I am wondering if someone with Zen Can who have also a better amp can compare them. I really hope i donāt need anything more expensive for meaningful difference. My cables should arrive in one or two days and I will share if they improve something. I am talking about 2 balanced cables:
There is a problem. Balanced connection in this amp provides more voltage, sadly the limiting factor for it at low impedances is current. This is why it provides the same power bal/unbal at 33omh. Therefore it will not produce more power for XS, which are 18 omhs 
(not more than 600mWatts)
Ah, that so sad. I should try to sell it then and maybe go for something with more juice. I was really hoping to get the job done.
I am wondering if the Xbass could compensate for the lack of bass because of the low current. I really try to convince myself not to spend more money and not to be happy with the result. The problem is I can not try any particular amp and then to decide whether to buy it or not.
I wouldnāt worry about it, Iāve got the EDXS and zen can balanced and with xbass on it thumps really hardā¦ I think people are over blowing the power amp thing.
Iām normally an IEM guy and have ones (amount quite a few) with well known boosted bass like the MELE and BLON BL03 so I know what level to expect., and using the zen can I am more than satisfied so that should indicate itās OK.
Have you tried out the XS on an amp putting out 2 or more watts?
No, Iām sure they scale with more power. Iām just saying the Zen Can drives them decently enough.
Edition XS 1000% scale better with more power.
Anyone that is not satisfied or saying they sound lackluster/bad are almost definitely under powering them.
Will they make sound from weak sources? Yes, sure. Will they be performing at their full potential or even close to it? No, not at all.
These are not āeasy to driveā headphones when you are looking to get their full potential. I really donāt think the Zen stack can provide the power they really need to perform at their best.
You will still get good sound, if not great sound out of them on lower powered sourcesā¦ but you will definitely not be getting to experience what theyāre truly capable of.
I mean, there is always the chance that some people just wonāt like their tuning or soundā¦ but 99.9% of the people unhappy would probably fall in love if powered from a stronger source amp.
Oh yea, my Edition XS finally arrived a week ago. Canada Post had them in their possession for almost 3 weeks it was kind of ridiculousā¦ nothing to do on Ali Express/Electricxiamoās endā¦ they got to Canada in good time so no issues thereā¦ just my countryās postal system slowed to a crawl for this shipment.
I bought some cheap ear pads off Ali after I bought the Edition XS and those arrived 2 weeks before the XS didā¦ lol. Guess Canada Post was only holding parcels and not small mail.
Zeos just confirmed in his review they sounded perfect on the Zen Can.
XS PADS SWAP EDITION! \\ HiFiMan Edition XS || _(Z Reviews)_ Feat ANANDA - YouTube (18.44 timestamp)
Uh, I feel so relived right now. I will watch the full video in some hours. What surprises me is he said there is almost no difference with Xbass. For me it is quite a game changer. Literally no bass vs all the bass I need. But he is running them balanced. Maybe that makes some difference, idk.
so guess we need $1000+ amps for $500 headphones but $1000 headphones run fine off of phones?
thanks hobby my wallet will be forever empty lmao
So which is it? Weāve got people here saying that theyāve had personal experience with more power making a noticeable difference, and Zeos saying that balanced on the Zen Can is sufficient.
And me too, Zen Can balanced sounds fine to me but I donāt have anything more powerful. I can only compared the sound to IEMās (IEM guy usually).
Sensitivity - 92dB Impedance - 18Ī©
Yeah, I canāt see anybody who is trying to make the claim this thing needs more power than a zen can as remotely accurate. Thereās a huge difference between lacking power and scaling. Power does not = better sound, enough power just gets it loud enough for listening and stabilizes the natural signature(lacking power of course kills bass sounds muffled, etc etc). You canāt just throw a ton of power at a headphone and make it sound better as not only does it get louder you can risk blowing a headphone(especially in the case of lower impedances). While I canāt speak on the headphone its not here yet, this is definitely screaming scalingā¦ the arya has this same factor, sundara and ananda too have this to where they sound better off better equipment.
Better chip, better circuitry, better synergy, etc will cause a headphone to perform differently and either better or worse. I wouldnāt be concernedā¦ if your using an amp/dac and its getting plenty loud and it sounds okay to you then your fine. Donāt sweat it.
Having a Sivga Phoenix, edition xs is basically a Sundara with more bass, a little more refined sound and better soundtage?
going by the graph, it looks more in line with the Ananda actually but with a fixed sub bass and a more balanced treble with less dip in the 10k.
Zeos doesnāt hear differences between dacs and can only describe amps sound as worm/cold, bruh
He would be splendid with any dac/amp
Iām not saying the Zen Can isnāt powerful enough to push them, Iām saying that if you are using the Zen Can and think they donāt sound good / donāt have good bass or soundstage then that is the issueā¦ they need more power.
Everyoneās ears are trained different. If you have experienced many high end headphones before and know what they sound like, it will be more noticeable to you. If you are someone new to the hobby and this is your first headphone into the hobby - you donāt know what youāre missing out on.
