HIFIMAN Edition XV: Brilliance in Darkness

Bright headphones are my kryptonite, and when it comes to bright headphones, there are few brands better known for consistently releasing bright headphones than HIFIMAN. While headphone families like the Ananda, Arya, HE1000, and Susvara lineups have their share of admirers, all of them are way too bright for me to enjoy. Having said that, the release of Edition XV—HIFIMAN’s $400 successor to the Edition XS—was especially interesting to me for one reason: a conscious decision on HIFIMAN’s part to tune it with a much more relaxed treble profile compared to any of their other headphones.

So this raises a few questions. Is this just a retune, or is there enough of a difference here to truly justify an entirely new product? Did this move actually result in a sonic improvement on the Edition XS? Did this tuning change result in any unintended negative compromises? And most importantly: Is Edition XV the first HIFIMAN I’ll actually be able to enjoy for more than a few minutes without wincing and needing to reach for EQ? Let’s talk about it.

Build, Design, Comfort, and Accessories

Starting with accessories, Edition XV comes with the exact same stuff in the box as the Edition XS: A dual-3.5mm TRS to right-angle 3.5mm TRS cable, a 6.3mm TRS adapter, and HIFIMAN’s foam cutout “stand” that helps keep the headphone in place for shipping. The stand is something I never really thought about using before this review, but I think it’s probably a very welcome inclusion for some people, especially those for whom this is their first “expensive” headphone.

The cable is the big surprise here… I honestly really like it. It’s probably the best stock cable I’ve received with a headphone anywhere near this price. It’s not especially “luxurious” in its look, since it’s just a simple black rubber-sleeved cable, but the feel in the hand is actually quite soft for a rubber cable, and it avoids tangling very well and also has a very forgiving shape memory. While the accessories package here may not look all that impressive, every part of the package is well-considered and offers great value with a headphone that ultimately isn’t that expensive. Good start.

Moving onto build, the Edition XV does feel a bit more “stable” in the hand compared to other HIFIMAN designs I’ve handled (even much more expensive ones), perhaps owing to the chassis predominately being constructed of metal and the new headband/strap being less “floppy” than past designs.

Visually, I much prefer the new “hexagonal hole” grille design to the old “grill marks” grille design, especially since the color scheme has been simplified to only silver and black and the headband’s outer face now matches the color of the grilles/earcups.

Comfort-wise, this is certainly much better than the Edition XS, which lacked any suspension strap or any meaningful padding such that it created a hot-spot on my head immediately. HIFIMAN moving away from that headband was absolutely a good idea, but it must be said the comfort still isn’t perfect, and it’s almost entirely due to how they implemented the headstrap here.

Instead of the system found on eg. Arya, HE1000, Susvara, where the headstrap is affixed to two adjustment points on the yoke arms that would move up and down, instead the headstrap is fully fixed to the headband structure, and there are only separate arms that can elongate the distance from the earcup to the headband. This isn’t itself an issue, except that the clamp force is much greater on the new headband arc than on the old one, which was a quite flexible spring-steel band. This is exacerbated by the suspension strap being too short—which also increases the clamp force further.

Additionally, the new suspension strap is also quite a bit stiffer and less flexible than the strap found on the Arya, HE1000, and Susvara. This, along with the fact that it’s too short, means it doesn’t conform very well to the shaping of the top of the head, and this results in pressure being poorly distributed across the top of the head, concentrating in a single spot at the top of the head’s arc instead of across a wide area at the top of the head. Overall this means the new suspension strap headband system on the Edition XV, while an upgrade from the predecessor, still isn’t as comfortable as the headbands on the more expensive HIFIMAN headphones.

Thankfully, Capra Audio’s Edition XS strap still fits perfectly on the Edition XV, so for those who have the same complaints about the Edition XV’s strap, you can buy this for a few bucks and get a much better comfort profile. That said, this won’t really fix the clamp, so if you have a larger head and need less clamp, I’m not sure Edition XV will be tenable for long listening sessions.

Aside from the headband, the earcups and pads are typical fare for this shape of headphone, so the earpads being very large and oval-shaped means there’s going to be ample room on the X and Y axes for most people’s ears, however the fact that the design now has a bit more clamp means some of the “proud eared” among us may have their ears touch the front damping material sitting between the driver and the ear.

