Fidelio L4

Philips Fidelio L3 and L4 sound pretty good with House. I find the L4 more comfortable to wear.

i tested all these: * qc 35 * the sony xm4 * soundcore q30 * Bowers & Wilkins Px7 * PHILIPS Fidelio L4 and the Bose were by far the most comfortable. All others started hurting or felt pressure after 3-4h. I wear the Bose 8-16h a day without problem. 4 years going strong

Not op but, x3 has less bass and a bit brighter I think. X3 is built better whereas the x2hr has a couple failure points, but nothing dramatic. X2hr sound a bit more fun because of the bass for me. I bought planar headphones recently, a pair of used Hifiman HE-400i (older version with the suspension strap). Then found a used pair of Sash Tres for a good price. With eq the HE-400i is miles clearer and just better sounding than either of the fidelios and those can be found for very cheap at least around here. Cheaply built though and expect to buy a separate cable as the original is abysmal. The Sash Tres again is in a different league than the HE-400i. So now I'm just using those.

If you can find either of the fidelios for around 150€ or less in good condition. I would not personally pay more. They're good but there are better choices around now imo. Also, it's worth checking what you can find used in your price range, buying audio gear new is almost always a pretty bad investment.

So at the moment I have a tv which I watch movies and game on with my PS5.I currently have to use the optical out, a DAC and some Philips Fidelio headphones which sound fine for tv watching and movies but really muddy and unclear for gaming. I don't play competitive gaming, I don't need a mike and I prefer open backed. I am thinking of getting a basic Schiit DAC like the Fulla E from the PS5, and some Beyerdynamic TYGRs- I want to know whether that will be ok for gaming- looking to really hear the sound design in a game and have some idea of positioning, 3d audio etc. I know it probably doesn't need the DAC but I just thought it would sound better that way. Any issues anyone can think of? Or for around the same price is there something better out there?

Yessss dude! Bro is speaking my language right now. It “may” be more bothersome to have 2 terminations but overall I think the perks out way the downsides. If yall are so concerned about cables I just get a wireless headset especially for the purpose of gaming. Convenience has never been the name of the game in the audiophile community though it’s nice when it’s an option. Though for my setup I’m running the edition xs with a balanced 4pin xlr into the loxjie p20(weirdly seems to widen the soundstage of the xs by a significant margin which is great for gaming otherwise I run it with a different amp when I’m focused on just music) with a mimir from schiit, And a mic on an arm since headset mics tend to sound like ass. Though overall this isn’t me trying to crap on the Fidelio I fuckin love my pair that I’ve got. It’s just different levels of convenience for different levels of audio quality.

Oddly enough that’s a quirk of windows if that’s your main source of audio, windows inherently has latency in their audio stack so the latency difference between wired and wireless end up being negligible unless your running something with asio drivers and gear that’s compatible with asio.

I got a Philips Fidelio and they are great!

the philips shp and fidelio models are EXTREMELY comfortable. Basically zero clamping force. Sweet and soft cloth pads. Extremely durable IF taken care of. They will not survive in a backpack without a case though, regardless, they're not designed to be taken outside.

lol! That too! I wasn’t even thinking that! If there’s a single termination… - Extra failure point from the headband wire, but also limitations on cup rotation, more complicated hinges, yokes, headband, and whatever else. - Channel imbalance from the extra distance and resistance, but more importantly from the asymmetric cup volume and extra physical surfaces. - Crosstalk from the shared ground. You can throw money at those problems, or just avoid them by simplifying the design to use separate terminations. Oh, and yeah, you’re right! You don’t even have the option of running balanced if you have to go through a TRS jack! I have two full-size headphone setups, and one of them is running balanced. It’s not for some “sound quality” reason, either. I literally needed more power than my amp was giving me, so I switched to a 4.4mm cable.

Oh, “Absolutely” to the bit about the Fidelio. Great design! I just can’t help seeing single-termination as a loss of flexibility and lifespan. And weirdly enough, I’m running a FiiO BTR13 for Bluetooth, and it’s shockingly good. When did wireless latency stop being a thing?