[nishan99]

the ananda just arrived , wow just wow.
it sound huge, soft and tall compared to my modded m1060 ,
it has better treble presense and extention also but still sound softer, idk how but i am loving it.
the bass have bigger room to play loudly without disturbing other frequencies e.g. i don't use bass boost for rock music because the heavy guitars always bloom or bleed to the whole sound but with the ananda it just plays the loud bass guitars so well and kinda separate from other frequencies but still feels coherent.
The soundstage is less wide compared to the modded m1060 but it's taller and deeper and image way better also.

And yes there is a noticable peak at 8-9khz that is bad for some music like some rock and very bright tracks but not so with good recordings. and since i listen to all genras i EQed it by ~3db and now it sound great in almost every track.
and it leaks A LOT, it's like they design it to produce the same amount of sound for both side
This is just early impressions after ~5 hours of listening. source micro idsd bl and spotify premium . and mod for m1060 is just removing the damping foam.

 

[chesterchan]

After two weeks of listening to the hugo2 paired with the Ananda, its certainly a big stepup from the mojo, the Ananda scales very well with better gear. The soundstage is even wider on the Ananda as to on the mojo. I cant begin to explain what a different beast the hugo 2 is, the way it potrays instruments is phenomenally natural, stacked with the extra soundstage, gives it much more layering to the music, rendering the mojo to sound a tad bit congested.Timbre and resolution on the Ananda is also superb with the hugo2 as to bringing up those extra microdetails to much more audible levels. The hugo2 drives the Ananda easily at the greencolor, the slight peak in the treble is reduced by a small margin and can be slightly altered by the filters on the hugo2. I also went to audition the he1000v2 w the hugo2. The he1000v2 is definitely a step ahead of the Ananda but not by a huge margin, for that pricepoint being three times the price of the Ananda, if you have the dough definitely should get the hekv2. At 1000dollars the Ananda really is something special, kinda making me regret how I spent 900 dollars on the he560 3 years ago

 

[Stewardess2]

kinda making me regret how I spent 900 dollars on the he560 3 years ago

That's good news, as I'm a HE560 owner and looking to buy the Ananda.

Does the ananda sound bright with some recordings? eg sibilance with certain vocals

 

[nishan99]

That's good news, as I'm a HE560 owner and looking to buy the Ananda.

Does the ananda sound bright with some recordings? eg sibilance with certain vocals

bright yes, sibilance hell no. i personally don't like bright presentation so i EQed them a bit.

 

[ToddRaymond]

That's good news, as I'm a HE560 owner and looking to buy the Ananda.

Does the ananda sound bright with some recordings? eg sibilance with certain vocals

Grain o' salt please, as I'm just one schmuck. However, I got to listen to the Ananda the other day for a while, and in my opinion, if the 560's treble doesn't bother you, the Ananda will probably be fine for you. I suppose that could depend on your setup, but it didn't seem like it would be miles apart, treble-wise.

Pretty nice sounding headphone, I must say. Considering how ridiculous the pricing continues to get on most Hifiman cans, it's nice to see one priced at only $100 more than the 560's original retail that's a nice step up.

 

[BuddhaBruce]

Very happy to hear the HeX V2 holds it’s own against the ananda and that many prefer it. heX V2 is something special

 

[Stewardess2]

Grain o' salt please, as I'm just one schmuck. However, I got to listen to the Ananda the other day for a while, and in my opinion, if the 560's treble doesn't bother you, the Ananda will probably be fine for you. I suppose that could depend on your step, but it didn't seem like it would be miles apart, treble-wise.

Pretty nice sounding headphone, I must say. Considering how ridiculous the pricing continues to get on most Hifiman cans, it's nice to see one priced at only $100 more than the 560's original retail that's a nice step up.

Good to hear, more and more reviews seem to say the ananda is definitely softer in the treble than he-560

The one thing I couldnt stand with the 560 was sibilance in the vocals. Almost all tracks with vocals I heard sibilance. Other than that though I really enjoyed it with virtually any instrumental music.

So if Im sure the Ananda doesnt have the sibilance of the he-560 it would be a definite purchase

 

[Pharmaboy]

(grrrrrr) I have too many headphones--and the one used HEX v2 that I purchased broke in my hands & had to be returned. So I never actually heard the headphones.

But the weird thing is that I still want to hear them. Even though the way the earcups attached to the frame is quite scary to me now, I still want to hear them. Open-back planar headphones of quality w/ear-friendly voicing just call to me.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

(grrrrrr) I have too many headphones--and the one used HEX v2 that I purchased broke in my hands & had to be returned. So I never actually heard the headphones.

