Sound Quality
I'm not going to mince words here: these are not audiophile grade cans. They simply don't have the transparency and refinement of a truly great headphone. BUT! They deliver a very good mid-fi listening experience. The vast majority of headphones miss the boat by failing in some way or another. Not so with the Philips Fidelio L1, which perform well across the board. It's just not reference quality (not that any are at this price).
The L1 is a warm sounding can with substantial bass response, but the overall balance remains quite good. Bass is well extended, but mildly loose sounding; the bass accentuation may be a bit much for audiophiles, but will probably be very satisfactory for the general public. I've found that a well executed elevated bass response can be very satisfying for movie listening, and these cans have seen significant duty with Netflix on my iPad with a very enjoyable end result.
The bass transitions nicely into the mids, which are well balanced with a bit of accentuation in the upper-mid/low-treble region giving a solid sense of presence to vocals. The treble is just about right in level, but lacks refinement. Cymbals are slightly papery sounding and lack air, but the treble remains well proportioned and ready to deliver without becoming aggressive.
I find the imaging with these cans about average for a headphone at this price. While the angled drivers may help the L1 in terms of imaging, I think the slightly unnatural treble may hurt. The dynamic punch of the L1 is quite good; the big bass and a snappy upper-midrange go a long way towards delivering solid impact.
I continue to be surprised with the sense of overall balance to these cans. So often warm and/or bass heavy cans will sound muffled, not so with the L1. While I can nit pick my way through their response and find fault, when I simply relax and listen the L1 always seems to deliver a solid sonic experience. I'm really not sure how Philips managed this little trick, but they did.
Measurements
Raw frequency response measurements of the L1 show some broad changes in level with movement, possibly as a result of the angled driver. Compensated frequency response clearly shows a general warm tilt with a broad bass hump centered at about 60Hz, which falls of very little below evidencing good bass extension. From 100Hz to 1kHz response is nicely free of artifact.
The moderate bump between 1kHz and 3kHz is likely responsible for the vocal presence heard in listening. I usually like to see a headphone that is flat to between 1kHz and 2kHz, with a downward trend to about 6kHz which will prevent them from sounding hard. If these headphones were flat to 1kHz and had this bump I'd be worried about it being a hard sounding, but in the case of the L1 I think the elevated bass tends to mediate the effects of the 1-3kHz bump. It may be that this wide presence peak is helpful counterbalancing the accentuated bass and gives these headphones the sense of balance I observed. The peak at 8-10kHz is very common, and lower than most in this case; the treble level above 10kHz is about exactly where I'd like to see it.
I find it very interesting that this particular mix of warm tilt through the mids; presence peak; and well controlled response above 8kHz delivers the nicely balanced presentation heard. The Spider Realvoice (measurements here), which was designed to favor vocals, has a similar shape, though the highs roll off to a greater extent.
30Hz square wave response shows a typical shape for a warm, punchy headphone with fairly tight bass response, but the THD+noise plots show some loss of control below 200Hz with the 100dB line crossing over the 90dB line indicating some power handling troubles in the lows, which may indicate the mild looseness heard in listening.
300Hz square wave response shows the leading edge not overshooting the wave top, which indicates headphones that are gentle on the ears, but the large rebound downward immediately after the leading edge and subsequent rise to the wave top may be indicative of the papery treble and only average imaging heard.
Impulse response plot shows a fairly quick peak followed by some significant ring, which does damp rather quickly and is fairly noise free. Lack of noise may be due to the aluminum cups, and is similar to the response of the Sennheiser Amperior in that way.
The isolation plot shows a headphone with modest abilities to rid outside noise. Broadband isolation of -9dB is fairly good for a semi-open headphone, and betters the Denon D5000's meager -6dB figure. These cans will work well in moderate ambient noise level environs.
The impedance plot is fairly free of small bumps and wiggles that often occur with driver resonances. This indicates to me a good deal of care was exercised with the design of these cans. Fairly flat 28 Ohm impedance means these cans will sound good from most portable sources, but the fairly high 139mVrms needed to drive them to 90dB SPL means they're not going to be very loud. I did double check this number and got a marginally lower reading; when playing the L1 on an iPhone and Galaxy Nexus I had no problem reaching solid listening levels, however.
