If you’re lucky enough to own a smartphone or digital audio player that supports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Platform, you’ll probably want a pair of wireless headphones so you can make the most of the latest Hi-Res audio codecs that Snapdragon Sound supports, including apt-X Lossless.
The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 are wireless headphones and Snapdragon Sound compatible. They offer an impressive 80 hours of playing time from a single battery charge and use magnetic planar instead of the more using dynamic type. The Spirit S5 take their inspiration from the classic Stax electrostatic models that caused such a stir when they were launched in the 1970s.
To ensure the Stax Spirit S5 produce as consistent a sound as possible, Edifier has developed something Production Phase Auto Calibration, a manufacturing process that ensures every pair of Stax Spirit S5 headphones produce the same quality of sound as the original prototype pre-production model developed in Edifier’s labs.
The build quality of the close-back headphones is excellent and the folding design makes the Spirit S5 easy to stow away the supplied zippered case. Obviously, folding headphones will never be quite as robust as fixed designs like the new Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. Some people don’t like folding designs as the hinges can creak and work loose over time. It’s too early to say if that would be the case with these headphones, but they seem well made and thoughtfully designed.
Built around Qualcomm’s QCC5181 Bluetooth system on a chip, the Stax Spirit S5 headphones support Qualcomm’s full Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite. There is no Active Noise Canceling technology, so if that’s a deal breaker for you, look elsewhere. However, the Spirit S5 have a couple of microphones for picking up the user’s voice when making phone calls or holding a video conference.
The birth of the new Stax Spirit S5 began in 2012 when Edifier acquired Stax Ltd, a company synonymous with high-end electrostatic headphones. In homage to the Stax brand, Edifier created Stax Spirit as a high-end sub-brand for a new range of audiophile-quality headphones. The Stax Spirit S5 are the latest in the range and they use advanced planar magnetic technology instead of traditional dynamic drivers.
Planar magnetic drivers are used in high-end headphones and have a unique way of producing sound that many people believe is superior when it comes to revealing detail and handling transient responses, injecting more energy and agility into the music.
Dynamic drivers create sound using a cone-size diaphragm driven by a voice coil surrounded by a magnetic field. The diaphragm must be stiff enough to avoid partitioning during vibration, especially when reproducing high frequencies. The motor system that drives the cone is heavy and requires a lot of energy to make it vibrate.
With planar magnetic drivers a flat, thin diaphragm is embedded with wires and suspended in a magnetic gap. This unique design enables the diaphragm to move like a piston across the entire frequency spectrum. Because the diaphragm is so light and has such an excellent transient response, the planar driver is often seen as the better choice for high-quality sound reproduction.
Edifier isn’t the only company that uses planar magnetic drivers in its headphones, but most of the other brands address the uneven distribution of the magnetic field by using wires of varying widths on the diaphragm. The aim is to achieve uniform driving force across the entire diaphragm’s surface, producing a consistent performance.
Edifier takes this approach a step further with EqualMass technology. By connecting a different number of wires, with the same width, in parallel, EqualMass produces a uniform driving force across the whole diaphragm while keeping the weight evenly distributed.
EqualMass technology lets the diaphragm move back and forth with the same motion and momentum, reducing harmonic distortion to virtually zero levels. With the Stax Spirit 5, Edifier has introduced 2nd-generation EqualMass wiring. This symmetric wiring structure enhances the diaphragm’s stability across the entire frequency spectrum.
To ensure uniformity in the distribution of the magnetic field across each driver, Edifier also developed an automatic toolset that calibrates and compensates for the magnet circuitry during production. This process guarantees that every pair of the Stax Spirit S5 headphones can reproduce the same high-quality sound as the original design prototype tuned by Edifier’s engineers.
As well as supporting Hi-Res LDAC and LHDC audio codecs, the Stax Spirit S5 also support all the bundled codecs that come with Snapdragon Sound. These include aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless. The aptX Lossless codec can achieve a 1.2Mbps bit rate in Bluetooth mode which is quick enough to transmit digital audio up to 96kHz at 24-bit.
Thanks to support for the whole family of aptX Adaptive codecs, the Stax Spirit S5 also provides end-to-end latency as low as 89ms. This means the audio from movies and games will always be in sync over Bluetooth so that sounds match the action appearing on screen.
