Enjoyed this review
Hifiman Ananda Stealth Magnet Version
- Thread starter Fegefeuer
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Enjoyed this review
these not much info in the comparison section, besides, review is outdated, XS have no sense anymore because of the price diff between XS and Ananda, it's almost zero if you know how to buy them from internal chinese market, official Ananda's price is a kinda marketing thing. Ananda SM is the best HP under 500$, never heard anything better in this range. Build quality sucks though, squeaking sound from headband sometimes annoying, in-box cable is absolute disaster
Well I've bought the Ananda SM and will compare to my Edition XS.
You can't get Ananda in the UK for less than 599 UKP
i'm sure you will like the Ananda SM much more than XS
for me XS was the big disappointment in terms of comfort and sound, i've paid 50$ more for Ananda SM and very happy about it
I use the ifi xdsd gryphon with the hifiman ananda stealth
What I did not expect was that I liked the Hifiman Ananda stealth better with the balanced and iematch 4.4 enabled more than without? I know it has low ohm but it seems almost that the 27 ohm of the stealth ananda also needs iematch on the gryphon to sound better?
Did someone else has that experience?
What I did not expect was that I liked the Hifiman Ananda stealth better with the balanced and iematch 4.4 enabled more than without? I know it has low ohm but it seems almost that the 27 ohm of the stealth ananda also needs iematch on the gryphon to sound better?
Did someone else has that experience?
I got your XS at a silly low price but only paid £450 for the Ananda SE, so I'm happy with that. Tbh I started looking purely because the Ananda are easier to drive
that's issue of iFi devices, not the Ananda's, iFi working poor without balanced and iematch
Iistening to Amanda Stealth balanced from Qudelix 5k
Straight from DCA 2 Noire from Mojo 2
All I can say so far is there is night and day , Ananda blows the DCA away.
Problem is you have to listen in another room, always a downside
Straight from DCA 2 Noire from Mojo 2
All I can say so far is there is night and day , Ananda blows the DCA away.
Problem is you have to listen in another room, always a downside
I've come here for the same reasons,
Going to answer myself, they are fine without EQ for me. I tried Oratory and messing with the Mojo 2, in the end just gave up, these are outstanding headphones .
They are outstanding in any way, I hate the headphone are not a little bit nicer in design though and little bit less fragile, also not providing a case is dissapointing.
But there is near nothing with this sound quality in this price range.
They are really really close to arya (tried both for a few hours auditing) the difference are subtile and small, and yes the arya is technical better but double the price, not double the upgrade in sound, maybe 15% at most
There are moments though I experience the treble a little to much.
I think that's just Hifiman sound re the treble, I got that with the Sundara and the Edition XS as well
XS treble are worse, they have metallic\silver sibilants and overwhelmed too much. Ananda SM have stronger upper-mids but smoother treble than XS, better tone balanced than XS XS have kind a rollercoaster between mids and treble, Ananda is less fatiguing than XS, and i hear no sibilants from Ananda
Yes I agree with that
Acapella48
Head-Fier
The man in the red suit brought me a pair of Ananda SM's. Started listening to them yesterday afternoon driving them with Schiit Bifrost 2/ Lyr 3 stack SE.
This is my first planar. I had been considering Sundara to compliment my HD6XX, So far, I'm liking what I hear; however, I've noticed with some classical source material, the Ananda SM require a bit more gain from volume pot on Lyr 3 (set on low-gain) vs the HD6XX's to reach the same sound level. This may be due to the cans being new.
I had to adjust volume with HD6XX's for a few months before they settled in and Ananda's seem to be exhibiting the same behavior. Hifiman's manual states Ananda SM
need 150 hrs or so before they come into their own.
To my ears, vocals depending on source material and musical genre (jazz, rock, classical, etc.) need more gain. For example, Mahler lieder requires me to turn the volume pot on the Lyr 3 to about the 11 o'clock position whereas Jazz vocals only require the volume pot to be at the 9 o'clock or less. The same can be said for most orchestral and chamber music.
The vast majority of music that I listen with HD6XX's to via Qobuz, the Lyr 3 volume pot can be left at 9 o'clock position (or lower) for most music genres.
Having said that, as I mentioned previously, when the HD6XX's were newer, I had to repeatedly adjust the volume until they settled in. Ananda SM's probably need a few more hours of signal to go through them.
As with all things audio, source material (quality of recording) and quality of signal from source components will have a major influence on the sound that reaches our ears.
Overall, I'm liking what I hear. As I'm posting this, I'm listening to one of Beethoven's early string quartets on Qobuz and to my ears, the sound is open, layered and rich with a good sound stage and good separation between instruments. Albeit, volume pot is in the 11 o'clock position.
Curious what these would sound like through a XLR connection -- ditto with my HD6XX's. I've been considering adding a Jotunheim 2 to my stack along with a balanced cable.
But SE isn't shabby.
This is my first planar. I had been considering Sundara to compliment my HD6XX, So far, I'm liking what I hear; however, I've noticed with some classical source material, the Ananda SM require a bit more gain from volume pot on Lyr 3 (set on low-gain) vs the HD6XX's to reach the same sound level. This may be due to the cans being new.
I had to adjust volume with HD6XX's for a few months before they settled in and Ananda's seem to be exhibiting the same behavior. Hifiman's manual states Ananda SM
need 150 hrs or so before they come into their own.
To my ears, vocals depending on source material and musical genre (jazz, rock, classical, etc.) need more gain. For example, Mahler lieder requires me to turn the volume pot on the Lyr 3 to about the 11 o'clock position whereas Jazz vocals only require the volume pot to be at the 9 o'clock or less. The same can be said for most orchestral and chamber music.
The vast majority of music that I listen with HD6XX's to via Qobuz, the Lyr 3 volume pot can be left at 9 o'clock position (or lower) for most music genres.
Having said that, as I mentioned previously, when the HD6XX's were newer, I had to repeatedly adjust the volume until they settled in. Ananda SM's probably need a few more hours of signal to go through them.
As with all things audio, source material (quality of recording) and quality of signal from source components will have a major influence on the sound that reaches our ears.
Overall, I'm liking what I hear. As I'm posting this, I'm listening to one of Beethoven's early string quartets on Qobuz and to my ears, the sound is open, layered and rich with a good sound stage and good separation between instruments. Albeit, volume pot is in the 11 o'clock position.
Curious what these would sound like through a XLR connection -- ditto with my HD6XX's. I've been considering adding a Jotunheim 2 to my stack along with a balanced cable.
But SE isn't shabby.
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