Sound is great, comfort is lacking if your head is on the smaller side. Get a comfort strap.
Hifiman
Hifiman Edition XS Headphones
Regular price
$209
Sale price
$209
Regular price
$499.00
Unit price
per
Save 58%
Hifiman
Hifiman Edition XS Headphones
Hifiman Edition XS Headphones
Regular price
$209
Sale price
$209
Regular price
$499.00
Unit price
per
Save 58%
HiFi Sound for under $500
Cup style
More information
Open-back headphone designs are often higher-performance but have poor noise isolation and leak sound. Closed-back designs provide better noise isolation and leak less sound.
Open-back headphone designs are often higher-performance but have poor noise isolation and leak sound. Closed-back designs provide better noise isolation and leak less sound.
Open-Back
Wearing style
More information
Over-ear headphones sit over your ear and surround your ear with a ring of padding. On-ear headphones are padded but rest on top of your ear. In-ear monitors are worn inside your ear canal.
Over-ear headphones sit over your ear and surround your ear with a ring of padding. On-ear headphones are padded but rest on top of your ear. In-ear monitors are worn inside your ear canal.
Over-ear
Driver type
More information
Speakers and headphones use a device called a 'driver' to create sound. Different types of drivers have different strengths and weaknesses, but can all produce great sound. Common varieties include dynamic, planar magnetic, and electrostatic.
Speakers and headphones use a device called a 'driver' to create sound. Different types of drivers have different strengths and weaknesses, but can all produce great sound. Common varieties include dynamic, planar magnetic, and electrostatic.
Planar Magnetic
Amp required
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Some headphones require the power of an amplifier to reach comfortable listening volumes.
Some headphones require the power of an amplifier to reach comfortable listening volumes.
Yes
Connectivity
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Connectivity refers to the method in which the headphones connect to the audio source. Headphones can be either wired or wireless.
Connectivity refers to the method in which the headphones connect to the audio source. Headphones can be either wired or wireless.
Wired
Description
Edition XS: A Major Upgrade on the Popular Edition X
Our Take: The Hifiman Edition XS was released in late 2021 and bridges the gap perfectly between the Hifiman Sundara and the Hifiman Ananda. Ditching the circular cups of the Sundara for Hifiman's traditional teardrop shaped cups, the Edition XS presents a large soundstage with excellent detail. For our money, the Edition XS is incredibly hard to beat in the under $500 range.
Check out FC Construct's written review of the Hifiman Edition XS along with comparisons to the Hifiman Sundara 2020 and Hifiman Ananda. Read his full review and comparisons here.
Check out Resolve's review of the Hifiman Edition XS Planar Magnetic Headphones in the video below.
The new Hifiman Edition XS Planar Magnetic Headphones expands on its predecessor's achievements with several essential upgrades. Featuring Stealth Magnet Technology and the company's NEO supernano diaphragm, the Edition XS Planar headphones produce a wide, natural soundstage that puts the listener in the best seat of the house. The NEO supernano diaphragm is 75% thinner than the original version, resulting in lightning-fast response for detailed sonic output without discernible distortion.
The Hifiman Edition XS Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones bring the depth and range of well-recorded music to an affordably priced headphone.
Acoustically Invisible Stealth Magnet
Unlike the sound waves generated by a traditional magnet, the special shape of the Stealth Magnets enables its waves to pass through the magnets without generating interference.
Hifiman's advanced magnet design is acoustically transparent, dramatically reducing wave diffraction turbulence that degrades the integrity of the sound waves. The reduced distortion yields pure sonic output that is accurate and full range.
Our review
Video review
Written review
Reviews
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Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.4 / 5 from 48 reviews.
The headphones are great. They sound fantastic and fit a bit big but comfortable on the head. They get pretty loud, even with a low end amp, but never hurt my ears when playing. Great introductory planar headphones.
Incredible headphones that compliment my collection very well. Perfect for atmospheric recordings. getting lost in the music. Highly immersive
none of the wonky build quality issues so that's a plus!
The headphones sound very good, especially for the price. My only issue its that they are big. The ear cups are big and a bit stiff at this point.
Never received the package. USPS sucks
The headphones are amazing especially at their price point now. They are super comfortable and feel very open. They sound amazing on both music and gaming! The package was really secured and arrived very fast. I would recommend Headphones they are awesome!
