Maybe you have some small piece of debris thatâs in contact with the membrane like someone else found and pulled out in this post up-thread?
Is it relatively easy to take it apart and would it be safe to blow it out with air duster or something?
Using compressed air or just blowing hard yourself should be fine. Iâm not sure how hard taking apart the Ed. XS actually is, but most other Hifiman phones I have used make it pretty easy to get to the driver housing so you can blow out or otherwise extract anything thatâs in there.
Hmm ok might need to check this out because Iâd rather not have to go through the process of exchanging/refunding.
Hey Iâm sorry Iâm a bit late to respond - this was my pair.
THE FIRST thing I did was use a very powerful light to shine and look through and across for possible issues/inconsistencies. That at least gives you a visual cue to possible problems/artifacts that may be present inside the drivers - if at all, that is the possible issue here. Thatâs how I spotted my little culprit, so I had a very clear idea which area on the drivers I would have to work on.
Now itâs not THAT easy to take it apart but keep in mind lot of things here.
Put aside the little screws you take out. Keep any metal stuff away. Last thing you want is to pierce this large-ass diaphragm.
Also, the fit is pretty tight - the tolerances are very tight in this, so just take your time during disassembly/reassembly.
Be very gentle when reaching the driver sandwich.
Then you reach the velour/fiber mesh which, for protective reasons, is glued on to both sides of the driver sandwich to keep dust and particles out. Youâll need to pull that off (not all of it, but enough to get you a peak inside on what the issue may be, any left-over pieces the stupid QC guys left in there). #ClassicHifiman #ShitQualityChecks. Then you put the mesh back on the adhesive after youâre done.
Blowing Air - well this part is tricky, the diaphragm is VERY VERY light. Even blowing hard may cause damage, it moves very easily. I could breath on this diaphragm and it would move, so I kind of resorted to shaking the piece around in there and making it drop out from the open mesh.
Now what I did was extremely risky - I used a toothpick to take out that âshrapnelâ off the diaphragm from in between the magnets. But one wrong move and kaput, you will poke a hole. Requires very steady hands. At the time, that was the only thin wooden object I could find. I think that piece was attached cause of some static charge on the composite dia. That piece must have been a left-over part of the conductive circuit pattern foil. Then I just shook the driver a bit and the little foil bit fell out.
I do hope the photos I provided can help you.
Now if any of this sounds like trouble or otherwise a risky endeavor, just go ahead and RMA
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Weâll call this entry âThe Happy AccidentââŠ
This morning, after some chores and whatnot, I wanted to have a brief session. After an evening of bliss with Steely Dan and the HEK V2 Stealth, I wanted to bring out one of the other sets, and I hadnât been using the XS much lately, mainly because of the nasty fit making them not-so-fun to use. I had them in my hands, trying to think of a way to make them more comfortable. I had a hat on because I was goin in and out. And then it hit meâŠwhy not put 'em on over your hat, Like Resolve from âThe Headphone Showâ does? There has to be some reason as to why he does it. So, I did. WTF!
Of course, I had to adjust the headband a little, but Holy shit⊠they lock right into place now, they donât move around on me anymore, and actually stay on my head! Suddenly, these cans are actually comfortable to have on. But the best part is that the drivers now hit my ear canals at the perfect spot. Before they would move around because of the bad fit and looseness of the build, and I couldnât find that sweet spot. It was very frustrating. But now, they are right there!
The other thing I did was put on the stock cable that came off of the HEK. You are probably thinking âWhy do that? Itâs a crappy stock cable!â Normally I would agree with you. But this cable is not crap at all. The rubberized jacket has a really nice feel to it, unlike other cables of this type I have had. There are no kinks or memorized curves in it, and it doesnât tangle. The XLR connector is pretty badass, too! Itâs light and wears extremely well, now that I have had some time with it. Sonically, itâs surprisingly good. It was good on the HEK but got replaced by the Periapt. But on the XS, this thing sounds great. Itâs delivering great bass and a nice energy kick in the upper mids without adding any extra shimmer up top.
These cans have never sounded this good. What a great thing. A happy accident, indeed!
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I own the Edition XS for a good 3 weeks now and very happy about it. I initially purchased it together with a Topping DX3 Pro+. The DX3 was running into issues funneling enough power into the Edition XS. Sure, it was enough on low/moderate listening levels, great for daily use. But when Iâd wanna do some nice drinking and listening to music on louder levels, and no not any earblowing levels but good pumping, this ran into issues. It didnât sound good, felt as if it was slightly distorted, harsh highend and the amp had barely any room left.
