Hifiman Edition XS impressions from a newbie

Submitted by Bowernator t3_11e6aan in headphones

To preface, I am fairly new to the hobby (a year or two, give or take) and my first pair of open backs were HD 599's, and I mainly got those based off recommendations and the fact I was trying my hand at some light streaming and had a standalone usb mic. Fast forward a bit and I found out that Sennheiser also made headsets for "gaming". I ended up getting a few pair (GAME ONE, PC37X, and PC38X) and oddly enough, that started my spiral. I ended up getting the 560S next, then 660S. Dug deeper into the rabbit hole and pulled the trigger on the 800S. As a casual-ish gamer, I was looking for my end game as soon as possible, but the 800S didn't end up being it. As crazy as that headphone was, it lacked the majority of "immersiveness" for single player games that I was looking for (it seemed to lack that punch in bass that I wanted). I ended up parting with all of those and tried the 58X Jubilee's. Bit better with bass and for single player gaming, but still felt I was lacking something.

Enter the Edition XS. I haven't had a ton of time to really use it or break it in, but to me, they sound far more exciting and fun than the 800S I was using, and the first pair I didn't feel I had to EQ. I have noticed in some tracks or games that if things get a bit too "bassy", I hear the drivers (or the plastic membrane?) slightly buzz a bit, but I'm wondering if that's just how they are or are part of the break-in process and will go away over time. If anyone has any insight on that, fantastic. Some have reported strange buzzing in-between 300-600hz but I tried using a tool to adjust that frequency manually and don't really hear it there much. I did get these off of Amazon from the Hifiman retailer, so thankfully I do have a pretty wide return window if these are defective as I've heard that Hifiman has had spotty QC on some of their headphones, so wondering if I may have gotten a bad pair. The fit seems good to me. I have a fairly average sized head and they don't seem very loose, and the top headband isn't terrible (to me anyways). Besides this, everything else sounds like pure bliss to my ears. They are fun and exciting, especially paired with HeSuVi for gaming and my JDS Labs Element 3.

17

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

flyedchicken t1_jadd3gy wrote

I tried two pairs of XS, both had that "buzzing" issue you describe. One was worse than the other, but I didn't find either one acceptable for $500 especially after owning cheaper headphones that were built better and didn't have any sort of noticeable distortion like that.

I didn't expect it to ever get better since it seemed to always return after a few minutes of listening at any kind of decent volume. Even after I turned my system off and let it sit for awhile, the issue would be gone for a bit but always came back. Maybe it was a problem with the stock cables? Both times? I did try different cables.. No idea, but like I said I expect $500 headphones to not do that out of the box, so both pairs I tried went back and that was the end of that.

5

daddyyeslegs t1_jadicjx wrote

Are you sure it wasn't a hair or some debris on the drivers? I've heard that can be an issue for some of the planars.

2

flyedchicken t1_jadn5sv wrote

Yes. I was gonna actually suggest to OP to check for the same thing. But for sure there was nothing floating around in the earcups or the drivers of both the units I tried.

2

Bowernator OP t1_jaemmx4 wrote

I'll give it a check. It's weird because it was like that right of out of the box plugged into my DAC, but I'll give it a look over regardless.

2

flyedchicken t1_jaen07i wrote

tbh I doubt that's your issue but yeah can't hurt to take a look!

1

Bowernator OP t1_jade8x2 wrote

Thank you for your input. I had a feeling that might be the case which is unfortunate since they sound so good despite the plasticky buzzing noise. I might give them some additional time. I have until March 26th to return them if it doesn't go away. Hifiman said that their planar headphones take up to 150 hours of listening to break in, so I might just go nuts with them to see. But agreed, they shouldn't sound like that out of the box.

1

flyedchicken t1_jadgp23 wrote

I was 100% in the same boat. Loved the tuning & pretty much everything else about them except that one little flaw, really wanted to keep them but I just couldn't bring myself to.

With regards to burn in, this may be a little cynical of me but.. I somewhat believe that the reason companies suggest so much burn in time is to cut down on returns. As in, by the time the customer has taken the time to fully 'burn in' their equipment, most sites' return window will have closed. I don't have much to back that claim but it just seems to make sense. In my opinion 'burn in' is just our brains getting acclimated to different headphones' tuning. Sadly if you're already noticing it consistently, I don't see it going away unless you a.) EQ the bass waaaayyy down or b.) get enough hearing damage to not hear it anymore.

