[Reputator]

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 and these XX are double sided. 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.

Very nice review! Yeah the Edition XXs were criminally overlooked when they were available, and I agree that it was probably due to some highly influential reviewers knocking them early on. My Edition XXs were the only headphone I needed for over two years. I thought the FR was beautifully balanced, pleasing and relaxed to listen to. They were engaging and musical, yet they didn't forcibly grab your attention. You could listen to them and still do other things if you wanted. A very crowd-pleasing sound signature, I thought, with very nice punch and slam to the bass like with most good Hifiman eggies. They were tremendous all-arounders for the price (at $500 anyway which is what I paid), and it's a shame more people didn't take the chance on them.

I still own them even though I'm speaking in the past sense, but they don't get much listening time anymore since I got the Arya Stealths. The Stealths are brighter, less relaxed, more detailed, and have a crazy, huge 3D soundstage that's both wide and deep, with pinpoint imaging. They improve on the Edition XXs in every way, at least in my opinion (they have very close to the same sensitivity, btw). But despite not being as technical, the Edition XX is still a nice relaxing listen, with a little more warmth and elevation in the mids.

 

[sennfan83261]

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 and these XX are double sided.

I have the HEXv2 and the HEKv1 and they both sport double-sided magnet arrays, where the ear-facing magnets are smaller than the rear magnets. Hifiman called this configuration their window shade technology:

Anyways, the egg-shaped Hifiman's are not going to slam like my HE-500 and HE-6, or any Audeze cans that I own (see sig). However, the HEKv1 and Arya v2 do seem to slam better (as does the HE-500) when given ample power (like power amp levels, e.g. ~55W at 8ohms) (the HEXv2 are too sensitive for that). They still won't reach HE-6 or Audeze levels though.

 

[timwillhack]

Thank you for that clarification, my apologies I got it wrong, its hard to nail down the specs since they don't list them on their site anymore and wayback machine failed me I assumed the blackbars on the ear side were like the fazor wave guide from Audeze rather than magnets.

Yeah the HEK's are a beast, more slam than X's absolutely, but the XX seems to be somewhere in the middle, needing a little more juice than the X/v1/v2 to hit the same volume levels but feeling more full to me once they are at matching volume. I have a mini sound meter that I use when I AB headphones to make sure they hit the same levels so I can make sure I'm comparing apples to apples. Those ear side magnet bars are much wider on the XX and I haven't seen that setup on any other hifiman teardrops/eggs, at a minimum its different than the x v1/v2 setup.

 

[sennfan83261]

Those ear side magnet bars are much wider on the XX and I haven't seen that setup on any other hifiman teardrops/eggs, at a minimum its different than the x v1/v2 setup.

Yeah, the different magnet configurations would likely yield perceptible sonic differences all things considered.

 

[Condocondor]

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.

Hallelujah! Finally, someone tells the truth from experience. Yep, Edition XX is preferred to Ananda and certainly Edition X v1. Have no idea what all the bad reviews were about. XX has great bass, clear mids, and neutral treble. They're incredible to me. Perhaps the new Edition XS is superior to XX?

 

[timwillhack]

Yeah, I'm glad I could get my hands on them on a whim since they were so cheap, not expecting to love them based on reviews but glad I did, it goes to show that sometimes you just gotta hear something for yourself.

I'm curious about the XS but I hate that headband, I don't know why all hifimans are getting that deva looking one, its so chunky and doesn't sit well on my head but in all honesty I'll probably pick one up when I see a used one on classifieds or ebay at a good price - might as well.

 

[pbui44]

After buying these perforated (with holes) sheepskin ear pads on AliExpress, the cable and ear pads (over time) that came with the MD (now Drop) Hifiman Edition XX were horrible and really needed higher quality replacements to give them their full appreciation:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256803968875889.html

With all of that acoustical real estate on your head and around your ears, you absolutely need real leather to use the Edition XX over time. The first real leather ear pads for the Edition XX were $60 USD and made me leave them with the crackling stock ear pads on my shelf for a while, but the new price of $21 USD had me interested and I am so glad to purchase them. I am not sure if they will fit the Edition XS well, but the they are absolutely essential for the Edition XX. Just remember to (very) lightly lift the ear pad with your fingers, then push ear pad plate lip up with your thumb to detach the tiny plastic holders.

 

[Condocondor]

I use Audio Equalizer installed on my browser (Edge) to equalize the Edition XX and they're even better. I bump 1K and 2K up about 2-3dB and they're delightful. I only listen to Youtube Premium so I don't really need JRiver.

 

[bagwell359]

no question the XX is better than the Ananda (not including the Stealth). Never heard the HEX v1 but have had the v2 for almost 4 years. They are better - less rough - but never heard the xx EQ'd.

I think the XS is more pleasing, but it's been a few years and all diff equipment...

 

[Skeza]

Hey guys, I'm looking for an educated opinion. I have an opportunity to either buy the Edition XX or the Edition XS for roughly $220 USD. The pros of the XX are the subjectively better headband and the addition of an after market Silver cable. The XS is obviously the newer model and the XX is 2 years old.

Can anyone give me a comparison on sound signature?

 

[Ithilstone]

Hey guys, I'm looking for an educated opinion. I have an opportunity to either buy the Edition XX or the Edition XS for roughly $220 USD. The pros of the XX are the subjectively better headband and the addition of an after market Silver cable. The XS is obviously the newer model and the XX is 2 years old.

Can anyone give me a comparison on sound signature?

XS is stealth and easier to drive - sound wise is rather flavour difference rather that superiority (from good source being able to power XX) of one over the other ( and here your taste is your judge)
In my opinion comfort is on XS side also is XS coming with original proof of purchase? ( if yes it is most likely still covered by warranty)

 

[Skeza]

XS is stealth and easier to drive - sound wise is rather flavour difference rather that superiority (from good source being able to power XX) of one over the other ( and here your taste is your judge)
In my opinion comfort is on XS side also is XS coming with original proof of purchase? ( if yes it is most likely still covered by warranty)

They will be running of my JDS Element III, I believe that would be adequate for the XX. No proof of purchase on both items.

I've heard the XX is warmer and a touch boomier in the low end? Which I enjoy.

With the comfort, I'm looking for more of a clamp then what the XS is reported to have. I hate headphones that wobble around on your head like the HD800.

 

[Ithilstone]

They will be running of my JDS Element III, I believe that would be adequate for the XX. No proof of purchase on both items.

I've heard the XX is warmer and a touch boomier in the low end? Which I enjoy.

With the comfort, I'm looking for more of a clamp then what the XS is reported to have. I hate headphones that wobble around on your head like the HD800.

Then go for XX as from what you said they will suit you better