Alongside the suite of Hi-Res codecs, the Stax Spirit S5 also support the AAC codec used by Apple in its iPhones and iPads. Although not as high resolution at aptX, the AAC codec delivers a very good sound quality and there’s a possibility that Apple might support LDAC in the future which is built into the new Bluetooth LE standard.
The Stax Spirit S5 provides MultiPoint connectivity with two Bluetooth audio devices pairing at the same time. This enables a smartphone and a digital audio player or a tablet to be connected to the headphones at the same time and you can seamlessly switch between them. Other handy features include FastPair with Android devices for connecting in an instant.
The controls on the Stax Spirit S5 are rudimentary with the usual three-button cluster for play/pause, skip and repeat, as well as volume levels. There’s also a Bluetooth pairing button for connecting with other devices. The Bluetooth pairing button also functions as a Mode switch. A single press cycles through the EQ presets, while two presses puts the headphones in gaming mode for a low latency of 87ms.
As you might expect from a pair of headphones of this pedigree, the Stax Spirit S5 are exquisitely finished with genuine lambskin earpads and top-grain cowhide earcups. The ergonomic design is snug enough to feel secure when worn, but the clamping pressure is low enough to feel comfortable even for longer listening sessions.
The sound quality offered by the Stax Spirit S5 is second to none. Although planar magnetic drivers don’t always have quite the same low growl and thrump as some dynamic drivers, what they occasionally lack in bass they more than make up for in their agility and transient response. There’s real energy and brilliant musical articulation in these headphones that make them positively infectious.
To audition the Stax Spirit S5, I fired up Tidal’s Hi-Fi Tier and selected Diana Krall’s “Sway”, one of my favorite test tracks when reviewing headphones. It’s a beautifully recorded track that can stretch any pair of headphones to their limit. For my source, I used the FiiO M23 digital audio player which supports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound and aptX Lossless.
The result was a sound that was equal to a pair of high-end wired headphones. If you’ve always wavered about going wireless because you fear Bluetooth will compress the music too much, then the time for wavering is over. At the best bit rates, there is an airiness and a pace to the Stax Spirit S5 that’s breathtaking. I tried conducting blind tests between wired and wireless connections and couldn’t tell the difference.
The treble frequencies produced by the agile planar magnetic drivers are as good as a fine silk-dome tweeter. The sheer response times during dynamic and transient phrases of music were awesome. Even the bass levels have a languid, rich and engaging tone that brought the string bass on “Sway” right to the fore. Listening with these headphones draws out every detail and nuance in that recording.
If you don’t want to use Bluetooth, then the Stax Spirit S5 can also connect using an AUX cable or a USB-A to USB-C cable that decodes the source file directly in the headphones. The Edifier ConneX smartphone app can be downloaded for free and is available for iOS and Android devices. The app offers customization options and full EQ controls for shaping the sound to suit your tastes.
Verdict: The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 are one of the best Hi-Res wireless headphones on the market now. They are up there with the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 and then some. The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 cost more than the Melomania and that’s down to the use of planar magnetic technology, but if you want the best audio quality over Bluetooth and you have a device that supports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound, then the Stax Spirit S5 headphones deserve your attention. They have a delicate delivery so if you want a slightly heavier bass and ANC functionality, the Melomania are definitely worth a listen. However, these are very special headphones that bring the benefit of planar magnetic technology and Snapdragon Sound support. Listen to them now!
Pricing & Availability: The Edifier Stax Spirit S5 wireless headphones are available from today and cost $499.99 / £499.99 / €499.99.
Tech Specs:
- Drivers: Planar magnetic.
- Bluetooth: V5.4.
- Bluetooth range: 10m.
- Audio codecs: Snapdragon Sound, LHDC, LDAC, Qualcomm aptX Lossless, Qualcomm aptX Adaptive, Qualcomm aptX HD, Qualcomm aptX, LHDC, LDAC, AAC, SBC.
- Sound pressure level: 94 ± 3dB SPL(A).
- Frequency response: 10Hz – 40kHz.
- Battery life: 80 hours.
- Input: DC 5V ⎓ 2A.