[Alpsun]

What about that sound comparision? Can you tell us more? Thanks.

The soundstage and detail was identical between the two.
Bass was a tad bit more on the Arya.
Overall the Arya sounded a bit warmer and the Ananda a bit more neutral to my ears but the difference is tiny between them.
The Arya didn't seem to have the 8k hz peak that the Ananda has.

The build quality of the Arya is better with aluminum(?) grills and a better headband that can swivel the cups. The Arya cups have a better seal on my head than the Ananda, because of the swivel on the headband. The Arya is also lighter than the Ananda.
The drivers looked idententical from the outside but I think the Arya has thinner membranes than the Ananda.
The Arya needs a bit more power to drive them.

The Arya was new and not burned in yet. The Ananda was burned in. It ran on a Naim NDX-2 media player connected to an iPad with Tidal and the Naim was connected to a Moon NEO 230HAD headphone amp. The room was quiet.

 

[franz12]

It is interesting to see that HifiMan tunes their headphones in a similar way, while some other manufacturers adopt different tuning across their offering.
I heard he400i, sundara, and ananda. sundara is better than he400i, and ananda is better than sundara, but there is only an increment step up from one to another. There was no drastic change in their sonic signature.
I think that also applies to ananda vs ayra, and ayra vs he1000 se.
he1000 se vs susvara might differ, but I don't know.

 

[CoFire]

The soundstage and detail was identical between the two.
Bass was a tad bit more on the Arya.
Overall the Arya sounded a bit warmer and the Ananda a bit more neutral to my ears but the difference is tiny between them.
The Arya didn't seem to have the 8k hz peak that the Ananda has.

The build quality of the Arya is better with aluminum(?) grills and a better headband that can swivel the cups. The Arya cups have a better seal on my head than the Ananda, because of the swivel on the headband. The Arya is also lighter than the Ananda.
The drivers looked idententical from the outside but I think the Arya has thinner membranes than the Ananda.
The Arya needs a bit more power to drive them.

The Arya was new and not burned in yet. The Ananda was burned in. It ran on a Naim NDX-2 media player connected to an iPad with Tidal and the Naim was connected to a Moon NEO 230HAD headphone amp. The room was quiet.

From this description, the Arya sounds like more of a successor to the HEX V2 than the Ananda.

 

[davidmthekidd]

From this description, the Arya sounds like more of a successor to the HEX V2 than the Ananda.

That's my impression when I tried them the other day.

 

[ahmedie]

I listened to anada today and I was really impressed with separation sound stage and imagining the tonal balance is spot on, they have fast driver with good bass and good highs. They had so much details and warmer signature. I think they are easy to pair with many amps. I prefer them so much over all other headphone at the price point

 

[Pharmaboy]

I think the HEX V2 is better for classical. The Ananda treble is a little emphasized - more of a rock can, and closer to the HD800 signature than the HEX V2. The HEX has superb bass, not quite the impact of the SE-6, but probably quicker. HEX V2 owners have been selling. 3 months ago it was a good deal to get one for high 900's. I saw one in Cananda "asking" 775 US about 2 weeks ago. If you're patient (say to early Jan) you might get one low 700's. The MD XX is undermining prices, plus that the HEX V2 is retired - although Audio46 has a new one today - which it hasn't for about 4-5 weeks.

HFM prices are dropping all over. Audio46 selling HE6se for $1439 today (list $1699), HE5se $549 (list $699)

On my 2nd attempt to get a good condition, used HEX v2, a couple months ago I succeeded. Not only is it in perfect condition, but the 2 sliding snap-together connectors that hold the entire earcup-yoke-joins-headband together are metal on this 2nd pair, not plastic parts that blew apart on the 1st pair.

But the big surprise is how outstanding the HEX v2 sound is. The bass is rather unbelievable for an open-back planar--and I'm comparing it to a pre-fazor LCD-2.1 & pf LCD-3 (better than both in bass)...a deep, plump planar bass sound. Tonality is smooth & even, top to bottom, with a little sparkle (a restrained, non-edgy sparkle) in upper mids. I have yet to hear any music that doesn't sound very good on this headphone. Of course the first thing I did was dump the bizarro stock SE cables and replace with an inexpensive-but-good balanced cable...so I've only heard this balanced so far on LC v2 & V281.

This HEX v2 is a very pleasant surprise to me, after having the 1st used pair break on me, not to mention hearing all the horror stories of HFM QC...

 

[Condocondor]

So, I got them. I stopped by Audio46 in time-square and they allowed me to try the Ananda's in addition to a few others. I love them immediately, Coming from the HD650's/HD6xx I really like the upgrade; manage to get them for $850 during the black Friday sale. The comfort is unbelievable, I love the pads and they are decently light for the size. I tried the HD660s / Focal Clear and the Hifiman Arya at the store and man, the Ananda's sound the best of the four, my budget was $900 for the cans, I paired them with the Schiit magni/modi 3 for now. I listen to a lof of acoustic music and man, they sound amazing; leaps from my HD6xx, loving the upgrade. Below are some pictures:

I loved your reporting on Ananda David. Wait till you see how Ananda scales with higher level gear. I was at a Detroit area meet about a month ago and the HEX v.1 was playing out of a Schitt Yggy/Rag rig and it smoked everything: Utopia, Clear, Elex, LCD 2,3,4,X, etc on the same rig. I too was coming from HD6XX and HD58X. When I got home I sold everything and bought HE4XX as a warm up to planer magnetics. Now it's Sundara. Anyway, I agree with your findings over at Audio46 as they replicate my experience.

