Iāll hit him up and see if he cares. First stop is @Falenkor then @bagwell359. Not sure if thereās enough time to send them to him before they have to go to their owners though lol.
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Also wanted to give some, simple, impressions. After complaining a little about the seller on aliexpress not shipping them they have been here now for 2 weeks before I had time to listen to them, did some burn-in a few nights though. Compared them A/B with HD800S and the Ananda (v1 with see through mesh) from memory which I had like 3 years ago
Build / comfort: the radius of the headband fits quite good for me, not too much of a hotspot here. The strap of the Ananda did an even better job of course. What the XS shares with the Ananda is that they both are a little bit too big for my head. Iām on the lowest setting and could need like 2 or 3 clicks smaller, have to add some extra padding here. Not sure but I think the Ananda pads were softer, XS seems to be firmer. I donāt really notice the weight increase going from hd800 to XS. Not using the stock cable, only some cheap openheart aliexpress cable.
Source: PS5 games / Spotify / YouTube live concerts on TV > qudelix 5k (As a DAC with EQ) > Sabaj A10h (preamp with remote control) > topping A30pro.
Bass: Even without EQ the bass on the XS is so much better. No sub bass roll of and the upper bass delivers a better punch and slam compared to the hd800. When I had the Ananda I mainly used them on a ifi xcan with xBass on all the time. Songs like run the jewels - oh Mama made a nice subwoofer feeling on the head without messing with the mids or make things muddy. Same experience with the XS and EQ xBass. Of course I can EQ the bass on the hd800 for more quantity but never get the quality of the planar bass.
Mids: the HD800S not being a mid range focused like the Hd6x0 (that I never liked though) I canāt agree with some experiences here that the XS sounds thin here. Vocals on the XS are not as recessed.
Highs: No surprise, XS is more laid back here. Was never really bothered by the 800s highs. Might EQ a little bit for more sparkle.
Soundstage / imaging: As expected here the XS falls a little bit behind. The Soundstage actually is not that much smaller. When I changed from my Ananda to the hd800 (not 800s) the difference seemed bigger. Imaging goes to the HD800S. On songs like wintergatan - marble machine or yosi horikawa bubbles / letter I can follow the objects moving around better.
Power consumption: the a30pro outputs 6W at 16 Ohm( high gain, pot almost at max). My Qudelix 5k is set to low gain (1V output instead of 2V ~ - 6dB) for a lower noise floor.
The sabaj preamp is at around -44dB when I listen at a louder, more fun volume. Together this would be - 50dB. Some (rounded, - 10dB = power devided by 10) calculation 6000mw/10/10/10/10/10=0.06 mW.
0.06mW (without EQ preamp) so rather easy to drive I would guess. Will try to run them just with the qudelix 5k when I get the time. When I was changing back and forth between hd800s and XS I didnāt had to adjust the volume. Pretty much on the same volume level.
I am not someone who has multiple main headphones for different use cases. Like I always want the comfortable headphone with good bass and an immersive headstage. So my plan was to sell either the hd800s or the XS. Given the price difference I think I will keep the XS and try to EQ for a little more open sound, adding some energy at 6khz like the 800 or so.
@ all who heard the hd800, Arya and maybe XS. How big of a step up would the Arya (V2) be? Especially in the stage and imaging category.
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The arya has a bigger stage for sure, but both the arya and hd800s stage is exaggerated and unnatural. Arya also has tinny timbre. Arya is probably a bit more resolving but not by enough to make a massive difference.
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I can burn them in before they leave if preferred, recomimended burn is 150 hours.
I am new to this so maybe I donāt know what I am talking about, but is this correct? To output 6W per channel one shouldnāt feed 4V to it?
Topping claims the same output power and gain from rca and xlr input. Must mean either the 4V from xlr gets pulled down or the 2V RCA get boosted. They say the same for like the L50.
Output SE or XLR doesnāt matter either because the a30pro is not a real differential build up amp. Balanced connectors just for convenience.
Can you suggest few songs where you noticed the changes the most? I got myself a new cable too and I would like to do some A/B testing. Thanks!
Ok, but i think all chain is important: my dac connected to the amp via balanced, and the chain is d1se->a30 pro->399$ hifiman balanced cable->headhones
Music in wav format via ASIO, foobar, here is several tracks:
Justin Timberlake - What goes around comes around
Kingdome Come - Mad Queen
Coolio - Ganstaās paradise
Justin Timberlake - Cry me a River
The most noticeable thing to me, thay stage height become 5% smaller, 25% wider. Frequency balance changed a lot, recessed mids on se becomes full on balanced, bass frequencies become flatter because midrange become fuller. General impression very balanced sound with no presence on any frequencies.
I would never have bought such an expensive cable if not for such a good offer of $60, but I already understood why it was sold so cheaply, the four-pin xlr connector was replaced by a classic neutrik for some reason. The cable may have been broken and then repaired, but it sounds magical.
