Hifiman Edition XS

[Ken Tajalli]

Well....... I find that very hard to believe. The thought that an exotic dac/amp

Exotic! I also have more expensive (call it exotic) desktop DAC that does not have the same sound stage as Hugo2, neither does Mojo or Mojo2 , so I am not pushing for Chord here.
EDXS has the ability to benefit from better signal, lesser headphones may not.

can somehow extract more 3D information is kind of absurd, there's no reason/good explanation for that. There's either transparent or not, good crosstalk or bad.

Your second sentence, answers the first! yes more transparency, better crosstalk performance and small signal retrieval all add up to better sound stage, and it is not a binary thing, Good vs Bad! we have shades of gray. and equipment is not either this or that.

Holographic/3D stage falls into subjective make believe claims, typically, unless what you're comparing to is seriously broken..

No it is not. Good matching of earpiece drivers, timing or phase accuracy of different frequency bands all add up to better sound stage.
Performance of headphones is not mere FR. there is a lot more going on in there.

But hey! to some, if they don't know how to measure an effect, "It doesn't exist".

 

[dreamscene]

Give them a couple of days, listen all of your favourite songs, ignore the gear just listen and enjoy the music and then come back to your HD598 or Apple Earpods to see if they still sound the same. If still sound same then this hobby may not be for you. That's normal. Everyone's appreciation of sound is different.

Will do. I mean, now that I have the headphone, I go back and look at the written reviews and review videos and just laugh at the absolute drivel the reviewers say about each different headphone especially the expensive ones. What nonsense. Some even try to compare headphones from 'memory' lol and describe the experience with a straight face. As an experiment, I tried live swapping the 8 year old Sennheiser HD598 and Hifiman Edition XS and even then I couldn't tell any difference at normal listening volumes. At high volumes, the Edition XS clearly wins in bass, that's it. But let's see what ear burn in does over the next week. I mean, clearly I was expecting nirvana with all the glowing reviews, not the same as my old Sennheiser I bought for $150 in 2013. It's either these new manufactuirers spruce up specs that make no difference to our ears or Sennheisers headphone game was so far ahead 20 years ago that new manufacturers are now catching up to them.

 

[Phoney]

Exotic! I also have more expensive (call it exotic) desktop DAC that does not have the same sound stage as Hugo2, neither does Mojo or Mojo2 , so I am not pushing for Chord here.
EDXS has the ability to benefit from better signal, lesser headphones may not.

Expensive? What does the price of a dac have to do with anything? If you can hear a difference, that means one of the units are not doing their job properly (unless you actually want distortion and such). Some of the very expensive dacs are in fact making the headphone distort, so the price tells us nothing. This is an audio science forum, not an audio magics forum. There may be things in headphones that can't be measured yet, but in DACs and AMPs? A dac is supposed to convert your signal and an amplifier is supposed to amplify it, cleanly without distorting it and such. They are not sound quality boosters. Same with cables.

People that claim these things allways fails in blind tests. Funny how that works, huh?

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Expensive? What does the price of a dac have to do with anything? If you can hear a difference, that means one of the units are not doing their job properly (unless you actually want distortion and such). Some of the very expensive dacs are in fact making the headphone distort, so the price tells us nothing. This is an audio science forum, not an audio magics forum. There may be things in headphones that can't be measured yet, but in DACs and AMPs? A dac is supposed to convert your signal and an amplifier is supposed to amplify it, cleanly without distorting it and such. They are not sound quality boosters. Same with cables.

People that claim these things allways fails in blind tests. Funny that, huh?

Agree %100 !
Tell it to those who call a Hugo2 Exotic. I reckoned they really meant Expensive.
I mean the damn thing has been tested by @amirm here on ASR with flying colours
yet there is a superstition about Chord DACs on ASR, do they measure badly? are they flawed? do they sound bad?
No to the above, so why?
@amirm doesn't like some of Rob Watts claims and occasional rants!
But that is no reason for the whole site to be so senstive about mere devices.

 

[Jmm22]

I just got these in yesterday and really like them. I have DT770, X2HR, and these now for over ear.

I had the LCD-X, but returned them twice. First time after only a few days and the second time after 2 weeks. They just clamped way too hard on my giant head.

For $700 savings and a lot less pain/hot spots, I’m very happy with these. Sure, they don’t have the insane bass rumble (still very good), but everything else is better for me. I’ll probably swap out the pads, but am quite pleased with what this offers for the money.