Overall the Edition XV represents a moderate upgrade from its predecessor in the realm of build, comfort, and design, but there’s still refinements that could be made to make this a more universal headphone. A moderate improvement is still an improvement through, and I find it comfortable enough to wear for a few hours at a time with no necessary breaks or interruptions. So with that out of the way, let’s talk about sound.

Sound

Audiophiles tend to think about measurements of bass in headphones—especially planar headphones—from an oversimplified perspective. There’s a sentiment that as long as they all extend linearly from the midrange down to the bass that they’ll present more or less the same, but the Edition XV is a very clear example of this not being the case. It has a markedly different presentation than a typical HIFIMAN planar due to the shape of its bass and midrange and how these regions are oriented relative to the treble. While yes it does have the full, linear bass extension people like about these headphones, there are two big differences with Edition XV people need to be aware of.

The first is that the perception of the tonality is likely to be biased towards the lower two-thirds of the frequency response because there’s much less treble here than with HIFIMAN’s other headphones. This is why I’ve chosen to normalize the above measurement with everything 150 Hz - 1 kHz oriented above the preference bounds: Edition XV has a noticeable, Audeze-like bass and lower midrange push that means bass instruments have a palpable weight and chestiness that I’ve never heard from any of Hifiman’s other designs.

Secondly, the shape of the bass to midrange transition with the Edition XV is truly flat, whereas with some HIFIMAN designs like the Edition XS, there was actually a slight downslope emphasizing bass slightly above the midrange. This resulted in a rounder, slightly slower presentation of bass instruments (kick drum, bass guitar) which had more prominent, potentially powerful sounding bass, but lacked a bit in its perceived texture and density.

Because the Edition XV has its bass and midrange decisively elevated above its treble, and its bass to midrange transition is more linear—and thus, emphasizes midrange a bit more—it’s not only a warm headphone, but one that has a sense of tactility and thrust that was basically entirely absent from the other HIFIMAN headphones I’ve heard. Kick drums have a real sense of thump and resonance to them that even the most expensive HIFIMAN headphones like the Susvara have basically never been able to convey. Bass guitars have a sense of overtone complexity and “woodiness” that was also basically never present in other headphones like the Edition XS or Arya.

I say all of this because I feel it’s likely the discourse around this headphone ends up being “HIFIMAN but darker,” but frequency response is not this simple. The dramatic (treble) changes and the subtle (bass-to-midrange shape) changes all have a part to play in this headphone sounding incredibly different from any other headphone in HIFIMAN’s catalog up to this point.

Speaking of difference, the one feature that is absolutely still present in the Edition XV is the hallmark 1.8 kHz recession that HIFIMAN’s headphones have become known for. But again, this dip gets recontextualized because of how different the rest of the tonality is. Instead of increasing the distance between a large treble boost and a recessed upper midrange like on the HE400se or Edition XS, this dip seems to be the main contributor of warmth to the midrange (which is otherwise very linear).

Now I will say, this is definitely the Edition XV’s major weak point. Vocals sound a tad distant, and not in an appealing or “soundstage-y” way, and the level difference between this dip and the relatively forward low midrange causes a bit of sludginess when it comes to keeping up with faster percussive elements. Guitars have a very slight blurriness to their pick attack, though the 3 kHz region quickly rising back to normal levels means they still have intelligibility and presence.

There’s an ever-present softness to this headphone’s presentation that may turn off those who prioritize a vivid, perhaps even aggressive presentation. Personally this is a compromise I’m fine accepting, but while this midrange is still plenty good enough for timbre not to feel massively compromised, it’s the one area I’d EQ if I was only given one EQ band to make the Edition XV more enjoyable for me.

And now that I’ve mentioned EQ, it’s probably time to talk about the treble, because the Edition XV probably has one of the most mature, sensible treble profiles I’ve ever heard in an over-ear headphone… which means unlike most headphones, I feel basically no real need to EQ the treble of this headphone.

This isn’t just because it’s darker—which it is—but because where it relaxes its gain is exactly where I really wanted less energy. Due to Edition XV’s treble reduction, I don’t get any of the dry, scratchy grain that I get from headphones like the Arya Stealth or Susvara due to the relaxed 3-5 kHz region, and I don’t get any of the plasticky, artificial sibilance that I get with headphones like the Edition XS or Audeze LCD-X. Hell, the Edition XV has smoother treble than even most dynamic driver headphones do on my head, which is not something I ever would’ve expected to say about a HIFIMAN headphone.

