flagship in the Sennheiser 800 sense. Yet it was and still is their best headphone, which was made abundantly clear in their promotions and house reviews. Edit: Yet Philips has some problems. They announced the M1 in late 2011, demoed it in January, said it would be available in March or April, stated further that the U.S. version (more bass?) would not be available until August, and still there is no word. Kevin on the Philips Facebook page refuses to answer any questions about the M1. The bottom line for me is the bass. They got severely dinged by reviewers on the L1 for being "mid-fi" because the bass colored the mids too much. All the screaming and shouting I did to tell people they can just turn down the bass slightly and get a top-tier high fidelity sound for a miracle price - nobody cared. And that's Philips' problem. Nobody cares.
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Post by ukemaxxer on Aug 14, 2012 18:19:12 GMT
Well the L1's were waiting for me when I got in from work today. Delivered direct from Philips in Eindhoven.
Superb workmanship, materials and feel. I need to let them burn in for a few days, first impression is they are no match for my well used Sennheiser 595 even. Maybe I should have bought the 650's instead.
Just to clarify things, Philips have not dropped the price, they are still £230, although showing out of stock when I just checked. The 40% discount is a code applied at checkout. Don't know how long the code will be active for, just tried it on the M1, takes them to £108 with free express UPS shipping as well
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 21:34:16 GMT
Most people these days do not have, or need Bass and Treble controls.They are an unececessary additional stage, and will normally degrade performance a little. Not that some EEs will accept that though.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Aug 15, 2012 1:26:05 GMT
Most people these days do not have, or need Bass and Treble controls.They are an unececessary additional stage, and will normally degrade performance a little. Not that some EEs will accept that though. That I'm not too in agreement nowadays. Mind me, I'm a purist. Nowadays with the DSP algorithm going on in the present SOTA DACs like Meridian and even DCS, the audio goal line and game have changed. If it does make things for the better and it's hearable better with minimal degradation technically, why not? But I must put a caveat here! It must be minimal and not too full blown as anything too full blown will first be going away from the purist KISS and also too full blown will usually have the side effects coming in strongly and detrimentally hearable.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2012 1:40:26 GMT
Chong I am talking here about analogue tone controls which are often opamp based, and not DSP . The type of gear that Dale is most likely talking about is not expensive , and would thus be using analogue tone control, not DSP. Let's face it though, if different software player implementations can sound quite different,yet "bit perfect",partly due to software "Jitter", (the author of cPlay discusses this on his site) then it seems highly likely that additional digital software EQ processing would also cause some minor playback degradation. Alex
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 15, 2012 2:54:36 GMT
first impression is they are no match for my well used Sennheiser 595 even. Maybe I should have bought the 650's instead. Exactly what I've been saying. The L1 played flat is too colored to match the Senn 600 series. But with simple bass reduction via Foobar etc., they sound better than the Senn's I believe. People can argue against EQ all day long, but if the L1 is available, there it is - use it or lose it.
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 15, 2012 2:58:06 GMT
Chong I am talking here about analogue tone controls which are often opamp based, and not DSP . The type of gear that Dale is most likely talking about is not expensive , and would thus be using analogue tone control, not DSP. Let's face it though, if different software player implementations can sound quite different,yet "bit perfect",partly due to software "Jitter", (the author of cPlay discusses this on his site) then it seems highly likely that additional digital software EQ processing would also cause some minor playback degradation. Alex I can hear some degradation with Foobar's default equalizer if the sliders go up or down more than a couple db. But the 30 band equalizer is pretty clean. I don't recommend it to tune up a headphone that's acceptable as is, but for me the Philips L1 was a case of use it or toss it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2012 3:18:24 GMT
Dale Fair enough. It helps to know the whole story though. I would also imagine that there is some small downside to Frans headphone filters too. Alex
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 15, 2012 3:56:07 GMT
Dale Fair enough. It helps to know the whole story though. I would also imagine that there is some small downside to Frans headphone filters too. Alex It would help to know if it weren't so scary. Some of the modifications I've seen make me want to just give it up and buy the $7500 USD system, Stax or whatever, but then I know after having them for a couple of weeks I'd wish to have that money back so I could improvise my own system.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Aug 15, 2012 9:33:18 GMT
I am talking here about analogue tone controls which are often opamp based, and not DSP . The type of gear that Dale is most likely talking about is not expensive , and would thus be using analogue tone control, not DSP. Let's face it though, if different software player implementations can sound quite different,yet "bit perfect",partly due to software "Jitter", (the author of cPlay discusses this on his site) then it seems highly likely that additional digital software EQ processing would also cause some minor playback degradation. Oh, I'm just using DSP as an example of shaping the sound for the better. It can also be analogue too as long as it's not overdone. Don't forget after some adjustment, eventhough there could be an objective technical degradation, there is also a subjective gain too. So it's a balance between how far people can do. But don't overdo things that will for sure kill the sound and don't have an OVERALL sound gain. Let's face it, SOTA Dacs are involved with DSP algorithm and nobody say those Dacs are poor sounding at that price of research and development.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2012 9:59:18 GMT
Don't forget they can usually afford to lose a few "bits" of resolution as they usually start ouut at 32 bit ? Try boosting some parts of the spectrum and you will lower the bit depth to accomodate the boost. Think for example how SeeDeClip Duo Pro works.
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 15, 2012 16:22:51 GMT
Oh, I'm just using DSP as an example of shaping the sound for the better. It can also be analogue too as long as it's not overdone. Don't forget after some adjustment, eventhough there could be an objective technical degradation, there is also a subjective gain too. So it's a balance between how far people can do. But don't overdo things that will for sure kill the sound and don't have an OVERALL sound gain. The big problems with EQ if you get past certain distortion components are the notches that develop to the sides of the frequency being adjusted. Which is why they make 30-band or greater equalizers, yes? And those notches are very audible. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that a modest and smoothly-graduated curve is best when it makes the overall sound better. Large changes or changes where the levers aren't a smooth graduation between two points are likely to create new problems while fixing the old problem.
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 16, 2012 3:18:50 GMT
I guess I'll finally find out about the M1 now that they showed up today in the Apple store. $250 USD, and no thanks to the Philips guys on Facebook. If this M1 isn't the cat's meow it could be my first negative review.
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Aug 16, 2012 4:48:22 GMT
Er, "cat" can have 2 types. The big cat Lion roar, like those highend speakerfi stuffs, meaning terrific stuff or those back alley cat meows which disturb our sleeps and usually with a shoe missile out from our windows.
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Post by ukemaxxer on Aug 18, 2012 16:19:19 GMT
Well, I tried to live with the L1's, but I just couldn't do with the lack of comfort compared to the Sennheiser's. I could only wear them for an hour before I had to take them off. So today, I ordered me some Sennheiser HD650's
The L1's are off on ebay
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Post by dalethorn on Aug 18, 2012 20:04:45 GMT
The Shure 1840 are as far above the 650 in comfort as the 650 is above the Philips L1. Sound better too.
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