 

[Makafuni]

I just got these in yesterday and really like them. I have DT770, X2HR, and these now for over ear.

I had the LCD-X, but returned them twice. First time after only a few days and the second time after 2 weeks. They just clamped way too hard on my giant head.

For $700 savings and a lot less pain/hot spots, I’m very happy with these. Sure, they don’t have the insane bass rumble (still very good), but everything else is better for me. I’ll probably swap out the pads, but am quite pleased with what this offers for the money.

Happy you are satisfied with them. How is soundstage and timbre compared to the LCD-X? What do you use to run them?

 

[Jmm22]

Happy you are satisfied with them. How is soundstage and timbre compared to the LCD-X? What do you use to run them?

Soundstage is better than the LCD-X. The LCD-X is very intense and in your face. The imaging is very good on it, but small soundstage. It’s the best sounding headphone I’ve tried for hip hop, which is primarily what I listen to. I purchased it a second time to see if I could tolerate it because the bass was great.

I don’t think the LCD-X is $700 better from a sound standpoint for what I listen to (hip hop, classical, film scores). It’s has the ability to take substantially more EQ (15db bass shelf), but it’s almost too intense on everything else. I also would rather have a diversity of headphones than a “grail.” So I’m likely going to get a pair or couple pairs with the $700 difference.

I run it from my Qudelix 5k or ifi Micro Black Label. I usually EQ them, but not to the Harman curve. For source I use either my laptop or Amazon 10 Plus with Wavelet. I use Apple Music.

I can’t really comment as to timbre, because I don’t know how to evaluate it or at least articulate it.

What I would say is: unlike the LCD-X, the XS doesn’t need EQ to be enjoyed. I actually turn off the EQ on some songs. I find the instruments are more separated from vocals and the instruments, at times, overwhelm the vocals (“Back in Black”). I’ve vocal heard parts of songs on the XS that I didn’t on the LCD, namely layered vocals that are used more in the background of songs. Two that I really noticed were on “Oh Sherrie” and “Higher Love” (80s playlist).

I will say for Rock, Pop, Classical, and Metal. The XS is better IMO. It does way better with guitar/strings.

 

[jike]

Soundstage is better than the LCD-X. The LCD-X is very intense and in your face. The imaging is very good on it, but small soundstage. It’s the best sounding headphone I’ve tried for hip hop, which is primarily what I listen to. I purchased it a second time to see if I could tolerate it because the bass was great.

I don’t think the LCD-X is $700 better from a sound standpoint for what I listen to (hip hop, classical, film scores). It’s has the ability to take substantially more EQ (15db bass shelf), but it’s almost too intense on everything else. I also would rather have a diversity of headphones than a “grail.” So I’m likely going to get a pair or couple pairs with the $700 difference.

I run it from my Qudelix 5k or ifi Micro Black Label. I usually EQ them, but not to the Harman curve. For source I use either my laptop or Amazon 10 Plus with Wavelet. I use Apple Music.

I can’t really comment as to timbre, because I don’t know how to evaluate it or at least articulate it.

What I would say is: unlike the LCD-X, the XS doesn’t need EQ to be enjoyed. I actually turn off the EQ on some songs. I find the instruments are more separated from vocals and the instruments, at times, overwhelm the vocals (“Back in Black”). I’ve vocal heard parts of songs on the XS that I didn’t on the LCD, namely layered vocals that are used more in the background of songs. Two that I really noticed were on “Oh Sherrie” and “Higher Love” (80s playlist).

I will say for Rock, Pop, Classical, and Metal. The XS is better IMO. It does way better with guitar/strings.

How are XS vs X2HR? I'm using X2 for a couple of years and I think it's time for a nice upgrade. Thx

 

[oceansize]

First post. Thank you everyone who contributed to the thread - I received my Edition XS a couple of days ago and am very impressed. Re driveability - the Fiio K5 pro handles them with ease, my little PMP (Fiio M9) struggles. Which is fair enough, they're most certainly not headphones for taking out and about.

 

[odyo]

How are XS vs X2HR? I'm using X2 for a couple of years and I think it's time for a nice upgrade. Thx

X2HR... last i heard was 2 years ago. I think these have stark difference around 1.5khz area which makes X2HR sound fun and bitey but a little grainy. XS is very lean in this area. Other than that i'd say soundstage is similar, bass is more on X2HR, detail way more on XS. X2HR clampy, XS no clamp at all.

