I'm not a good photographer so I won't be filling this with many pictures.

Let's get comfort and build quickly behind us because they are pretty quick to assess:

build: No creakiness at all, solidly build, you clearly notice it's from the 5XX range, yet more elegant than all the other family members.

Comfort: at first I thought it has the clamp of death when I pulled both cups away to fit it on my head but that notion disappeared very quickly. I didn't notice this headphone in the many hours I had with it and it reminded me of the PC360.

Gear:

HD 560S
HD 600

Violectric V590 Pro -> Custom Pass Labs HPA-1
Violectric V590 Pro -> Cavali Liquid Crimson with a Philips Amperex E88CC tube.

the short version:

overall rather neutral aside from the treble fr, no bass boost.
great extension to both sides, keeps down low rather neutral but can still thump and kick pretty good
is more punchy than the slammy type but can still rumble
good detail and texture relative to its price range
cohorent imaging, no 3 blob type stage that envelops and renders around you very sharply and consistent when used with VSTs.

relative to the HD 600:

finds its master with the HD 600 but beats it in bass quality/clarity
HD 560S seems clearer but not without "tricks" so nothing reallly worth praising a lot, still admirable
brighter, overall less refined than the HD 600
does not render detail as good, just says: LOOK HERE vs. HD 600's: oh, how delicate!
Mids slightly etched, edgy
proner to sibilance
Wider staging than the HD 600

its brightness relative to other contenders:

While the treble is my biggest gripe with this headphone as you might notice, its brightness is not up to the level of headphones like the DT770, DT990 or an Ultrasone Pro 900. Relative to them it's better or far better behaved. Don't worry about any Mt.Beyers or Burj Ultrasone.


the long version:

Hanne Boel - How can you mend a broken heart https://tidal.com/browse/track/25558098

What a lovely song. If there are hearts that are going to be broken, it's the hearts of those who followed youtube hypers and other strange fellows and thought Sennheiser would come to destroy the 6xx class with 5xx looks. Now I am not against that idea at all but was anyone outside the influencer bubble really believing for something like this to happen?

Now about broken hearts:

Hanne Boel's voice is accentuated by the 560S's slight proneness to sibilance compared to the HD 600, There's generally always a slight edgyness to vocals which is absent from the HD 600 who renders them more natural and yet more defined, finely shaped.

A bit more perceived clarity surely is a welcome bonus in this game but in this case it's not as natural as the 600 but "exciting" in the way that the Sennheiser engineers surely intended to. It does not come off cheap like some famous other brands where adding excitement to the treble makes for a good wincing game. Good at exposing flaws in the corresponding peak but unnatural and annyoing in the end.

Here's it's more like turning the overall brightness higher on your TV and watch the whole color balance degrade. Also add a slightly uneven brightness boost.
Still, it seems to be a very popular tonal balance so they too designed around it. Brightness of this type can also batter a bit through muffled onboard sound and cheap external usb soundcards. I am just guessing though.

I personally find it unnecessary but I understand it having the same FR like a HD 600 but with more bass would not make for a fine new addition to the portfolio but come off as a knockoff attempt. And it would probably expose it's flaws even more.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/111253 Original
https://tidal.com/browse/track/76201187 Remastered

Is this Love? No, not quite there. Where the 560S still gives me a hard time is the accentuated (lower) treble. It's always present, especially in famous remastered approaches of classics. Thank god Tidal gives us a choice so I went around and found the best version of this song. The Remastered is hard to listen to, especially during the refrain where everything and everyone involved is trying to poke and stab while screaming and shouting at me. Now you might ask my bloody perforated self why I bother with such examples when they themselves are inherently not ideal.

Well: overall genre/catalogue compatibility. Not every recording is worthy of the good song it carries and some genres are simply generally harder to match with headphones as most headphones struggle with treble. This means you will not always have luck with a good recording and some songs that are great only exist in one version.

While the original is good to listen to with the 560S the remastered clearly steps over the line while being easier on the HD 600.
No the 560S is not more detailed or more "revealing" (a famous euphemism for overly bright headphones), it's simply unrefined and "overachieving" in the treble relative to the HD 600.

