Hifiman Edition XS's Review - Serious Contender on the Mid-Fi

 

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging

The Hifiman Edition XS that I have with me today, shares some resemblance with its bigger brother, the Arya, the earcups in particular. The packaging of the Edition XS is similar to the HE-R9, HE400SE that i have tested, they came bundled with the same foam type headphone stand, even the cable is the same as well, considering the price is higher for the Edition XS, i do have a certain expectation in terms of better packaging as well as bundled accessories. The build quality is pretty good overall, it's just that the earcup itself is quite huge and it might be an issue for people with smaller heads. For me personally, it fits just fine without the need to adjust the headband, but the clamping force is a little weak to my preference and it feels as if the whole headphone is sitting on top of your head, although the headband’s cushion does a great job relieving the strain.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp

• Earmen ST-Amp

• Earmen CH-Amp

• iFi Gryphon

• Hifiman Edition XS stock cable and earpads

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression

Edition XS’s tonality is quite neutral to my ears, there’s a hint of planar timbre but other than that, the bass has good slams and surprisingly, the sub bass extension is pretty good considering its an open backed headphone. Technicalities are very impressive as well.

Bass

• Bass is fast and precise with sufficient quantity and good quality

• The sub bass has very good extension, although it doesn’t extend that deep, but considering it being an open backed, it is really impressive

• The bass response is not basshead kind of presentation, but to my ears, they are sufficient and will present themselves well when the track calls for it

• Bass has good texture overall and doesn’t sound thin

Mids

• The mids are quite detailed and lush

• Vocal for both male and females has good enough textures 

• Female vocal has a bit more energy compared to male

• Upper mids are generally safe to my ears and not shouty

Treble

• Treble response has plenty of energetic yet it is not harsh nor sibilant, but do bear in mind that everyone has got different level of tolerance for treble, to my ears, they are not harsh nor anywhere near sibilant

• Fast and snappy transient response

• Very good resolution

• Good detail retrieval, micro details can be picked up easily

• The overall technicalities are impressive and definitely a few steps above the models that i have tested previously (HE400SE)

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is slightly out of your head, not exceptionally wide considering this is an open backed headphone

• Good height and width perception for the soundstage

• Instruments can be picked up easily where it is coming from

• Excellent separation and layering

• A little disappointed by the soundstage as i expect it to be “bigger” sounding since it is as open backed, but then this is just nitpicking as the overall performance is quite good

Driveability

• The Edition XS is not that hard to drive, i am using it with the Earmen’s ST-AMP with 1.8w from 4.4 headphone out, the Edition XS sounds like it is being pushed to its optimum performance

• When i switch over to ST-Amp’s bigger brother, the CH-AMP, i am greeted with a more spacious sounding Edition XS, better control on the bass, and much more dynamics

Final Thoughts

The Hifiman Edition XS is my 2nd planar magnetic headphone that i have tested, and I'm really surprised by its capability in terms of the sonic performance as well as its technicalities. Not to mention that the price is highly competitive as well given what it has to offer. It doesn't require a beefy amp to sound good, it is quite smooth to my ears, the only downside is that the earcup might be a little too big for some. Other than that, Edition XS is a fine headphone that has some serious sonic capabilities within it.

*The Hifiman Edition XS was sent over by Hifiman for the purpose of this review, I received no monetary compensation nor was I influenced in any way to produce this review.

If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to their official store to grab one now! It is currently available for 449$ instead of the usual 499$

Hifman Edition XS- Non affiliated