 

[TopShelf]

I purchased a pair of the Ananda this weekend and wow am I happy. I sold all my high end gear about 10 years ago and haven't been around since then. I walked into a local headphone store, just to squash some time and see what's changed over the years and after trying the Focal Clear, Senns 800's and then the Ananda's, that was it.
I prefered the Ananda's for comfort and listening, and didn't factor in the price difference (as that's an advantage to the Ananda's) but would of gone with the Focal IF I preferred that type of sound, and didn't feel the tightness of the head band.
Now onto the Amp/Dac hunt, to burn some more coin.

If only I could tell myself the Ananda is the highest end model Hifiman makes and there isn't a need to look at their other models but that won't last too long and will be mushing through the "For Sale" threads .

 

[bagwell359]

On my 2nd attempt to get a good condition, used HEX v2, a couple months ago I succeeded. Not only is it in perfect condition, but the 2 sliding snap-together connectors that hold the entire earcup-yoke-joins-headband together are metal on this 2nd pair, not plastic parts that blew apart on the 1st pair.

But the big surprise is how outstanding the HEX v2 sound is. The bass is rather unbelievable for an open-back planar--and I'm comparing it to a pre-fazor LCD-2.1 & pf LCD-3 (better than both in bass)...a deep, plump planar bass sound. Tonality is smooth & even, top to bottom, with a little sparkle (a restrained, non-edgy sparkle) in upper mids. I have yet to hear any music that doesn't sound very good on this headphone. Of course the first thing I did was dump the bizarro stock SE cables and replace with an inexpensive-but-good balanced cable...so I've only heard this balanced so far on LC v2 & V281.

This HEX v2 is a very pleasant surprise to me, after having the 1st used pair break on me, not to mention hearing all the horror stories of HFM QC...

On my 2nd attempt to get a good condition, used HEX v2, a couple months ago I succeeded. Not only is it in perfect condition, but the 2 sliding snap-together connectors that hold the entire earcup-yoke-joins-headband together are metal on this 2nd pair, not plastic parts that blew apart on the 1st pair.

But the big surprise is how outstanding the HEX v2 sound is. The bass is rather unbelievable for an open-back planar--and I'm comparing it to a pre-fazor LCD-2.1 & pf LCD-3 (better than both in bass)...a deep, plump planar bass sound. Tonality is smooth & even, top to bottom, with a little sparkle (a restrained, non-edgy sparkle) in upper mids. I have yet to hear any music that doesn't sound very good on this headphone. Of course the first thing I did was dump the bizarro stock SE cables and replace with an inexpensive-but-good balanced cable...so I've only heard this balanced so far on LC v2 & V281.

This HEX v2 is a very pleasant surprise to me, after having the 1st used pair break on me, not to mention hearing all the horror stories of HFM QC...

Bass really is outstanding. Nothing when there is none, but !^ WHACK ^! when there is some.

Yesterday I saw two used ones in the $600's, so the price is dropping faster than I expected. Given that a top condition HE-500 can cost you $425, but is at least 4 years old, and you might be able to score these for $600-650 range now - what a year or 18 monts old? 500's as the emotive/fun can, and the HEX V2's for classical/jazz/accuracy. When I had my hands on them they were still going for high $900's used, which seemed a bit too high, but at $6**?

 

[Pharmaboy]

Bass really is outstanding. Nothing when there is none, but !^ WHACK ^! when there is some.

Yesterday I saw two used ones in the $600's, so the price is dropping faster than I expected. Given that a top condition HE-500 can cost you $425, but is at least 4 years old, and you might be able to score these for $600-650 range now - what a year or 18 monts old? 500's as the emotive/fun can, and the HEX V2's for classical/jazz/accuracy. When I had my hands on them they were still going for high $900's used, which seemed a bit too high, but at $6**?

Yes, now is a good time to pull the trigger on a top-condition HEX v2. Prices have even come down since I bought mine.

...which doesn't really concern me. I purchased from a reputable & reasonable Head-Fi'er whom I'm still in touch with on various topics; the price was fair & condition of the headphone excellent. I won't be selling this HEX v2 anytime soon. When I find a true all-rounder, I tend to hang onto it.

Still, I'm curious about the Ananda, also the Anya. Hope to hear both at CanJam NYC in Feb.

 

[davidmthekidd]

I loved your reporting on Ananda David. Wait till you see how Ananda scales with higher level gear. I was at a Detroit area meet about a month ago and the HEX v.1 was playing out of a Schitt Yggy/Rag rig and it smoked everything: Utopia, Clear, Elex, LCD 2,3,4,X, etc on the same rig. I too was coming from HD6XX and HD58X. When I got home I sold everything and bought HE4XX as a warm up to planer magnetics. Now it's Sundara. Anyway, I agree with your findings over at Audio46 as they replicate my experience.

Currently looking at the Schiit Jotunheim as my next upgrade link in the chain.

 

[CoFire]

Currently looking at the Schiit Jotunheim as my next upgrade link in the chain.

Might check out the Massdrop THX AAA 789 while you're at it. The Monoprice version I believe has a little less power but comes with an on board balanced DAC.

I heard the Ananda and HEX V2 don't scale as much with balanced power from a good SE, but I'm gonna explore more as well anyway. