While Iām putting the comparison together - whatās 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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Iām using them for gaming, music, and Iād like for them to work well off a portable dac too, but thatās 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 Iāve never heard any other HiFi headphones so thatās why Iām so curious about these because in the price range I donāt see any other headset competing. If I donāt end up loving the 1990 after some testing Iāll return them and get these if they turn out to be significantly better.
If I had the budget Iād say screw it and buy Aryas. All my research and reading has led me to believe those are what Iām looking for.
Get the Arya and call it a day. 
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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 Iām 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. Iāve found itās fine when sitting upright, but laying back on a bed or couch the cups slide backward out of position. Iām not sure how much flex the headband will take, so Iām 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 youāve 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. Itās 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 ādiscreteā 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; Iād describe it like the DT1990 feeling more āfocusedā and the XS more ādiffusedā 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 havenāt found any issues with the treble on the XS, and Iāll leave description of the mids to the reviews at the start of this post.
Power:
The XS benefits much more from extra power. Iām running both headphones off a Schiit Jotunheim 2. As decribed by Wavetheoryās 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 didnāt 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 youād 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.
Iād 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 doesnāt pan out. If youāre set on getting the XS, make sure you donāt 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. Itās exactly what Iāve been looking for.
Second, I have the Fiio K9 Pro, I think I can utilize pretty much any headphone with it, no? Iām truly new to the hobby so Iām still learning a lot. From what youāve told me I should be happy with the 1990s for now, but down the line once Iāve saved up Iāll 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. Itās 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, itās much better now. You do need to be somewhat careful, aluminium can snap particularly if you bend it back and forth. So Iād try to get it right the first time.
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K9 pro is fine for most things. Although Iād 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: Resolveās 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 youāve got people up-thread running the XS off speaker amps, so I think itās 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 
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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 Aeonās and wouldnāt sell them. Iām 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
Iām 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.
Iām embellishing a bit now, but it begs the question.
What are entry level amps for?
Most entry level headphones donāt 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.
Iāll tell you this. Iām gonna pretend more powerful amps donāt exist and assume that the K5 is as good as it gets. And Iām going to be happy with my listening experience too. You donāt know what you donāt know. 
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My hunch is that youāre 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 āentry-levelā in the grand scheme and cost almost 3.5x your dac/amp combo.
Bit of a stretch, but noā¦ k5 wonāt be worthlessā¦ Will it provide the best sound based on synergy of the equipment and topology of the chip in use? Thatās much more debateableā¦ bit of a difference between is it enough power and is the circuitry and sound provided(such as things like level of distortion, spatial recreation, detail, etc) good enough or essentially at the fullest that can be provided.
They drive most headphones up to a certain point and still have enough power to carry you quite highā¦ however, they by no means provide the best quality of sound you can get. Not to say you really -need- to go higherā¦ but as an audiophile the additional sound quality is noticeable and appreciable, a good example for when I started to notice it heavily was when I switched a liquid spark to the asgard 3 then followed to the Liquid Platinum as the changes were rather large especially comparing spark to platinum(more so after a tube swap) as it helped me appreciate my beyers more thanks to the sound changes(it depleted the treble more and woke up the bassā¦ helped smooth out the signature a lot). Granted for hifiman? I tend to lean towards anything of a warmer nature since they usually have their bass recessiveā¦ in this case though? Doesnāt seem like that will be an issue.
I will disagree with this hereā¦ as this depends solely on whats powering them. Cheaper motherboards for example canāt even drive 32 ohms and I have had phones that struggle with 16 ohms.
Nah, should be more than enough power considering the impedance on this.
Hey if it keeps you from diving down the rabbit hole, by all means.
^ agreed. I was driving a dt 880 600 ohm off my Vio stack earlierā¦ does it need anywhere near that level of equipment? hell no, but it sounds great. More along the lines of how far you want to take itā¦ theres just the fact of its driven and sounds alright and then theres the best you can really take it.
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