Few audio brands follow the “three B’s” principle like Edifier: good, nice and cheap (for what they offer). So when the Chinese multinational announced a few months ago that it was launching its Stax Spirit S3 headphones, its first Bluetooth headphones with a planar magnetic driver, it didn’t take long for us to let’s try them out.

But before we get into the details of what Edifier is putting in our hands (or in this case, our ears), let’s get down to the basics. What is a planar magnetic headset? In this type of device, an electrical conductor moves between fixed magnets as an audio signal passes through it. The driver is attached to an extremely flat membrane and magnets are placed on both sides of the membrane to create a uniform magnetic field.

Its main advantage over dynamic headphones (most of which we find on the market in the entry-level and mid-range) is that they create less harmonic distortion and much more accurate sound reproduction. As a result, they are usually more expensive headphones, but also heavier and larger because they need a built-in amplifier. On paper, the offer not only a very small degree of distortion, but also a great frequency response in a neutral tone and a sound very faithful to the original source. Instead, the sound may be somewhat flatter.

That said, let’s see how Edifier’s design and its S3 fares. First of all, it is worth mentioning the fact that we are not dealing with just any headphones. After acquiring the legendary Japanese hi-fi audio company Stax in 2011, the Chinese multinational continued to develop its amazing catalog of electrostatic headphones (its new model, the Stax SR-X9000 sells for more than 6,000 euros), to incorporate the spirit of the company in the development of its own premium headphones, for the price, yes, much more content: in this case, it is possible to find them at authorized distributors for the price ranges from 300 to 500 euros.

Construction and components

It is made of high-quality plastic, its exterior design is inspired by the colors and logo of the classic brand, it bets on marbled matte surfaces and golden creativity in the center, risky “retro” and we are not sure if it will be liked by everyone… And it is that although they are marketed as premium headphones (which they are in many sections), the design may be lacking a bit.

Obviously thicker than a dynamic headset, in fact its good balance means it doesn’t feel too heavy. On the other hand, in addition to their Bluetooth connectivity, they also have a 3.5mm jack connector. for those who want to enjoy a sound experience even closer to the original source.

But let’s get back to what’s so special “inside”. Except that he inherited know-how that in developing this Stax technology, Edifier once again valued its alliance with another major headphone company: the American Aduez. The result of this collaboration is the new EqualMass membrane development technology, which the company promises to offer “extreme accuracy”. In this sense, we find here a combination of magnetic structure Adueze Fluxor, diaphragm uniforce and phase manager phasor, performance of this task.

Certified to respond to all types of Hi-Fi and HD codecs, the brand combines this flat magnetic technology with its compatibility with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound, a technology developed by Qualcomm to make the most of sound chips and guarantee optimal sound quality. resulting in the highest bit rate and lowest latency) and that it has support for the most demanding standards: LDAC and LHDC and its ability to transmit audio at 24-bit/96 kHz. However, it is also compatible with external DACs and is compatible with formats such as LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation), a standard used for recording to audio containers such as WAV or AIFF, or for working with high-fidelity lossy compression formats such as is, for example, the Tidal MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) standard.

But curiously, they are not compatible with one of the most popular codecs on the market: Apple’s AAC. Apparently a license renewal issue between the two companies meant that this codec didn’t make it to the Edifier headphones in the end, and it doesn’t seem like it was planned to eventually arrive. This means that if you usually listen to music from an iPhone or similar device, although you can continue to do so via the SBC codec, you won’t have access to the quality you’ll find in AAC… so these might not be the headphones you’re most interested in.

Autonomy, connectivity and sound quality

In these headphones, Edifier promises us autonomy of up to 80 hours, which also includes a rather interesting fast charging feature (via the USB-C port): in 10 minutes we can charge them enough to give you 11 hours of listening. Part of the fact that it offers us such a long autonomy (although we never reached the 80 effective hours in our tests) is that these headphones do not offer us no active noise cancellation technologyAlthough we have to admit that the isolation they offer in medium noise environments is more than acceptable. Anyway, thanks to its weight and dimensions, its use seems more suitable for our home/office than for taking it out on the street, where it can seem a bit cumbersome.

Its Bluetooth connectivity allows us to pair it with two different audio sources, which, for example, can serve us both to tune into our audio equipment and at the same time with our smartphone to receive calls. For this last task, Qualcomm also offers us its Qualcomm aptX Voice audio technology, which promises a significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio and provides 32 kHz voice call quality. In our opinion, this is little more than a curiosity, as in practice it is more convenient to take off the headphones to answer a call than to switch between two sources… especially if we are at home. However, once we get used to using this feature, it works just fine without actually seeing a spectacular jump in quality.

It is another thing to talk about its quality when it comes to playing music, with deep bass, crisp, clear voices and without any hiss, offering a very balanced set-up throughout its dynamic range without a shadow of distortion being noted at any time. (perhaps at the cost of the lower bass losing a bit of presence) and actually excellent quality, based on the very high quality components it offers.

As a supplement, Edifier puts it in our hands Edifier Connect, an application that allows us to update the firmware of the device, change the functionality of the button on our headset and change the sound profile depending on the pads we use. It also includes a small equalizer that allows us to switch between three presets (classical, Hi-Fi and Stax), but it is surprising that it does not offer us a real equalizer, or at least one that allows us to switch between different musical styles.

conclusions

Known more for speakers than headphones, Edifier puts us in the hands of a device that aspires to conquer the upper mid-range of the market. And it has good arguments for it: high-quality internal components, a good price/performance ratio and the Stax seal, which is a guarantee of quality for every audiophile.

In this sense, the Edifier Stax Spirit S3 offers a very convincing and high-quality sound experience in the music part, although some details can be criticized, such as the lack of compatibility with AAC, a mobile application that is not up to the task. or a look and feel that doesn’t quite deliver the premium feel it promises. All in all, a good choice in its price range.