Take this one for instance:

https://tidal.com/browse/track/131334630

A beautiful dreamy song, not a particularly good recording, strongly processed to achieve it's dreamy timbre. There is no other version, no way out.
Very hard to listen to on the 560S, much easier on the HD 600. None of it is wince inducing even though it's flamboyantly dancing on the threshold.
Sure, you can skip a song like this because it does not strike your mood, but then

https://tidal.com/browse/track/151908455

Here the 560S shows off it's rather potent and clearer bass alongside the (quite talkative) voice's ever so slightly sibilance. The HD 600 is more murky here down low, less separating. Looks like more distortion creeping up. While it doesn't share the same sibilance, neither does it share the same fun though. The beat is the star of the show here and favors the 560.

Now my impressions might sound rather negative.

If the 560S had a similar FR in the treble and at least a slightly more refined quality there it would be clearly be a 5 star candidate. What it gains over the HD 600 in bass cleanliness down low or in overall claritiy it "balances" out with worse treble.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/9602093

A recording made for headphones and a lovely song too. 560S immediately impresses with more clarity and a cleaner bass. Yet the HD 600 brings out the finer nuances, the reverb of the room, the textures. The 560S is polished here and adds its sharpening filter, the overall image is a bit in hypermode without the same details and textures, yet it's still exciting and somewhat engaging. 560S is very playful here, I think a lot of people will like it.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/9602094

The next song on the same album. Listen to the claps at the beginning. The 560S has no problems rendering all the cues and the reverb. It's nuances again, I wouldn't say the HD 600 claps better, it's when the music starts you will notice the timbre superiority again, the tiniest differences of volumes between and within the various instruments.
The 560S employs its old tricks: clarity and excitement.

Now to some ambient beats:

https://tidal.com/browse/track/93952877

The 560S outlines the (especially kick)bass part better, there's always a bit more bloom on the 600 making it less clear overall, removing a bit from the sense of depth where the beat emanates from. This is one of the tracks where the 560S outshines the 600.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/77390854

Another beautiful song where the 560's negatives don't show at all. No more details here, just want you to listen to it and enjoy!


Gaming:

I played a few hours of Division 2 with the Dolby Atmos for headphones plugin.

The implementation in this game is pretty good. You can hear your drone buzzzing around your head, over you, below you if have a higher position etc.
A turret shooting at a place over you (to have a better fov and enemy reach) clearly sounds above your head.
Thunder, storm and lightning rumble, growl, explode over you with menacing power and deep sub bass. High calibered Sniper shots blast through smoke filled streets piercing the air around my head like Yang Wu-lang's spear in 8 diagrams. When the rain falls you can clearly hear finest nuances of drops plopping on different material when finally landing on the ground washing away all the blood and crap. It's always a spectacle, gotta admit I'm sometimes longing for that experience and thus hope for bad weather. At least in games.

I know most people who game will probably not bother about stuff like this and clearly focus on their gear, skill, multiplayer experience, chatting with friends. I myself clearly prefer single player experiences and the immersion, storylines they bring so I focus on a lot on how everything sounds and immerses me. It's a huge part of the experience for me.

Strong rain in this game sounds a bit more like hail with the 560S. It's no showstopper at all, you could see it as an artistic filter but it's the way it is. The impressions naturally continue on every other segment or purpose you use that headphone, there's no magic barrier between music and gaming except you be more picky with music.

Still it does gaming very good and I would pick it over all other candidates in its class. It has a cohorent way of rendering the space around you in conjunction with various VST's and has no trouble keeping its composition when facing multitudes of ambient cues and placing them around you.

Conclusion:

Sennheisers' HD 560S is a strong horse in the sub 200€ race and its moderate amping requirements, high comfort and rather neutral, detailed nature that supports its good staging/imaging capabilities ticks a lot of boxes for those who want a headphone for all purposes, be it movies, gaming or music. Now Sennheiser only needs to release a cable with added microphone and you got yourself a superb headset too.

Alright,

this is @Empyah 's headphone which he forced onto I mean which he lend me. I was aware of this headphone but never really reached out to listening to a unit and there weren’t any available around people I know, except him, so I took the bait.

Tidal through DX160 -> SPDIF -> Bifrost 2 -> Cavalli Liquid Crimson, Niimbus US4+, Dual F6 Mono Monster

Overall

Ether 2 really has a great default tuning. Really well balanced across the whole FR with great extension to both sides. I would say it’s a relatively neutral headphone with a warmer or dark tilt with zero mushiness, gooeyness or cloudiness. It definitely is not a polarizing headphone in that regard as the Verité or even the Nighthawk/Empyrean. It's rather a very safe choice and that maybe its "problem". It's not instantly striking as with most TOTL offerings like the Utopia or HD 800, it does not have an added excitement factor in the treble, upper mids or even down low with a subbass boost or anything similar. It's a very carefully tuned headphone.

