HIFIMANEdition XS Full-Size Over-Ear Open-Back Planar Magnetic Hi-Fi Headphones with Stealth Magnets Design, Adjustable Headband, Detachable Cable for Audiophiles, Home, Studio-Black

Why did you pick this product vs others?:After 1.5 years of fairly constant use. Wanted to be accurate in my review based on my perspective and hearing. 1. Note, that I have not purchased higher price headphones. Currently, at least right now I have no need to.2. My experience my not be yours and my music listening may differ from yours. Plus our ears and how our brain translates what the ears are receiving likely is different.3. This review is after 1.5 years of use. Spanning two different DACs and three headphone AMPs.I would not define myself as an audiophile. I rather think of myself as a music enthusiast. I can sit in front of my computer doing various tasks (googling, budgeting, playing a game) and listen to music at low to moderate levels mostly. Then there are times where I will listen to just the music critically or just relaxing and have a beer or two. Point? Its about the music.I really do like these headphones, and think they are one of the best bang for bucks out there. But there are some caveats to getting the most out of them.For my use, these are for listing to music from my laptop via computer UBS to DAC, then to Headphone amplifier.For this model, I would recommend a external DAC with built in AMP or separate units. These planners I believe are 18ohms, so not hard to drive, but planners still can be power hungry, and sound better with the appropriate amount of power. Your computer mini out is not going to give these headphones justice.For software on my Laptop I have used Roon, Jriver, and Musicbee, Foobar.I have and extensive FLAC library and mostly listen to ROCK, Grunge, Alternative, with some hip-hop, modern country, and maybe movie scores mixed in.1. Out of the box I would say they need about 100hours break-in. Don't get me wrong, they still sound great out of the box, but better after a good break-in period.2. Some complain about fit for smaller heads, I guess mine is medium sized. Just simply bend to the headband gently to tighten to earcup grip. This works for me. However, I suppose this headphone can't work for everyone.3. So far i have not had any issues with the build quality. I mean it could be better, but no complaints here for me. You put them on, listen to music, put them down. Look elsewhere if your on a treadmill or doing tasks that require heavy movement.4. Sound is decent after break in, using separate DAC and AMP but there are tips and tricks to improve.Tip1: Using a music player that supports convolution filters for this specific headphones and downloading these settings in the software for use with this headphone really help get close to the Harmon curve. You can set a regular bar EQ for this if your player does not support convolution filters, most free platers don't support convolution filters, but with research and little trail a error, some like Foobar, Muscibee and maybe others it is possible to add a convolution filter to the player. Jriver is paid for, but not bad price and sounds great. Roon is out of most peoples price point for a player, but has a fantastic interface with all the bells a whistles you would need built in.Tip2: Having support for a parametric EQ which can be used after the convolution filter to personalize to your ears to your preference.Trick1: The bars going across the outside of the ear cups vibrate. "Just, flick it with fingernail, when you have the headphone on your head". You will hear ringing. These bars will vibrate at certain volume levels and effect sound at moderate volumes. I found it necessary to tie string (any thin string will work), down the center, around each bar. Just slight tautness, we are not trying to bend the bars, just keep them from vibrating. You will notice clearer sonics after words at moderate and maybe even lower volumes.Trick2: After Tip1 through Trick1 completed, now is the time to listen to your music for a good while. Then, after you have a good feel for the sound, typically I would use two or three fingers in on both earcup and cover various areas of the outside of the earcups while listing to music. Just lightly touch keeping hand straight out. I would focus on the upper right, upper left, and maybe bottom of the ear cup. You will notice a difference. I can't speak for everyone, but I noticed improvement when placing two or three fingers covering the rear upper section. I read a forum where one person preferred the other side upper front area. Once I determined that covering up the upper-rear section with my fingertips sounded better, I simply used string and rapped in that area. Note: I have a pic that you can see that done. We are not trying to totally isolate the area just providing about the same blockage as your fingers provided.This headphone has been really fantastic for me. Moving up to a higher "more expensive" probably would sound a small portion better. But if I spent $600 to $1000, would I get 45% better? No I think not. Just be aware there is diminishing returns on moving up to more expensive headphones. From My perspective I am guessing $1000 headphone would be better (At beast 10 or 12%). However, I am note willing to move on that as a see no reason to.My highs are great, mids are clear and tonality is great, you will understand what the singer is saying, plenty of bass on these phones, I tend to increase 2db on Parametric EQ without effecting clarity. Even plenty of bass on Rap song when I play them as breakup songs in my rock playlist.To me, best headphone for the price, as mentioned above with headphone AMP and the music player that supports convolution filters so you can load convolution filter for this specific headphone, Then try the Tricks to elevate to your specific hearing experience.Good luck.

