When you think about high-end headphones, you immediately think of noise-cancellation headphones, right? But what if I told you that these Edifier STAX SPIRIT S5 headphones might take all of your ANC headphones and put them in the trash? Yep, because this probably sounds better than those!
Unboxing
From the start, as usual, Edifier gives a more premium experience with this headphone, starting from the overall unboxing experience.
On the front, there is a raised and glossy picture of the headphones and the branding at the bottom. At the top, it shows it supports Hi-Res Audio Wireless and Qualcomm Sound.Then at the back of the box, you can see a picture of the headphones as well as the planar magnetic audio packed into these headphones.
Sliding the outer box reveals a premium-looking inner box with STAX SPIRIT branding all over the box.
Inside the box, youâll find the headphones placed nicely in a solid, denim-like grey case, where youâll also find the extra cooling mesh ear cups packed inside two separate pouches.
Then thereâs also a box labeled accessories that includes the USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm AUX cable, and an adapter to plug into an amp. Then, on the underside of the box, youâll find manuals over there.
Design & Build
When it comes to the design and build quality, like the STAX SPIRIT S3, Edifier has continued its sleek, simple, but very premium-looking design.
They weigh about 347g, and while they are roughly about 20g heavier than the previous S3, they are not very noticeable when you wear them.
However, the overall build is primarily plastic with a mix of steel and leather. And yes, it is genuine leather over here and itâs not always steel like typical high-end headphones, as Edifier aims to be more functional than a bunch of steel just for the sake of making it look premium.
The outside of the ear cups also uses real cowhide, which looks pretty nice and has the STAX logo on it. The ear cups also come with genuine lambskin pads that are very nice, soft, and insanely comfortable.
These earcups are also replaceable with the included cool mesh fabric earpads, and this comes in handy in case you find that the lambskin ones are getting a little too warm to use, which was the case when I used the Sonos Ace headphones because it was pretty warm when I used them for a really long time. So it is nice that Edifier already gave us the option to use our preferred type of ear pads.
Whatâs cool is that Edifier knows that the type of ear pads used does influence the sound quality too, which you can let the Edifier ConneX app know so that you can tune the sound accordingly. More on my app experience later.
The headphones do not come with tons of buttons, which is actually good in my opinion because it makes it easier to use the headphones without getting confused about which button does what.
The buttons are all included in the right ear cup, which consists of just the volume button, the power/play/pause button, and a separate multi-function button.
You can also use the volume buttons to skip tracks or even go back. The multi-function button can be used to pair the headphones to your preferred device or to change your EQ settings or even to enter Game Mode.
To pair, all you have to do is hold the multi-function button for about 3 seconds until the light blinks.
To switch between the EQ modes, just press the multi-function button once until you find the mode that you want. To enter Game Mode, you just have to press the button twice.
Of course, all of these controls can be switched through the Edifier ConneX app as mentioned earlier.
The only issue I have is that the power button is placed right between the volume up and the volume down, which can potentially cause some mispresses, especially if you are playing music or you want to just pause your music.
But this does come down to how you get used to these overall controls when you use them daily because the buttons are raised, which can at least minimize the potential mispresses.
The buttons are made from a soft, rubbery material, and while Iâm not a huge fan of this kind of material, it was quite tactile and clicky.
The headphones also come with very few ports: only the charging port, which is located on the right ear cup, and a 3.5mm jack on the left ear cup. Thereâs also a single microphone hole next to the charging port.
The ear cups also have a sort of vent on top, which is used mainly to escape a bit of sound for better overall performance. Edifier has also included a special pivot hinge that is designed to help reduce mechanical vibration in use.
The headband is also made of cool gunmetal-colored steel, which feels pretty sturdy even when itâs stretched out. It has a soft pad underneath, which is very comfortable on the head, and is made with the same lambskin leather as the ear cups.
The headphones can also be adjusted for bigger heads, and the ear cups can not only swivel around but also be folded for easier storage. Yes, this is such an underrated feature these days, so thank you Edifier for including this very versatile option.
App Experience
Now, letâs talk about the app experience because, as mentioned, the headphones can be connected to the new Edifier ConneX app, which is available both for Android and iOS devices.
You can access more features when you use the app, which includes not just the EQ modes that I mentioned earlier, but also you can use it to personalize specific sound settings just the way you like it.
You can play around with the equalizer settings and set your preferred decibel level as well as the Q Factor settings, which is incredibly impressive. Adding to that, the app also allows you to customize the headphonesâ frequency level to suit the userâs liking, so that was really amazing to know.
However, while these customizable options are incredibly useful, I mainly rely on the default EQ modes, which I feel were quite sufficient for me.