3

Bowernator OP t1_jadhmds wrote

Yeah I may end up sending them back and not trying to get a replacement. Any suggestions on a similar headphone by chance? What are you currently listening to?

I definitely think that some companies suggest the long burn-in hours as a means to cut down on returns tbh. I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea of burning in headphones much, and would agree that it's our brains getting acclimated to the sound more so than the headphones breaking in.

1

flyedchicken t1_jadlz7o wrote

That's the real frustrating thing. for sure good pair of XS exist out there, it just wasn't worth it to me to try a 3rd time.. Not trying to rain on your parade, I guess my bias just tends to make itself known at this point haha

After trying the XS I wound up with a pair of Moondrop Venus. Love em. They sound a lot like the XS but, cleaner somehow? When I went from the XS to these it almost made me feel like the XS have just a slight amount of bass bloat in comparison. Like vocals and things that live in the mids would be muddied down a bit by the XS, compared to sounding absolutely clear and "even" with the instruments through the Venus. The XS seemed to sort of apply their own sound to everything where to me the Venus let the song sound more how it was intended. Where the XS seemed to make everything sound equally 'big', some tracks can be a little more closed in or a little more open on the Venus, seemingly depending on how they were recorded. Playing Squad with the Venus I swear I can hear things happening farther away than ever before. But then if I put on Tom's Diner it sounds like Suzanne Vega is singing directly into my ears while the little ambient sounds in the track happen all around. Placement of sounds is better to me overall as is detail. I can hear things with these that I could not so much with the XS.

There was a little issue with mine when they showed up, one of the earcups had popped loose from the yoke thing on one side during shipping. But they're built so damn tough in comparison to anything else I've tried that I was able to just pop it back in and nothing was damaged or bent really at all. Absolutely zero problems with the sound, no weird buzzing or anything ever (unless it was something in the recording). Feel free to check my post history too, I posted somewhat of a review recently where I have a lot more to say.

Another vaguely similar headphone I can think of is the Monoprice M1570

2

Bowernator OP t1_jady9k7 wrote

It is rather frustrating for sure. Finally find a pair that sound super good and they have QC issues... I may try my hand at replacement first before writing them off altogether. I did get them off Amazon, and I read another post stating they stopped selling them off Amazon UK due to so many returns. It's unfortunate you have to essentially play the Hifiman lottery to see if you get a good one or not. I wish there was a Sennheiser headphone that had this same sound signature.

I'll have to look into the Moondrop Venus! I'll give your post history a look as well. It's been quite the adventure so far just trying to find the "right" headphone for me. I was convinced the Edition XS was it until I got buzzing noises. Maybe I'll get lucky with them and if not, try something else. Thanks again for your suggestions and whatnot!

1

johnkz t1_jaea7wo wrote

sorry to hear that, my pair has been flawless since day 1, it is a b-stock pair, however I heard that b-stock can be even better than new pairs because they have to do additional QC on those pairs to make sure they're actually working before reselling them :P

you may want to try that

3

MATT_DiM t1_jaf3qnc wrote

So I went to Can Jam NYC this past weekend. I had a few items on my agenda, one being the XS. The demo unit only had a balanced connector and the amp I brought was only 1/4" so I didn't use my setup. But HiFiman had them connected to their dac amp so I thought all was good. They didn't sound anything like anyone here or elsewhere describes. Plus I had to turn the amp almost completely max to get any kind of volume. I was so disappointed. Not sure if they were a bad pair, the amp was bad or something else. I love my 4XXs and really wanted to love these, but the whole experience was a key down. After that I went into the ZMF room and those pretty much ruined everything else lol. I do want to give the XS one more chance though.

2

DeltaPure t1_jacz33a wrote

Did you ever try eqing the 800s? And did it end up making a difference?

1

Bowernator OP t1_jad0qxt wrote

I did, yeah. Tried oratory's eq settings and a few others and while it helped, it wasn't enough for my tastes. That was really my only complaint besides some spikey treble and my ears aren't a huge fan of brighter headphones.

2

AbbottsOnion t1_jaet25i wrote

What are your thoughts on the 560S?

1

Bowernator OP t1_jaf2hq5 wrote

Neutral bright sounding which to me is pretty boring, but still sounds pretty good. I've had two pair - the first iteration and the second updated model. I feel like the first iteration were better and more comfortable than the revision they recently did, so if you can get a pair, I'd recommend trying to track down the first iteration.

2