It ticks a lot of very important boxes for a true TOTL design:

very well balanced overall
very clean across the spectrum
great timbre and tonal accuracy or tonally correct
outstanding bass quality and cleanliness, also heft
clean and very involving mids, on the romantic side
smooth transition from bass to mids to treble

It’s slightly sweetening the sound as with most romantic type of headphones but not to the degree of the old days like the pre-fazor LCD-2 or the HE-500’s mids.

It does this around a reference type of tuning so it shares most of its traits through the fundament of its great technicalities. It still has good liquidity and is not a dry headphone at all. Dan Clark Audio seems to have had a clear vision for this headphone.

Transients are very slightly rounded as with most modern planars but definitely not soft. Just don’t expect an Utopia, Elex or HD 800 here though.

Bass delivers plenty of detail, slam and punch, not in the same vein as one of my favorites: the HE-6 but still very satisfying and clean. And it doesn't need a power plant to do so. Bass goes down very low. With the US4+ you know that 10Hz (Bass Test that starts from 10) is very alive and growling. The bass is linear and not emphasized, yet powerful and rumbling. Simply technically masterful. Midbass is not emphasized here as for instance with the HE-500.

Mids:

Mids follow the bass without any bleed through a smooth transition. Mids are involving and clean, slightly muted up top so guitars are not as exciting as for instance on my modded HE-6 but at the same not as exaggerated. It's a matter of taste of course.

Treble:

Treble is masterfully tuned. At first very "inoffensive" but what could be mistaken as boring, warm or very dark is countered with high resolution, grain-free character and lack of hardness or "dirtyness". This helps with maintaing high genre compatibility while rewarding the lust for details and resolve.
Together with the 650 this is one of the best treble designs ever.

It's unexciting compared to Utopia, HE-6, HD 800, Arya etc.

Head/Soundstage

Headstage is an important trait for me. Both in depth, width, height and how clean and precise sounds are placed in the virtual room. Also because I use my headphones for movies and gaming. I come from the times of Aureal3D and use various HRTF solutions so a headphone needs to do well in this regard.

I haven't tested the Ether 2 in this regard at all as I'm in a busy phase at the moment that doesn't allow much gaming and since I don't play as a habit I can't say anything here. Better ask @Empyah

In regards to music the Ether 2 renders a very cohorent stage around the head that is not big as the Arya, HD 800 or similar contenders but still spacious with very nice layering and imaging. The images are not as sharp as on the Utopia or HD 800 but not blurred either. It definitely is bigger than the Utopias stage.

Negatives:

Also as you can read from the cons this headphone does have a very slight gloss effect like most planars. It's not really a con per se, more a matter of how you want to perceive your music. I love the grittyness which the HD 600, 650, 800 and a few more bring to the table. I have a various mix of headphones with various strengths which I use for different applications or even genres. I know their strengths and weaknesses and accept them.

The Ether 2 falls under this criticism because it does most things superbly, which I cannot say about my other headphones. On the way to the one for all headphone the Ether 2 is one of the best contenders on the market and if it also had a stage as big as the HEK's, Arya's, not necessarily HD 800 it would be a true terror inducing headphone.

Amp pairing:

I used both the Niimbus US4+ and the Cavalli to power this headphone and in both cases the pairing was simply outstanding.

Out of these two the Niimbus US4+ pairing provided the best bass heft and sustain, a truly hammering and slamming experience down to 10Hz.

The Cavalli is more ethereal here while being similarly incisive as the US4+.

I upgraded from the Ananda to the Arya and didn't expect it to be this much better. See my Ananda review about its qualities and shortcomings.

Anyway, here are my impressions and comparison to the reference point: the Ananda, a bit of the HE-6 and HD 800 thrown in, but not a lot to keep this short and readable.

1) A few things we gotta let go (again):

even the Arya doesn't do hard "tactile" transients and slam like the HE-6 (I own the OG version, blu tacked, reshelled etc.). However not even the Susvara does (it's very close while doing everything better) so I didn't expect the Arya to match it.

Yes, there's a softness in the context of taking the OG HE-6 (Blu Tacked, reshelled) as a reference point but it's no biggie at all imo. It's not limpish, weak or doesn't know how to get up and get going. Not at all by far.