Summary
I've got a whole lot of headphones around the house, but I find myself gravitating to the Philips Fidelio L1 more often than any other. Sure, I've got better sounding cans, but none are as versatile, attractive, and comfortable. I love snatching them up for long calls to my daughter in NY--who speaks far too fast for me to understand without a good sounding headset. I relish my time with the L1 watching movies where the warm sound puts "oomph" into my film experience, and they stay on my head nicely as I roll in and out of bed. Simply put, the Philips Fidelio L1 is an absolutely terrific general purpose headphone. They're making it to my "Wall of Fame" as a great gentleman's headphone, perfect for duties around the home and office.
The other great gentleman's headphone is the B&W P5 at the same price, which has a similar sound signature; is more compact; but is not quite as secure and comfortable on the head. For better sound at this price/type, check out the Denon AH-D2000 and AKG K550, but these cans won't be as versatile as the Philips L1.
Resources
Head-Fi threads here, here, and here.
Philips Fidelio L1 product page.
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Comments
I absolutely loved this set of headphones. They are definitely my favorite sub $500 headphone, they just clicked very well with my ears. Solid fun presentation. Was a refreshing warm experience after hearing so many dry and neutral/monitor type sounding headphones I've come across recently.
I was just speaking to Latoya over at Philips Marketing via email, I mentioned the M1 and how much it intrigues me. I am super curious about the L1s little brother.
All of the Fidelio L1s qualities mesh well. Sound quality is not all that matters, its the entire package that matters and the L1 nailed it. If you find yourself enjoying it, its because the L1 package meshes with you. Its not an audiophile grade set and its certainly not at all aimed for heathens as one user here mentioned. Usability on this set is ultra high.
I am very curious to test these out. I could (very briefly) test the Philips Uptown and was positively surprised about both the sound quality and the noise isolation. Can anyone compare the Uptown and the L1 in terms of sound? Do they use the same drivers?
Example:
When I put on the HD650 after listening to the L1 it feels like a total relief. The sound of the L1 is just awful. The HD650 offers a really nice mid-fi sound (I have the HD650 with the metallic "shields" inside - can't remember even the German word for it right now...) for most kinds of pop/rock recordings and even for jazz and classical music they are fine.
I have to say that my favourite headphones are the HD800 and I am no bass head at all (sometimes I enjoy a shovel more bass though, like the HFI-580 can offer for example).
The L1 is only enjoyable when you drop the 2kHz region at least for about 5dB.
But even then, you can't get rid of the tinny and metallic smack that is there... in some recordings more in some less.
The build quality of the L1 is quite good and in some aspects just average (my model is S/N 13XX).
But it's big shame that Philips has not planned the ear pads to be replaced when they're worn off. (Here in Germany our Dutch neighbours from the company Philips claim to be interested in environmental aspects, but to potentially throw away a pair of headphones when their pads are off is not very good for mother nature, I think...)
Back to the topic:
For me the most outstanding two things of the L1 are their great comfort and their punchy and clear bass.
BUT:
In terms of overall sound quality, they are -without using an EQ- not even mid-fi when I think of what the Presonus HD7 (slightly different Superlux HD681, more detailed than HD668) can do for ~30 EUR.
And f.e. the Creative Aurvana Live! has a better sound quality than the Fidelio L1, too.
I'd really expect more from a "top of the line" headphone even -or- especially because when it's made by Philips.
This L1 seems to be made for yuppies, like the Monster headphone products seem to be made for suburban gangsters...
Just my two cents, don't be offended... 
Best Buy stores have demo units for the Downtowns; here's hoping the L1 will soon be in stores as well. Beautiful design.
Mr. Guttenberg appears to base his joys upon a variety of subjective, irrational criteria. Rather than recognize this and try to self-correct, he clings stubbornly to an idea of self-centered means of experiencing pleasure and happiness. But any pragmatist will agree that happiness will be found and solved by mathematics alone.
People, join Tyll and myself in seeking universal, objective criteria for evaluating pleasure as should all rational men. Thank you.
These headphones actually don't measure that badly compared to many others. I've been looking at Tyll's graphs for a while, so I get sense of how things may sound. I haven't heard these headphones (nor have I even read Tyll's review yet!) but from the measurements, this is what I can tell you:
1) They are not bright - probably warm sounding
2) They have a nice emphasis on vocals - which tends to work well with a lot of modern recorded music. Although this can also be double-edged sword and make things sound a bit shouty.