Cymbals are absent the splashy, tizzy mess that over-ear headphones often present with on my head, and vocals are basically entirely free of any issues with excess energy on “ess” sounds or broader sibilance arising from poorly handled fricatives. Even on my tracks where I know there’s issues with the mix having either too much treble or not enough de-essing on the vocals, Edition XV seems to handle these areas better than most headphones I’ve ever put on my head and makes usually hard to listen to tracks much easier to bear.

I’m not sure I really have any criticisms of the treble here… which is absolutely insane to write but it’s the truth. If I had to pick a weakness, I would still prefer a little less in the low-treble around 3-4 kHz and maybe a bit less around 13 kHz, but even without those changes the Edition XV still has one of the least problematic (maybe even the least problematic) treble response I’ve encountered in over-ear headphones. So if you’re like me and tend to find headphones overly-bright, the Edition XV may end up being similarly excellent for you.

When it comes to the parts that people have a harder time unpacking from frequency response alone—eg. Perception of “dynamics,” “soundstage,” and “timbre,” Edition XV is broadly what I expected but with a few differences. Edition XV is more spacious on my head due to the lack of screaming treble peaks causing the stereo field to collapse toward the center (and extremely close to my eyes), which is something I’d guessed would happen due to the other HIFIMAN headphones typically having that cloying closeness about them.

What I wasn’t expecting is how different the presentation of dynamics would be. While I still wouldn’t say it’s as snappy, articulate, or straight up punchy as the original HE6, the Edition XV is the first time I’ve heard a HIFIMAN that doesn’t sound completely absent any sense of transient decay or note weight. Typically the HIFIMAN presentation of dynamics is very thinned, rendering drums bereft of any feeling of weight or substance, but the XV does not have this problem.

It perhaps still retains a bit of the softness from the 2 kHz relaxation causing transient attack to take a bit of a backseat, but the re-centering of this headphone’s tonal response on the midrange is a huge contributor to it no longer feeling as dead as the other oval-shaped HIFIMAN headphones have been for me.

Timbrally, I think Edition XV is also probably the best experience I’ve had with a planar magnetic headphone. Thanks to essentially no discernible treble issues on my head, I get no sense of metallic ringiness, plastickiness, glassiness, or any of the other “material-related” quirks that I would have attributed to… basically any other planar magnetic headphone.

Overall, the sound of the Edition XV is so well-rounded I’m frankly just shocked it took this long for HIFIMAN to try something like this. Anyways, let’s get into comparisons.

Vs. Edition XS

This probably won’t surprise anyone at this point but Edition XV absolutely creams the Edition XS in basically every aspect for me. For one, Edition XV is a more comfortable headphone, even if its suspension strap isn’t perfect, the Edition XS’s headband is one of the worst I’ve ever used, straight up unthinkably bad. I also prefer XV’s visual design.

Sonically it’s also no contest, the Edition XS is bright enough and mid scooped enough that I’ve basically never been thrilled to recommend it unless the person specifically knows they want a lot of upper treble and that they (for some reason) care more about “detail” and “soundstage” than balanced tone.

Edition XV fixes basically every issue I have with its predecessor, linearizing the bass presentation and focusing more on the midrange while not having the ridiculously boosted and splashy treble presentation. Which means it’s a clean sweep for Edition XV, at least for me who has nothing but acrimony for the signature that Edition XS shares with the other oval-shaped HIFIMAN headphones.

Vs. Sony MDR-MV1

MDR-MV1 is my favorite “V-shaped” headphone, both because the way it handles delivering that kind of sound is the best I’ve heard but also because its weight, comfort, and industrial design are pretty exceptional.

I fear that, at least sonically, the Edition XV is a clean sweep here too. It’s a more linear midrange presentation, the mids balance much better against its bass than the MDR-MV1’s comparatively boomy bass, and the treble is way smoother and less problematic than the MDR-MV1’s.

While I prefer MDR-MV1’s look and industrial design, it lacking a suspension strap means the Edition XV is just more comfortable for extended periods despite it being heavier and clampier.

