[Alex May]

I've just realised how happy I am with my original Ananda and Arya V2 non-stealth. These are collectibles from now on. Forsaken technologies that need to be preserved due to their qualities and rarity. They weren't inferior at all, no matter what most paid and biased reviewers have tried to make us believe. New technologies do not necessarily mean better. Sometimes they are just different. Many revisions are caused by changes in third party production lines. That's why we might often see questionable performance improvements with subsequent revisions although marketing geniuses will do their best to portray them as definitely more progressive and superior. They simply have no other choice as the third party production lines they all rely on have changed so they have to adapt to those changes. The original headphones will soon be harder and harder to find. I'm not a big fan of the stealth technology, so I've never replaced or upgraded my headphones to be "stealth". And I'm never going to. Therefore, I'm safe from all this revision frenzy.

 

[ahmonge]

Not sure what they’re doing over @ Hifiman, but I ordered this B-stock for $509:
And received this Ananda Stealth:


Customer Service explained to me:
‘Please kindly note that your Ananda Stealth is the latest version. The specifications are slightly adjusted compared with those on the official website, but please rest assured that there is no change in sound quality.’

Without any direct reference, I can’t check if that’s correct, but I’ve had an enjoyable listening experience sofar.

This is weird! Current Ananda's specifications, according to Hifiman website, are these:

103 dB compared to 94 dB is something I wouldn't call a slight difference.

 

[Festive56]

That’s weird, I just checked the box on mine, same 94 db sensitivity! Thing is, I’ve actually used these on my iPhone 6s for listening on several occasions when I didn’t feel like dragging out the big guns, always with good results. My phone powers them with no problem. Not to ear splitting levels tbh, but ok. I guess I just assumed they were higher sensitivity.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

This kinda shows that numbers are kinda useless and that you got to have direct experience with trial and error to actually say "this NEEDS this or that"

 

[Tano]

I've just realised how happy I am with my original Ananda and Arya V2 non-stealth. These are collectibles from now on. Forsaken technologies that need to be preserved due to their qualities and rarity. They weren't inferior at all, no matter what most paid and biased reviewers have tried to make us believe. New technologies do not necessarily mean better. Sometimes they are just different. Many revisions are caused by changes in third party production lines. That's why we might often see questionable performance improvements with subsequent revisions although marketing geniuses will do their best to portray them as definitely more progressive and superior. They simply have no other choice as the third party production lines they all rely on have changed so they have to adapt to those changes. The original headphones will soon be harder and harder to find. I'm not a big fan of the stealth technology, so I've never replaced or upgraded my headphones to be "stealth". And I'm never going to. Therefore, I'm safe from all this revision frenzy.

Im sorry but as much as you could love them or prefer them over the stealth versions, they are far from being collectibles or rarities. Hifiman has has sold thousands of those.

 

[ezduzit2500]

1 watt balanced like a ifi xdsd gryphon is enough for arya stealth, if you don’t play extremely loud, but average volume’s, around 70/75db (read as not ear damaging volumes). But going lower watt than that, I would not advice.

Watt’s alone does not always give the sound you prefer, a lot of people love Violectric for there power, but to me they sound like a amp, where someone thought let’s turn the bass knob up in the amp, and than break it off, so no one can change the bass level. So much focus on bass.
Good thing I did not audit the hifiman planar’s with violectric the first time, would have never owned them if that was the case.

But even with other headphone’s a combination of power and most of the the times comes with a better amp and power supply section to, that last part is just as important. Because the cleaner the amp section produces sound…

I've found that with the Aryas, an amp's topology and mode of operation is just as important as it's power output - if not moreso. That is, once the power output reaches the ~1.xxW+ threshold.....

wow instead making them better, they made them worse, 92db. I have the Arya stealth, if they would play that trick on me in that price range I would be boiling. But even the Ananda Stealth is not the cheapest headphone.

I've always thought the Ananda's sens rating was kind of falsely rated - that it absolutely takes more power than what was rated for it to sing optimally....

 

[Dekameter]

For the past couple of weeks I've been using the Ananda Stealth V2 that I had ordered on Amazon for $550 new. Unfortunately my dog went to town on my DT 1990 Pro's a couple of months ago and only recently got the funds to replace them with something else. For reference, I've had those 1990's for 5 years now, but they really only sounded their best on the stock Valhalla 2. My experience coming from a Bifrost 1 Multibit > Valhalla 2 > dt1990's (analytical pads) to a Bifrost 1 Multibit > Jotunheim 1 (balanced) > Ananda Stealth ended with me not really as impressed as I was hoping to me. In some ways it did sound more resolving, more clear, and noticeably less distortion (particularly in the bass). I missed the 1990's comparative punch, warmth, and sparkle. I wouldn't call the V2 Ananda dry by any means, but it wasn't as rich in the mids when compared to the dt1990's on tubes. Treble came off as more accurate and less splashy on the Ananda's, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss how that splashy treble sounded with cymbals. I will say overall on solid state, the V2 Ananda's knocked the socks off the dt1990's, where the latter was basically unlistenable on any solid state source I've tried. I tried the V2 Ananda on the Valhalla 2, but there the amp's natural treble graininess shined through way too much and it was pretty grating to listen to.

