I meant to direct that question at the above commenter who said the HE-1s "don't sound that good", haha

just out of curiosity, have you listened to the HE1?

I would just process the return. The Sundaras aren't THAT good - I don't think they are worth that much trouble. The Edition XS sure, but not the sundaras

My personal opinion is yes, the XS is better in every way - but I also don't like warm-sounding things, so don't take my word for it

Try both - sundaras are slightly warmer and edition xs leans slightly brighter + more resolving. I love the XS myself but I could see people making their case for either

Sounds to me like youve found the point where you dont see the value in spending more money in this hobby

Rather than a better or worse experience it's a totally different experience - IEMs and headphones are completely different presentations so I'm not sure how to answer this question haha

I own an XS, demoed the B2D, have not A/B'd both together - I would expect the B2D to give you more detail, however the XS's soundstage is just going to be just one world above - XS's soundstage height & imaging is slightly above average, soundstage width however, whew!

I do not own any of the DAC/AMPs listed nor do I care for measurements (I only care to enjoy my music) so I really don't know whether your current dac/amp will do or not - my assessment is that the XS is moderately challenging to drive - not super difficult nor temperamental, so I am guessing you should be OK.

Regarding cables, for the Edition XS, I would highly recommend getting a new cable - while the stock cable is doesn't cause me any actual usability issues (it doesn't tangle/fray/etc.), one inconsistency/problem the Edition XS is notorious for - different stock cables have been measured to have wildly different impedances. I personally use a Tripowin GranVia.

In the context of gaming none of these - HD6 series is great for a lot of reasons, but notorious for having very intimate and close soundstage.

HD800 is the king of soundstage and imaging, but if thats not in your budget you're looking at one of the AKGs or a Hifiman Edition XS (great soundstage width, height not so much).

Since you are coming from 560 which is super easy to power I will add this: I have only auditioned the AKGs at a shop, never owned one so i can't comment about if a dac/amp is required, but bear in mind the XS absolutely requires a dedicated amp regardless of whatever anyone will try and tell you, without an amp it WILL sound very congested and that is if it even gets to happy listening volumes, so please bear in mind if you are on a strict budget.

Closed/openbacks dont make a difference on that front, I'm also running some chunky/thicc glasses myself.

I'm not much of a basshead - more so than sheer volume and quantity of bass I like mine restrained and NOT bleeding into the mids or bloating, so on days I'm craving for bass my XS + bassboost button on my ifi zen dac v2 makes me very happy. The Sundara is a slightly warmer presentation, with bass slightly less tight/controlled IME.

Because an answer that fits that bill does not exist.

In my response, I suggested that OP tries A/B-testing so he can hear the difference - that'd be the least wordy answer, because if you wanted to really nerd out about technical details we are going to go on forever lol

What does it mean? Well, if you have an audio shop near you, try and audition the exact same pair of headphones, with the Apple dongle and then with a dac/amp, and you decide for yourself (: If you detect no difference, that's your money saved (or put into a new pair of headphones more likely, knowing us)

Personally if you ask for my experience, I tried this with an Edition XS. At pretty similar volume levels, with the Apple dongle (and blindfolded at home where my headset was plugged into my pc's motherboard) I noticed the sound was pretty congested. Everything's still happening, just blurred into each other as compared to with my ifi zen dac v2/questyle m15.

The point of the detachable cable is you don't want the stock cable really!

Ah OK i understand. It's up to you tbh, just try with/without.

In my case I run a Edition XS and I can definitely hear a very tangible and significant difference - but I think? am not sure? the HD800S is easier to drive? So you can just test it out and decide for yourself whether the portability benefit is worth the difference in SQ

If I had a dac/amp of course i'd just use that - why would i buy it if I wasnt gonna use it?

That headset supports only SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs. If you need low-latency you'll need something with support for aptx lossless

I enjoy music - pretty much always have something over, or in my ears. Figured I may as well squeeze the most enjoyment out of whatever I'm listening to... and here I am!

yes I would say you are a basshead, but just to throw out a guess, I suspect you have some degree of hearing loss in those frequencies, because that is A LOT of bass that most people will not find palatable to begin with.

YUC'e... I see you are a man of culture!!

I use the Toy Frappe EP myself hahahaha