Louis reviews the HIFIMAN Edition XV, an affordably priced pair of open-back planar headphones featuring an updated design and enhanced magnet array. It is currently priced at $399.
Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I want to thank the team at HIFIMAN for their support.
Click here to read more about the HIFIMAN products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
It’s been around ten years since the release of the HIFIMAN Edition X and X V2, and around four years since the release of the Edition XS. Those two headphones were highly successful launches from HIFIMAN. Just ask around.
If I had to choose one between those two, it would certainly be the Edition XS because of all the audible refinements it brought to the table.
Plus, it was one of the most prominent in bass response under a grand from the HIFIMAN line, in my opinion. That extra sauce made me fond of the HIFIMAN Edition XS.
So four years later, after the Edition XS release and in the present time, HIFIMAN released another in the series called the Edition XV, priced at $399.
On the outside, it doesn’t resemble the other two at all. That alone makes this launch an interesting one to review.
Features
The new addition to the X line of HIFIMAN headphones, the Edition XV, is a complete overhaul of the series, including a new driver, a new shell, a new design, and the latest HIFIMAN Gen 2 headband style assembly in an affordable package.
The NEO Supernano Diaphragm Gen 2 is used on the Edition XV driver, along with the Gen 2 dual-sided Enhanced magnets. These two implementations are similar to what HIFIMAN used on the recently reviewed Ananda Unveiled, which sits at a slightly higher price tier.
This Edition XV release is visually one of the most unique designs from HIFIMAN to date. Not only is it a complete redesign, but the cup design, for example, is unique within the lineup. It also contributes, apparently, to a rather unique tuning.
Design
I’m on the fence about calling this release a HIFIMAN second-generation headphone, although it carries three major changes that are all labeled second-generation implementations. This is the fourth Edition X release that I remember.
The new Edition XV should really be titled the third generation X, since only two of the previous versions displayed major changes. Those were the OG Edition X and the Edition XS. The differences were with their driver implementation and their headband design.
This new headband seems more promising than the previous Edition XS headband. It protrudes less on top.
The headband will not catch RF signals if you catch my drift, but it still retains the comfort level of the headstrap design used on the original X. This was achieved by slipstreaming the headstrap into this design.
The top portion, or the metal spring on top, is curved and not as clunky-looking as the previous versions. However, to differentiate this model from the other models with this same style headband, HIFIMAN gave this one an all-silver cup, yoke, and headband spring color scheme.
Alongside the all-metal cup, the backplate is also metal and is decorated with an interesting honeycomb perforated pattern that increases breathability in the center and reduces airflow on the outer edges.
It does look less breathable compared to HIFIMAN’s Window Shade design, but it’s an open-back, nonetheless. You can see the magnet array through the perforations.
HIFIMAN has used perforated backplates before, but this one is a unique and one-of-a-kind backplate for HIFIMAN.
There doesn’t seem to be any other protection beyond the perforated backplate, however, and there’s no cloth protecting the driver inside, which increases driver breathability but also increases risk factors.
Comfort
The Edition XV presents a higher comfort level that sits between the first headband design and the second headband design that employed the cushion-filled top, which wasn’t my favorite HIFIMAN headband style. That headband style always created a small pressure spot on top.
Somehow, I feel that this headband style combines the comfort elements of the headstrap but fixes the clamping force issues. This version applies a higher amount of clamping force, making it less comfortable to wear.
What’s weird is that this style of headband assembly is heavier by a few dozen grams. We’re talking about a 47-gram difference. However, the extra weight doesn’t affect comfort on this set since I do prefer the comfort levels on the Edition XV over previous versions.
Stock Pads
Yep, deja vu. The asymmetrical hybrid UltraPads are employed here again, and I’m not complaining. These pads are interchangeable with the Ananda Unveiled pads, the only other model that uses the new 6-point clip mounting system. That I know of
What’s picking my brain is what will happen on the day when the pads need to be replaced.
There’s another UltraPad with a 9-point mount system, and there’s also a 12-point mount variant, and they’re not interchangeable but are the same pad. I feel that HIFIMAN should have made them all the same, and instead, work on their quality.
I don’t have any comfort issues with this cup design and these pads. Only an elephant would. An entire fist can fit inside them comfortably. The cushions inside the pads appear to be some sort of quick memory foam with a medium density that conforms well.
One heads up I can give you upfront is that these headphones are sensitive to where you place them on your head and where your ear sits within the cup. I found the best placement is high and forward. That way, your ear sits at the bottom rear of the cup.
Stock Cable
At least HIFIMAN did not change the connectivity aspect of the Edition XV on us, and I am happy for that.
The Edition XV uses the common 3.5mm input jacks on each cup with a top-positive, and sleeve-negative connection scheme. You shouldn’t have any issues obtaining a cable for this set.
Within the Edition XV packaging, you find the same six-foot Monocrystalline HIFIMAN cable that came with the Ananda Unveiled cable with plastic connectors and strain reliefs, contrary to what you get if you order the same cable from their online store.
I call the stock cable a downgraded Monocrystalline HIFIMAN cable. It’s terminated with a 3.5mm plug, and it comes with a 6.35mm adapter. Again, this headphone merits a better stock cable.
