Hifiman staging, timbre, and slam can change radically depending on the angle and position in which the headphones are worn on the head, so you need to find the sweet spot. Rule of thumb is that if the stage sounds tall, you probably messed up.

Can't speak for those three headphones in particular, but when in the ideal spot, Hifiman's HE1000V2 sounds closer to my near-field loudspeakers than anything else I've heard, including the comparatively depth-lacking HD800S.

There really is something special with HEKv2 soundstage, mostly good but sometimes a little odd. Haven't heard any other headphones like it.

The mids are cut with treble spikes increase the perceived soundstage and the extreme ringing in hifiman stuff is just icing on the cake.

Extreme ringing? What you mean?

The only thing that makes it unnatural is the U-shaped tonality with distant upper mids and emphasized treble. I guess that's also why many people say the soundstage of HD800S is unnatural.

I think they have a very good soundstage, it's big without sounding unnatural. I have the Edition XS, OG Ananda, Arya Stealth.

HD800S is the headphone that gets into uncanny valley territory with soundstage, it is very large and with some music (like orchestral) very good, but it's sometimes veering into too much unnatural party trick territory.

Hifiman is more natural in this regard, IMO.

Perception of soundstage is extremely personal, it depends on both your physical ears and head and how the headphone interacts with them, and also your brain, just how you personally interpret what you are getting. I think there can be some broad agreement that some headphones (HD800S) are very wide, and others (HD600) are much less so but the specifics of how you find it are going to be quite personal I think.

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I have an Edition-XS, the soundstage is wide but not massive. It is VERY good for classical and jazz music. I sometimes get the sensation of being in the room while I’m listening. As for describing them as natural or unnatural, I can’t really say. I’ve never really stopped to think of the soundstage of a headphone sounding natural. Just narrow, mild, medium, wide, or massive.

Can you spot the persona that’s never heard Hifiman headphones?

I guess so... I always hear people talk about sennheiser's HD600 series and I wish I had a pair just so I could relate and understand the fuzz. I have tested the HD660S briefly at a store and I think they certainly have that Sennheiser veil of which I'm not a fan of. Owning a pair and getting to know and used to them is another thing though. Still, I don't go around talking shit about the HD600 series like that. Need to be constructive and fair.

He's entitled to his opinion and there's the possibility that he has heard some kind of ringing with a pair of hifimans of course. So here's me hoping for a reply about the ringing.

Exactly my point. My bet is they read a Reddit post about it and now spout it as some fact. Even if they had heard one headphone that had that characteristic it would be odd to label all Hifimans based on one experience where something is clearly wrong. My point is this person is what we don’t need making comments because it could confuse the OP.

Yeah. Even if he's heard the ringing his message nothing substantial in his message. No one's heard of this phenomena and hifimans in general are regarded as having good sound.

Explain it to us. It's an angry troll post

How does the Ananda compare to the XS in your opinion?

I’ve heard the Edition XS described as like a bassier Ananda without the ski head band.

That's basically it, the Edition XS has more bass and is closer to the Arya Stealth in that regard. Ananda maybe slightly smoother through the mids and treble.

Comfort stock is for me much better with the Ananda, it's a better headband. Some people find the Ananda clamp too much, and it doesn't have cup swivel. The Edition XS does have cup swivel and is much looser stock, but for me too loose, it felt very insecure and would fall off if I tilted my head down. Bending it fixed this.

Ananada is much easier to drive from low power portable sources, Edition XS needs around 10x the power.

In Asia they sell for very similar prices, (like within $25) and I think they are competing around the same level. If the Ananda was much more expensive, the Edition XS for sure is better value.

Wait 10x?!?

Does that mean it’ll be quiet through a apple adapter?

10x by the published specifications, it might be a slight exaggeration as the Ananda isn't quite as easy to drive as Hifiman purport on the spec sheet, although it's still very easy to drive. Ananda is 25Ω/103dB, Edition XS is 18Ω/92dB.

You probably wouldn't want to be running the Edition XS off an Apple adapter. Ananda should be fine off one though. I don't have an Apple dongle, but running it off a Qudelix 5K without EQ I'm at 299mV which at 25Ω would be 3.6mW. The Apple dongle does 31mW into 32Ω. Using EQ, I'd go substantially higher. But the Edition XS needs a lot more power than that.

The Edition XS is harder to drive than an average headphone, but it's not crazy hard to drive. It's more than the Ananda is particularly easy to drive, its official sensitivity numbers are similar to an IEM. Now I think it's actually less sensitive than they publish, but it's still extremely easy to drive for a full size over-ear.

