The HifiMan Edition XS modding project begins and a look at the Arya Organnic

In this video I get ready to begin modding edition XS. Just taking an initial look at them and using the Arya organic as a reference point for tuning the sound.
If you fancy checking out what we have for sale, take a look at the link below
customcans.co.uk/shop/

[@KaynabX]

As an owner of a pair of HE-400SE, loved to see you mod them Can't wait to see the results of this project 💪🏼

[@CustomCans]

Thanks and glad you enjoyed the HE400se project

[@c11p]

Perfect timing... looking into purchasing the XS but seeing you take this journey now as well makes me more excited. Your HE400SE mods are top-tier.

[@CustomCans]

Thanks ;)

[@MichaelTuggle]

I love my XS comfort strap. You’ve made my headphones better! Can’t wait to see what you end up doing to them.

[@CustomCans]

Glad you like it ;)

[@hugomottet1516]

I have your confort strap for the xs and it's great ! I'm exited to see what you'll do with them

[@CustomCans]

Glad you like it and I am also excited... I can't 100% guarantee I can squeeze any more out of them but I am going to give it a try.

[@Cp48533]

Also! Just spent a few hours binge watching your vids. Jeeze you make brilliant content! Bravo 👏 👏

[@Cp48533]

Take a bow and a pat on the shoulder

[@CustomCans]

Welcome aboard

[@bullcompost]

Excellent video, as usual. I wouldn't value metal grills more than equally (non-) sounding plastic ones, as long as they are robust enough. In fact, metal ones might be more prone to ring. I am also very glad you're considering selling more high-end models, as long as there's a clear advantage in sound quality and realism. I am spreading the word in social media about your cables (having bought some myself and tried them). Please, keep up the good work.

[@CustomCans]

Yes you are right ... Metal feels nice but plastic is less likely to ring... It is early days at the moment be we may be able to make something from CNC machined wood

[@Bushviking]

XS Owner here. I am reasonably happy with them, although my HD600's get much more on-ear time. Following to see if you can find something to tune them up! Thanks for trying in advance!

[@CustomCans]

Thanks - yes, hopefully we can come up with something. I think, so far the only pair we tried and faild on was the Sennheir HD660

[@arnaudgraebert1920]

Interested in picking up the Arya Organic with one of your cables. Just received your cable for my HD600 today as well as mod kit, love it!

[@CustomCans]

Glad you like it and I will try to remember to let you know when we sell the Aryas.

[@tee4452]

The ringing thing that happens with the aluminum grill is probably a main issue. If one can flick their fingers across the grill and get a xylophone-like resonant sound response, that's got to be interacting with the sound in an audible way. Eliminating that would probably be most easily accomplished with a more neutral plastic or hard rubber grill. I'm sure you've thought of this already and it may be kind of the direction you're going. I guess it'll depend on what the FR looks like with any prototype and it would be hard to predict what the outcome would be. I wonder if HiFiMan intentionally wanted aluminum there to alter the FR to get their FR goal for the cans, or was it just a looks/protection thing? There's some modding discussion I think on head-fi on the XS thread too. Thanks for doing all this stuff, I'm really enjoying my XS's more with the Comfort Strap and look forward to whatever you come up with!

[@CustomCans]

I tested it without the grill in and any difference was within margin of error. I suspect it is metal to give a feeling of quality when you hold them

[@Hijynx87]

@@CustomCansI do know that putting your hands like 6 inches away from the grills will alter the sound on the xs, pretty wild lol. So a custom grill probably will help/hurt the sound .

[@Cp48533]

This was super cool to see, having started my headphone journey with the edition xs, and now i have the Arya organic. Yes the organics are amazing!

[@Cp48533]

Please dont ruin the Arya organics, but maybe a slight reduction in the treble might be good. Treble is what most people EQ

[@CustomCans]

Yeh... I am not brave enough to start modding the Aryas yet. They are fine as they are :)

[@adamcanterbury]

Interested for sure 😊

[@CustomCans]

It will probably take a few months but keep you eyes peeled and there should be some updates on the channel once we have made a bit of progress

[@JoseFerreira-zb7wh]

I hope you can do something to the Sundara. IMO they only need a bit more bass, specially sub bass so maybe nothing too dratic is needed.

[@CustomCans]

Yes - I must take a look at them at some point - I have some here but never tried modding them

[@Hijynx87]

I’m sure dekoni has some pads that will help with that.

[@JoseFerreira-zb7wh]

@@Hijynx87 yes increasing bass is easy with pad swapping, specially when the ogs aren"t leather. What's difficult in this instance is not messing everything else.