The most confusing thing for me was the staging changes, where the dt1990's sounded like several concentric circles around me with utter precision where everything was positioned in a 360 degree view around me. With the V2 Ananda's, the staging is a lot different from that, where there's definitely more depth, but it's a lot more pill-shaped. The farthest points were both ahead and behind me, with the closest behind right next to my ears. It seemed like a part of this was the Ananda's ability to get a lot closer than what the dt1990's could do. It came off as very strange to me. Added to that, the imaging/positioning didn't seem on the same level as the dt1990's, particularly when it came to gaming. It was noticeably more difficult to pinpoint how far people and their relative angles. On the bright side, the instrument separation was on a whole tier above, particularly with vocals being more clearly separated from everything else (even if pushed back a bit).

One last point was comfort. I wouldn't call the dt1990's light by any means, but it wasn't exactly heavy either. It struck a balance on weight and clamp that made it possible to use 24/7 at a desk, but nowhere else. With the V2 Ananda, the weight gain from 370 to 440 grams was definitely noticeable. The clamp was tighter despite the fact it felt a lot less stable if I ever tilted my head. Like with some others, the clamp was lot on my lower jaw that made it difficult to use for more than a few hours at a time.

With these points in mind, I was considering returning the V2 Ananda's and dropping back down to a new pair of dt1990's for a comparative $470 instead. Additionally, I noticed since day 1 that the right jack was easily susceptible to cutting out if I lightly bumped or touched the right cable where it plugged in, both with the stock cable and with a Hart modular cable. With a lot of people talking about the Hifiman QC, I was worried this would get worse over time. I opted to give the Ananda another shot, so I processed a replacement through Amazon. This time it was through Hifiman's official Amazon shop, whereas the previous Amazon shop was "Audio Advisor, Inc."

Yesterday I received what appears to be the V3 Ananda Stealth, with the 16 ohms @ 92 dB (I assume /mW) sensitivity labelled on the box. From my 1 day experience so far, I already easily notice a difference. I was confused how everyone described the V2 Ananda as being warm, when it was more neutral-bright to my ears. Despite the dt1990's having that massive treble spike, the V2 Ananda's treble was raised overall and came off as more fatiguing. With the V3 Ananda, it's like someone put an EQ that raised the midbass (in a muddier, not in more punch way) and lowered the treble. The soundstage is a little bit wider and the positioning is more clear to me than before, at least enough so it's not really problematic for FPS gaming for me anymore. I don't think it's been nearly long enough to say yet, but it does seem like it comes at the cost of some clarity compared to before. I can't really tell if there's a loss in detail, but I've never been great at discerning resolution. The vocals are noticeably more present, central, and in my face than before. However, the biggest difference for me was the comfort. I weighed the V3 and it was 400 grams on the dot. Weirdly enough, the notches on the handband shifted for me, too. Before, I could only where the V2 Ananda with 2 clicks, but with the V3 it's more like 4-5 clicks. The weight loss and notch difference was a much better comfort experience for me.

One last thing of note--the whole reason I returned the V2 Ananda's, now both the jacks have that cutting out problem if bumped. Hopefully that's just a "feature" and is expected enough from Hifiman's where it won't get worse over time, if anyone can comment on that.

 

[classymaillot]

I had the chance to test Ananda v2 against an Arya SE on EF400. Source is hi-res lossless Apple Music on MBP. I played classical rock, jazz, metal, pop, EDM, hip hop, classical and some spatial mixes.

On sound quality, the Arya was hands down better in every aspect (clarity, resolution, imaging and sound stage for bass, mids and treble). The Arya was lush and satisfying, but more analytical (as in you will not be able to focus on anything else while listening.. that was my experience). The soundstage on the Ananda is extended in height (seemed compressed in width) while the Arya was in width and depth with clearer imaging.

Then … I used the Arya’s stock cable on the Ananda. Suddenly the differences shrunk. The soundstage became wide (I would dare say wider than the Arya in any techno sound). The Arya still had an edge in resolution, clarity, and extension but very very minimal now. Think slightly lower bass extension, slightly lusher vocals and mids, and slightly clearer treble. The difference was so small that I would not justify the difference in cost.

Then I used the crappy cable that came with the Ananda on the Arya. Oh wow! Now the Arya lost its edge and sounded slightly worse in most aspects compared to the Ananda with the Arya’s cable.

I repeated switching cables multiple times and the results were consistent. Eventually, I just compared both headphones using the Arya’s cable.

I was surprised to see that much difference in the way I perceived sound from these two capable headphones with just switching the stock cables. It’s disappointing that HM are compromising on the cable quality on the mid tier, the cable is holding back the Ananda. At least the sample that I have. I wonder if both headphones has more to show on a higher quality balanced cable.

Interested to see if anyone else is able to reproduce this?

 

[capetownwatches]

I had the chance to test Ananda v2 against an Arya SE on EF400. Source is hi-res lossless Apple Music on MBP. I played classical rock, jazz, metal, pop, EDM, hip hop, classical and some spatial mixes.

