Brilliant headphones that need a controlled listening environment

Edifier makes plenty of quality audio gear worth getting excited over, from its excellent speakers to its Hi-Fi headphones. The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 join the latter camp, offering high-fidelity Bluetooth codecs and planar magnetic drivers to pump out all sorts of audio with aplomb in a classy package costing $500. It’s a high asking price when many exceptional headphones cost less, especially considering some of the limitations of the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 have next to headphones with ANC. But for audiophiles, there’s still some quality on offer here.

Price, availability, and specs

The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 are available now on Amazon for $499. However, early shoppers may score a 20% discount while it lasts, bringing the price down to $400.

Design, hardware, and what’s in the box

Classy, quality components but not quite a polished look

Unboxing the Edifier Stax Spirit S5, you’ll find a product aimed at luxury. Between its carrying case, extra ear pads in individual little sleeves, and a bill of materials that includes steel, lambskin, and top-grain cowhide, you’re getting an exciting little kit.

If you’ve seen the Edifier Stax Spirit S3, it’s a modest redesign, changing more about the style than the overall form. It’s also remarkably similar in style to the Edifier WH950BN, a headset costing less than a third of the price of these.

The headphones are built around a steel headband that allows plenty of flexibility without too much clamping force and feature lambskin padding. The earcups attach with typical yolks built onto plastic sliders with swiveling hinges. This allows for plenty of adjustment to fit most heads and lets the earcups fold flat — a trait the carry case regrettably doesn’t take advantage of. The yolk hinges also fold up for better portability.

The earcups are made of a mix of materials. They’re built around plastic frames but have leather on the outside. Two sets of thick, comfortable earpads are included. One pair features lambskin, while the other is mesh with cooling foam inside. The earpads clip onto the headphones, and Edifier includes a small pick for popping them loose to change between pads.

The Stax Spirit S5 have a small handful of ports and controls. The left earcup includes a 3.5mm jack, while the right has a USB-C port. The right earcup also features a Bluetooth pairing button and a three-part control for power and audio playback.

These elements all come together well enough, but they leave a little bit to be desired in terms of fit and finish. Stretched out to be worn, the headphones don’t quite have the elegance of something like the Sonos Ace or AirPods Max, as the large earcups and yolk positions create a wide gap between the headband and the wearer’s head.

The plastics used also feel like a stark contrast to the steel and leather, plus the many parts can creak a bit when the headphones are jostled. The cans also stack up at a considerable 347 grams, which is weighty for portable headphones.

Audio

Delightful sound for at-home listening

The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 benefit from a technology that has never failed to impress me with its ability to deliver impeccable audio. The planar magnetic drivers inside can achieve a wide frequency response range and easily keep up with the most demanding tracks. Deep, deep sub-bass seems effortless for the Edifier Stax Spirit S5’s drivers and bright treble notes can sing out just as easily. These elements combine with no lack of definition — that is to say, even if the bass is pounding away, the treble can cut through precisely with neither missing a beat.

The default EQ keeps the bass fairly low in the mix, emphasizing the mids and treble more — the hiss of a closed hi-hat hit cuts through while vocals attack with full force. By contrast, bass fills like those sprinkled throughout Miki Matusbara’s Stay With Me never quite get the spotlight.

This is purely a matter of EQ, though. Shifting the EQ to boost the bass response can cause it to hit with more force. The drivers inside the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 are more than capable of pushing out a low rumble, so while the bass may remain low in the mix, it’s never missing as it might be on lower-quality headphones with a limited frequency response range.

In addition to the delicious sound provided by the Edifier Stax Spirit S5, stereo sound comes through wonderfully. All the chaotic back-and-forth play of something like 21st Century Schizoid Man gets a great rendition on these headphones. And moments later, the subtleties and gentleness of I Talk to the Wind shows the Edifier Stax Spirit S5’s range.

For all its brilliance in audio output, the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 have some stumbles. They offer no ANC, which may not be too surprising for this type of equipment, but they also have fairly poor noise isolation even with the leather earcups, and the mesh ones are even weaker.

