[bagwell359]

Do you think the Ananda Stealth is closer in tuning to the Sundara than the XS? I prefer the tuning of the Sundara but love the staging of the XS.

Ananda has more low bass than either, from 100 Hz up I'd say the Stealth is a bit closer to the Sundara tuning but yes bigger staging.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

Welp, curiosity got the best of me and I ordered a set of Ananda Stealth for $399 on Hifiman store. The price just seems way too good for something that launched at $999 and was $799 forever.

I'll be back with impressions on how it compares to the Edition XS and Sundara. I am hoping it will be something I can replace both of those with. We shall see.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

Got the Ananda Stealth in yesterday, so impressions are early. I already had a pair of Sundaras and Edition XS. Here are my early comparison impressions.

Comfort: Edition XS > Ananda Stealth > Sundara

Surprisingly, I find the Edition XS the most comfortable. I just prefer the loose clamp. I was super worried about them fitting my smaller than average head, but no issues there. The Ananda Stealth definitely clamps more but it feels fairly balanced and still comfy. I find the lack of swivel to be a non issue for my head. The Sundara was never a world beater in the comfort area for me. Something about the round earcups with no swivel just feels off.

Build: Ananda Stealth > Sundara > Edition XS

Despite using the same headband, the Ananda Stealth feels better built and more solid/ less rickety than the Sundara. Perhaps its the weight or tension of the egg shaped earcups playing more nicely with the headband than the Sundara cups do. The Edition XS feels the worst in hand because of the super cheap plastic end caps on the headband, as well as the headband itself just feeling basic and cheap. The earcups and pads are exactly the same as Ananda.

Sound: Ananda Stealth = Edition XS >>> Sundara

Here's where it gets interesting. Lets put the Sundara aside for now. As good as it is, its just not really in the same league as the other two, despite it having maybe the best tuning of the bunch. It just sounds unrefined and harsh in comparison.

Feels like the difference between Ananda Stealth and Edition XS will really just come down to preference. They both sound terrific. Just to summarize the overall sound sig of each:

Edition XS:
- definitely wider soundstage
- boomier bass
- definitely more v-shaped
- more defused overall

Ananda Stealth:
- a bit smaller soundstage, but more focused and coherent
- not defused, more present
- less boomy bass, can't tell if it extends lower, but its still present just not as boomy
- more analytical
- more detailed (probably due to smaller, more coherent staging)

I don't find the two as similar as many claim. I notice difference right away when switching between the two. Overall the Ananda Stealth sounds like a typical analytical HifiMan to me, while the Edition XS is a more v-shaped, laid back and forgiving listen.

I'm honestly not sure which I prefer. Might take a while to decide. What I do know is that the Ananda Stealth does enough of what the Sundara does for me to finally move on from it. I don't really see any scenario where I would pick it up to use over the Ananda Stealth.

I'm debating whether the Ananda Nano would be more "different" and maybe a better avenue to pursue.

One last thing. If your primary use case is gaming, its the Edition XS all of the way. The extra bass boom and slight v shape, along with the wider soundstage just makes them more fun for gaming IMO.

 

[Makaveli6103]

I recenlty got these and cannot decide if upgrading my amp is worth it. I currenlty have an iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label I got back in 2017. Is there any amps under $300ish that would be worth an upgrade?

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

After a few days, I think I'm leaning slightly towards the Edition XS. I do find them more comfortable (will differ between people), and I sort of dig the wider soundstage and slight v shape, even if it's at the expense of slightly less detail. It's a bit more engaging and fun to listen to.

 

[marekm]

Yes, but their size is crazy.

 

[cristianheadphones]

.

 

[cristianheadphones]

After a few days, I think I'm leaning slightly towards the Edition XS. I do find them more comfortable (will differ between people), and I sort of dig the wider soundstage and slight v shape, even if it's at the expense of slightly less detail. It's a bit more engaging and fun to listen to.

After a few days, I think I'm leaning slightly towards the Edition XS. I do find them more comfortable (will differ between people), and I sort of dig the wider soundstage and slight v shape, even if it's at the expense of slightly less detail. It's a bit more engaging and fun to listen to.

Hello. I have two questions since I am interested in purchasing an ananda SM.
Is the version you have V2 or V3?
Between the XS and the Ananda SM which one do you consider they make the highs less fatiqueing. From already thank you for your time

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

Hello. I have two questions since I am interested in purchasing an ananda SM.
Is the version you have V2 or V3?
Between the XS and the Ananda SM which one do you consider they make the highs less fatiqueing. From already thank you for your time

It was the V3 stealth.

I find the highs on the XS a good amount less fatiguing than the Ananda. The Ananda Stealth is brighter to me.

 

[marekm]

Owned XS for a while. Liked the sound, but could not cope with the size.

I wear motorcycle helmets size XL, so thought that I will be fine, but apparently size 3XL is what is needed

 

[dl95]

Returning my Ananda Stealth due to some driver issues. Overall, I liked it a lot more than my HD600. Now I'm debating whether to go for the Arya Stealth. Not sure how much of an appreciable difference from the Anandas I'll be able to perceive.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

After a few days, I think I'm leaning slightly towards the Edition XS. I do find them more comfortable (will differ between people), and I sort of dig the wider soundstage and slight v shape, even if it's at the expense of slightly less detail. It's a bit more engaging and fun to listen to.

After more time to evaluate, my stance has changed. It's not super apparent at first, but after a long time it becomes apparent that the Ananda Stealth is a just a better headphone. The difference in detail and clarity is definitely there and hard to ignore after a while.