I don’t know how to use Sensitivty and Impedance specs sadly lol

I know they dictate the ease of driving them but I’m a noob

If you are using a low power dongle, get the Ananda. If the Edition XS, you want an amp.

The sensitivity is the volume it reaches at a given power (or sometimes voltage) level. So a headphone that has 103dB/mW sensitivity will get to 103dB with 1mW power. One with 92dB will only get to 92dB with the same amount of power. It takes 10x the power to increase volume by 10dB.

Man the Ananda is $200 more :(

I’m torn because the Edition XS has better bass and is $200 cheaper, but the Ananda has better comfort, better detail and soundstage, better mids and highs, and is easier to drive.

It's not $200 more if you are buying it at current sale prices from China, Ananda was $386 on Ali after discounts last I looked. Edition XS is very much on the same level as the Ananda, just different. But you will need an amp for it, so factor that in if you don't have one.

Isn’t it always a gamble to buy old Hifiman through Ali? Like a quality control disaster waiting to happen.

That's a new headphone. I have almost all of mine from China, aside from the HE6SEV2 which is an Adorama exclusive, I'm actually in Asia so that was a lot more of a hassle for me to get than the Chinese ones. I bought from Chinese sellers on Shopee which is a SE Asian marketplace, I did not buy from that seller on Ali, so I can't say for them. But you presumably aren't in SE Asia and can't buy from Shopee, so I linked Ali. I have spent more than that with other sellers on Ali, without issue, I have spent thousands of dollars on Ali. That seller seem to have a good amount of positive feedback, from selling Hifimans specifically, and their prices are low but not unrealistically so, they are in line with Asian prices.

I have HE400SE, Edition XS, Ananda and Arya Stealth, all from China. They are made in China, Hifiman is a Chinese company, it's ultimately coming from China whatever you do, it's just a matter of the markup.

There are valid warranty concerns and all the hassle with that. But it's literally a matter of you would pay double that price to get them in the US, probably about bang on double when you factor in sales tax. It's not like it's this tiny difference. Up to you.

They offer a extended warranty? I accidentally sat on my Sundara once.

Sitting on a headphone wouldn't be covered by warranty anyway, unless you had a policy that specifically covered accidental damage. If ordering from China it would have to go back to China for any warranty, if you could even get that.

But it's a matter of getting the headphone almost half price. Personally I'd take half price no warranty over paying double for a warranty I probably will never use.

I can't speak for the XS but I've owned the Arya V2 and still own the Ananda and Arya Stealth - and neither sounds unnatural stage-wise. They're all large and grand sounding and place images extremely well - with the Arya Stealths being the most engaging from a FR, dynamics, and imaging/layering standpoint. Of course, they have the best bass too and are much easier to drive compared to the V2 - which needs no less than ~2W balanced at minimum. The same ~2W on the Stealths sounds delectably punchy and dynamic. Both versions of the Arya handily outclasses the Anandas and by default the XS.......

The Arya would be my dream (if not an 800s), but not everybody got over $1000 😔

I was hoping to get a taste of upper-end sound without breaking the bank.

I've been there exactly. In the end though: If I wanted high-end SQ, I had to spend high-end $$$$. After trying to "save money" with "good" midrange HPs, I was never ultimately satisfied in their SQ - after a while their faults began to shine through like a flashlight, LOL - then I'd wind up buying another slightly "better" set that still would only satisfy me for a time. I wound up with a closet full of HPs that still didn't satisfy my itch for realism. When I added it all up, I'd spent just as much on mid-range gear - that still didn't satisfy me - as what it would have cost me for a high-end HP. Now I have a closet full of HPs that I don't even listen to anymore (I really need to sell off some of them, LOL).

Once I bought the Arya the search was over - it is all that I was looking for. That is, until I set along trying to maximize their SQ potential. Enter: A discrete Class A balanced amp - the Gustard H20 (I bought it used for $475, ~$1,000 new) and I have this setup today over a year and a half later.

My chain: SMSL SU-9 DAC > Gustard H20 > HFM Arya Stealth = I'm still smiling and not wanting or needing buying any more gear for the forseeable future.

In the end: Buy once, cry once (but I had to spend some money though)......

>after a while their faults began to shine through like a flashlight, then I’d wind up buying a slightly better set that would only satisfy me for a time

You may just have that typical audiophile FOMO lol

Naahh, that was mainly with mid-fi, other less capable, or budget/stopgap HPs. The Arya has been as near as completely satisfying as I've ever heard from a SQ standpoint - even after well over a year. This goes for both the V2s and the Stealths - especially after taking care of synergy via system matching (ie: using discrete Class A or Class AB amps instead of any of the IC/THX/NFCA amps). Happy listening.....