Granted, I’ve only been using the Edition XS for a couple of hours. I have the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite IEM’s as well. I like the Kiwi’s much more. I feel like I can hear more detail and I just like the sound of them more than I do the Edition XS.
Also, My ears still touch the pads inside the Edition XS and it drives me nuts. I guess I’m just sticking with IEM’s going forward because I have not been able to find a headphone that doesn’t bother the heck out of my ears and I’ve tried quite a few headphones and returned due to comfort issues with my ears. Freaking stupid dumbo ears >_<
I have the Kiwi’s EQ’d and they sound amazing and I can’t get the Edition XS to match that. Am I nuts? I feel like I’m nuts from all of the reviews I’ve watched and read.
This honestly, the hifiman eggs tuning are basically the antithesis of the kiwi ears; bright, shrill and aggressive as opposed to warm,smooth and relaxing. Personally I disliked all hifiman eggs with the stock tuning (1-2k hole followed by 3k peak and elevated af treble makes absolutely nothing sound tonally correct to my ears, except for electric guitars), so give it some time, but if you still disliked it after that then the XS is just not for you.
Alternatively you could EQ like you did with your kiwi ears.
I spent about 30 minutes playing with EQ and I wasn’t impressed. The Kiwi’s just sound more clear and detailed. I boosted the bass and even the bass sounds as good, if not better than the XS. I really enjoy this IEM.
I still recommend you to spend a solid week with the Edition XS. It takes time to notice and hear the differences. Subjectively of course, one will be better.