Hifiman Edition XS Review

Treble

The treble section is articulated and transparent with a good level of detail and resolution. It’s not like the best treble you can have amongst planar headphones of course, but once again impressive for a $500 headphone. The extension leaves something to desire after you listen to an HD 800 series headphone for example, but that’s not fair to the Hifiman here.

I found the extension not great in particular, though this is understandable. Highs also need a bit more refinement and you can especially feel that with treble oriented tracks. It’s still better than many models in the price range. You can of course get more clarity and extension with the Arya for instance.

Apart from the extension and refinement, I didn’t find any weakness in this part. The treble is a bit bright at times but it never becomes too harsh to be fair. It gives a very pleasing experience with most genres. Having said all of that, I think the treble range is the weakest part of the Edition XS because of its refinement level not being the best and it sometimes becomes too bright here.

Technical Performance

The sound stage of the Edition XS is not very wide, which brings a sense of intimacy, especially with vocals and instruments. It’s easily better than an HD650 or 660 S so that’s a bit relative. The depth is pretty good, although not being too long. So don’t expect a huge sound stage magnitude, but do expect enough width and depth.

The instrumental separation is very good and you have great positioning which I found very correct and realistic. I just wanted a little bigger sound stage with this headphone but I think that’s also one of its characteristic features. Because I don’t think the mids and the vocals, in particular, would’ve been that impressive and lively with a distant approach. For layering, I’ve heard better headphones, but mostly they were at around $1000 price range.

What I found very successful with the Edition XS is its great tonality performance and PRaT. It’s simply a fast headphone. And it just plays so neutrally, “real” and correct. This well defined and balanced presentation is quite impressive. I also want to highlight its cohesiveness and bass control with a good sub-bass/midbass level. The headphone sounds very consistent with its all-around presentation. It also plays very transparently in the mid-range.

Comparisons

The HD660 S is a very good dynamic headphone and I’ve been personally using it for a few years already. It’s more comfortable simply because its much lighter and easier on the head. Still full of plastic compared to the metal parts of the Edition XS, but its built perfectly well.

Sound-wise, as soon as I got the Edition XS, it was not difficult for me to tell its better by quite a margin. It has better resolution, transparency and clarity altogether. It also has a larger sound stage magnitude for good measure. The HD660 S has its welcoming warmth and musical signature, but in terms of pure technical performance, the Edition XS takes this comparison, and to my suprise, by a considerable margin.

The Peacock is something to look at over and over and be impressed. Its design is very authentic and its build quality with all metal and wood combination is fabulous. For looks only, the Peacock is perfect.

Sound-wise however, despite being much cheaper, the Edition XS puts up a better performance with a much more balanced and reference presentation. The Peacock, altough being a fun and enjoyable headphone with certain genres, doesn’t have the same detail retrieval, pace, quickness and resolution.

The HD800S is one of my all-time favorite headphones. Once again, the Senn is more comfortable and actually more balanced on the head with much lighter drivers and construction. Also it I think would be fair to say that the HD800S has a better design.

The Edition XS puts up a strong fight here in terms of sound performance, but loses out on some areas. The biggest difference is the sound stage and imaging. The HD800S is considerably wider and especially deeper, with better layering and separation. The other area the HD800S performs great at is the treble. It’s more refined, extended and nicely controlled compared to the Hifiman. So overall, don’t expect the Edition XS to be compared with the big boys.

Conclusion

To be honest with you, I think Hifiman Edition XS might be the best headphone in the $400-500 mark. It has a truthful and neutral presentation with great decay and transparency. It’s not too hard to drive, and it certainly has what it takes in terms of being a reference headphone for the price.

Sure, there’s always a superior headphone out there and there always will be, but if you’re not willing to spend huge amounts of cash for an open back headphone for your desktop, it would be difficult for you to find a better option than the Edition XS.

That’s why it’s now on our Best Headphone Recommendations page already!

Page 1: About Hifiman & Edition XS, Design and Build

Page 2: Comfort, Sound Quality