This invention is drawn to a process for producing and recovering one or more high-purity xylene isomers from a feed stream having a substantial content of C.sub.9 and heavier hydrocarbons. The feed stream is processed to de-ethylate heavy aromatics, fractionated and passed to a circuit comprising C.sub.8-aromatic isomer recovery and isomerization to recover the high-purity xylene isomer with lowered energy costs.