I am new to the headphone hobby. Hearing loss made me sell my speakers. I can hear pretty good with headphones, They're on sale anybody else have this set of headphones. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD560S that I bought a week ago they sound great., I am going trying something different. They are running off a Schitt Manni + Heretic.
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HiFiMan Edition XS
- Thread starter rmlowz63
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zenith2134
Addicted Member
I just had a pair of Edition XS delivered here. Initial thoughts are as follows: The bass is huge on these. I'd call these a bassy headphone for sure, at least versus my Grado SR-325i, AKG K701, Sundara Closed back, and Philips Fidelio X3.
Powering them with a Schiit Magni Unity amplifier/DAC and using Qobuz as a source.
Very nice sounding midrange which seems transparent. Highs are a tad hot. I think they need some use in order to come into their own.
Overall, I immediately liked these headphones and I can tell that they'll be keepers.
I have the headband size sliders on the minimum (smallest) setting. I've got NO idea who would be able to use them on the larger settings----your head would have to be in the Guinness Book I think. Haha.
I recommend them!
Powering them with a Schiit Magni Unity amplifier/DAC and using Qobuz as a source.
Very nice sounding midrange which seems transparent. Highs are a tad hot. I think they need some use in order to come into their own.
Overall, I immediately liked these headphones and I can tell that they'll be keepers.
I have the headband size sliders on the minimum (smallest) setting. I've got NO idea who would be able to use them on the larger settings----your head would have to be in the Guinness Book I think. Haha.
I recommend them!
Ditto, you probably won't find a better sounding phone for less than $1,000 as long as you have the power it craves on tap. Also, it sports the new single-piece Hifiman headband which is eons more durable than their previous head strap-on-frame design which, while being very comfortable, is kinda flimsy. I had two of my phones (Arya and Sundara) just drop from my head due to the strap coming off the frame, something that is remarkably difficult to fix. Such an incident simply can't happen with the XS.
zenith2134
Addicted Member
Agreed! They keep impressing me. I listened to some live performances through them Sunday morning, early when everyone was still asleep, and let me tell you...:They're capable of extreme detail! Startlingly so.
I also attribute some of this to what you mentioned. Having enough power on tap. The 'Magni is not the highest end amplifier at all, but you know what, it is competently designed and can dish out some current, since it uses a linear AC supply and has a larger output stage than a lot of cheap chip amps.
To further this point, I tried the Edition XS on a few more portable sources.
First, the onboard headphone jack on my HP Victus gaming laptop. It sounded fine, but the bass obviously took a hit. For the record, I use no EQ with my headphones.
Then I tried them on a Tecsun multiband radio which runs on battery power and only says it can push an 8-32z load. Not a lot of info there. This sounded pleasing on FM. It was a fun test. I feel it drove them fine, actually!
I'd like to hear one of the higher-end Hifimans someday. Such as the HE-1000.
At that level, I'd likely check out a lot of other brands too, though.
I also attribute some of this to what you mentioned. Having enough power on tap. The 'Magni is not the highest end amplifier at all, but you know what, it is competently designed and can dish out some current, since it uses a linear AC supply and has a larger output stage than a lot of cheap chip amps.
To further this point, I tried the Edition XS on a few more portable sources.
First, the onboard headphone jack on my HP Victus gaming laptop. It sounded fine, but the bass obviously took a hit. For the record, I use no EQ with my headphones.
Then I tried them on a Tecsun multiband radio which runs on battery power and only says it can push an 8-32z load. Not a lot of info there. This sounded pleasing on FM. It was a fun test. I feel it drove them fine, actually!
I'd like to hear one of the higher-end Hifimans someday. Such as the HE-1000.
At that level, I'd likely check out a lot of other brands too, though.
Triggered
Active Member
Im so glad I bought mine. I had just taken possession of some Sennheisers when I became aware of this model. I wasn't terribly impressed by the Sennheisers so when the price of the Edition XS dropped to under $300 I jumped. To start they are half the price and sound much better to my ears. Crisp, clear and full with a nice soundstage. I'm looking forward to trying these with my 60 watt headphone amp since everyone says these sound even better with more power.
The instructions state that they need 100 hours of break in to sound their best. I found this to be true with mine. They sounded pretty good out of the box and just kept getting better.
I started off using a standard jack/cable but after a month switched to balanced and that was a nice improvement. I also bought a headband pad that wraps around the headband, it helped a lot to make the cups centered around my ears.
These are without a doubt the best headphones that I have ever had and at 68 I don't picture needing anything else for the rest of my useful life.
James
I started off using a standard jack/cable but after a month switched to balanced and that was a nice improvement. I also bought a headband pad that wraps around the headband, it helped a lot to make the cups centered around my ears.
These are without a doubt the best headphones that I have ever had and at 68 I don't picture needing anything else for the rest of my useful life.
James
They are an incredible value. To the gentleman who mentions he'd like to try other Hifiman models up the hierarchy, I strongly suggest skipping the Ananda and going straight for the Arya instead, While the Ananda seriously lacks bass, the Arya sounds more like the HE-1000 and has all the bass one could wish for. It is also very detailed.
