Hifiman Edition XS

[Robbo99999]

Damnit, I couldn't resist at that price, absolutely no need for any more headphones whatsoever!

Ha, fair do's! Is there anything that drew you to it vs your other headphones beyond the price.....is there much that you expect from it?

 

[sulfuriq]

Still have my old worn out HE400SE stealth, replaced the earpad with the cool gel pad but the HEXS is something else, much more un details and seperation. They did offered me to listening test at their Suvara Unveild and Shangri- La display booth but I know its a trap to get me to hooked on.

 

[MC_RME]

The Edition XS is now down to $269.00 from Hifiman directly. That might explain the special UK offers. Unfortunately at Amazon Germany the price is not that much reduced, currently 390 €, but includes VAT and a hardcase for travelling, so not that bad.

 

[martin900]

It's €309 in the Netherlands but myself, after having 3 Hifiman headphones wouldn't toch them with a 10 foot pole. All of them had a bitey, hot treble and the build quality is abysmal in the long run - plastic wears out, breaks, the mylar foil crinkles and wil eventually develop a crack, already seeing this on 2 year old models.
The Ananda which apparently is close to the EXS was driving me crazy with the hot treble, couldn't increase volume enough because they were hurting my ears already.

 

[oceansize]

The Edition XS is now down to $269.00 from Hifiman directly. That might explain the special UK offers. Unfortunately at Amazon Germany the price is not that much reduced, currently 390 €, but includes VAT and a hardcase for travelling, so not that bad.

€309 at Thomann (no case, but VAT and delivery included). Not in stock, expected 1-2 week.

 

[GaryH]

Ha, fair do's! Is there anything that drew you to it vs your other headphones beyond the price.....is there much that you expect from it?

I'm hoping it will be an improvement over the HE4XX, which has a slight haziness to it (I suspect due to its medium-Q treble unevenness), but I appreciate its bass impact (due to front volume seal) and soundstage that combine for a nice sense of scale which none of my other headphones have in conjunction. Looking at these comparative 5128 measurements with the HE-X4 (acoustically the same headphone as the V1 non-stealth magnet HE400SE, and measures very similarly to the current V2 stealth magnet version), it seems like it will have generally more even treble and around the same or better sub-bass extension which could fit the bill, with lower distortion to boot.

 

[Robbo99999]

I'm hoping it will be an improvement over the HE4XX, which has a slight haziness to it (I suspect due to its medium-Q treble unevenness), but I appreciate its bass impact (due to front volume seal) and soundstage that combine for a nice sense of scale which none of my other headphones have in conjunction. Looking at these comparative 5128 measurements with the HE-X4 (acoustically the same headphone as the V1 non-stealth magnet HE400SE, and measures very similarly to the current V2 stealth magnet version), it seems like it will have generally more even treble and around the same or better sub-bass extension which could fit the bill, with lower distortion to boot.

Yes, the HE400SE does measure astonishingly well for a £69 headphone! Not that price is a predictor of performance, which we know of course! I'll probably share my experiences of the HE400SE briefly in here & in more detail in the HE400SE thread, I'll definitely measure it on my miniDSP EARS which will be good to show channel balance and distortion.

 

[sulfuriq]

This cloth headband cover feels very nice and comfy.

 

[Robbo99999]

Hi all, recently we briefly talked about HE400SE as a tangent when @oceansize posted up some Hifiman deals in this thread. I've done some measurements of the HE400SE unit I received & described my EQ experiences over in the HE400SE thread at this post:

Hifiman HE400SE Review (Headphone)

I bought mine brand new in a sale from Amazon themselves (UK) for £69.30 delivered. I bought mine for $59 directly from HIFIMAN. New "B-stock" - which meant that the *box* (which is to be thrown away anyway) was a bit dirty. After EQ I absolutely love them and for sure there is nothing...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Oldson]

just got my XS today £269 from Scan and i have to say they appear really good value for the money.
even good on my HP8, which surprised me.

 

[Gradius]

You would have to disassemble the driver to replace the wires risking damaging the membranes.

lmao, I'm into electronics from over 30 years now.

 

[A Surfer]

lmao, I'm into electronics from over 30 years now.

So why are you laughing your ass off? How was anyone to know that about you?

