Just noticed a new review of these. Havenāt seen it yet though.
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Thanks, youāre making me want to pull the trigger, Iām about to do it 
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After searching a bit I found that theoretically the Sound Blaster X7 measured approximately 1200 mW @ 32ohm.
If this info is reliable, how would it compare to the ideal amount of power needed for the XS?
I feel like thatās more than enough power. People on here acting like these are he6ās. Just got my pair btw and they sound really good off of my fiio k9 pro.
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Damn, I guess Iāll have to try then. Also the k9 pro is something that I was considering for when Iāll be upgrading the amp/DAC, so itās good to hear that it works well with the XS.
I thiiink thatās about the same power as the atom and the hel 2
But yeah Iām looking at the specs and they actually should be easier to drive than the 400i 2020(unless Iām stupid) which run perfectly of my liquid spark at like 10 o clock, the power claims might be a bit of a false alarm lolā¦
Anyway Iām still hopeful people are exaggerating the power needs, I donāt wanna deal with importing a new amp just for these x.x
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Yeah, I feel you, getting good amps is not so easy where I live too lol
Thereās no reason to worry about the power required to drive the XS. I have the Topping Shenzenadio EX5 and it has no problem at all with these. Iām surprised reading some of the comments here, if you have any decent DAC you wonāt have any trouble.
Not only that but these are phenomenal too. I received my order from an AliExpress seller in under a week and was hugely impressed.
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more curious if the comments about amp and dac are more involved towards synergy and scaling rather than overall powerā¦ You can plug a headphone into a strong amp and get a loud volumeā¦ but it doesnāt particularly mean that headphone gets along with that amp/dac, ran into several cases of headphones signatures being destroyed or having the life sucked out of them with bad setup synergy
Suppose I canāt say for certain on this till I get a copy in.
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Yes, they are easy to drive, but again, my phone can push them to volume. Does it mean, that there is no reason to buy an amp? Topping A30 can push them on mid gain and it sounds much better than my phone, but again - does it mean i hit the full potential of these headphones? Not even close! These will really show you differences between amps and dacs. Be ready for this, your curiosity will be rewarded.
Now i am pushing them with a integrated class a amp (discrete mosfet transistors, toroidal transformer) from balanced speaker taps with a pcm1974 based dac (class a I/V converters - THS4131 and class a output stage - LME49990).
Yet, i have heard better amps and dacs, just dont have the budget at this moment.
Iāll mention again that listening volume doesnāt mean sufficiently driven. Yes they will get loud enough being driven by just about anything but they will not sound their best.
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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:
- 4.4 to 4.4 to connect Zen Dac with Zen Can (instead of stock RCA). It should give better signal to the amp. I want to test it by myself
- balanced cable for the headphones
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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