The edition xs is more impressive initially with it's wider soundstage and slight v shape. The bass initially sounds more emphatic. But after a while I started to feel like the ananda had just as much bass, and was way better controlled and tighter. The smaller soundstage also gives better imaging and a more coherent soundscape.

The difference is subtle but it's there IMO.

At their new price of $399, these are an absolutely BONKERS deal. Like, I don't even get what hifiman is doing with that lol. These are like HD6xx level of deal.

I am frankly surprised various audiophile sites and forums aren't going nuts over this deal. It makes no sense. I am sure the Nano may be subjectively better to some ears, but there is no way it's worth $599 over $399 for almost the identical headphone. And buying a Sundara for $299 when you could just pay an extra $399 for the Ananda stealth, which launched at $999, doesn't seem to make sense.

To me now it has to be like, the 6xx is the go to recommendation to start out. And when someone asks what's the next step up? It has to be the ananda stealth at $399 right? I don't see anything else being close right now.

 

[dl95]

After more time to evaluate, my stance has changed. It's not super apparent at first, but after a long time it becomes apparent that the Ananda Stealth is a just a better headphone. The difference in detail and clarity is definitely there and hard to ignore after a while.

The edition xs is more impressive initially with it's wider soundstage and slight v shape. The bass initially sounds more emphatic. But after a while I started to feel like the ananda had just as much bass, and was way better controlled and tighter. The smaller soundstage also gives better imaging and a more coherent soundscape.

The difference is subtle but it's there IMO.

At their new price of $399, these are an absolutely BONKERS deal. Like, I don't even get what hifiman is doing with that lol. These are like HD6xx level of deal.

I am frankly surprised various audiophile sites and forums aren't going nuts over this deal. It makes no sense. I am sure the Nano may be subjectively better to some ears, but there is no way it's worth $599 over $399 for almost the identical headphone. And buying a Sundara for $299 when you could just pay an extra $399 for the Ananda stealth, which launched at $999, doesn't seem to make sense.

To me now it has to be like, the 6xx is the go to recommendation to start out. And when someone asks what's the next step up? It has to be the ananda stealth at $399 right? I don't see anything else being close right now.

Hifiman in general is incredible value relative to others. The HE6SE V2 for $400-700 from Adorama was a ridiculous deal as well, although you need a good amp to drive it. Even the Arya has seen its price drop significantly. As Hifiman continues to release more iterations of their products, I suspect we'll see prices on the older stuff continue to drop. Build quality and QC can be issues but in terms of pure value, it is getting increasingly difficult to compete with Hifiman in many price ranges.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

I've never been a believer in headphone burn-in, but these things totally opened up even after 10 hours. There's no way this is just brain burn lol. They felt way more closed in and smaller soundstage out of the box, and the lower treble was a bit honky while the upper treble was a bit much for me. All of that has since smoothed out and soundstage has widened a bit.

Again I'm not a burn in believer but there is definitely a difference on these ananda stealth vs out of the box.

 

[zilax002]

I've never been a believer in headphone burn-in, but these things totally opened up even after 10 hours. There's no way this is just brain burn lol. They felt way more closed in and smaller soundstage out of the box, and the lower treble was a bit honky while the upper treble was a bit much for me. All of that has since smoothed out and soundstage has widened a bit.

Again I'm not a burn in believer but there is definitely a difference on these ananda stealth vs out of the box.

I'm curious what my experience will be with burn in. I just got my Ananda Stealth V3 yesterday. My first impressions compared to the HD6XX: the sub-bass extension certainly stands out. I'm hearing a lot more detail in the bass, and straight up hearing some sub-bass that I don't think comes across at all on the HD6XX. Pretty expected based on the frequency response graphs. The soundstage is also wider, though it can feel a little "diffuse" to me at times. If you'd asked me what I cared most about in a headphone four or five years ago, I think I would have said "soundstage" and now I wonder if that's really true. I've come to like a lot of more intimate headphones as long as they're well tuned and have good imaging.

I'm curious whether the soundstage will start to feel less "diffuse" to me after some burn in.

And I came to the same conclusion you did with regards to value. Just looking at every review out there and what they have to say about the Ananda Stealth themself, and how they compare to other headphones in the $1K+ range . . . I really couldn't help myself when they're $400 (though that seems to be the new price based on the length of the sale). Even though I just picked up the HD6XX in the last couple months! Followed shortly by the JBS Labs Atom stack.

Which, as an aside: these seem harder to drive than the HD6XX. I don't think I've ever gone past the halfway mark on the Atom Amp volume knob with the HD6XX - aside from a few very quiet audio files. But anything "normal" is quite loud at the halfway point (in low gain).

The Ananda Stealth V3 though? I'm regularly inching close to the halfway mark when I want to hear all the details in a track. The new impedance and sensitivity levels certainly seem to be accurate.

I still wish someone with the earlier Stealth versions would do a detailed comparison with the V3 and see if anything has changed soundwise, because the listed sensitivity level is so much lower now, and I know the earlier Anandas had a reputation of being easy to drive from portable sources. I don't think that's going to be the case anymore (though I haven't yet tried them with my phone).

Just picked up the Moondrop Dawn Pro on Linsoul's Singles sale, though, so I might give the Ananda a try with those when I get it. Not expecting much, though (I have heard, however, that they drive the HD6XX well, and that the high impedance of the HD6XX paired with the power output of the Dawn Pro is a good match).