Packaging & Accessories
Alongside that stock cable, you get nothing else. At least the inside foam can be used as a headphone stand. That’s an unexpected bonus and the only accessory you get.
The plain brown cardboard box remains, and it looks like it’s here to stay unless you buy an upscaled model like the HE1000 Unveiled or the Susvara.
Sound Impressions
The following sound impressions of the HIFIMAN Edition XV were completed using the HIFIMAN EF400 and the EF600 DAC/amps. Both were used on high gain and with the NOS filter fed by a Windows 11 PC with 24-bit, 48 kHz FLAC files.
Summary
The HIFIMAN Edition XV veers away from the HIFIMAN overall bright presentation, and it’s one of the HIFIMAN models that can do bass rather well. The added bass response fills in the void, mitigating the potential for brightness.
This is something that HIFIMAN has apparently been working on since most of their latest headphones can’t be considered bright-sounding.
Their lineup is gaining balance over most things besides accurate timbre and natural tones. This is the direction HIFIMAN took when tuning the Edition XV.
The Edition XV is also one of the more intimate-sounding HIFIMAN headphones. They give off a presentation that’s between a closed-back and an open-back design, but it still doesn’t sound compressed, just intimate.
Other characters that the HIFIMAN Edition XV gains improvements in are speed, transient response, and accuracy in tonality from the original.
It’s a refined X model, and it’s apparent that HIFIMAN is addressing with their new releases most of the deficiencies of previous models, particularly in the low end.
What HIFIMAN seems to be aiming for is a more balanced and natural presentation while keeping the holographic effect the line is known for, and they have obtained just that with the Edition XV.
Bass
The bass is more present in this model than in other HIFIMAN models. The HIFIMAN Edition XV supplies the listener with bass that’s clean and controlled rather than heavy-handed. It needs a slight amount of tightness to be perfect, but that might also veer it into analytical territory.
There’s plenty of physical bass extension, although the tone generator could only reach 22Hz, and below that, there was no bass presence. With the right amplifier and some bass boosting on an EQ, these can produce some head-rattling bass with the Edition XV.
Above that, the HIFIMAN Edition XV has one of the flattest curved bass responses from HIFIMAN, but I’m finding that across their new line, particularly with the Arya Unveiled and the Ananda Unveiled variant.
The bass can come across as clinical, but I find it to strike a balance between that and musical. You can boost the low frequencies a few decibels if you desire, with little or no degradation to the rest of the spectrum.
However, I doubt you will need to do that because the stock tuning produces ample bass, and I like bass. The bass quantity they produce is accurate to the proportion within the tracks you’re listening to.
Midrange
When I ran a tone sweep test, the midrange was evenly produced in output level with the bass until it reached the top portion of the midrange, around the 2k mark.
The small rise there lifts the brightness level of the midrange but not to the point of dominating the frequency spectrum.
Surprisingly, the midrange section is not as mid-forward as some of the previous HIFIMAN headphones. One can say that it’s the smoothest part of the overall presentation.
Male vocals are warm-toned, while female vocals are produced with crispy forwardness, and both come across as natural and fluid.
There is a warm characteristic here, and vocals tend to be on the toasty side and are not as tepid as in other models. They sound warm, yes, but not chesty. Instruments sound natural and lifelike.
What the HIFIMAN Edition XV does best is produce a natural timbre, with an effortless profile. They produce lots of detail, but they’re not the best at retrieving detail.
You get just enough to keep things interesting, but there is a lack here. I leave that task up for the big brothers like the HE1000 and the Arya line.
There are a few small peaks, one at 2k, one at 5k, and one at 7k that I audibly heard, but they’re not bothersome at all.
HIFIMAN did a good job tuning the midrange since this set doesn’t sound harsh or strident even when pushed to produce loud volume levels.
Treble
Again, the usual HIFIMAN tuning seems to be absent. Perhaps that new style grill is what did the trick here. The Edition XV is not bright, leaning toward balance and musicality. I tried faulting the high frequencies, but came up short of anything.
The HIFIMAN Edition XV uncommonly produces high frequencies in a gentle, relaxed manner, which, in general, produce bright-sounding highs but are well-controlled and neutrally toned.
The highs are well extended, free from harshness due to the tuning that doesn’t let the high frequencies pass a certain threshold and maintains treble output at a pleasant level. It’s a deviation from the HIFIMAN bright tuning of the past.
Staging & Dynamics
All the tuning changes made by HIFIMAN somehow shrank the soundstage in size compared to some other asymmetrical cup headphones they’ve produced in the past. That happened when they introduced the Stealth Magnet design.
The Edition XV is intimate and mimics a large studio room instead of a cavernous hall. It has a soundstage with lots of depth, more than others, and I wasn’t expecting that. I was expecting a narrow depth since the back grille looks to be restrictive in airflow.
But if you look closer, there’s no cloth behind the grill; therefore, airflow is increased, and that can take credit for producing a soundstage that is not restricted to sound too narrow, although the overall size is not a large one.
It’s spacious, not wide or tall, with depth being the most dominant aspect.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
