the XS ain’t easy to drive, but I still wouldn’t recommend you mortgage away your kidney for an amp, unless of course, that’s what you’re into.

Although it’s compatible with any device with a 3.5mm jack, it works best with a powerful amplifier. Aside from that, it works well and delivers an outstanding performance as the company claims. The Edition XS offers high-quality audio that is on par with higher-priced headphones.

These headphones offer an excellently balanced sound image with deep basses, precise mids and airy highs. The transmission of musical information is fast, direct and neutral. A virtual stage is created that is vivid, lively and rousing. However, a powerful preamplifier is a prerequisite to getting them going. Once this is in play, the Edition XS is unstoppable and unleashes a world of sound that rivals even higher-priced devices. The price of around 549 euros can therefore be described as an audiophile bargain and the Edition XS can be recommended without reservation.

The Edition XS easily compete with headphones in their price range with a very high price-to-performance ratio. The XS are an amazing value and offer performance not far off from headphones more than twice their cost. These will be a mind-blowing revelation for enthusiasts and music lovers who have only heard standard big-brand mainstream headphones. The tuning, sound quality, build and finish, and comfort (for bigger heads) are all excellent. With so few compromises, the XS have earned an XL-sized thumbs up!

An almost true tonality only rivaled by its much higher tier cousins plus the bass has finally arrived at the HIFIMAN house sound signature which I’m sure many of our readers have been yearning.

I’m still a big fan of the original Ananda, but I think the style of timbre here will speak to a lot more listeners. It sucessfully combines HiFiMAN’s signature sound, with a greater focus on accuracy and realism, with nothing lost in between. With the decreased in price coming along with these improvments, and the Edition XS becomes a headphone even more worth your time.

ure, there’s always a superior headphone out there and there always will be, but if you’re not willing to spend huge amounts of cash for an open back headphone for your desktop, it would be difficult for you to find a better option than the Edition XS.

If you’re unsure between the Edition XS and Ananda, that’s a harder question. It’s hard to justify the $200 difference for a marginal technical improvement and when there’s the option to mitigate the upper treble glare in the Edition XS with EQ. But speaking from my privileged position as a reviewer, I do prefer the Ananda more than the Edition XS. I just find it more comfortable with as I personally prefer its frequency response and the old headband style and increased clamp force that better hugs my head. If the Ananda were to be on sale for $500, I would pick that up instead.

They have a very neutral sound profile that's suitable for a variety of audio content. Thanks to their open-back design, they have an outstanding passive soundstage performance that seems immersive, wide, and natural. They also reproduce sound very consistently and have a comfortable fit suitable for long listening sessions.