šŸ”¶ Hifiman Edition XS

Thank you for the brief breakdown. Looking forward to your deeper thoughts on the XS.

While Iā€™m putting the comparison together - whatā€™s your use case? Preferred genres of music? Gaming? Any considerations for use in music production or travel?

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Anybody using Arya V2 that also tried out the XS? Thinking of grabbing a pair

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Iā€™m using them for gaming, music, and Iā€™d like for them to work well off a portable dac too, but thatā€™s not the most important thing. I listen to music ranging all over the place. Pop, rap, hip hop, rock, indie, r&b, reggaetĆ³n, Spanish music of the same and more varieties. Thanks for the question.

I actually have the 1990 coming in soon, my friend had a pair and they blew me away, but Iā€™ve never heard any other HiFi headphones so thatā€™s why Iā€™m so curious about these because in the price range I donā€™t see any other headset competing. If I donā€™t end up loving the 1990 after some testing Iā€™ll return them and get these if they turn out to be significantly better.

If I had the budget Iā€™d say screw it and buy Aryas. All my research and reading has led me to believe those are what Iā€™m looking for.

Get the Arya and call it a day. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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For @TheBlueBlurb
DT1990 Pro vs Edition XS

There have been a few reviews that summarize each well individually: DT1990, Edition XS, so Iā€™m just going to pick out a few points of difference. Since these use different driver types, this video might be good viewing for you as well.

Ergonomics:
The Edition XS has a very loose clamp depending on the size of your head. Iā€™ve found itā€™s fine when sitting upright, but laying back on a bed or couch the cups slide backward out of position. Iā€™m not sure how much flex the headband will take, so Iā€™m unsure how much this can be remedied by brute force. That said, it is comfortable to wear sitting, and the low clamp force probably helps some complaints with jaw pain that can be found in the similar Arya and Ananda headphones. Since youā€™ve handled the 1990 I can skip describing that - I had no issues with it in any position.

Soundstage / Imaging:
The XS sound like a pair of speakers. Itā€™s a much more open design than the DT1990, with much better definition of depth and a larger space to place sounds. The XS seems to have deeper Left/Right fields compared to foward/back - it reminds me of the AKG K7xx series. The DT1990 feels even on all sides, with perhaps a little better cohesion on forward imaging compared to the XS. The XS seems to gave better separation, giving a more ā€œdiscreteā€ feeling to instruments / elements of the sound.

Presentation:
Both have good presentation of bass. The XS is more detailed but both have enough bass quantity. The bass impact is somewhat different; Iā€™d describe it like the DT1990 feeling more ā€œfocusedā€ and the XS more ā€œdiffusedā€ this is probably just down to driver technology. Neither is bad.

Treble on the DT1990 is aggressive and fatiguing over long listening sessions. This is common of most Beyerdynamic headphones, part of a sound that is useful for highlighting details when mixing, or listening for footsteps when gaming. When I was using the DT1990 casually, I used third party pads or a foam disc insert to reduce the treble energy and reduce instances of sibilance. I havenā€™t found any issues with the treble on the XS, and Iā€™ll leave description of the mids to the reviews at the start of this post.

Power:
The XS benefits much more from extra power. Iā€™m running both headphones off a Schiit Jotunheim 2. As decribed by Wavetheoryā€™s review the single-ended (TRS) out has a warmer sound compared to the balanced out (XLR). The SE out also has about 1/3 the amount of power available of the balanced out. Due the warmer character of the SE out, I preferred to use this with the DT1990 and didnā€™t notice any impairment compared to balanced (my pair was modded, so I could use either). While the XS sounded adequate off both outputs, I noticed more power in the low end presentation moving from SE to balanced. I think youā€™d be doing yourself a disservice running the XS from most $100 amplifiers. Comparatively, you could run a DT1990 from an S1220 motherboard if you had to, although that still comes with a performance penalty.

Iā€™d suggest getting a Schiit Asgard 3 or better. Wavetheory has a comparison of entry level amps that will be useful.

