HIFIMAN Edition XS Review: Ranked #12 of 134

The HIFIMAN Edition XS ranks #12 out of 134 total Over-Ear Headphones for sound quality. See all Headphones rankings for every top pick.

Brand: HIFIMAN

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#12 HIFIMAN Edition XS: $209.00 Amazon eBay

Pros: A preference score of 90 with a nearly flat tilt shows a well balanced tuning, and bass from 60 to 200 Hz is only about 1 dB above target. Presence and treble stay within about 1 dB of target, which keeps vocals and guitars clear. The planar drivers are 18 ohms and 92 dB, so it works with most amplifiers, and its rating matches the Sennheiser HD 600 and Austrian Audio Hi-X60.

Cons: A 6 dB dip near 9.4 kHz sits next to a roughly 9 dB peak at 11.9 kHz, and the air band runs about 5.5 dB above target, so the top end can sound uneven and sharp on bright recordings. Sub-bass is about 3 dB light under 60 Hz, which trims deep rumble. The open back leaks sound and gives no isolation, and at 405 g it is not especially light.

Released	Oct 2021 (5 years ago)
Back	Open
Connection	Wired
Deviation From Target	1.83 dB standard deviation
Driver Type	Planar magnetic
Form Factor	Over-ear
Frequency Response	8Hz - 50kHz (Manufacturer specified)
Harman Preference Score	90 (measured by oratory1990, via AutoEQ)
Impedance	18 ohms
Sensitivity	92 dB
Tonal Tilt	-0.07 (negative is warmer, positive brighter)
Weight	0.9 lbs (405 g)

EQ preset to match the Harman target

Set a preamp of -4.8 dB, then add these filters in any parametric equalizer (Wavelet, Equalizer APO, Peace, or a player with parametric EQ). Calculated by AutoEQ from its measured frequency response.

Filter	Frequency	Gain	Q
Low shelf	105 Hz	+5.8 dB	0.70
Peak	87 Hz	-2.8 dB	0.33
Peak	1,896 Hz	+4.0 dB	1.92
Peak	2,896 Hz	-3.7 dB	3.11
Peak	1,420 Hz	+1.3 dB	3.89
High shelf	10,000 Hz	-5.8 dB	0.70
Peak	5,585 Hz	+1.7 dB	6.00
Peak	70 Hz	-0.4 dB	2.12
Peak	111 Hz	+0.4 dB	1.64
Peak	927 Hz	-0.9 dB	6.00

• Reviews, Comparisons and Sound Samples
  • AutoEQ results for the HIFIMAN Edition XS (oratory1990 measurement)

Head-to-Head Comparisons

1 comparisons

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