[bagwell359]

Paid $699 from Amazon. Best $700 I ever spent. I bought the HE-400 and found them to be heavy and muddy even with some tweeks. After about a year I dug my AKG K702's out and they smoked the 400's. So it was with some trepidations I bought the Anandas. These are the best I've ever heard including Senn. HD650's. Now I need a new DAC. But that's the way this hobby works.

Ananda easily better than 400's even with EQ, screens off, dynamat on (to damp muddy mid/upper bass). Some few like Sundara better - I don't see that either.

650's have more fabric in the mids than the Ananda, but the bass is sluggish and lacking bass under 50 Hz, and the treble short of detail, although it doesn't push detail in your face unlike the Ananda at times in the 7-10 kHz area, Ananda is more transparent. The pair of them actually make a pretty good pair of headphones to serve about every sort of music.

My version of that pair would be the trinity of Arya, HE-500, HD-600 (on a transformerless tube amp).

...and after I inherit: a Voce, 009, Raal, and AMT, just because... that's why headphones are better than speakers: you can collect a bunch, try collecting a bunch of planars and monitors, and then using 2-3-4 in a day without major fuss.

 

[BubbaJay]

The combination of my Mimby with the Ananda sounds fantastic. I put the Mimby away about 6 months ago because I liked the EL Dac and D50s more but I wanted to see how the Ananda faired with it and I'm glad I did. The Ananda sounds more detailed and clear and I know this gets used way to much but they just sound more musical now.

 

[housekrl]

Paid $699 from Amazon. Best $700 I ever spent. I bought the HE-400 and found them to be heavy and muddy even with some tweeks. After about a year I dug my AKG K702's out and they smoked the 400's. So it was with some trepidations I bought the Anandas. These are the best I've ever heard including Senn. HD650's. Now I need a new DAC. But that's the way this hobby works.

I feel the same. The best I've heard by far. Makes me want to here an Arya or HE 1k. I recommend an r2r dac for the Ananda. Tones down any glaring highs if your treble sensitive.

 

[BubbaJay]

I've compared the Ananda to all my other headphones and there's no comparison. The only headphone that does one thing better is my Elear because they have wonderful depth to the soundstage. I'm to the point where I'm going to start selling some (if not most) of my headphones because there's no point in having them anymore.

 

[Ichos]

Browsing your inventory , yes they are the best of them.
If you can give Clears a try.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Very highly overrated, if your amp sounds different, it's broken, about should impart no sound of their own.

The overall sound quality also depends on the quality and fidelity of the music/media and source quality, not just the amp. Low quality mp3s and low bitrate streaming will not allow one to hear differences in amps. Junk in - junk out. Defeats the purpose of expensive quality headphones. I use Tidal lossless streaming quality as much as possible and I can hear amp/source differences with most of my headphones (even the cheaper low-fi ones also - but to a much lesser degree). My Emotiva a-100 can sound a little clinical and grainy/rough in the highs sometimes directly from the DAC but a lot smoother and natural with more bloom when I put my cheap tube buffer in the chain before the amp. My Schiit Magni 3+ directly from phone or tablet via 3.5mm to RCA sounds somewhat refined in comparison to the "naked" Emotiva. Not night and day but still noticeable.Neither sounds bad. And I clean the wax out of my ears too - haha.

 

[ezduzit2500]

And here I am, not able to tell a difference on my Anandas, between: JDS Labs Atom (solid state), MG Head DT (vac tube), and iPhone output. Amping is overrated as far as I can tell.

 

[ezduzit2500]

The overall sound quality also depends on the quality and fidelity of the music/media and source quality, not just the amp. Low quality mp3s and low bitrate streaming will not allow one to hear differences in amps. Junk in - junk out. Defeats the purpose of expensive quality headphones. I use Tidal lossless streaming quality as much as possible and I can hear amp/source differences with most of my headphones (even the cheaper low-fi ones also - but to a much lesser degree). My Emotiva a-100 can sound a little clinical and grainy/rough in the highs sometimes directly from the DAC but a lot smoother and natural with more bloom when I put my cheap tube buffer in the chain before the amp. My Schiit Magni 3+ directly from phone or tablet via 3.5mm to RCA sounds somewhat refined in comparison to the "naked" Emotiva. Not night and day but still noticeable.Neither sounds bad. And I clean the wax out of my ears too - haha.