Overall, I think both are good headphones depending on how you tolerate treble. The Edition XS is better in a few ways, but has a higher cost of ownership due to being pickier with amplifiers. Since this is your first foray into the hobby, it might be worth looking around at cheaper stuff if your DT1990 doesnā€™t pan out. If youā€™re set on getting the XS, make sure you donā€™t underpower it.

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First off, can I buy you a cup of coffee? You are amazing, and I really appreciate your response. Itā€™s exactly what Iā€™ve been looking for.

Second, I have the Fiio K9 Pro, I think I can utilize pretty much any headphone with it, no? Iā€™m truly new to the hobby so Iā€™m still learning a lot. From what youā€™ve told me I should be happy with the 1990s for now, but down the line once Iā€™ve saved up Iā€™ll definitely be looking at the Aryas as a true upgrade.

I bought the K9Pro due to the recent DMS and Josh video reviewing it. It seemed like a no brainer in the price range. Itā€™s a bit uneducated but going off of strong reliable reviewers I hope it was a good decision.

If only it were that simple!

I bent the metal bits, and that helped a lot with the clamp force. It was much too loose for me stock, itā€™s much better now. You do need to be somewhat careful, aluminium can snap particularly if you bend it back and forth. So Iā€™d try to get it right the first time.

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K9 pro is fine for most things. Although Iā€™d look for specific experiences before committing to purchase a lower* efficiency planar (like the XS or Arya) to pair with it.

In the time of supply chain shortages, the best amp is the one you already have.

Edit: Resolveā€™s review briefly mentions powering the XS from the THX AAA ONE, which is another THX amp with similar power ratings to the K9 Pro, so it might be ok.

*Low efficiency planar is kind of a relative term when the HE-6 exists, but youā€™ve got people up-thread running the XS off speaker amps, so I think itā€™s close enough.

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Another review there

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Did somebody compare these with the Aeon RT Closed? I love those headphones and was looking for an open planar around the 500 bucks mark

Chain : Denafrips Ares II + Singxser SA 1

I have the Aeon RTC as the XS. For me they compliment each other very well.
This is a very high level comparison.
The XS has bigger soundstage, more detail and deeper sub bass.
The Aeon RTC has more mid bass and a fuller mid range.
Both are great. Just get it :grin:

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Wow, even more detail? I went from an M40x to the Aeon RTC and was blown away with the detail of the Aeons

yes! I was also blown away by the detail of the Aeon RTC when I first got it 9/2020, but this is another level of detail. And does so without being fatiguing.
That said I still love my Aeonā€™s and wouldnā€™t sell them. Iā€™m glad I have both in my collection.

I have the Aeon closed X (close enough?) XS should be here in 2-3 days

Hifiimhinterhof in Berlin will sell them for 549 ā‚¬ this month.

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i already ordered them on aliexpress, but thanks anyways

Iā€™m very curious about just how exaggerated these claims are about needing a powerful amp. I am going to purchase these soon. I only have the Fiio K5 Pro, and the impression I get after reading this thread is that I might as well just buy the Koss Portapros because my K5 is gonna be worthless.

Iā€™m embellishing a bit now, but it begs the question.

What are entry level amps for?

Most entry level headphones donā€™t require an amp at all, and this very mid-range $500 headphone apparently is just way too much for the Magni/Atom/K5 crowd. So what purpose do these amps really serve? Lol.

Iā€™ll tell you this. Iā€™m gonna pretend more powerful amps donā€™t exist and assume that the K5 is as good as it gets. And Iā€™m going to be happy with my listening experience too. You donā€™t know what you donā€™t know. :joy:

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My hunch is that youā€™re going to be able to be plenty loud with the K5 Pro, will sound pretty good. Can you get better amplification? Sure.

Most all headphones will benefit from going beyond on-board, and still very few headphones need much beyond what you have. A $500 planar driver headphone is not in anyway ā€œentry-levelā€ in the grand scheme and cost almost 3.5x your dac/amp combo.