Too soon!?
I hear ya'all!
Damn thing has not been officially released yet (released only in China at the time of writing), and here I go talking about possible modifications, I must be mad.
Intro:
Hifiman Edition XS is a new pair of headphones, resembling Ananda and Arya & of course the Edition X, which this is supposed to be a new version of.
They have Ear-Shaped cans that swallow the entire ear! it makes them ugly (to others) but comfy. no pressure on the lobes, good seal on the head (improves deep bass), and evens out pressure on the temples and the head with its larger contact area.
This is Edition X - but for the headband, they look alike.
And also it looks like its other brother HE1000.
Sound reviews
Here is my review I did not long ago.
The Mod! :
Cause & Reasoning
I described the sound as Hollow-ish on midrange, and also I felt the sound stage was so wide (in particular on my Chord Hugo2) that at times I felt the sound was out-of-phase! if you know what I mean (Google it). The centre image was a bit weak, on vocals . . . . on anything really.
Then by chance, one day I got my hand near the headphones while listening to music, and something strange happened! I had my hands near the top-front of the headphones (not touching) and the central image improved, together with some midrange lift. If I could keep my hands in a certain distance from top-front of the cans, I could almost get them to sound better - it was easy to overshoot and spoil the sound too. If you have a pair of these (I mean headphones, nothing rude) try it for yourself.
Once your hands are within inches of the back, you can influence the sound, even tune it. I believe it happens because of selective sound reflection off your palms, back into the ear.
Something else struck me too, the metal grill could ring like a bell! Try it, give one of the bars a little twang with your finger-nail and each bar rings a metalic bell sound. This couldn't be right! they are millimeters away from a large diaphragm that could take one-Watt of power. This is no IEM, the vibrations are real.
Also, if the magnet's sharp edges can create such an interference that Hifiman needs to remedy by using Srealth Magnets (rounded edges) and Audeze has the Fazor concept, not to mention Dan Clark Flow arrangement - why on earth the rear grill has such sharp edges facing the transducers ?? Parallel to the same Stealth Magnets and a tiny distance away!?
Procedure:
You have to open them I am afraid. Take extreme care!
The transducers are fragile, you can easily damage them permanently. Take note how the thing is put together, take pictures along the way to act as possible reminders. Avoid having anything magnetic nearby the strong magnets. If you don't feel confident, DON'T.
I used a small piece of thin foam at first, but it was too much, finally I settled on a layer of curtain netting, very fine and thin and in Black.
I cut a piece, with a curved shape to cover about a sixth of the area of back grill. I placed it on the dismantled back of the Alu. grill and marked the edges of the net on the grill. I used very small pieces of clear and thin Double-sided gel tape near those marks. I use gel type tape because it has no glue to smear or cure. Fumes can damage diaphragms. I carefully placed it on the inside of the grill, fixing the edges of the net with those tiny pieces of tape to the grill - last thing I want is for the piece to flap with music.
To remedy the sharp edges, I used a very fine round file (jewellers type) to carefully round off the grill edges on the inside (the outside, facing away from the diaphragms is already rounded and finished, don't touch them) . Just a little, enough to polish the edges and round them off, hardly noticeable by naked eye (my eyes).
To stop the ringing, I braced the inside of the grill, with a piece of half-round plastic bar (4mm wide), with the flat side away from the diaphragm, I used tiny pieces of same gel tape to fix the bar to the centre of the grill.
See this: (zoom in)
It looks a bit better than this, I used a flash to make the black net visible, otherwise the whole mod is almost invisible.
The Effect:
Very noticeable! in a good way.
The headphones are the same, but improved to my ears.
- Stereo image is much better, it is still wide and tall, but instrument pin pointing is easier, there is a defined central image and lateral solid images where before it was a bit confused. It is easier to follow the lyrics (if you know what I mean)
- Midrange is improved! is it the central image being more focused or is the midrange a bit fuller? I think both.
- There was a certain metallic tinge to mid treble, almost screaming at me at times - it is almost gone, sound is Warmer. I think it is because of the ringing of grill bars.
Incidentally after the mod. the same twang on the grill bars with my finger nail produces no ringing at all, just a dead tak.
On Classical music, violins sound warmer, no edgy sound. On Jazz, cymbals are little clearer and crisper.
You can try before you buy!
Put the same netting on the outside of the headphones without opening them, with tape, also use a round plastic bar and use tape to fix the top and bottom of it to the cans. Since the grill is curved to the outside, the bar should touch all of grill if you use tape to fix the top amd bottom, and listen - if it works for you, only then contemplate on opening the cans.
Laugh all you like! I had fun (and a little scare) and I prefer the sound.