Funnily enough I also have a Creative G6 lying around, now this little thing has zero issues driving the Edition XS. Volume half way and it gets to levels that are uncomfortable to listen to but still sounds very clean. And thereâs so much headroom left. Maybe my DX3 Pro+ was a faulty one? Now I am not an expert in measurements, and consider myself a hifi enthousiast, not an audiophile, but I sure can tell the differences and notice headroom etc. On ASR they thought it was me though 
Anyway, so reading through this topic I find a lot of replies pointing out the issues for various amps to drive such low impedance headphones. Now what I canât seem to find out from the replies is what to look for to drive this properly? Which amps are recommended for the Edition XS?
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DX3 Pro+ should be perfectly fine, was it on high gain?
You could look into FiiO K7 or the new K7 BT with bluetooth if you need that.
I tried it both on low and high gain. High gain gives a little bit more headroom but it still doesnât feel/sound great. For comparison, the G6 does it all fine on low gain.
I have been looking into the Fiio K5 Pro ESS and K7. I donât need the BT. But Iâm not sure how both perform on low impedance.
What is your budget here and what DAC will you be using?
Budget âŹ400,- for either stack or combo. I could stretch it up to âŹ500,- if I really need to. So a Schiit stack would be possible as would a Zen stack. But from what I read, as far as my understanding of measurements go, the Mangi+ would definitely match the Edition XS.
The issue youâre running into is two-fold: 1) the XS draws more current, especially in the low end, than many budget amps can deliver; 2) Topping amps, despite measureing flat down to 20Hz, very much struggle to provide power below about 50Hz while also being asked to power everything thatâs happening above 50Hz simultaneously.
Here are my thoughtsâŠ
i) Topping DACs are fairly decent in the entry-level category (but lose their competitiveness in the market quickly above the E30 line). The DX3 Pro + falls in that budget category. There should be no issue using its DAC and its RCA output for the time being. So Iâd focus on an amp for now.
ii) Amps I thought handled XS well in your price range are the Schiit Asgard 3 and SMSL SH-9. If you can deal hunt or are willing to stretch your budget slightly the Lake People G111mk2 can make them really sing.
iii) Iâm leery of the iFi Zen amps. I reviewed the Zen CAN and found that it struggled with more difficult loads. I didnât hear XS on it so it could be fine, but I havenât gotten ears-on the combo and kinda donât trust iFiâs claims on what their amps can and canât drive.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
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I tried the Zen can with the XS, like other âbudgetâ amps it had difficulties with the XS, while it has plenty of headroom in terms of volume (even without using the 4th gain state) itâs performance with the XS is lacking.
I might look to hybrid tubes. Liquid Platinum all over map on price and availability. MT-604 costs little, I might want an XLR preamp in front though.
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So, which amps in the next step up are to be looked at than? Or should I just sell my Edition XS and go for easier headphones.
You can try the Schiit Magni Piety. I can confirm it has no problems whatsoever powering my Edition XS. The thing about Hifiman planars is usually theyâre performing better with current-biased amps like the Piety. Even a dongle like Questyle M15 can drive Edition XS pretty well.
Of course, the more power you have in reserve, the less important is the bias type. The point is prioritizing which aspect of the power output that contributes to the performance of the headphones youâre pairing the amp with.
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Iâd look and the amps that @WaveTheory suggested, i unfortunately dont really know (im using a Topping A90D which is bit pricey)
Regarding amp pairing, I have the SA-1, the SH-9, the Denon AVR-2808CI that I am using as a 2-Ch amp and the Liquid Platinum. The LP is by far my personal favorite, followed closely by none other than the 2808. The SH-9 is also turning out to be a very good pairing for these cans, delivering a clean, clear sound with nice depth and great detail. Not quite the authority and punch that the LP and 2808 provide, but a very good experience no doubt. The SA-1 turns out to be my least favorite of the group. They get loud enough on the SA-1 but overall, I find it to be flat and somewhat lifeless. This has been my experience so far.
I have not tried the speaker amp approach, and I donât think I ever will. At this point I donât see the need.
Hm if you say 400⏠it would suggest Europe based, a LP could be hard to get around here
But the g111 is regularly listed for around 350⏠if youâre willing to buy used and have an Asgard 3 Iâm willing to let go if youâre interested 
Hifiman EF400 is another used option at around 400âŹ. If you check out the sales on their site, you might even be able to grab one new for not much more.
(USB input only though, if that is something that matters to you).