If could do CSDs on them, I could tell tell you even more.
Finally, I wouldn't put too much stock into the square wave measurements. You can gather some data from them, but the need for them to look perfectly square is a little overrated.
Even though I may not necessarily have the same sonic preferences as Tyll, I'd rather take Tyll's FR response (and be able to compare it relative to other headphones in Tyll's database) in conjunction with his subjective comments.
It's very easy to calibrate accordingly to my own tastes this way rather than get sixteen different subjective opinions from random people at HF without any measurements.
"All I'm saying is measurements can't predict user preferences." Perhaps, but measurements can predict user SONIC preferences, and that is a big part of the picture... I have a feeling you and Tyll already know this though... Don't really see the point.
Hello Tyll,
Great site and usefull reviews.
When it comes to the way the Fidelio L1 cups rotate, I think it is the right way when you wear them aroud the neck (drivers on the down side)
Hi Ty,
I am looking for an all-rounder headphone. Which one do you think is better sounding just based on the sound quality?
Thanks
My 2nd pair of Creative Aurvana Live! is broken and I want to invest a little bit more for the next cans (they have to be much sturdier for sure). How are the L1 cans compared to the CAL!, sound quality-wise? Are these less resolved than the CAL!? Are the bass better on these because the CAL! are somehow still a tiny bit bass-shy for my ears. Personally I love the sound signature of the CAL!, though they are just too fragile to last more than 1 year due to my abuse 
.
I was given the opertunity to test the L1 and I must say, they are absolutely better then what I had before.
I don't have Golden Ears like some of you, or an absolute hearing, like others. I'm just an ordinary guy who likes to listen to music. And the L1 can give me largely enough quality for my Euro.
As I can read the comments above, I have got the feeling that some of you are trying to compare an OPEL with a BMW, or a Cadilac with a Toyota.
For myself I am very happy with the headphones. And I would gladly like to explain to you why:
I had been looking for a new headphone set to replace my old In-ears. It needed to comply with a few demands: 1) I do not want to be disturbed by the chatter noise of my colleagues when I'm being all focussed at work and 2) I don't want toe disturb my colleagues with my music when I’m listening to noise they don’t like.
3) I also don’t want to have that fatigue feeling, which one sometimes can have after using those in-ears for a long period. And 4) the headphone set has to fit within my backpack, along with all my other stuff.
The L1 looks great, it really does and has really handy features, like the connector-plug close to the headphone, and a cable with a volume and pause-button. A second cable with a removable big-plug, twistable ear shells for transportation an (also important) a sublime sound. It looks really nice with the black and aluminium parts and the fine Italian leather. The head mount fits really good without a pressing feeling, and is easily to adjust to the correct size without sliding back to the former position. The cushions are made of memory-foam and fit very well around the ears end they seal off the background noise better then I expected. The connector which is about 10 cm below the left shell is made to release tension on the cable if necessary. Mounted in one of the two included cables is a three-button-usage which supports Apple devices for volume and pause.
After having used the headphones for several full days now, I must say I didn’t feel any discomfort, unless I must say my ears are getting pretty warm after a while. But I like to think that goes for all over-ears headphones. I did not receive any comment from my colleagues about my taste of music and I wasn’t disturbed by background noises. I must admit hearing things in the music of which I didn’t now they were there, it is like experiencing the music again, and that is something I really like, like the music is surrounded within my head.
I am originated in the primal years of portable music devices, and I am used to headphones being as small as possible, so for me this is an unusual large format of headphones. However, compared with the headphones available on the market at present day, the Philips Fidelio L1 fits quite perfect.
Advantages:
- Great sound experience
- Comfortable and easy to use
- Nice and solid finish
- Everything seems to be just correct
- 3 button usage mounted in the cable
- Very complete set
Disadvantage:
- Maybe leather is not the best material if you are using this device on your bike, in the pouring rain.
- The soft travelbag might not be the best protection
My conclusion: a nice device, with a lot of good properties. For users who, like myself, don’t have an absolute hearing this is a very good headphone.
I hope this will add to the quest for universal, objective criteria for evaluating pleasure.
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