I hear ya'all!
Damn thing has not been officially released yet (released only in China at the time of writing), and here I go talking about possible modifications, I must be mad.
Intro:
Hifiman Edition XS is a new pair of headphones, resembling Ananda and Arya & of course the Edition X, which this is supposed to be a new version of.
They have Ear-Shaped cans that swallow the entire ear! it makes them ugly (to others) but comfy. no pressure on the lobes, good seal on the head (improves deep bass), and evens out pressure on the temples and the head with its larger contact area.
This is Edition X - but for the headband, they look alike.
And also it looks like its other brother HE1000.
Sound reviews
Here is my review I did not long ago.
The Mod! :
Cause & Reasoning
I described the sound as Hollow-ish on midrange, and also I felt the sound stage was so wide (in particular on my Chord Hugo2) that at times I felt the sound was out-of-phase! if you know what I mean (Google it). The centre image was a bit weak, on vocals . . . . on anything really.
Then by chance, one day I got my hand near the headphones while listening to music, and something strange happened! I had my hands near the top-front of the headphones (not touching) and the central image improved, together with some midrange lift. If I could keep my hands in a certain distance from top-front of the cans, I could almost get them to sound better - it was easy to overshoot and spoil the sound too. If you have a pair of these (I mean headphones, nothing rude) try it for yourself.
Once your hands are within inches of the back, you can influence the sound, even tune it. I believe it happens because of selective sound reflection off your palms, back into the ear.
Something else struck me too, the metal grill could ring like a bell! Try it, give one of the bars a little twang with your finger-nail and each bar rings a metalic bell sound. This couldn't be right! they are millimeters away from a large diaphragm that could take one-Watt of power. This is no IEM, the vibrations are real.
Also, if the magnet's sharp edges can create such an interference that Hifiman needs to remedy by using Srealth Magnets (rounded edges) and Audeze has the Fazor concept, not to mention Dan Clark Flow arrangement - why on earth the rear grill has such sharp edges facing the transducers ?? Parallel to the same Stealth Magnets and a tiny distance away!?
Procedure:
You have to open them I am afraid. Take extreme care!
The transducers are fragile, you can easily damage them permanently. Take note how the thing is put together, take pictures along the way to act as possible reminders. Avoid having anything magnetic nearby the strong magnets. If you don't feel confident, DON'T.
I used a small piece of thin foam at first, but it was too much, finally I settled on a layer of curtain netting, very fine and thin and in Black.
I cut a piece, with a curved shape to cover about a sixth of the area of back grill. I placed it on the dismantled back of the Alu. grill and marked the edges of the net on the grill. I used very small pieces of clear and thin Double-sided gel tape near those marks. I use gel type tape because it has no glue to smear or cure. Fumes can damage diaphragms. I carefully placed it on the inside of the grill, fixing the edges of the net with those tiny pieces of tape to the grill - last thing I want is for the piece to flap with music.
To remedy the sharp edges, I used a very fine round file (jewellers type) to carefully round off the grill edges on the inside (the outside, facing away from the diaphragms is already rounded and finished, don't touch them) . Just a little, enough to polish the edges and round them off, hardly noticeable by naked eye (my eyes).
To stop the ringing, I braced the inside of the grill, with a piece of half-round plastic bar (4mm wide), with the flat side away from the diaphragm, I used tiny pieces of same gel tape to fix the bar to the centre of the grill.
See this: (zoom in)
It looks a bit better than this, I used a flash to make the black net visible, otherwise the whole mod is almost invisible.
The Effect:
Very noticeable! in a good way.
The headphones are the same, but improved to my ears.
- Stereo image is much better, it is still wide and tall, but instrument pin pointing is easier, there is a defined central image and lateral solid images where before it was a bit confused. It is easier to follow the lyrics (if you know what I mean)
- Midrange is improved! is it the central image being more focused or is the midrange a bit fuller? I think both.
- There was a certain metallic tinge to mid treble, almost screaming at me at times - it is almost gone, sound is Warmer. I think it is because of the ringing of grill bars.
Incidentally after the mod. the same twang on the grill bars with my finger nail produces no ringing at all, just a dead tak.
On Classical music, violins sound warmer, no edgy sound. On Jazz, cymbals are little clearer and crisper.
You can try before you buy!
Put the same netting on the outside of the headphones without opening them, with tape, also use a round plastic bar and use tape to fix the top and bottom of it to the cans. Since the grill is curved to the outside, the bar should touch all of grill if you use tape to fix the top amd bottom, and listen - if it works for you, only then contemplate on opening the cans.
Laugh all you like! I had fun (and a little scare) and I prefer the sound.
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