7 months have gone by people since the greatest headphone ever made was created to meet the perfect price-to-performance ratio ever seen. The Hifiman Edition XS is the first headphone to be priced and made that exceeds every single area for low to mid-fi headphones with the sound quality of the high-end versions of themselves. When I got these headphones, I was already getting burnt out on all the back and forth you find online. Every month there was another headphone promising to be the very best headphone made for this price range. And every time I would buy one of them all I got were minor upgrades to what I had the month before and the month before that. I was stuck on forms and reviews being pushed and pulled every way they asked because something was supposed to be better. And I guess this was all needed for my journey to find what is the best Audio purchase of my life.
The Edition Xs’s are built with the same oval-shaped earcups that the Higher end Ananda and Arya headphones have. The drivers are pretty much the same as well, with its Stealth magnetic planar technology inside them as well. Hifiman also made them with the same pads as their higher-tier earphones as well. And this made them feel and fit outstandingly great. It contained minimal clamping force mixed with lightweight material that cut down on cost but also created the best feel of any design made prior from Hifiman. They also went with a solid headband which created a more longlasting design that won’t weaken in its shape and elasticity, like some results I’ve seen on the ski-band design.
So comfort is completely a treat to feel. Your ears don’t touch anything inside those big oval earpads. This creates a spacious soundstage and a huge scale to its sound that mirrors the same types of effects you get from the $1000 brothers. In fact…there are no other headphones in this price range that do sound better than this headphone. Sure you can find headphones that come close in this area or that, but the package presenting itself is only copied in the $1000mrp range of headphones on the market. And yet this Headphone is only $499.
So when you add this to a very nice setup like I have above(Thx 789/Topping E50), what you get is a combo you won’t find truly better in any other combo. Sure you can buy more expensive Dac’s and Amps, but the difference you get will only be minimal changes that don’t equal the money you spent. Why? Because the Law of Diminishing Returns rules the world of headphones and audio equipment. And this is what gets audiophiles in trouble with every turn. They spend and spend over and over again because they keep looking for the same jump they experienced when they first fell in love with Audio equipment. And what they don’t understand is that after you reach the price range of $500 …you have to spend thousands just to get more than a moderate change to your sound quality from headphone to headphone. Even now the $1100 Arya Stealth isn’t truly better than the Edition Xs based on the price-to-sound difference ratio. Most will tell you there is very little difference and that you should keep your money if you already own the Edition XS especially if you use EQ to create your preferred sound. And being that no other Headphones in low or mid-fi equal the sound, comfort, or reliability of this headphone, this is how we come to the conclusion that it is the Audiophile Headphone of the year.
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