šŸ”¶ Hifiman Edition XS

Uhhh. Ordered my XS on Friday and they shipped it Ups ground this morning. Expected delivery is another week away. Iā€™m straight bummed out if it doesnā€™t show up on Friday so I can enjoy some music this weekend.

Im also debating a temporary step up to the Modius though I should be able to order Bifrost in a month or so. Thoughts?

With a 6-8 week wait, Iā€™d just save for the bifrost.

Headband on the Ananda is MUCH more secure, for me. Thatā€™s a negative for the XS. Dekoni nuggets help, but the Ananda headband is still a lot better, for me. The XS is particularly loose, Iā€™m not sure it was great idea to pair egg cups with this headband. This is personal though, some people find the Ananada clamp force to be painfully tight, they will probably prefer the XS.

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I was in a cable listening mood today, listened to a lot of different connections. Out of curiosity Iā€™ve decided to plug in the stock cable for the first time. I was just shocked. The fact that the soundstage shrunk didnā€™t surprise me. Iā€™ve experienced it with other unbalanced connections. But that stock cable just killed the speed of EDXS, transients became muddy. Tonality also suffered, highs became weird and fuzzy. At the same time, this did not make them much less bright. I donā€™t believe that any burn-in can help this cable. Any aftermarket OCC cable will run circles around this one

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Hey Pokrog,

You mention turning up the volume on your amp and controlling actual volume levels with your DAC to get the most power out of your amp. Iā€™m able to do this with the Hel 2e as my DAC. When I get the Bifrost 2 is there a way I can still use the Hel 2e as the volume knob?

Iā€™d be interested in hearing how the Edition XS measures against GL2000.

My guts tell me the XS is better @Pokrog has it I think, even did an open heart surgery on both. XS feels better to me, though. But he will tell how they both compare. Pokrog our main man for all things XS.

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I canā€™t compare to the Ananda, but the XS headband is considerably looser than that on the HE-400se. I have a big head, and itā€™s still a bit loose. Nothing crazy like a SHP 9500, which basically fell off my head every time I tilted it, but I doubt anyone will have any problems with clamp force with the XS.

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Could you please share which cable you personally prefer with XS, because i decided to get XLR cable and have good proposition on Hifiman HE1000 stock cable 3m which costs 399$ in hifiman store, i found new only for 60$ on local market, so i decide to give it a try, very interesting your choces, because i wish to change stock SE cable too, but donā€™t know which to get.
Here is the link of the cable i decided to pull the trigger, i hope it is not awful:
https://www.hifiman.com/products/detail/261

You found this $399 cable for $60?

BTW I donā€™t understand the prices of these cables sometimes.
Cables as expensive as a pair of headphones, I mean this is like the price of the XS itself.
Why? Is it really THAT much better? I mean even on a ~$2,000 He 1000ā€¦ does it really improve it by 25%?

I am interested in getting these, but I feel they will be a bit large on my head. For comparison I have the 4xx and I move the sliders basically to the smallest setting (just a hair larger) to get a good fit.

I suppose I could look at the options mentioned above for the headband if needed. Anyone have the 4xx and the XS and could comment on where they set them at? I have the 6XX too if you have that oneā€¦

Thanks!

Yes:) I donā€™t know why he is selling it for so cheap, maybe it is his stock HE1000 cable and he changed it, and decide to sell it, i decided why not. But i donā€™t know if it good or not, because if all people talking that all Hifiman cables are trash

Well lucky you - no, for $60, THAT cable is like a fantastic grab!
I just mean that I donā€™t understand the MSRP of $399 on that though.

But man - $60ā€¦ yeah I think THAT cable will be fantastic. We can already see these quality cables anywhere around $50 to $150 anyhow, so this is a good find for you indeed!

PS: surely better than stock crap Hifiman dumps out most of the time.

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I own the HD 6XX and the Edition XS. They are polar opposites on clamping force on my head. The HD 6XX have strong clamp force; the XS are pretty loose.

Thanks for the reply. How far out do you have the 6XX adjusted to on the headband?

The 6XX even clamp my head, which is saying something!

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Because all hifiman cables suck. Donā€™t buy it. If it was $5 Iā€™d say donā€™t buy it. Iā€™m guessing itā€™s one of the ones that looks like surgical tubing?

Iā€™m enjoying using a Tripowin Granvia 4.4mm with mine, quite a nice braided cable. I tried the Hifiman single ended out the box and that was a big NOPE.

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Oh, thatā€™s definitely not what I thought it was. Should be fine. Is that an he1000 v1 cable?

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Looks like link is corrupted somehow, here is the screen. Should wait for delivery,i hope for several days.

if people havenā€™t seen/heard the XS is up for pre order on headphones.com
might have to sell something to give it a try