Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

  [ORIGINAL MSRP $499. Purchased for $269 + tax on Amazon in February 2025 (and $269 appears to be the new, semi-permanent MSRP).] [ Tl;dr: The Edition XS are baby Arya Stealths; they have a lot of similar characteristics, but with a lot more tradeoffs (which you’d expect for a headphone that sells for less than half the price). They’re great for loud, complex songs but struggle a little bit with quieter, more subtle tracks, where they give up some ground to the 6XX. They can be a tad bright, but my in my experience didn’t cross over into being harsh. Good, solid but impressive base, decent male vocals but maybe a bit of veiling for female vocals. At $269 they’re a great deal for a very objective tuned headphone, and I may buy a hard case and carry these as my “working outside the house” pair when I don’t want to haul the 6XX.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 8 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  As I noted in my review of the Hifiman Arya Stealth , I have...

  [MSRP $199 at drop.com , occasionally on sale. Bought for $199.99 in September 2018.] [ Tl;dr: These are a screaming deal for $199. They really benefit from a little bit of power (beyond what most consumer audio jacks will provide, though they sound surprisingly good through the free dongle DAC that comes with iPhones), so if you get a pair it’s worth considering an inexpensive DAC/amp like the Moondrop Dawn Pro, especially if you’re willing to spend $20 for a replacement cable and explore balanced audio. These continue to be my first recommendation for almost anyone interested in getting into audio, and will be my go to when people ask me if balanced makes a difference.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  This was the first pair of “audiophile” grade headphones I ever bought, way back in September 2018. I’d had a couple of pairs of over-the-ears cans as a kid (one of which died because Dylan stepped on it while getting ...