2) dissapointments:

a) there's a slight creakiness in the build. Dissapointing but I just hope now it stays fixed and doesn't break over itself. All I require for now.

I didn't have any problems with the Ananda's lack of swivel so I can't comment how superior this here is. Not now at least. It's as comfortable and dissapears on my LARGE HEAD.

b) cable. Only 1 short cable and it's SE only. Luckily I have a FAW Noir Hybrid HPC lyring around. This is unacceptable at this price point. There should be 2 cables with at least 2m. Come on Hifiman, follow your sound qualities.

b) the treble peak that is often talked about in the 5k area is legit, there's no way around it. No potential showstopper like the HD 800 can be for quite a few but still not really far from it. I can live with it like I can with the HD800's peak but in 2019 I would have loved to have a bit more even treble for a high end headphone.
This kind of accentuation shouldn't exist anymore in such a big price bracket. The Arya is exciting as it is, no need for that "trait". Again, no showstopper but not all that glitters is gold, right?

BASIC SOUND CHARACTER:

The Arya is fairly neutral with excellent extension to both sides. There's the already mentioned peak at 5khz which is not very broad but noticable and it's the only real dissapointment in regards to sound qualities. Further up, way over 8khz there's another peak which doesn't bother me though (like for instance on my HE-6) and probably won't bother 99% of those interested in this headphone.

detail and texture:

Arya delivers tons of (micro)detail and texture like a true TOTL. It doesn't reveal all the tiniest shades of greyness in the dark like the HD 800 can and does not deliver it as on point when attacking (transients are less tactile and sharp as the HD 800) but it trades all the ultrafinest nuances, dirty greyness and transitions for more wetness, smoothness and euphony. A very welcoming approach.

Where the Ananda shows detail and texture in a polished, kinda bleached "laser cut" way the Arya shows the micro imperfections of that cut, the finer details of that texture. The contours of the Ananda are cut, there's a harder transition to the background if you get what I mean.

The Arya is seamless here in comparison. It's more natural. A star's glow fades more gradually into the dark ( how many times did I say dark by now?). The Ananda stops and cuts off to the background. The contrast is emphasized, the Arya sits back and reveals more and is relaxed about it, more effortless. Simply technical superiority.

Bass:

Ananda is tight and controlled with its usual strict character. Arya shows more muscle and flexibility down low (no pun intended), the bass dynamics are simply superior. Bass can come out of the depth and explode, you can reach for it. It's not shocking or "jump scary" like the HE-6 on a F5 Turbo but the Arya makes up for it in detail and definition. When a bass plays out and fades off the Arya delivers everything until the noise floor in your environment takes over, there's no cutoff. It's really outstanding. When a bass drum kicks in there are more frequencies coming into play than just lower octaves. Some can go high as 4khz+. The Arya does not fail to deliver all this while mainting the corpus of the drum and let it play out into the void.

Mids:

Mids are less dry than both the HD 800 and the Ananda. The HD 800 shows a slight dip around the upper mids, the Arya is supposedly dipped at 2k which I am glad for as it lacks any form of shoutyness.
Vocals are clear, engaging, very well defined but they do not attain the magic of the HD 650 (and especially its reference like transition) and the dreamy mids of HE-500.

Treble:

As mentioned above, there's this 5khz peak that probably is intended to excite the listener and add more liveliness. Not sure what else. It's unncessary imo as the Arya is already strong in dynamics, engagement and excitement, noticably over the Ananda. This feels overdone imo and should not exist in such an expensive headphone. Mids to Treble transition should be done in a way like the HD 650 does it and then also extend like it currently does with a more smoother progress on its way to the most upper octavesl, eliminating peaks on its way.

Still: From all the peaks, only the 5khz really stands out. I feel the treble is very well done, very articulate with gobs of detail thrown at you but ultimately ending like the HD 800. I feel the HD 650 does this part smoother, yet lacks a bit of excitement and bite though.



The staging and imaging:

The soundstage of the Arya is unleashed now, it feels borderless, the strictness about it that the Ananda had is gone (read my impression on its Head-Fi page). The Ananda has very good spacing and defines space pretty accurate. Still a rare feat in its class. Only a (used) HD800 does this better (well, it does this best of all headphones imo) in its price range, also OG T1 might be able to compete with the Ananda but fall short in other aspects

The Arya lets loose the boundaries of space that the Ananda puts on (to maintain full control at all time) and now objects can come in out and out of the dark space with a seemless transition. And the Arya needs it. It needs both this trait and the larger overall image and depth it is able to create around your head.

