Hifiman Edition XS insane mod + measurements

[deccatree]

Thanks a lot! In the moment i saw your post i remembered your website. Sorry for annoying, grey cells become older more and more. I was able to integrate your filter into the case of the headphone. So there's no change in the handling. The result is great. Changed the sound character quite a lot. I like it!

 

[solderdude]

For the better I hope ...

 

[GRA]

So to be clear the final mod was just to insert cotton fill between the pads and the frame? Was there any need to remove the pads or take anything apart to do the mod?

 

[solderdude]

Some folks use the appropriate thickness rope tucked under the pads.
It increases the ear-driver distance and thus influences the sound.

 

[Markelian]

So to be clear the final mod was just to insert cotton fill between the pads and the frame? Was there any need to remove the pads or take anything apart to do the mod?

Yes that's right. And nothing is needed to be taken apart

 

[kazuviking]

Would the same mod work with the Ananda Stealth? The two have almost the exact same tuning but couldnt find any group delay measurements of the ananda stealth V3.

 

[AMDfanTO]

Just tried this on my Edition XS. The sound is way more mellow and laidback. Smoother and less coarse. Bass is not as deep and tactile. Overall it sounds more neutral. After EQ I do prefer the sound with the mod. Thanks for the solution!

 

[chomi]

@Markelian Do you have the custom cans supergrills for the edition xs? I'm wondering how they compare to your mod and of it would it complement it?

 

[Markelian]

@Markelian Do you have the custom cans supergrills for the edition xs? I'm wondering how they compare to your mod and of it would it complement it?

I do not have it. But the reasoning for doing this mod would still be present no matter what you do with the back grille.
But the cotton mod is luckily so trivial in effort and cost that you can simply try it yourself and see what you like

 

[chomi]

I do not have it. But the reasoning for doing this mod would still be present no matter what you do with the back grille.
But the cotton mod is luckily so trivial in effort and cost that you can simply try it yourself and see what you like

Yup I'm trying them right now. I think it's a bit of an improvement and sounds a bit clearer but honestly not sure if it's just placebo since I'm paying more attention. I'll need to revert the mod after using it a while to really see.

Also just wondering if you would know what would happen if you use less cotton? Would it still be effective? In your photo you show it completely covering the back of the pads. Have you tried stuffing just enough so that it doesn't over spill just between the pad and plastic (of the pads).

 

[Markelian]

Also just wondering if you would know what would happen if you use less cotton? Would it still be effective?

I have not tested it, but probably yes to some degree. It will not hurt anyway so if you prefer it less stuffed go ahead.

 

[jmdesignz2]

Just for clarity here's how it looks in my case
View attachment 431795

Also my solution for uncomfortable headband, havent seen it before so maybe it helps someone.
They are HD600/6xx pads just inserted into XS headband

View attachment 431796

Just to clarify

The best mod for the edition xs was to simply put more cotton under the earpad perimeter?

 

[josiah]

I started realizing the Series XS was causing tinnitus to flair up. The cotton changed that for me. I now can listen to these again.

 

[jmdesignz2]

I started realizing the Series XS was causing tinnitus to flair up. The cotton changed that for me. I now can listen to these again.

Can you please share What exactly did you do and how many cotton balls did you use?

 

[josiah]

Can you please share What exactly did you do and how many cotton balls did you use?

I just used 1 and a half Jumbo Cotton balls per side. Unrolled them and filled the gap. It was quite easy.

 

[Vit-Le]

A few days ago, I also received my Hifiman Edition XS. The sound is good, but on many tracks, the sound is too bright. On well-recorded songs, the sound is comfortable, but as soon as a song with excessive brightness appears, these headphones seem to amplify this effect. The main problem is that I detected a resonance of some internal components in the left speaker—and only on Bach's "Air"—played by piano alone. It's a terribly loud overtone, predominantly on one note, which is not audible on other tracks. This is audible at fairly high volumes. Whether this is a defect in my unit or a flaw in the entire series of headphones—I don't know. Has anyone else noticed something similar? If you find one, listen to Bach's "Air" from the album, the image of which I'll attach here, and leave a review.

 

[deccatree]

Songs recorded with excessive brightness will always have that sound except on dull headphones. But, yes the HEEXS is somewhat bright, and clear. This thread ist about that. And you'll find hundreds across the net discussing whether this is good or bad. Regarding the ringing or resonance you describe there's a modification which is working quite effective. Just ask a AI. I didn't save the page after i sold my HEEXS.

 

[Vit-Le]

I disassembled the left speaker, pulled the driver out of the housing, and listened. There was a terrible resonance inside the driver. It wasn't a problem with the housing or the grille. I couldn't fix it, so I wrote to the seller on AliExpress. It was only noticeable on this particular song, but it would likely be noticeable on similar songs.

 

[chomi]

I disassembled the left speaker, pulled the driver out of the housing, and listened. There was a terrible resonance inside the driver. It wasn't a problem with the housing or the grille. I couldn't fix it, so I wrote to the seller on AliExpress. It was only noticeable on this particular song, but it would likely be noticeable on similar songs.View attachment 524852

This is just standard hifiman build quality. I have seen some other reports with resonance at certain frequencies. Best bet is to either rma or return and purchase a new one.

 

[cursive]

Thanks for posting this mod, I like simple little easy tweaks like these. You mentioned unrolling cotton balls, and today I learned that cotton balls are rolled lol. Unrolled 1 or 2 jumbo cotton balls and that was plenty to fill the area behind the pads. I wish I could quickly A+B compare the mod, but I appreciate that you actually provided measurements.

Is there an app, or website like squig where I can import the measurements with the mod, and create an EQ profile from that? I'd like to have an eq that takes this mod into account, and corrects from there.

Thanks again.