 

[odyo]

I've received mine couple of days ago. The bass i'm getting out of them is odd. I'm not sure if it's my perception or headphones or the zen can amp. The bass kinda cancelling itself like noise cancelling headphones. It feels weird. It's kinda out of rhythm. I tried adding 10db via eq it's still subdued. It's like there are multiple very sharp peaks and dips in the bass.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

I've received mine couple of days ago. The bass i'm getting out of them is odd. I'm not sure if it's my perception or headphones or the zen can amp. The bass kinda cancelling itself like noise cancelling headphones. It feels weird. It's kinda out of rhythm. I tried adding 10db via eq it's still subdued. It's like there are multiple very sharp peaks and dips in the bass.

Check the cable at amp end.

 

[Phoney]

I've received mine couple of days ago. The bass i'm getting out of them is odd. I'm not sure if it's my perception or headphones or the zen can amp. The bass kinda cancelling itself like noise cancelling headphones. It feels weird. It's kinda out of rhythm. I tried adding 10db via eq it's still subdued. It's like there are multiple very sharp peaks and dips in the bass.

Maybe they are defect? I don't think sealing is that big of a big factor with these, so this sounds a bit strange. Especially considering that a 10db should be very loud. Did you apply preamp setting to negate the boost?

 

[odyo]

Check the cable at amp end.

You mean the plug ? It's inserted properly.

Maybe they are defect? I don't think sealing is that big of a big factor with these, so this sounds a bit strange. Especially considering that a 10db should be very loud. Did you apply preamp setting to negate the boost?

Yeah i feel like it's defective but not sure. I don't have Ananda to compare side by side.

From my mind, XS sounds more analytical than Ananda. There seems to be a huge peak above 10k. XS soundstage is wider and imaging better. Ananda sound a bit sweeter with more deep and tall soundstage. XS have more detailed and brighter sound, Ananda have warmer but shoutier sound. Ananda's bass is glorious. XS bass is weird. Feels like something is choking it. Ananda seem to have better texture detail but XS have better macro detail and imaging.

 

[Tobi]

You mean the plug ? It's inserted properly.

Yeah i feel like it's defective but not sure. I don't have Ananda to compare side by side.

From my mind, XS sounds more analytical than Ananda. There seems to be a huge peak above 10k. XS soundstage is wider and imaging better. Ananda sound a bit sweeter with more deep and tall soundstage. XS have more detailed and brighter sound, Ananda have warmer but shoutier sound. Ananda's bass is glorious. XS bass is weird. Feels like something is choking it. Ananda seem to have better texture detail but XS have better macro detail and imaging.

Have you tried sweeping the bass frequencies with a tone generator? If not, try something like this : https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
You can go up and down and listen for strange behavior. Be careful with your volume though, especially at higher frequencies.

 

[odyo]

Have you tried sweeping the bass frequencies with a tone generator? If not, try something like this : https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
You can go up and down and listen for strange behavior. Be careful with your volume though, especially at higher frequencies.

I can't stand this test at any volume. Would it be reliable if i measure channel balance with my smartphone i wonder. I think this zen can amp acting up. Bass distorts easily. Ananda was 25 ohm 103db sens so there is a stark difference how these headphones interact with my amp.

I also hear occasional clicking from the drivers.

 

[odyo]

So i measured the loudness with my smartphone, i don't know how reliable it's but right driver is consistently louder in the sub bass by 5-6db. It equals out around 80hz. Rest of the spectrum seems even. Pink noise is even. Can someone with the XS do this test with a decibel meter app ?

 

[cheapmessiah]

So i measured the loudness with my smartphone, i don't know how reliable it's but right driver is consistently louder in the sub bass by 5-6db. It equals out around 80hz. Rest of the spectrum seems even. Pink noise is even. Can someone with the XS do this test with a decibel meter app ?

Have you Inverted the cables to the cups to see if its amp dependent or driver dependent?

It would be a bummer that one driver has low enough impedance to cause FR fidelity problems.

 

[odyo]

Have you Inverted the cables to the cups to see if its amp dependent or driver dependent?

It would be a bummer that one driver has low enough impedance to cause FR fidelity problems.

Yes i tried every combination, bal cables, inverted connection to the cups, zen dac, zen can. 5-6db difference is consistent. It lessens when i go up and equalize at around 80hz.

 

[MC_RME]

Then you might be a victim of Hifiman's famous build quality. Return it...