I am enjoying the headphones very much.Thank you
These are extremely good. I was upgrading from the 400se abyss wanted to try this style of . The treble is great and you feel like you are there. These get used mainly at my desk when I am working or gaming. They work well for both. I don’t do a lot of FPS. However, I think you would hear footsteps, but on EA25 you feel like you are in the stadium. They also handle music of all genres pretty well, and I got them at a good price.
When I first put them on my head they felt kinda funky on my head and were huge. And I have a big head;) Once I got past that, the cans blew me away with how open they were. I love the way they take me inside the studio. As for the sound, well that’s subjective, but for the price and once you get used to the large ear cups, I don’t think you’ll be dissatisfied. I gave 4 stars because they could have done better with the headband. Overall I’m happy with my purchase.
Stellar sound, especially for the discontinuation price.
Great experience. Really good headphones!!
Opens up a whole new world of sound. Connected immediately to my DAC, but I did have to update DAC firmware for compatibility. A comfortable and complete experience.
Everything I've come to expect from the reviews. A slightly more impactful upgrade to one of my other personal favorite headphones, the Sundara. Delivery was quicker than expected, and effortless to boot. Love the headphones, loved the experience!
Wow 😍
Great headphones. Solid sound stage. The separation of instruments and vocals is outstanding.
Looking forward to Christmas! They look beautiful!
Pretty Good Do not its has large ear cups and uncomfortable headband for small heads
I was happily shocked by how good the HiFiMan Edition XS headphones are. I suspected they would be good, based on other reviews, but at this price point, I wasn't holding my breath! Amazingly enough, they were not only really, really good across the board - they exceeded my expectations in many ways. Fit, comfort, sound are all top notch. I'm super pleased with these and can easily recommend them to anyone!
Amazing sound quality and bass Works well on a wide variety of genres of music
Recently I wanted to try an open back headset and literally spent a couple weeks reviewing and scanning the internet trying to find something that was premium in sound, quality, and something below 500 bucks. Currently I own the Audeze Maxwells and although they are very good was looking for something a bit lighter and mainly open back. I've heard the open back headphones have a wider soundstage. So I purchased a few headsets to try out. Namely the Hifiman Editon XS and a pair of the Epos Pc38x. And to get to the point....I returned the Pc38x and kept the Hifiman Edition XS. These headphones punch way above their price point and are very comfortable, although slightly big. These are the best sounding headphones that I've own and I dare say your not gonna find much better for the price. I would recommend using a Dac/Amp with these but it's definitely worth it. If your looking for something to listen to music occasionally and play games I wouldn't look no further. But again, you will have to buy a separate MIC if you want to communicate online. In the end, I can't really say enough good things about the Hifiman product. Stellar!
I’m getting into hifi audio and learned these were a great start. So far they’re great. Clear audio and very comfortable.
These headphones sound like you are in a concert hall. The music sounds real, accurate, detailed, and natural. They are the kind of headphones you would wear to listen to music as if you are going to a concert. They feel worthy of sitting down with over a longer period of time, like a good book, etc. Very much worth getting and one of the best neutral sounding headphones you can get.
Item took 2 months to arrive.
Love these cans! All of the detail of super hi-fi studio speakers, but an exciting tuning to bring out all the fun of the music!
Sound great! Head band seems to give pressure points on the head but not enough that takes value away from how they sound.
Best headphones I've ever heard-broke within a day. Can't wait for Headphones.com or Hifiman to replace these things.
I have purchased several headphones from Headphones.com and find the experience exceptional. If they carry it and I need/want it - they are my first choice for a purchase. A top-notch organization.
I had a Grado 225 before this and Kef Q1 bookshelfs. I got to say this headphone is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME comparing to my past gear!! It has everything I wanted and more!! I never thought I could have such a good experience through headphones!! I'm not listening to my bookshelfs anymore!! The only downside is that now I can hear all of the bad recordings that used to go unnoticed, so much detail but so worth it!!! I'm using a Ifi Mirco IDSD as Dac/Amp
The Hifiman Edition XS is my first headphones nicer than my audiotechnica mx50 monitors. I was blown away with the detail and separation. I was afraid I was going to regret spending $499 on headphones but the first time I heard them I knew I was keeping them!
