Hifiman Edition X

[Sonido]

Just a note: The main reason a 4-pin XLR or similar balanced cable is not included is to discourage the use of high output amplifiers. In general, a balanced topology may double a number of things, but the key here is output power. This is, of course, not true for all cases.

During testing, the Edition X did not respond well to excess amounts of power, and had very audible distortion as a result. In fact, you even risk the potential for damaging the driver as well if you are not careful.

Just a friendly reminder to use common sense when driving a headphone with this level of sensitivity. You also lose a lot of headroom with the limited volume range.

Also please keep in mind that the Edition X is NOT intended for full desktop solutions, but rather for simple setups that do not really need to acquire additional scaling components. There has been too much negativity associated with cost. We will look into build quality issues, as have been reported.

What's the max input power?

 

[uzi2]

  I have been using my HEK with my mojo with very good results and with the mojo paired with my vorzuge pure II+ at low gain also with good results but then I do not listen all that loud compared to others here it seems.....I do understand the desire to create a headphone that pairs well with a phone but i do question how many people who listen through their phones will pony up 1800 dollars for a headphone and i also question the idea of an 1800 dollar headphone that is recommended NOT to to be used high end audiophile equipment....seems like a mismatch to me.....FWIIW I also own the HEK which i use with my Yiggy/Rag combo which i absolutely love....i have never paired the HEX with the combo because i bought it to take it on the road with me but it does seem strange to be told NOT to use it with my higher end equipment

There has been no recommendation to NOT use these with high end audiophile equipment. The recommendation was not to use excessive power. I think that most people would not be affected by this as like most headphones, excessive volume will most likely hurt your ears before it damages the drivers.
I do agree that they are way overpriced if the target market is a regular phone user.

 

[bimmer100]

  I just got these via the Hifiman tour, and, in my opinion, they sound awesome straight out the iPhone (80-90% of the HE-1000). However, I have reservations about the build quality and sturdiness as they feel cheap and I already have a minor durability issue (one of the cable connections does not snap like you would expect).
 
Also, I find it weird that some sort of travel case isn't included.

well, I can't say it sounded bad. But nothing really sounds amazing out of the iphone imho. 
Its not like the HE-560 which Hifiman claims will work with the iphone6. SOOOOOOO not true. its insanely bad sounding. The HE560 is NOT efficient, its super darn picky with the amp. But I just sold the HE560. It's a sweet headphone when paired properly.

 

[uzi2]

  well, I can't say it sounded bad. But nothing really sounds amazing out of the iphone imho. 
Its not like the HE-560 which Hifiman claims will work with the iphone6. SOOOOOOO not true. its insanely bad sounding. The HE560 is NOT efficient, its super darn picky with the amp. But I just sold the HE560. It's a sweet headphone when paired properly.

The HE560 needs to be driven well and can also be improved with the jerg mod.

 

[tuna47]

I hope if they Lower the price that they take care of us early users who are loyal customers and on their 5th hifiman
If they do a price lowering without compensation I will never buy another hifiman product again

 

[bimmer100]

  I have been using my HEK with my mojo with very good results and with the mojo paired with my vorzuge pure II+ at low gain also with good results but then I do not listen all that loud compared to others here it seems.....I do understand the desire to create a headphone that pairs well with a phone but i do question how many people who listen through their phones will pony up 1800 dollars for a headphone and i also question the idea of an 1800 dollar headphone that is recommended NOT to to be used high end audiophile equipment....seems like a mismatch to me.....FWIIW I also own the HEK which i use with my Yiggy/Rag combo which i absolutely love....i have never paired the HEX with the combo because i bought it to take it on the road with me but it does seem strange to be told NOT to use it with my higher end equipment

thank you. can you tell me what it sounds like with your yggy and rok? does the rok scale properly?
When i used sensitive cans on the Rok, it was....not good.  and sensitive IEMs....not good.
 
I ended up with my master11 since the yggy/rok combo has a few shortcomings...mainly the amp had some issues. Not enough steps, and linear instead of super exponential.
 
They yggy sounds great when paired with my m11 amp though. The RoK is a great amp, don't get me wrong, but tough to pair with everything...only good for a certain range of cans..or small speakers. Even my M11 can drive full size speakers actually! and quite well!

 

[SeaWo|f]

 There has been too much negativity associated with cost.

 
This is an interesting way to look at things; I would venture to say it's crass and ignorant. If these are selling out then your price is fine. If you have them sitting around perhaps you need to look into that? Remember the community which is obviously not limited to here decides the relative value of your product.. not you. Either way my advice would be to refrain from commenting in such a way, those willing to spend this much on a headphone are few.

 

[jlbrach]

The irony is I bought the HEX because i so loved the HEK....my desire was to have similar sound while traveling with the HEX using a mojo or hugo and perhaps a LIquid Carbon or vorzuge along with it....I happen to love the sound of the HEX with my Mojo and mojo with portable amp .I tried listening through my phone and really didnt like it at all......as much as i like them if the intended potential buyers are essentially only phone users then these will quickly drop in price to the 1100-1200 range because 1800 is for a product that can and will be used by those here and elsewhere who are audiophiles with high end amps etc...there just are not enough people interested in using an 1800 dollar can with a phone....poor job of market research if that is the intention

 

[jlbrach]

I hope if they Lower the price that they take care of us early users who are loyal customers and on their 5th hifiman
If they do a price lowering without compensation I will never buy another hifiman product again
 
I do not pretend to be nostradamus but if the intention is to sell enough HEX's to phone users to make it profitable then you can bet the price will come down and rather appreciably.....no way phone users will pay 1800 dollars,or at least enough of them to maintain the price......it doesnt bother me all that much because i bought these intending to use them with my mojo or mojo and portable amp not my desktop rig but i do not know how many others will do the same....i find it really odd to have the manufacturer actually telling people here on a high end audiophile site NOT to use them with higher end equipment

 

[ufospls2]

I hope if they Lower the price that they take care of us early users who are loyal customers and on their 5th hifiman
If they do a price lowering without compensation I will never buy another hifiman product again

They won't lower the price unless something big happens. Hifiman cares about one thing and one thing only. $$$. Make the product as cheaply as possible, charge as much for it as possible. 

 

[TokenGesture]

I've been using them with my desktop system. Does that make me a bad man?

 

[pippen99]

I am on the TTVJ loaner tour.  Does this mean they don't want me to try out the Edition X out of my Woo WA5.  I listen to my LCD-X every day out of the WA5.  I guess I will try them SE out of my Liquid Carbon which I so far have only used balanced with the LCD-X and ETHER. 

 

[jlbrach]

yes you are a very bad and dangerous man!

 

[jlbrach]

ironically the HEX are no easier to drive than the Ether's....both about the same volume at the same settings...

 

[SeaWo|f]

I've been using them with my desktop system. Does that make me a bad man?

I've read they scale quite nicely with better gear just perhaps not as much as other headphones. But relatively speaking if the consensus is they sound up to 80 to 90% of the hek on quality portable gear then if they scaled like some other cans on a desktop setup they would crush everything else currently made. Making a headphone tuned like that makes sense, as much as i like my desktop setup and would like to emulate that i have no desire to carry anything with me other than my phone and what i plug into it.