[cycloverid]

That 114dB result isn't actually going to be audible due to the auditory masking effect with level. Simply put, if you're listening to music that reaches 114dB, A) that's very loud, and B) even in the rare occasion where this would happen, the only way any of this would be audible is if the distortion product is a high order harmonic (not captured by that single THD number). I'll have to double check the Arya on that, but if I recall it was mostly 2nd and 3rd, which yea... that's not going to be audible in 99% of situations.

Thanks, yeah I actually don't really have much of a deep understanding of this. I just look at the measurements relative to what the measurers tend to call 'good' vs 'poor'. I'm not even sure what THD % would start to become audible for me.

Also, let's just say in the scenario that someone (not sure why they would do this) is elevating the sub bass as much as 10db? 114db is still far louder than I've ever listened at of course, but then the distortion at the lower frequencies would certainly be more relevant.

 

[TalonFyre]

Whyd you return them?

Primarily due to Comfort. I'm cursed with a wide head and sensitive temples.

I would have liked to try them with the new Dekoni pads that Zeos reviewed (he recommended the fenestrated ones for the Ananda).

 

[Resolve]

Thanks, yeah I actually don't really have much of a deep understanding of this. I just look at the measurements relative to what the measurers tend to call 'good' vs 'poor'. I'm not even sure what THD % would start to become audible for me.

Also, let's just say in the scenario that someone (not sure why they would do this) is elevating the sub bass as much as 10db? 114db is still far louder than I've ever listened at of course, but then the distortion at the lower frequencies would certainly be more relevant.

The main thing with harmonic distortion is that it doesn't actually mean what it looks like it means. I think some people use it to indicate things like 'detail' and whatever else would be subjectively well received as 'technical performance', but really there's no way currently to predict that. I think if anything you'd be more likely to find it in frequency response than anything else. But regardless, we know THD is NOT this due to the many studies that have demonstrated there's no subjective preference for low THD in headphones past a certain point - and that's because it's generally inaudible. That's not to say that THD measurements aren't useful or interesting, like if you see particularly high order for example, that's interesting. But summed THD measurements with most modern devices is somewhat meaningless, and you can generally ignore any hyper focus on THD you sometimes see in various places. If you want to see some examples, we did a video on that here.

 

[Xerosnake90]

Primarily due to Comfort. I'm cursed with a wide head and sensitive temples.

I would have liked to try them with the new Dekoni pads that Zeos reviewed (he recommended the fenestrated ones for the Ananda).

Same here. Ananda gave me crazy headaches, I preferred the Ananda sound a bit to XS for certain music but XS does bassy stuff so well. I'll get something else for my pink Floyd style stuff which still sounds amazing on XS

 

[rev92]

Just uploaded my review

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hifiman-edition-xs.25623/

 

[Shared]

Same here. Ananda gave me crazy headaches, I preferred the Ananda sound a bit to XS for certain music but XS does bassy stuff so well. I'll get something else for my pink Floyd style stuff which still sounds amazing on XS

Sheep sounds really amazing on the XS btw, the bass guitar is so well rendered

 

[Xerosnake90]

Sheep sounds really amazing on the XS btw, the bass guitar is so well rendered

All of Pink Floyd sounds absolutely amazing on the XS but the Ananda just had a little extra spark with imaging that made it a bit better. Its such a tiny difference

Got my Bifrost 2 coming tomorrow I am hyped! Also have a headband arriving tomorrow well see how that works with the XS

 

[bagwell359]

The main thing with harmonic distortion is that it doesn't actually mean what it looks like it means. I think some people use it to indicate things like 'detail' and whatever else would be subjectively well received as 'technical performance', but really there's no way currently to predict that. I think if anything you'd be more likely to find it in frequency response than anything else. But regardless, we know THD is NOT this due to the many studies that have demonstrated there's no subjective preference for low THD in headphones past a certain point - and that's because it's generally inaudible. That's not to say that THD measurements aren't useful or interesting, like if you see particularly high order for example, that's interesting. But summed THD measurements with most modern devices is somewhat meaningless, and you can generally ignore any hyper focus on THD you sometimes see in various places. If you want to see some examples, we did a video on that here.

A bit orthagonal:

Back in the 70's THD was one of "boogey men" that you were supposed to avoid. Goodness knows odd order harmonics drive me and most people nuts - but even ordered? Not so fast.

Then in the 80's I noticed how tube amps could really seduce one with its rich warm organic tones - and they measured at high levels of THD compared to SS amps. I've had a 40 year love affair with Nelson Pass's amps (clean, potent, but slightly sweet) - I notice his circuits seem to have more THD than the average SS amp. Is that all of its appeal? Of course not. But is one able to iterate in a "satisfying" amount of even order distortion for a particular application to increase demand? On purpose or by chance?

In lieu of perfect fidelity is not some amount of even order HD going to give a pleasant near rendering to the music (say like the John Singer Sargent painting of Oydemir)? Is it possible to arrive at this sort of sound with very low THD from all components?

Thanks for any musing.

 

[Youcan1]

I just put in an order for this. I sold my M570 and I was flip flopping between the XS and iBasso SR2 for my next purchase/upgrade and I slightly leaned toward this one.

 

[pk4425]

Just uploaded my review

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hifiman-edition-xs.25623/

Excellent review. Great attention to detail. Enjoyed reading it! Thanks.

 

[rev92]

Thank you very much! Tried my best

 

[jasswolf]

I just put in an order for this. I sold my M570 and I was flip flopping between the XS and iBasso SR2 for my next purchase/upgrade and I slightly leaned toward this one.

Take a quick look at the Nan-6 and any details on the Nan-7 before it ships.

 

[cel4145]

That 114dB result isn't actually going to be audible due to the auditory masking effect with level. Simply put, if you're listening to music that reaches 114dB, A) that's very loud, and B) even in the rare occasion where this would happen, the only way any of this would be audible is if the distortion product is a high order harmonic (not captured by that single THD number). I'll have to double check the Arya on that, but if I recall it was mostly 2nd and 3rd, which yea... that's not going to be audible in 99% of situations.

Just to note that harmonic distortion is not the only bass distortion. Sundara and Ananda's sub bass group delay was off the charts in ASR's review.

 

[yeboyi]

Sundara and Ananda's sub bass group delay was off the charts in ASR's review.

What that means ?

 

[blorg]

@yeboyi group delay is distortions in the time domain between different frequencies, if some frequencies arrive before others.

Just to note that harmonic distortion is not the only bass distortion. Sundara and Ananda's sub bass group delay was off the charts in ASR's review.

There were a lot of questions over that, and a lot of the results he got seemed to suggest that he had not got a seal with the pads on his measurement rig. His frequency response showed the exact sub-bass roll-off and higher bass boost that is characteristic of a seal break. Others like Solderdude had explicitly demonstrated this in their measurements, it's a well known phenomenon. Resolve also has an example of this for the Edition XS (and compares it to the Ananada) in his Headphones.com review thread.

Rtings also measured the Ananda group delay and it was the 6th best (lowest) of any open back they have ever tested, and well below their threshold for audibility.

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/table/76088