It needs that space to show off its explosiveness, the superior dynamics compared to the Ananda. The breathability lets objects flourish and "prosper" (excuse the gibberish), almost like getting served on a platter to appetize you.

Prosper means you're able to make out the finer nuances in volume, decay, reverb and how these objects (voices, instruments, noises, fly by sounds) are drawn. No matter how fast. It's amazing. The Ananda lacks both the definition and the expression, it lacks the dynamics to explode like the Arya, both in the tiny objects and for the big picture. Micro and macro dynamisms are a huge jump.

What the Ananda also lacks in comparison is not only the constricted (yet big and remarkable) space but also depth. This is a very important aspect that the Arya "builds upon". The Arya projects depth far far better than the Ananda could ever wish for. Money no-object, this trait only is worth the upgrade.

I'm a soundstage nut and while I like most aspects about my HD 650 a headphone needs to have large space, depth and sharp imaging/placement, trailing etc. to get plenty of time from me..

The Arya now joins the HD 800 on the throne of soundstage nuttery. Comparing both the HD 800 still has the upperhand in imaging sharpness and tracing of objects but the Arya makes up for it by being more fleshed out, less dry overall and having superior extension below and imaging noticably taller.

Sure, most of the Arya's counterbalance here is more on the tonality side but if you're weighing out both headphones these aspects are important to mention.




Overall

The Arya is highly recommended from a sound/tonality perspective and while the peak is a bit unfortunate the overall traits fairly surpass that flaw.

Setup: Lynx AES -> Bifrost 2 -> Niimbus US4X -> Arya (balanced FAW Noir HPC)

This review is a bit older (a few months) and at that time I owned the Gungnir Multibit B. The Edition X V2 was a friendly loaner.

The Hifiman Ananda is Hifiman’s entry model into their high end lineup sporting the NEO supernano diaphragm which supposedly is 80% thinner than the previous generation. Those who know and adore the very first generation might shudder in fear now as the thinner diaphragms which came by over time and replaced the old world also meant less tactility, physicality in transients and impact/slam. The first of the new generation were indeed softer in attacks, transients and didn't slam as well. They improved in other areas like microdetail retrieval, headstaging, especially tallness but they were also mellower, less direct. Like a change of character or philosophy actually.

A few entries later the softness and roundness became less and less and with the Susvara almost reaches HE-6 levels of slam and tactility now (while beating it in every other area). The Susvara is my favorite headphone out of all headphones but unfortunately out of my reach budget-wise.


This little review highlights the differences to the Edition X V2 and is not a roundup comparison with all the gear I have. I would have loved to give detailled comparisons to the HD-650, HD 800 but I'm short on time nfortunately and not used to write reviews.

COMPARISON TO THE HEX V2:

TL;DR

Choose Ananda for technical superiority (microdetails, driver control, speed (attack, decay), better clarity, sharper staging, imaging) and leaner sounding more "linear" character, but accept a slight peak in the treble around 8khz which might irritate a few people.

Generally Ananda bests the Edition X V2 in technicalities but is drier and more stoic. The Edition X V2 counters with romanticism and character.

Choose HEX V2 for an "easier to handle" default tuning with overall more warmth, more low end presence, slightly thicker mids and smoother, mellower treble while being technically similarly competent, but definitely not equal. It's more "romantic" (the combination of above) than the Ananda and that is its big counter.

Hex V2 doesn't handle louder volumes as well as the Ananda though but don't expect Ananda to let you crank it up like a HE series oldschool Hifiman, which not only sustain much more power but are more dynamic as well and therefore also give you a better reason to crank it up. Ananda and Hex V2's compressed dynamics don't allow for the "startling effect" anyway. This startling effect describes the explosive power of the HE-6 to fire at you from total darkness, nothingness with a hail of supernovae. I'm exaggerating here but you might understand what I mean.



THE LONGER VERSION:

The Ananda is a bit different from the Edition X V2, sharing a new generation driver design called NEO supernano diaphragm which indeed brings a few improvements but comes in a slightly questionable housing/design.