While of course, I think the MDR-MV1 isn’t necessarily going for the same thing as the Edition XV, I think MDR-MV1 represents a really great “second” headphone; something with a decisive coloration that will break up the monotony of living with a primary, perhaps more universal, neutral headphone. By contrast, the Edition XV is very high in the running for a primary, perhaps only, headphone (considering it will absolutely be a good choice for EQ).

Vs. Audeze MM-500

Despite the price differential… Another clean sweep.

For one, the MM-500 is very uncomfortable, being both heavier and clampier than the Edition XV while having an even worse head-strap (in stock formation, I have the Capra Strap on the MM-500 right now).

But also I feel like Edition XV accomplishes the “warm neutral” thing way better than the MM-500 does. MM-500’s main strengths are its relaxed treble and its linear midrange, but the truth is that its midrange is overly lean thanks to the forwardness in the 1 kHz region, which means the linear bass comes across too thin and limp. Additionally, for me its treble is both too dark in some spots (4-6 kHz) and too bright in others (13-14 kHz).

Edition XV has basically none of these problems. The warmer midrange—thanks to the 2 kHz dip—brings forward the bass to be more prominent, enough so that it no longer sounds bass-light, and also makes the presentation overall sound less small and shouty.

The more impressive thing is that the XV executes the “dark treble” archetype way better here too, fixing the biggest treble issues, filling in the low treble enough to no longer be an issue, cutting the uppermost treble, and keeping the darkness I prefer around 10-12 kHz. All of this works together to flat out unseat the MM-500 as my default “smooth” planar. Many people called the MM-500 the “HD 600 or 650 of Planars” upon release, but honestly, that title is probably much more fitting for the Edition XV. Speaking of which…

Vs. Sennheiser HD 650

Here’s what I’ll say: Despite being, in my opinion, the best all-around headphone of all time, Sennheiser’s HD 650 definitely has issues. It’s not winning any awards for bass extension, spaciousness, or grain-free treble response. Now, it manages those shortcomings well, better than basically any other headphone, but these are still issues that many people want fixed with this headphone, without compromising its legendary midrange faithfulness.

Now, the Edition XV does not offer that, because its midrange is meaningfully less natural and coherent than the HD 650’s. Most instruments and voices have just a bit too much softness and warmth to be perfectly within the bounds of neutral, and here is where the HD 650 firmly asserts itself as the more “natural” playback system.

But even if Edition XV doesn’t perfectly match the HD 650’s strongest aspect, it does address all of its shortcomings. It has full linear bass extension, and presents the bass in a distinct enough way to be noticeably better than the HD 650’s presentation. It has a way larger, more spacious presentation than the HD 650, and also—at least on my head—has a considerably smoother treble response too.

Squaring that with the fact that the earcups are much bigger and the Edition XV also has a suspension strap, it really does represent an equally (if not more) well-rounded headphone offering that gets a lot of the same things right—price:value ratio and warm-neutral frequency response being the most important—while improving on a few of its core downsides.

So while I think many people may prefer the HD 650, because it’s still the king of neutrality in the midrange, the Edition XV represents the first honest-to-god alternative for a warm-neutral headphone that may even be the better choice for the “average” consumer.

Conclusion

Welp. This is probably the most positive review I’ve ever written, so it’s probably worth zooming out a bit for a second here.

This is the most competitive price bracket in the over-ear audiophile headphone market. When people ask “What headphone under $400 should I buy?” I’ve typically defaulted to a few options—HD 600 and 650 for bright neutral/warm neutral and Sony MDR-MV1 for V-shaped. HIFIMAN never had a place on this list for me because most of their offerings in this price range both lacked the midrange cohesion and treble refinement the other options had.

But now, with the Edition XV, HIFIMAN has earned their spot right next to the HD 650 as the default recommendation for a warm-neutral headphone under $400. It offers listeners the full bass extension and spaciousness that the HD 650 lacks for a lot of listeners, while also not compromising massively when it comes to midrange linearity or comfort.

This is no small feat. This offers something so many people have wanted for so long, and for that reason, Edition XV may well be the most important passive over-ear headphone release I’ve seen since the Focal Utopia. People shopping in the “mid-fi” price bracket have never, and I mean never had it this good. 

Historically, I’ve been one of the most notoriously “anti-HIFIMAN” reviewers out there… So I hope it lands when I say:

They fucking nailed this one.