During my use, I generally use the Dynamic mode, which pumps up the bass a little. Other than the default EQ modes, it also includes the Original mode, which has a balance of highs, mids, and lows. Thereâs also the Monitor mode, which has a more flat sound.
You can use the app to change the audio codec settings and increase the sampling rates of the LDAC and also the LHDC codecs.
You can even set what the multi-function button does using the app or change the single press or even the double press function. For example, you can change the double press function from turning on the Game Mode to activating your preferred voice assistant instead. The choice is totally yours, and this could be done thanks to the app once again.
Overall, the general experience of using the headphones with the app was quite straightforward, not to mention surprisingly feature-rich and not over the top.
Features & Battery Life
Next, letâs talk about the features and, of course, the battery life first, because Edifier rates the headphones to have about 80 hours of battery life on a single charge.
While I personally did not reach up to that 80 hours of battery life because these headphones donât seem to die at all, I used this as my primary headphones for about three days or so and I still couldnât see a low battery level even after leaving them playing overnight. Yes, they still played throughout the night.
So yeah, Iâm thinking that these donât actually have a battery life because they constantly feed on my rock and metal energy! đ€
Inside the headphones comes an upgradedQualcomm QCC5181, which includes access tothe Snapdragon Sound Suite. So whatâs so special about that? Well, basically, the headphones will support more audio codecs with this particular option.
Other than LDAC and LHDC codecs, the headphones support aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless as well. Not only that,but itâs also capable of achieving a bitrate up to1.2 Mbps in Bluetooth mode, whichmeans that it can deliver high-resolution and low-latency audio.
Just like the previous version, these headphones use planar magnetic drivers. Specifically, they use the 2nd-generation EqualMass Wiring Technology, which gives improved performance compared to the 1st-generation S3.
Planar magnetic drivers, in case you didnât know, are capable of producing a much cleaner and better sound compared to more conventional dynamic drivers, which also gives a more accurate sound quality just as the artist intended.
This also explains why the headphones do not include any sort of noise cancellation feature because having ANC on any headphones would produce a less accurate sound. Yep #truestory
These headphones also come with a multi-point pairing feature, which you can connect to both your phone and your laptop at the same time. However, you canât use either the LDAC or the LHDC codecs when youâre using this feature.
Sound Experience
When it comes to the sound experience, if I could sum up the sound quality of these headphones in just one word, I would say that they sound FULL. That is the best way to describe how I feel when I listen to these headphones.
The planar magnetic drivers in these are really magical. They just make these headphones shine, and it is an absolute delight to use. If youâre familiar with a guitar tube amp, it kind of reminds me of that, which is super rich and warm.
The bass really sounds deep and full once again without sounding sharp or distracting. The treble performance on these was also bright and easily distinguished. To me, what really shines the most on these headphones is the mids. If youâre the kind of person who likes to listen to song lyrics to really take them in, you will definitely love this.
The vocals were super clear and pronounced, and all of that is achieved without sacrificing other frequencies of the music.
Speaking of music, if you want to check out the exact playlist that Iâve used to test these headphones, check out my entire list here: https://music.apple.com/my/playlist/2023-audio-quality-test/pl.u-e98lGp5i2pG1a7
When it comes to watching movies or series on Netflix and Disney Plus, the dialogues are very clear and you can hear every syllable perfectly without any random or annoying hisses that typically come out when people pronounce the letter âSâ. No, this is not the case when it comes to listening on these.
One downside is that the sound bleeding that comes out from the headphones is pretty noticeable. It becomes even more noticeable when youâre listening to music or watching movies at a very high volume, so you might want to be a bit more mindful when you use these headphones in a quieter place like in a library or if your significant other is next to you prefers peace of mind. This will not give them peace of mind.
As for Game Mode, I tried a bit of COD Mobile. There might be a slight delay in sound between the button presses, but only if you really look really hard for it. Generally, I had no issues playing a few matches with these, but overall, I have to say that the performance in game mode was also pretty good as well.
[Check out the sound test in my YouTube video]
Microphone
When it comes to the microphones, the headphones support aptX Voice codec, which can deliver about 32kHz voice call quality. For the most part, the microphone performance does kind of deliver this. My voice does come out very loud and clear during calls.
[Check out the mic test in my YouTube video]
Conclusion
In conclusion, all in all, I really like the Edifier STAX SPIRIT S5 because its premium design, plethora of supported audio codecs, and amazing long battery life are all great reasons enough for you to get it.
What really brings this to the next level is the audio quality because these headphones sound really good! Yes, you should get it if sound quality is your utmost importance!