I personally don't have any problem with the comfort or how they fit on my large head. Some might however as the cups actually don't move at all. I personally believe the lack of swivel isn't such a big deal as the pads rest easy. If your head is tiny there are Dekoni Nuggets which you can use on the headband to make your head appear taller. People did with the HEX V2.

SOUND:

The Ananda is more controlled, tighter, cleaner/clearer (more clarity), overall more linear sounding and slightly more detailed whereas the HEX v2 is "thicker" overall (also in the mids), has more low end (in volume, not in extension, Ananda goes as deep) but less in detail and control.

Bass

Don't expect the bass to rumble down low like a AH-D7000 or the TH-900, the character and tuning goes past the expectations of bassheads. It goes for accuracy, linearity over wow factor. Make no mistake though, it's not like the bass of the TH-900 isn't accurate in context. Not at all actually. The tuning is simply different. The TH-900 grows a lot in presence and rumble the lower you go, the Ananda goes for linearity and does extend pretty well but never goes for the thunder or the furious slam of the TH-900. It does not take away, it does not give but is still leaner in character. it maintains excellent control and details stand out. More so than the Hex V2 which brings us more volume down low and a tiny bit less control, adding to the overall warmer character but also adding to the bass presence.

The Edition X V2 is the more playful headphone here thanks to more low end. It doesn't impact harder though, the Ananda is slightly less soft here, is tighter and better controlled.

Mids of the Ananda are slightly forward just like the HEX V2 but due to its less thick overall (not thin) presentation and the superior cleanliness/clarity they have a more direct tone about them at times but the technical qualities actually rub voices a bit dry. This is where the Edition X V2 counters with more lushness and character, yet the emotion of voices which a HE-500 or HD 650 deliver should not be expected here either. Personally I love the HE-500's voices the most out of all headphones. Such a dreamy, emotional character which ascends above the technical superiority of other headphones.

The treble is less smooth with a peak around the 8Khz area and this might irritate a few people over time. Not in the same vein as the HD800 stock though (far from it). Extension itself is very good and goes very high. Air superiority is on the Ananda's side and certainly fits its overall character.

I'd like to consider the Ananda as the more tonally "correct" headphone in most areas but the compulsive striving for "correctness" and linearity makes it a bit too stoic at times. It's as if it wants to take control at all times and not let go and sharpens up top to emphasize its own character even more, it's actually overshooting. This sharpening stands out as this very peak I mentioned. That's where the Ananda's "in control" slightly loses its grip and its overall character certainly makes this peak stand out more. The Edition X V2 would definitely let this peak go more unnoticed if it had it.

We're not talking about Beyer, Ultrasone peak levels of course. I'm simply magnifying this part a lot to contrast the slight differences better.

Ananda does staging and imaging better than the Hex V2, cues in the "3D space" are easier to make out, traced and sharper drawn. It's certainly not due to its tuning alone but more founded in the improved drivers and how they maintain better control of the diaphragm.

I personally prefer these over the HeX V2 though as I'm not that sensitive towards the peak, meaning I'm ok with technical superiority and the leaner (but better controlled and detailed) low end, more "neutral" approach over the more agreeable treble tuning of the Hex V2 and its overall noticable drift towards warmth. A good sacrifice for me. If I want smoother and more warm, bloomy, dreamy I have the HE-500.

In the context of the philosophy of complementary headphones aka insanity such a verdict is easily spoken out of course. What if I only had to choose between the two and wasn't allowed any other headphone at all? I would go for long time listening, lushness and probably chose the Edition X V2.

Such a world doesn't exist for me though so I''d realistically be going for technicalities and a better fit in my collection.

All in all:

The Ananda improves upon the already improved Hex V2 in terms of overall technicalities. The HEX V1 had what many people called plasticky timbre and a certain softness in its attacks. The Ananda is still there somewhere or let's say not where I'd like it to be but trickle down is a thing so sooner or later we might enjoy a bit of Susvaras qualities in a similar design and price point. Give it a few years, maybe a hundred.

The Ananda is thus no total or absolute replacement for the oldschool HE series which have a certain "realness" in their tonality: harder transients and attacks, more "tactility" and especially macrodynamics.

Yet out of the box aka no modding and with not a lot of power to spare the Ananda reclaims space with great imaging, staging, details and genre, application compatibility.



setup: TIDAL -> Lynx AES -> Gungnir Multibit -> V281 (balanced out), Forza Audioworks Claire HPC MK II cable for each headphone