On sound quality, the Arya was hands down better in every aspect (clarity, resolution, imaging and sound stage for bass, mids and treble). The Arya was lush and satisfying, but more analytical (as in you will not be able to focus on anything else while listening.. that was my experience). The soundstage on the Ananda is extended in height (seemed compressed in width) while the Arya was in width and depth with clearer imaging.

Then … I used the Arya’s stock cable on the Ananda. Suddenly the differences shrunk. The soundstage became wide (I would dare say wider than the Arya in any techno sound). The Arya still had an edge in resolution, clarity, and extension but very very minimal now. Think slightly lower bass extension, slightly lusher vocals and mids, and slightly clearer treble. The difference was so small that I would not justify the difference in cost.

Then I used the crappy cable that came with the Ananda on the Arya. Oh wow! Now the Arya lost its edge and sounded slightly worse in most aspects compared to the Ananda with the Arya’s cable.

I repeated switching cables multiple times and the results were consistent. Eventually, I just compared both headphones using the Arya’s cable.

I was surprised to see that much difference in the way I perceived sound from these two capable headphones with just switching the stock cables. It’s disappointing that HM are compromising on the cable quality on the mid tier, the cable is holding back the Ananda. At least the sample that I have. I wonder if both headphones has more to show on a higher quality balanced cable.

Interested to see if anyone else is able to reproduce this?

Very interesting impressions! Please could you describe the two stock cables?
The usual catheter tube Ananda cable and black PVC Arya job?

All I can add is that my Ananda improved SIGNIFICANTLY the moment I ditched the stock cable for a high quality 5N/silver hybrid balanced beauty.
What changed? Everything. For the better.

I strongly advise any Ananda owners still using the stock cable to at least try something better - I reckon you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Alex May]

That's an old established tradition among the Hifiman users to ditch the stock Hifiman cables immediately and use good quality ones instead. The catheter tube from Hifiman is the worst one. I personally just use Audiophile Ninja cables and Periapt with my Ananda and Arya. There are a lot of other options including Hart Audio Cables, OIDIO Mongrel Cable, Sky Audio Cables, eventually Arctic Cables and Forza, etc.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

I'm seeing these for $549 new on Amazon. Did they drop in price? I thought they were $699 last time I looked month or two ago.

 

[DaOchin]

I'm seeing these for $549 new on Amazon. Did they drop in price? I thought they were $699 last time I looked month or two ago.

Looks like it's just a sale. $549 on their site and other units are lower priced also.

 

[lanep]

Looks like it's just a sale. $549 on their site and other units are lower priced also.

These Hifiman "sales" last indefinitely. $550 is the new price for these.

 

[bagwell359]

I had the chance to test Ananda v2 against an Arya SE on EF400. Source is hi-res lossless Apple Music on MBP. I played classical rock, jazz, metal, pop, EDM, hip hop, classical and some spatial mixes.

On sound quality, the Arya was hands down better in every aspect (clarity, resolution, imaging and sound stage for bass, mids and treble). The Arya was lush and satisfying, but more analytical (as in you will not be able to focus on anything else while listening.. that was my experience). The soundstage on the Ananda is extended in height (seemed compressed in width) while the Arya was in width and depth with clearer imaging.

Then … I used the Arya’s stock cable on the Ananda. Suddenly the differences shrunk. The soundstage became wide (I would dare say wider than the Arya in any techno sound). The Arya still had an edge in resolution, clarity, and extension but very very minimal now. Think slightly lower bass extension, slightly lusher vocals and mids, and slightly clearer treble. The difference was so small that I would not justify the difference in cost.

Then I used the crappy cable that came with the Ananda on the Arya. Oh wow! Now the Arya lost its edge and sounded slightly worse in most aspects compared to the Ananda with the Arya’s cable.

I repeated switching cables multiple times and the results were consistent. Eventually, I just compared both headphones using the Arya’s cable.

I was surprised to see that much difference in the way I perceived sound from these two capable headphones with just switching the stock cables. It’s disappointing that HM are compromising on the cable quality on the mid tier, the cable is holding back the Ananda. At least the sample that I have. I wonder if both headphones has more to show on a higher quality balanced cable.

Interested to see if anyone else is able to reproduce this?

Not with those two cans, but with HFM: HE-500, HEX v2, HE-6 SE, 4XX, Sundara... I've gone into depth on the first 3. Not on other cans, and I was driving $25k speakers a few years ago with $200 per pair of 14' long Blue Jeans Cables, so I'm not the magic cable type.

 

[bagwell359]

Very interesting impressions! Please could you describe the two stock cables?
The usual catheter tube Ananda cable and black PVC Arya job?

All I can add is that my Ananda improved SIGNIFICANTLY the moment I ditched the stock cable for a high quality 5N/silver hybrid balanced beauty.
What changed? Everything. For the better.

I strongly advise any Ananda owners still using the stock cable to at least try something better - I reckon you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Even DIY O2 free cable does the trick, or if you must Custom Cans. Fancy cables are not necessary. That cable you name probably costs nearly what the cans do - unless they are from China and then, who knows whats in them.