Thanks for your comments. I may consider retrying the Sundara at a later time. I must admit, though, that a headphone manufacturer recommending burn-in makes me very suspicious, as I don't believe in physical burn-in of headphones for various reasons (mainly because it has never been measured...

Glad to be able to give people new music ideas or tips. Now Tidal will give you all kinds of related artists to enjoy as well :L3000:

No worries, it probably would have been the same with the Ananda that I first intended to purchase :) Exactly, you'll need to start somewhere to found out where you really want to go :)

Agreed. To me it felt that I wasn't hearing anything new with the elevated mids compared to the X2s, but they obscured the rest of the spectrum for my ears/brain. The balance was gone for me. And I do agree with the other comments that I (i.e. my brain) may be able to adjust to the new sound...

Well that excitement was short-lived :) The Sundara arrived, hooked it up and didn't like it at all. I was hoping for more clarity and transparency, but was getting less of it compared to my Fidelio X2s. The way I would describe it, it's basically its sound signature with most notably elevated...

It's cowering in the corner currently.

Well it seems you're the minority at the moment :) I'll wait how the Sundara test pans out, and whether the next step might be an outrageous double upgrade or not (which I think will have a big risk of not liking the change, and then not knowing whether to blame the headphones or the DAC/amp...

That's the thing, part of me is constantly wondering if I would enjoy it even more if better equipment allowed me to get a (subjectively) better sound, but I realize that it may be a never-ending search that will indeed prevent me from enjoying the music I listen to. So I do force myself to...

Not sure what a music server is (other than that it would be a PC dedicated to playing music, including external DAC, amp etc.?), but I don't like the 'big wallets' requirement very much :) That said, I was prepared to shell out up to €1000 for either new headphones or a new DAC, fully...

Funny, isn't it. You get a headphone that costs four times as much as the Sundara, but it actually sounds worse to you instead of four times as good. A testament to how personal audio is. It also means that finding the right set of cans is just a matter of trial and error, with hardly any...

Sorry about that. Hope your wallet doesn't hate me now :ksc75smile: Ah I see. Well the site where I ordered explicitly mentioned that it was the 2020 version of the cans, so I guess that should be OK then :)

Thanks for the suggestions. Not a real fan of IEM mainly because of the comfort/fitting/sealing issues I've always encountered with them. I'll keep it in mind, though, in case the planar route disappoints.

Okay, well at least I can try and return within 30 days without cost :) What do you mean with "get the new pads"?

Thanks for the excellent questions! I love my X2s for their laid-back yet detailed and open sound. Good low-frequency punch and subtle but clear highs. It's just that I'm always wondering if I get could more of that clarity and transparency, that's basically my Holy Grail :) So I thought that...

Thanks for the response. I guess the ADI-2 amp section isn't any weaker than the Mojo's? My current X2s are 30 Ohms and the Anandas are 25 Ohms, so I guess that that's OK :)