 

[ezduzit2500]

And here I am, not able to tell a difference on my Anandas, between: JDS Labs Atom (solid state), MG Head DT (vac tube), and iPhone output. Amping is overrated as far as I can tell.

 

[Traiguen]

I used to use my Ananda off my RME ADI-2 DAC and I just would get tired soon, maybe a tad bright. I don't know. I tried them from the tube Eddie Current ZDT Jr. and even though the sound was not bright like in the RME... I was not sold to the sound like when you can play for hours and don't feel the need to stop.
I finally tried the Ananda from another solid state amp, HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2 and it worked for me. The sound is a bit warmer - I think - and now I am enjoying the Ananda with no desire to take them off.
I have never used a crazy expensive amps, either SS or tube, so I am not sure if they can make those incredible differences that some reviewers say they hear.
However, it is fun to have a SS and a tube amp and play with them to notice how the sound changes from one to the other.

 

[SilverEars]

Is Gilmore Lite mk2 generally a warmer amp? I tried the GSX MK2 and it was toward solid-statey sound, not warm, but cold and toward clinical. I didn't think sound was worth the pricing. I guess Kevin Gilmore made warmer amps as well?

I generally don't like warm sound either. I don't like that thick warm syrupy sounds. The kind that makes headphones to get bloomy (Nelson Pass?). I also don't like clinical either.

 

[Traiguen]

Is Gilmore Lite mk2 generally a warmer amp? I tried the GSX MK2 and it was toward solid-statey sound, not warm, but cold and toward clinical. I didn't think sound was worth the pricing. I guess Kevin Gilmore made warmer amps as well?

I generally don't like warm sound either. I don't like that thick warm syrupy sounds. The kind that makes headphones to get bloomy (Nelson Pass?). I also don't like clinical either.

Maybe you should try the Gilmore Lite , it is not super warm to my hears, just a tad but enough to separate it from clinical and make it very enjoyable.

 

[tesarpa]

I used to consider myself as "warm sound signature" fan. But later I discovered that properly designed neutral (studio) sound is great, when done right. I'm talking specifically about Benchmark DAC3 incl. headphone amp. It gives all the details, but in quite civil performance, no harshness there. I can listen to it until I fall to sleep

 

[ezduzit2500]

After almost a full years wait I finally received the Ananda this afternoon!

Initial impressions after 2 hours:

The cable really does feel like a thick condom or some hospital tubing.

Surprisingly narrow soundstage for how open the headphones are; the Ananda sounds capable at all times but gets overwhelmed by busier pieces and sounds congested easily. Imaging and separation is only ok, but image height is great.
Overall signature is very musical, slightly warmer than neutral but very dry, think chocolate cake with the perfect amount of sweetness that has been left to open air for a couple days. Manages to be great with most genres but sounded best (so far) with RnB and easy listening (Minnie Ripperton). Bass is great but the rest of the sound sometimes lacks body, especially at lower volumes.

No direct back and forth comparisons as of yet but I feel confident in saying that my HE500 (dekoni th900 fenestrated sheepskin pads and grill mods) is sonically better.

I'm just chiming in as the Ananda is going to be my next step up. That was my exact experience with the Fostex t50rp mk3s, the 4xx and Sundaras (all planars? -or most gear?). They both benefited from about 20-50 hrs burn in with pink noise and music (with bass) before they sounded "not broken". After playing for a while they seemed to "open up". They afterwards sounded much less constricted and each of their unique characters started to be heard. Patience was my friend. How are they now?

 

[Deolum]

So what to buy? Used HEX V2 for 850 without warranty but mint condition or new Ananda for 900 with 3 years warranty?