I have a pair of these in the classifieds and seeing this thread died off I figuered I'd pop in with my thoughts on these XX's because it seems like people are avoiding them based on some rough reviews. I think there is a possibility that this model has a lot of unit variance. I haven't personally heard them in the 'bad' variant but I can assume based on what I've heard and read about these that the reviews are not lining up with what I'm hearing in my two pairs. (example is the soundstage is much wider than edition x (v1 and v2). Its possible its a synergy with my amps I suppose though.
Here are some of my impressions of this headphone compared to the other hifiman eggs. I have two of these XX as I liked them enough to have a backup in case of driver failure as they are the cheapest eggs you can buy. So I went on a crazy buying spree to pickup all the egg hifimans to figure out my preference after hearing the deva and deciding I wanted to try their giant teardrop shape as I love the airyness of the deva. Boy do all the eggs up the ante with airyness and soundstage depth. So I read all over and heard on youtube reviews that these have a smaller soundstage, more intimate experience compared to the rest of the more expensive siblings. I have a pair of edition x v1 and v2 and both of them are more intimate and tight sounding. They both sound like you are listening with headphones but with more airyness than most still, but its obvious you have headphones on. The XX on the other hand are very similar to the he1000v1 in terms of its like you are in a small car with surround sound, as if you are in a small room with speakers vs strapped to your head. Its not exactly the same but you get what I'm saying hopefully. I have a pair of he1000v1 and its the airiest pair of headphones I've ever heard (the only things that probably beat it are probably something that is fully open air like the mysphere - I have never heard them but you can imagine that is the case based on their design).
So I love my edition x's both models, but if I A B them to these XX, the XX is just better across the board for me. The X/v1v2 are a bit more anemic sounding to me, I have a feeling its because of the difference is the driver design, where they are single sided magnet array >(pointed out to me that they (xv1/v2) are double sided) and these XX are double sided. The XX has wider magnets on the ear side, maybe it moves the diaphram easier or something. On the XX the Bass goes deeper, treble is very similar slightly rolled off where I personally feel if it wasn't it would be into too much of a clinical / fatiguing signature, sibilance is there but only for bad recordings with shoutiness (possibly someone too close to mic type thing). The same sibilance can be heard with a pair of Sennheiser HD650's which I've kept as my only dynamic headphone since I've adventured into planars. I have heard a lot of sibilant planars, so popping on the hd650's when there is sibilance it alines with being in the recording rather than a boost for the headphones hardware. So anyway, I have two pairs of these, and I no longer am worried about broken drivers, I figure if that ever happens, at this price, I can just pick up another off ebay, there are 3 on there right now with one side broken and I'd only need one since only one side would break if it ever happens. Having said that, at 399, the amount of headphone you get is staggering. I prefer these to Audeze LCD X, GX, Hifiman Edition X (v1 and v2),Ananda, 400i, Deva, Drop Panda, even Abyss Diana (v1). The only egg i've liked better are my pair of HE1000v1. I have not tried HEKv2 or se though. Some people are going to think I'm crazy, but I prefer them to the Aryas as well. I don't really understand why so many people love them. I think a lot of people chase 'perfection' to a level that it just becomes silly, and too clinical, to the point that they lose focus on the fact that listening to music is enjoyable entertainment and not some weird clinical logical testing experience. Having said all that, everyone is different and has different preferences for audio. I want to get lost in the music and these do exactly that. I really love them.
Part of the reason I was looking into the X's (v1,v2,xx) is they are higher sensitivity so I could wire them up wireless with my Qudelix 5k bluetooth. Arya/he1000 etc need too much power to be properly driven by the little unit but all the x's work great and sound great. I mean my liquid platinum sounds better but come on.
The only other thing I'll say is I like the headband a lot on the HE1000's, its the most comfortable headband I've ever had on my head. I have the XX's headband at the lowest setting and slightly angled so its a tiny bit higher on my head, but at that position its great, wish it had a tiny bit of tilt though. I ordered a pair of aliexpress earpads that I hope will be slightly less dense. We'll see.
... but not now, but now you've put the dang idea in my head for a later time to come.