I have been searching for a pair of headphones to complement my HD650's, which I've enjoyed for many years, but I was looking to try something different. I was looking for something within my budget that had a bit more sound stage and depth, with good clarity. I'd never heard a planar magnetic headphone, and the headphone show videos gave me a sense of what to expect. So I decided to try them, both to hear something different, and to garner some more listening experience. I watched and read others' reviews of various planars, and decided on the Hifiman edition XS. At first, I was looking at the Ananda's, but they were a bit out of my reach. While heavier, the edition XS headphones are, for me, extremely comfortable, though they just fit my head. My hat size is about 7 7/8, large, but the top of my head to my ears must not be that large. The headphones fit perfectly with out any extension of the strap adjusters. The clamp force is light, yet I get a good seal. Right away, I loved the sound. It has depth, large spaciousness, and everything is fresh and clear. It has a little bit of occasional sizzle on sibilants, but nothing that bothers me. I listen almost exclusively to Classical music, opera, and jazz, and I've really enjoyed this kind of music on these headphones. The more I listen, the more I grow into the character of sound the edition XS offers. It will be interesting, once I've grown into these headphones, to go back to the Sennheiser HD650s, to see how those will sound. I appreciate the wealth of reliable information you folks provide, so I knew that whatever I purchased, I'd purchase from you. Your 365 day return policy also gives confidence for us online buyers to try something sight-unheard. Thanks!
A fantastic headphone. Very comfortable, good detail, and easy to drive with a decent cable. This is a great buy for the money
So this was a tough review for me to write. Just to clear things up right away, the 3 stars is due to a few things OTHER than sound quality. I've split it up into 3 categories that Sound, Comfort, and Build. Sound: 4/5 Stars The sound of the XS really hits soooo close to perfect for me. It's just a bit too spicy in some of the S's and C's at times but I've been able to tame it a bit with EQ. Otherwise it has fantastic detail, a nice neutral bit of bass (which I EQ up a smidge), and an unbeatable tall sound stage. It's the only headphone I've gotten that has that tall sound stage. My assumption for why that is probably has to due with the height of the planar drivers. They are fairly long and it really give some extra room above and below the ear. Makes listening to anything with a bit of reverb in it veeeery fun. Overall it's a good neutral sound that just barely falls short of my preferences, but I can EQ them to fit my needs. Also on the topic of the drivers being tall, I should jump into fit... Fit: 3/5 Stars This can depend on your own head size, but mine is is a bit wide and the headband is a bit too narrow. Pinches right up at the top of my head. I don't want to go bending anything, so it's sorta something that you'll just have to judge. And then going ball to the tall drivers, these are looooong headphones. If you have a short head, you'll likely have some pinching at your lower jaw since they really do extend a good ways down. This section should be taken as a little bit of a subjective thing, but some examples of headphones that I have which fit me very well are my Meze 99c's, the Drop + Hifiman HE4xx, and my my Senn HD560's. If those fit you perfectly, you will probably be just fine getting the XS's. If they are kinda big on your head, these will be MONSTROUS. Weight wise they're less than my Audeze LCD2-C's but still a bit heavy. Since the headband is narrow, it clamps my head like nothing else so they stay put. But if you have a narrow head, looking down might make these slide off. Now to the most frustrating part of this review which really is what gives it the 3 Stars Build: 2/5 Stars Right out the gate this is actually my second pair. I bought my first pair from headphones.com in the ifi xCan bundle. That pair had this resonance in the right ear cup, and once I noticed it, it was game over. Couldn't unhear it. Thankfully the support here on headphones.com were AMAZING and gave me exchange credit once I sent my pair back to them. It's how I got the LCD-2C's. But they are two different tunings and I missed my XS pair. So I got this second pair rolling the dice on build quality. Hifiman is notorious for this, and I'm thankful I got it from here because they made it so easy with the exchange process. But for $500 you shouldn't have to worry about something like that from these headphones. They are built mostly from plastic which is fine since I'm sure it keeps the weight down, but parts of them just feel so so cheap. Like the plastic that cracks slowly over time has been polished coated in some rattle can spray paint. I've hard far worse build quality wise, but combined with the reliability problem I had and the price, these just don't feel ultra premium. To summarize: Lovely tall and wide soundstage, good details and my preferred amount of bass, takes EQ well, might not be suited at all to small or wide heads, first pair had driver issue but headphones.com support helped me very quickly (and even gave me some advice), build quality feels fairly cheap for $500, buying one might be a gamble but the quality of sound you get as well as the staging, details, and overall enjoy ability of the tuning might just be worth it to you. It was worth it enough for me to take a gamble and get a second pair. We will see how long they hold up. Once again thanks to the headphones.com support team for helping me with my first pair. Never had customer service like that before. If you wanna take the gamble and get these, I highly suggest getting them from here. If something is wrong, they will be there immediately to help you out.
