Edifier STAX Spirit S3 Wireless Planar Magnetic Headphone, Bluetooth Hi-Fi Headphone with Hi-Res & Snapdragon Sound with Mic for Audiophiles, Home, Studio

I didn’t feel great about this purchase. Spending $400 for bluetooth headphones seemed excessive. I was happy with the crisp sound quality from my $120 Sennheiser HD 4.40. I don’t need bass that rattles my skull (a reference to my misguided Skullcandy Crusher™ year.) I wanted a second Sennheiser, but sadly that wonderful model was replaced by the HD 350BT. The “improved” version gets mediocre reviews; the dwindling discontinued options now sell for twice the price of the new replacement.As a music lover who prioritizes sound quality, I consider active noise cancellation a hate crime. I know ANC has its place, but the inevitable distortion introduced can’t be justified for even casual audiophiles, IMO. A google search will find confirmation of ANC sound quality compromises. There aren’t a lot of highly regarded bluetooth headphone options focused on audiophiles, certainly not < $500.The physical sound isolation of the Edifier S3 ear cups is excellent, I expect more than sufficient for most environments.Although the Edifier S3 feels a bit heavy in my hand, I don’t notice the weight on my head. It is similarly comfortable as my very light Sennheiser.The sound of the Edifier is glorious. Audiophiles talk about “soundstage” – the imagined 3D placement of instruments. I’m definitely hearing that spatial separation now. I suppose I could load the app and tweak up bass slightly, but the default setting is more than satisfying.The expense of these headphones is well justified for my priorities.

Edit: I ended up returning because the longer I wore them the more the plastic creaked. Was really annoying when playing games since there is a lot of times they aren't having to produce any sound. But the sound quality is till top notch for the price.I've learned that the perfect headphones under $500 doesn't exist. I've been really happy with my AirPods Max, but recently switched to a Samsung phone, so i decided to go all out with ditching Apple. Replacing the APM hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be. Finally thought I had settled on the Momentum 4s, but had to give these Edifier's a try. The difference in sound quality is night and day from any other bluetooth headphones that I have tried. Wired is even better. They lack a punch on bass that i normally love, but the clarity, wide staging, and volume is just unmatched by anything else in the same price range.They do have a plastic creaky noise when I move my head around, but I can only hear it if music has stopped or the volume is super low. My biggest complaint is the case. Why the heck did they have to make it so bulky and cheap looking? But like I said: if sound quality is your priority and you aren't wanting to spend 1k+, you probably aren't going to find a whole lot that sound better than these.

Wire Cutter recommended this pair of headphones and I purchased them in August of '23 trusting that review. 14 months later one of the cans went silent and I have tried everything to get it working again. I believe that the wiring must be faulty and the connection was lost.To be honest I wasn't too impressed with the quality of the sound from the get-go, which makes me think that maybe they were never quite right to begin with.I purchased these for my art studio (which is fairly clean and has a carpeted floor). I don't travel with them or throw them in my bag while running errands, so these headphones have had a pretty quiet lifestyle. I also never have the volume turned way up, though these headphones never got particularly loud in my experience even when turned all the way up.I am so disappointed. I reached out the Edifier customer support and they told me they couldn't help. They "don't do repairs for customer based in the USA" - if I had known that I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. These headphones are now going in the trash, I guess. I'm out $400 and probably won't purchase another product from this company.

At the time I was able to purchase these for $300 and at that price point they seem a good value for the money. The headphones use leather wrap around and on the ear pads. They also come with a second set of "cooling ear pads"ProsPlanar magnetic Bluetooth headphones (not many exist)Very good audio qualityVery good microphone qualityGreat battery life2 sets of easy to change ear padsNice carrying caseWeight is fine for long use.ConsControls are only 3 buttons making it difficult to memorize how long to press each button, how many times to price etc. when you want volume control, track seek, pause etc.Really wish they used a higher quality material for the band and arms. The plastic creaks a lot, it's audible with the headphones on (not if audio is playing).No LDAC support. The best codec is Qualcomm Aptx HD. Most people probably won't notice a difference but it's an important missing feature for those who care. Aptx HD is 24bit/48khz sample rate vs LDAC 32bit/96khz.App is pretty barebones but does what is needed if you want to use it. Not much value added.

While the audio is good, it's connection to my Roku Bluetooth requires me to hold the Edifier button for 7 seconds, it disconnects after 15 minutes of no sound from Roku, then requires me to hold the Edifier button for 7 seconds to turn it off and 7 more seconds to turn it back on to Bluetooth connect. then it doesn't always work. I much prefer the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones that I've used for 3 years.

Pure accuracy at its finest. These are for those wanting to hear what the artists and producers wanted us to hear in its purest form.