This means they simply can’t keep external noise out in busy environments. You’ll be left with two options; let the outside noise bleed in and dampen your listening experience or crank up the volume and risk damaging your hearing. The headphones are up to the task volume-wise, but better isolation would be a favorable alternative.

The mics on the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 are also unimpressive. They sound about as good as the average Bluetooth headphones, but some sort of upgrade in quality would have been nice for the money.

Audio latency can also be noticeable over Bluetooth, even with Game mode enabled. It’s not enough to be a distraction with video content and has no impact on music, but it could prove distracting in games.

Features and app

Basic features but versatile

The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 put audio at the forefront of their feature set. This leaves little else to get excited about. The ability to get audio multiple ways is one perk, though. You get near-universal flexibility with USB-C, 3.5mm, and Bluetooth audio support. You can also take your pick of quite a few codecs over Bluetooth.

They offer Bluetooth Multipoint, but it won’t work with LDAC or LHDC enabled. Multipoint can work alongside aptX codecs, though. With Multipoint enabled, the headphones have some smart behavior. Android will override any PC audio, but PC audio won’t interrupt Android audio. This effectively favors getting notifications and receiving calls on your phone (though perhaps it would be disruptive if you field most calls and messages on your computer).

Edifier’s ConneX app provides access to a few extra capabilities. It has a setting for audio enhancement, depending on which earpads you have attached. It provides a small handful of EQ presets and allows for custom sound profiles with a four-band EQ, allowing you to select the frequency of those bands.

There’s also a toggle for Game mode. The Bluetooth Pairing button serves as an additional control, letting you cycle through sound modes, toggle Game mode, activate your voice assistant, or change earpad enhancements with a single or double press. LDAC and LHDC bitrate options are also available in the app.

Battery and charging

I’m sorry, did you say 80 hours?

If you like never thinking about charging, the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 may be right up your alley. While it may come with some added weight, the battery inside the headphones is rated to run for 80 hours, and my testing hasn’t seen it come anywhere close to disappointing.

Where a Bluetooth headset would normally drain around 10 percent after a couple of hours of listening, the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 constantly seemed like I had never used them at all. Even after all my testing, much of it with LDAC running at maximum quality, the battery had only dropped to 82% charge.

Given how infrequently you’ll have to think about charging, you may accidentally run out of juice every couple of weeks. But the headphones’ fast-charging capabilities can get 11 hours of runtime after just 10 minutes plugged in.

Competition

Oh, the perils of a $500 price tag

The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 have a lot of competition with their $500 price tag. Not only are the best wireless headphones available for less, but plenty of alternatives are cheaper too. There’s no getting around the Sony WH-1000XM5, which are excellent headphones on top of offering powerful ANC.

They let you relax more easily but also create a better listening environment wherever you go. At their $400 retail price, they’re competitive, but they also quite frequently see price dips. They may not have the sheer audio chops of the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 or the battery life, but they still offer plenty for most users to get by just fine.

Then there are the Sonos Ace. These are elegant, sound great, have a few cool tricks up their sleeve for Sonos soundbar owners, and get impressive ambient noise capabilities for $449. While the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 may have a slight audio edge, especially with more extensive codec support, it won’t be a big enough difference to sway many shoppers.

Should you buy them?

Maybe, but you should know what you’re getting into. The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 have excellent audio and are a joy to listen to for all sorts of content. Big theatrical experiences and subtle musical performances alike will sing out of the planar magnetic drivers in the Edifier Stax Spirit S5, and you can forget about charging very frequently without getting punished for it.

But at $500, the Edifier Stax Spirit S5 call for discerning ears. There are plenty of excellent options available for less, and they can be more forgiving if you’re not always able to find the best listening environment to take advantage of headphones like the Edifier Stax Spirit S5. And if you do find quiet listening environments easily, you might consider open-back headphones instead. The increased soundstage they provide can be downright jaw-dropping, as I’ve seen with even the cheaper (though now discontinued) Monoprice Monolith M570.