Original Ananda vs Stealth version. I'm looking on both FB Marketplace and Canuck Audio Mart (CAM) and there is one of each up for grabs. I have never had any Hifiman headphone before. Which is the better option and what can I expect. Currently I have the Sennheiser HD600 (marble colour) and ZMF Aeolus.
Hifiman Ananda
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Nickapalooza86
100+ Head-Fier
I have the Stealth and I love it. Very well balanced between bass, treble and mids. Soundstage while not being huge left to right is adequate and quite tall, imaging is crazy good, very musical, enough detail to satisfy anyone without becoming analytical and dry. I only had a very short time with the older Ananda so I will let someone else comment on that headphone, but from the little I did hear I definitely prefer the Ananda Stealth out of Original Ananda, XS and Ananda Stealth.
Does anyone know if it's possible to add some kind of foam insert to the Ananda to tame the brightness a bit? I might experiment with this when I have time. Similar to what Dan Clark does on their headphones to tame the treble response using a piece of felt or foam.
gavamb
New Head-Fier
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Reading this thread has been a long road, feel I know a few of you well. Just picked up second hand 3.5 connecter ananda’s for 300 gbp. happy with em. was to be my open headphone to accompany my closed focal elegia which never really did it for me. Got em, immediately listed elegias for sale. previous experience with planers was the oppo pm2, which I sold and regretted almost instantly and never really drove them properly I think (used an ak70 dap iirc). Drive ananda’s with mojo 2 and for The price really pleased.
up The spurs.
up The spurs.
bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Stealth is better to me.
Kol12
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Anyone here with the Nano that can share any thoughts? Looking at upgrading from my HE400i.
98/99% of the way to a meze 109 pro - meze is slightly leaner and wider, ananda nano is faster
Nice to see someone else with my point of view on it! I just did my full review of the Ananda Nano on my channel. It really is a great headphone over all. It does have that Hifiman brightness at times and some unnatural separation (to me) that planars can carry. Also a metallic lean on the timbre to my ears. Even with those subjective flaws, it's been my favorite Hifiman I have heard to date. I owned the Arya Stealth and sold it a while back.
I did a direct A/B comparison to the 109 Pro and was shocked just how close it is. It's like the Nano is the planar 109 Pro of Hifiman. Thats really a compliment to both headphones.
I figured I would drop my impressions in a bullet format here on the Ananda Nano:
Subjective Likes:
- Sound balance. There is good bass impact, midrange impact and then treble energy. I do not feel like there is any bass bleed at all even though it has good bass presence.
- Impact/Dynamics! First time I could say this about a Hifiman. I'm someone who likes impact to my music and these had enough to satisfy.
- Stage/Details. I think this is also done very well. Great separation, though at times, a bit unnatural.
- Speed! These are excellent with fast music (metal and the like) Just be careful on brightness of tracks.
- Easy to drive! 14ohm and 94db...I honestly didn't hear a big difference going either balanced or SE. This headphone can be tamed by multiple sources to my ears. I tried on ADI2DAC (expensive I know), iHA-6, Liquid Platinum, Cayin RU7, iFi Go Bar and simple dongle to my phone/laptop.
Subjective Dislikes:
- Metallic sheen to the timbre on some instruments. I especially noticed this when listening to EDM/Electronic type with digitized instruments. Also heard on some string arrangements. To go along with this - these do get bright at times like other Hifiman's can.
- Comfort. It is not too heavy, but I got some discomfort over time wearing them. This was never so bad I couldn't handle, just noted.
- Build? My loaner unit had a ding already on the bottom of the cup. Could just be a fluke, but always wonder with Hifiman. Materials do seem solid though.
Two other things worth noting. I love they finally included a case! It's a decent quality case since these can be very portable (easy to drive). On the flip-side...what on earth were they thinking with the cable?? It's over 9ft! Thankfully dual 3.5mm is very common so I just left the cable be.
Subjective Likes:
- Sound balance. There is good bass impact, midrange impact and then treble energy. I do not feel like there is any bass bleed at all even though it has good bass presence.
- Impact/Dynamics! First time I could say this about a Hifiman. I'm someone who likes impact to my music and these had enough to satisfy.
- Stage/Details. I think this is also done very well. Great separation, though at times, a bit unnatural.
- Speed! These are excellent with fast music (metal and the like) Just be careful on brightness of tracks.
- Easy to drive! 14ohm and 94db...I honestly didn't hear a big difference going either balanced or SE. This headphone can be tamed by multiple sources to my ears. I tried on ADI2DAC (expensive I know), iHA-6, Liquid Platinum, Cayin RU7, iFi Go Bar and simple dongle to my phone/laptop.
Subjective Dislikes:
- Metallic sheen to the timbre on some instruments. I especially noticed this when listening to EDM/Electronic type with digitized instruments. Also heard on some string arrangements. To go along with this - these do get bright at times like other Hifiman's can.
- Comfort. It is not too heavy, but I got some discomfort over time wearing them. This was never so bad I couldn't handle, just noted.
- Build? My loaner unit had a ding already on the bottom of the cup. Could just be a fluke, but always wonder with Hifiman. Materials do seem solid though.
Two other things worth noting. I love they finally included a case! It's a decent quality case since these can be very portable (easy to drive). On the flip-side...what on earth were they thinking with the cable?? It's over 9ft! Thankfully dual 3.5mm is very common so I just left the cable be.
This is what's really interesting about the Ananda. With modern rock and pop where it's a large multi-track recording session with all types of layers to the song and sounds coming out of noplace usually in this type of music; It's as if the Ananda will let you pick up on these. It's as if every channel of the track during mastering is apparent.
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
Can I ask what you preferred exactly over the Arya's?
I just couldn't do the unnatural sound I would get at times and the brightness of them. They lacked enough dynamics for me as well. So, I went with what I love and that is a Dynamic headphone - the ZMF Atrium. Although, I'd take the 109 Pro even over the Arya SE just because some planars are just too planar for me. If that makes any sense. I still recognize the Arya as a very solid headphone that is loved by many...it just didn't grab my preferences enough at the end of the day.
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I meant what did you prefer in the Ananda's over the Arya's?
Gotcha. Quite simply - the dynamics of it and also more fullness in the bass region. It still has the brightness over all. I don't own the Nano, but because of the price, I would currently take it over the Arya SE. I am hoping to get some time with the new Organic soon however to see how that holds up.
Make no mistake, the Arya is still a technically better headphone over all so I would be foolish to not acknowledge that. It again comes down to preferences.
Make no mistake, the Arya is still a technically better headphone over all so I would be foolish to not acknowledge that. It again comes down to preferences.
Kol12
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Those are some very helpful comments and great review of the Ananda Nano thanks @skeeb23
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