 

[raif71]

Got the XS back in June. I think it is quite a step up from the Sundara. Much easier to drive and overall sound I think a step up to the Sundara. There is more bass and the treble better but not harsh. I like the Sundara build better but the XS is quite comfortable .

 

[sulfuriq]

I really like my Edition XS till last week the right side driver suddenly suddenly died on me during my back from work listening session. Luckily just bought Song MDR-M1 a week before so I don't miss too much for my XS that is now in the hand of the Audio Shop that I bought for warranty. And still have my Hifiman 400SE and MP145 if I missed planar sound signature.

 

[raif71]

I really like my Edition XS till last week the right side driver suddenly suddenly died on me during my back from work listening session. Luckily just bought Song MDR-M1 a week before so I don't miss too much for my XS that is now in the hand of the Audio Shop that I bought for warranty. And still have my Hifiman 400SE and MP145 if I missed planar sound signature.

My XS kind of slipped in and out of sound (right side too) when I initially changed its cable using 4.4mm jack. Now I'm using the stock cable and it is ok.

 

[sulfuriq]

No luck for me even after I tried to use the original 3.5mm cable there's still no sound from the right driver. And the technician at the Audio Shop too face the same trying to figure out the problem. Finger crossed.

 

[Magicmastja]

Ive had my pair for almost 2 months now, I would say that I overall like them but ive learned through trial and error these cans REALLY need to have enough current being fed to them to be able to perform their best. I tested the waters first with a dongle DAC/AMP and then with the SMSL RAW-MDA-1 on low gain mode, both amp configs exhibited the well reported sibilance across various bands 3-12khz. it was only after trying high gain on the SMSL DAC/AMP did that finally go away without substantial EQ efforts.

For EDM the XS is just incredible for sub-bass after boosting, I didnt think it was possible to wring that much clear controlled bass from a pair of headphones of any kind let alone an open back. My only complaint remaining is the same one everyone else makes, the 1-2khz range leaves much to be desired. You can EQ your way into getting most of the clarity you might be pining for, but you just wont get the level of forwardness and body/presence you might expect from other options. From my experience you can push the 1.7-1.9k range up to about +4db before it starts wrestling with the bass for energy or just thins out into distorted incoherence.

String instruments, electronic music, and basically anything well produced not requiring the human voice will probably sound great on these, your favorite Metalcore bands 2nd album produced in 2005 in one of the band-mates backyard shed, not so much.

 

[Gradius]

So why are you laughing your ass off? How was anyone to know that about you?

Because you should never assuming anything before asking.

 

[A Surfer]

Because you should never assuming anything before asking.

I will point out the irony of your assumption that he was assuming. You could easily have replied without being sarcastic.

Regardless, there is no way he could have known about your experience and a significant majority of people would certainly not have that much experience so really if he was assuming that, at least it made sense from a probability standpoint.

 

[somedillweed]

I just got a pair of the Edition XS the other day. For those who have them or have tried them, did you get used to the clamp and headband over time?

Coming from the HD 6XX, I can definitely feel the clamp on the sides of my head and I guess because my head is a bit too pointed, the headband is mainly sitting right on the peak of my skull and is immediately noticeable. I'm guessing I'll adapt to it over time, it's just very obvious right now. I've looked for those headband covers that people have mentioned buying for these, and at least on Amazon in Canada, it seems like it's just a few options from Geekria.

I haven't listened to them for long enough to know if I'll enjoy them, but it does seem like voices might be a bit quiet or distant sounding at times. Coming from the HD 6XX, the XS seems more detailed and there's definitely a larger/wider soundstage. I've only listened to a couple of songs so far, and I felt kind of hypnotized at times by the sound these make. I partly bought them because I wanted to try to find some good-sounding headphones with better imaging for games (I mainly play singleplayer games, so not so much for listening for footsteps and things like that in multiplayer), but I haven't had a chance to try them for that purpose yet. I listened to a couple of binaural recordings, and I don't know how much forward depth there is, but sounds that were placed to the sides or behind the head sounded pretty accurate to the point where I was kind of blown away, at least compared to the HD 6XX I've been using. Part of it might just be that I'm enjoying a new toy, I don't know.

Does EQ fix the vocals at all, or would I need different headphones to remedy that? If that's not fixable with these, does anyone know if there are any headphones that basically sound like this but with more present vocals?