But the weird thing is that I still want to hear them. Even though the way the earcups attached to the frame is quite scary to me now, I still want to hear them. Open-back planar headphones of quality w/ear-friendly voicing just call to me.

Broke in your hands? My HEX V2 seem to be built very well and I love them! But I am interested in the Ether Flow 2 and Empyrean (if Meze ever releases them).

 

[Pharmaboy]

Broke in your hands? My HEX V2 seem to be built very well and I love them! But I am interested in the Ether Flow 2 and Empyrean (if Meze ever releases them).

Yup. As I carefully spread aprt the left & right earpads (preparing to put the headphone on my head), suddenly I found myself holding the right earcup + attached metal yoke bar in right hand; and the physically separate headband + left earcup in my left.

The culprit turned out to be blow-out of the rather small and not very robust plastic assembly that snaps together around the top of each yoke, connecting each earcup to the headband (this assembly is a front/back snap-together thing that captures the top of the yoke). Using magnification I could see a tiny crack in the front part. It clearly would not be possible to snap the pieces back together and use the headphone...it would just blow out again.

I'm such a psycho for headphones that despite this bad experience, I rationalize my continuing urge to own this headphone as follows: "I'll just spread the earcups apart by grasping the L & R angled sides of the headband itself--NOT by pulling the earcups themselves apart.

I, too, am very interested in the Ether 2 (which is at the outer limits of what I would consider paying); and the Empyrean, which I auditioned at CanJam and found to be the most beautiful, impressive, and best sounding headphone I ever tried (way too much $$ for me, though).

 

[BuddhaBruce]

Yup. As I carefully spread aprt the left & right earpads (preparing to put the headphone on my head), suddenly I found myself holding the right earcup + attached metal yoke bar in right hand; and the physically separate headband + left earcup in my left.

The culprit turned out to be blow-out of the rather small and not very robust plastic assembly that snaps together around the top of each yoke, connecting each earcup to the headband (this assembly is a front/back snap-together thing that captures the top of the yoke). Using magnification I could see a tiny crack in the front part. It clearly would not be possible to snap the pieces back together and use the headphone...it would just blow out again.

I'm such a psycho for headphones that despite this bad experience, I rationalize my continuing urge to own this headphone as follows: "I'll just spread the earcups apart by grasping the L & R angled sides of the headband itself--NOT by pulling the earcups themselves apart.

I, too, am very interested in the Ether 2 (which is at the outer limits of what I would consider paying); and the Empyrean, which I auditioned at CanJam and found to be the most beautiful, impressive, and best sounding headphone I ever tried (way too much $$ for me, though).

This is quite an easy fix. While this did not happen to me, there were cracks in this part that I wanted to have replaced. I contacted hifiman and they send me METAL replacement parts that cost me like 15. I repaired and replaced those parts myself

 

[oddeeoh]

This is quite an easy fix. While this did not happen to me, there were cracks in this part that I wanted to have replaced. I contacted hifiman and they send me METAL replacement parts that cost me like 15. I repaired and replaced those parts myself

Do the new parts say "Edition X" on them? Are they black, as well? Do you have any pics of the metal parts?

 

[Pharmaboy]

This is quite an easy fix. While this did not happen to me, there were cracks in this part that I wanted to have replaced. I contacted hifiman and they send me METAL replacement parts that cost me like 15. I repaired and replaced those parts myself

Interesting, very interesting. The person who had sold me the headphones handled contacting Hifiman: it was either help me get the parts to fix it; or I would return the headphones for credit. After weeks (he didn't have an easy time of it w/Hifiman, apparently), a package arrived from Hifiman: a new headband + sliders, of no help in repairing my problem. That was quite enough; the headphones went back and I got my Paypal credit.

If Paypal had sent me the parts you describe, I would own these headphones today.

I'd love to see picture of these parts, if you have any...

 

[BuddhaBruce]

Do the new parts say "Edition X" on them? Are they black, as well? Do you have any pics of the metal parts?

I won’t be home for 2 weeks but I can def check when I get back!this is the only pic I have. Replaced the headband with the HEK headband and it’s a bit more comfy

 

[BuddhaBruce]

I won’t be home for 2 weeks but I can def check when I get back!this is the only pic I have. Replaced the headband with the HEK headband and it’s a bit more comfy