Iāve had the XS for about two weeks now.
I listen to a great deal of music, but I havenāt heard any TOTL cans.
Listening on:
Vali 2+ with Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB tube
Modi 3+
Tablet
Amazon HD
High-gain at about 10:00
My two cents
Imaging: 9
Soundstage: 7
Timbre: 8
Comfort: 6
Resolution: 9
I really love these, but theyāre not the soundstage monster I was expecting based upon comments. Theyāre slightly wider than my 6XXs on my tube hybrid (which expands things considerably)
I have owned or spent considerable time with the following:
Sundara
LCD-2C
HD-6XX
HD-280
HD-558
PC-38X
Kato
BL-03
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Very interested how Xs compare to Audeze lcd-2 headphones? Never tried Audeze
About soundstage size every has its own impression and opinion:)
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I borrowed these for about two months earlier this year, so itās from memory.
I didnāt like the comfort or timbre at all with the LCD, so I chose not to buy them.
Iāll go back to numbers if that helps 
My two cents
Imaging: 6
Soundstage: 7
Timbre: 6
Comfort: 5
Resolution: 8
Impact: 9 (the XS is maybe a 7)
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I think you could get quite a bit more impact and soundstage out of the XS with more power. They arenāt crazy demanding but they do benefit quite a bit with more power and control than a vali or magni 3+. The vali is definitely on the soft side even at itās power level, though it is nice and big stage wise.
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Heh. I meant Modi 3+ā¦ Edited.
Looking at a Lyr 3, any thoughts on what I could expect with the upgrade from the Vali 2+?
Dramatically more output and a much heartier chassis and much improved pot. Better tube family options, Iād say. Iāll yield my time to those who have had direct experience with both.
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The pads (SerenityPads) on the Edition XS are the same as the current Ananda pads. I think they changed these on the Ananda in 2019, the main change was moving the mesh from the pad to the cup.
I mostly use them with a desktop amp (Fiio K5 Pro- 1.5W) but also have a Quedelix 5K. I think itās a better idea to run it balanced / high power mode. Testing with a 40Hz test tone there is very audible distortion single-ended on the Quedelix starting around 600mV. This goes away entirely at the same volume switching either to high power mode, or balanced. This distortion is also evident on AudioCheckās Bass Shaker test. As well as higher power, the Qudelix also has substantially lower measured noise and distortion out of the balanced output at every power level. I use an inexpensive FAAEAL 2.5mm balanced cable, and adapt it 2.5-6.35 into the desktop amp, for easy switching.
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Youād be going from a 1.5w output at 16 Ohms to 9w at 16 Ohms! The output impedance is also drastically lower. Iād be surprised if the Lyr doesnāt blow your Vali straight out of the water. Youāll hear the Soundstage widen and imaging become even more precise. Bass should get a bit more thump
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I didnāt know about that! I got confused by this video Topping E50 & L50 - Good But A Little Odd - YouTube , however there is no statement about RCA inputs in the video.
I am using the L50 and I havenāt been doing any A/B testing, I just notice a difference in volume when using RCA from the motherboard or balanced from D10 Balanced.
I am looking forward in knowing how they perform directly from the Qudelix. I expect enjoyably well.
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hey guys, long time lurker here. Iāve had the xs for a few weeks now and so far Iāve been ALMOST completely satisfied with them. Upgraded from my sundaras and certainly notice big improvements in the technical aspects, namely soundstage, imaging and details, and also better sub bass extension. The ONLY problem I have with them is that I perceive notably less dynamics and impact than on my sundaras, which have put me off a lot more than I would have thought. Attacks and transients sound a bit soft to me and as a result, EDM sound less toe tapping and exciting for me. The sound is less āpresentā for me if that makes sense and macro dynamics are a bit lacking. I know this sounds really negative but be assured that this is the only gripe I currently have with these cans and otherwise they have been absolutely phenomenal. Iām possibly chalking this up to my dac/amp which is an xduoo xd-05+(1W into 32ohms) not being good enough for these so Iām looking for a better amp to upgrade to to bring the full potential out of these cans. Budget is sparse for me, so I can only reach up to around 200$ and have been torn on getting either an asgard 3 or an smsl sp200. Iām open to other recommendations so please help me find the best amp for these boys. If I can get better impact out of these then they will easily be my endgame.
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Hmm that could be possible cuz of the headphones themselves and how you are subjectively perceiving thatā¦ but yes, more power definitely helps the XS.
Having said that - the xDuoo you have is quite powerful, no slouch. I wonder if it really is the amping thatās causing this - maybe others here can help.
The Asgard is a pretty nice amp and I think it would pair pretty well with the XS and the sp200 would be a little cleaner but more neutral choice. If thereās no wait time on the Asgard Iād get that.