I use these for gaming and I don't think they get enough attention for that purpose. While the Meze Elite are way better in games they are a bit $$$. I also use the MDR Z1R for those closed back gaming days. The Hifiman XS is affordable and a absolutely a gaming beast. Soundstage in games is wide and accurate. Games with music just love them as well. Don't buy a "gaming headset" just get these and never worry about a headset again.
I liked the Sundara's sound, but they were too uncomfortable for me to wear for more than about 15-20 minutes before it was distracting from enjoying listening to music. My ears were a bit sore even after a short time with them on. Constant adjustments to the way they sat on my head and ears while listening was the only way to try and enjoy them So I sprang for the Edition XS since the ear cups and the holes for your ears were a lot larger and reviews noted their comfort over the Sundaras. Yeah, they were $200 more, but it was also an úpgrade in sound quality. Or so I assumed. They are much more comfortable than the Sundaras, yes. (Aside from the headband). But I am left underwhelmed by the sound. To me they don't sound much different than the Sundara. I've ordered a 3rd party headband attachment (ZMF Copilot) that I think will make these 'phones even more comfortable. At least I will have the Sundara sound with comfort. But $200 extra (plus added headband) with practically no noticable sound quality improvement makes me think I can only get a better sound by spending MUCH more than I want. I have decent speakers anyway. My fling with headphones are over. I can use them as great gaming 'phones at least. Pitty since I got a Shiit stack (w/Loki) to go with them.
I had a 2018 sundara which I sold. I listen to mainly smooth jazz, EDM, and electronic music. I wanted a bit more bassand dynamics. The edition XS is perfect for me. I couldve afforded an arya steath but for $800 more I’m not sure I would have enjoyed them that much more. Quite a few people have fit issues with this. I was afraid of that but with headphones.com generous return policy, I decided to try them. They fit me just fine. I dont have a large head so I say try them if everything else about them fits your needs. The build quality is typical hifiman. If you take care of them, they should last a long time. They aren’t for travel anyway being open back and needing a decent amp. Hifiman is said to have excellent customer service(USA based) also. These are advertised by all the reviewers as the best headphone at $500 or less. I believe they are one of the best sounding headphones under 1k.
The world of planar headphones have given birth to something special with this product. People can look high and low and you will not find a better price performance headphone on this planet. It is the first Mid tier priced product with hardware and performance of high tier audiophile headphones like the Arya. Even A/B'g them side by side results in very little difference and nothing that shows the XS to be placed at $499 while the Arya is $1299 or higher. It matches the scale and just about the same sound stage but with better timbre and mids and treble without being too aggressive and or plastic. The bass is perfect, fun and impactful especially the sub bass levels. And subjectively, the XS headband is perfect and better than the Antenna like bar over the Arya's. It gives me the perfect fit and clamping force (just enough) thankfully because I was tired of the pressure points of other headphone clamping. It's just one of the best feeling headphones I've ever tried. And at the end of the day I see no headphone like this anywhere in the world that has what this delivers on at the price of $499. Can you find similar result in the Arya at $1499...yes but even it loses too many rounds against the cheaper headphone as well as other headphones in this higher tier zone. Nothing shows a $100-$500+ advantage over this headphone at any price and that's why this is best headphone available today.
love this headphone. My first planar. Tight and fast base. Not bad sound stage. Love listening to Orchestral with them.
Excellent headphone. I will say the clamp is loose on my head but to me it is preferred. I like the overall sound but would prefer the mid range to be more forward. Base response for me is great but could see where base heads would want more. Treble response for me could seemed sparkling but not over the top. I think sound stage is good and imaging is good. This is all subjective so with my overall experience with this headphone I think it is really good.
These headphones sound really good, however they are too big for my head. I hope down the line HIFIMAN will create this ear cup a bit smaller (alternative size) or maybe with a strap system. In the meantime, I have to return them. It's ashame, because they do sound very good