Even a brief look around the internet will tell you this is an amazing set of cans. And my own experience bears this out. This is a fantastic sounding set of headphones.The sound stage is plenty wide. The bass has a controlled authority and does not bleed in to the higher frequencies. On loud volumes the bass feels like you are getting a jaw massage and a back massage for your eye balls.These are really open headphones. You would be forgiven for thinking these are some kind of sunglasses because you can literally see through the drivers. You can feel the difference in pressure in your ears if you hold your palm an inch or so away from your ear while wearing the headphones which demonstrates how open these are. As a result they leak some sound and let practically all the ambient noise in. The clarity and resolution are quite detailed.The large planar drivers are everything here. The following analogy explains my feeling. There is a meme about the fighter plane A-10 Warthog being an airframe designed around the main Gatling gun that it has. That is, it is a gun with wings rather than a plane with a gun. These headphones give a similar vibe with respect to its drivers. Practically all the money you spend has gone towards the gigantic planar drivers. It is a headphone built around the drivers. You will want to have your ears higher up in relation to the cups as the drivers are positioned slightly higher in the cups. The large drivers immerse you in the sound and with certain music the instruments can seem like they are located above or below you.As a result of the focus on the drivers the rest of the build quality can feel a little cheap. The cable is definitely good. It feels premium. The plastic used in various parts seems brittle. The headband is cushioned but you can feel the internal frame underneath the foam as you run your fingers over the band. This is especially noticeable if you have owned any Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser headphones which have high quality dense plastic. It does not hold a candle to their build quality. If you keep this expectation in mind you will save yourself some remorse. The pads are also very cheap feeling and lack attention to detail in their construction. The stitching looks uneven etc. If you wear glasses the fabric on the pads can be really squeaky and get on your nerves. I immediately replaced it with a velour replacement pads. These are admittedly minor issues but some may expect more at this price point. In my opinion it is worth it regardless.The sheer size of these headphones could be problematic for smaller heads. The fit is a bit on the looser side and it might move around as you move your head to look down for example. The yokes can swivel a little which provides a nice fit to a variety of head shapes I imagine.For driving gear, they ran fine off of a Fiio K3. In the picture I have them on a Fiio K7. An amplifier is not strictly necessary to get these loud but a budget/starter amp might improve the sound if you are not happy with the sound directly off of your phone or laptop. Remember that money is better spent on headphones rather than source/driving gear.Finally I want to clarify some marketing verbiage used in the description. The magnets used are called "stealth" magnets that apparently allow sound to pass through more easily in comparison to the non-stealth version. The real difference is a change in cross section shape of the magnets that allows sound to come through more easily or cleanly or something.TLDR: Incredible sound and incredible value for money

The Edition XS are baby Arya Stealths; they have a lot of similar characteristics, but with a lot more tradeoffs (which you’d expect for a headphone that sells for less than half the price). They’re great for loud, complex songs but struggle a little bit with quieter, more subtle tracks, where they give up some ground to the Sennheiser x Drop 6XX. They can be a tad bright, but my in my experience didn’t cross over into being harsh. Good, solid but impressive base, decent male vocals but maybe a bit of veiling for female vocals.At $269 they’re a great deal for a very objective tuned headphone, and I may buy a hard case and carry these as my “working outside the house” pair when I don’t want to haul the 6XX.