[@Hijynx87]

@@JoseFerreira-zb7wh Exactly, I just kept mine stock, other than the head strap, and I’ll use eq or an ifi hipdac/goblu for bass.

[@JoseFerreira-zb7wh]

@@Hijynx87 yes, some dac/ amp with bass boost maybe can do the trick.

[@Firebottleman]

I keep hearing very positive comments from using Dekoni Elite Velour earpads on the XS, as far as deeper bass anyways. Keep up the good work Jason. I've picked up a pair of the XS myself 2 weeks ago. Decent quality sound for the $.

[@CustomCans]

Yes, I will have to get our stock person to order in some Dekoni pads for them

[@Firebottleman]

I've been checking around all over the place, and they are very hard to find right now. Being right after the holidays and all probably isn't helping. If you can get your hands on some Elite Velours, let us know in a future video. I'll order them from you, along with some balanced cables Jason. Thanks. have a great day.@@CustomCans

[@FeyaElena]

Thanks for the interesting video! Have you held the 400se and XS in your hands, can you tell me how much better the XS is, should I switch to it from the 400se?

[@CustomCans]

It is down to personal preference. I don't know if you have tried our super grills for the HE400se but they are a cheap and easy upgrade if you are looking to squeeze a little more out of them. The XS do sound a bit better and have a wider sound stage but it is quite a jump up in price. If you are happy with the HE400se, I would stick with them

[@FeyaElena]

@CustomCans Thank you very much for the reply! I looked at the frequency response of both headphones, and also came to the conclusion that XS is not as much better as they are more expensive. I'm staying at 400se, thanks again!

[@marcp.1752]

Cool Jason, just mod the shit out of it !

[@CustomCans]

Thanks ;) I will

[@cocoabuttervaseline]

engagement(with hot cocoa)

[@CustomCans]

MMM a nice cup of hot cocoa.

[@arimanwd]

Ive been playing with the sundara closed and quickly learnt to put a porone pad over the back of the driver when taking them out. Dampening the cups and switching to solid pads have done some good for them, but im curious to know what they measure like as open backs. Would you mind doing a measurement of them without the cup, similar to what you did with the XS? It would be interesting to try a Sundara closed-open mod 🙂

[@CustomCans]

Yeh, I may be able to... From what I remember the wooden part will not come away easily. I think it is nailed / staked on but I can probably stick a pad on the driver and hold it up to the test rig. I will be having another look at the sundara closed soon so will do it then

[@arimanwd]

@@CustomCans thanks. I've got a few materials I'm looking to try out soon for the dampening. I even found round filter-foam with egg-crate ridges that seems to be just the right size on Ali express. I'm interested to see how that affects the sound. Half hoping it works like studio dampening panels but at that size I'm not holding my breath 😅 still should be interesting to hear though.

[@PaulBloomlittledevil]

Could you do metal grills for the he400se and he560e's?

[@CustomCans]

It would be possible but quite expensive so probably not worth it on those

[@robertlucskai]

Please make the mod for the HE6 SE V2 as well, as the one for the HE400 SE was amazing! I tried it with the HE 6 V2, was good, but if you could adapt it to it would be awesome! Thanks

[@CustomCans]

Yes - we have some HD6 due in next month but I have a few other projects to finish off before that

[@robertlucskai]

@@CustomCans Finally! I'll be in London for CanJam in July. It would be awesome to be able to be able to pick them up! The Super grill is amazing (I use them on my HE400 2020) ! I can't wait to have them on my HE6! The Edition XS project could be interesting as well!

[@hernanaqp25]

Uh nice proyect, the xs are so god

[@CustomCans]

Yes - they are pretty great already and hopefully we can squeeze a little more out of them

[@CustomCans]

@@fwabble I am not 100% sure what you are asking but as the diaphragm on this kind of thing is very light weight and quite large, I suspect the air resistance will damp it a lot more than the damping factor on the amp but I am still learning about that kind of thing so not really an expert yet

[@CustomCans]

@@fwabble We are not partnered with denon but if someone sends some in for repair or modding I will make sure we get a video

[@fwabble]

@@CustomCans Fair

[@Cp48533]

Im moaning in the comments oooooohh, getting that interaction score up.

[@CustomCans]

Thanks - this is one of the few occasions where it is nice to be moaned at. All hail the algorithm !

[@DarthWitcher]

any news about it?)

[@ihave7sacks]

I will complain that your strap mod for the Edition XS is out of stock.

[@CustomCans]

LOL - I have updated the stock levels now so there are available again

[@pilezzero969]

I have 6 different pairs of Hifiman headphones, I do not need another pair... that said, I want a pair of the organics now... I hate this channel, it keeps costing me money

[@CustomCans]

It is an expensive hobby ;)