I do love me some open-back headphones in the $200–$400 range, where you find some really nice products in an extremely competitive market that drives (pun intended) innovation without making you feel like you need to part with a kidney. It is here that I for that very reason have most of my headphones, more than I realistically can use, and this is also why I first bought the Fidelio X2, gave it to a family member, missed it a lot, and then bought the X2HR I still have and use regularly. So when I first saw news of the Fidelio X3 coming out last year, I was quite excited and mentally preparing to part with the X2HR should these be a better take of the sound signature the older ones excelled in. After all, Philips had increased the price to a fairly substantial $300 and made some interesting choices, including the use of the Kvadrat fabric cover over the ear cups on top of claiming an even more neutral sound tone, increased soundstage, and larger channel separation.

The latter is arguably the biggest departure from the Fidelio X2HR and a feature that separates the X3 from most of the competition in this price rage. Offering completely separate drivers with a balanced cable can work wonders in many occasions, but does mean you have to back these with not only a source capable of balanced output, but also audio that can take advantage of it. So if this is your first foray into balanced headphones, you might find yourself spending more than the $300 here on a decent DAC at the very least. Suddenly, what seemed like an already tangible price hike from the predecessor may well end up significantly more.

Is it worth it? That's the question I am still trying to answer myself. I am no longer comparing the Fidelio line to a more budget-friendly offering from others, such as the beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro or Sennheiser HD598. There are now so many other excellent headphones to compete against, especially in unbalanced mode. Some small things here and there could have been changed to make balanced mode stand out further, but the stock cable is foremost among them. At this price, I want to see better and more usable cables instead of two of the same with the only difference being the connector on one end, especially if not commonly used in balanced output sources. You also need to break in the headphones if bought new since the support band expands linearly and the clamping force is below average. This combined with the relatively lower density and center of gravity means the headphones are fighting to remain on your ears immediately out of the box. I can't say whether the drivers themselves improve over time since it was not fair to judge them until after they were on my head comfortably.

Comfortable it certainly is too! In a departure from the design language with the Fidelio X2HR, Philips has partnered with some European artisan brands to use higher-end materials, including Scottish Muirhead fine grain leather on the headbands and the aforementioned Danish Kvadrat fabric on the ear cups. This no doubt adds to the bill of materials, but the overall look is one I really like. Build quality is excellent—at no point did I feel it would be an issue even though it is lighter and softer than most contemporaries. This is not the only change from the X2HR, either, and at least for me, the sound signature has changed drastically. The driver setup has been tuned further, and there are some definite improvements in resonance and vibration dampening even beyond the usual marketing spiel. But I would not say that the Fidelio X3 is more neutral than the X2HR, or many other headphones I compared against, either. The soundstage is indeed massive even with the fabric somewhat cutting out heat dissipation, but we end up with subdued highs and energetic vocals/mids instead. It's not my personal favorite at this point, though I want to keep using it with other sources and amplifier types down the line to see if maybe a tube amplifier can add some warmth, but Philips did not shy away from stating so from the beginning. The Fidelio X3 just needs the potential customer to listen and recognize that it is in a different class of headphones that does things differently—more depends on what you do with it.