Had a few days now with the XS and time to compare them to the Yamaha HPH-MT8 that slipped under almost everyone's radar. Both are EQd close ish to a JM1 target with a treble boost as I've got old ears. I expected the XS to be a big step up from the Yamaha, and how wrong I was. You need a good amp to drive them both, I've got the ZH3 and a JDS Element 2 for that. TLDR Yamaha for dynamic bass music like EDM, blues and XS for louder complex music i.e. rock. Both are superb phones, I'm just surprised that the Yamahas have been missed by the social media darlings hype. These things are built like the proverbial tank and to a quality that hifiman is still only (presumably) dreaming of.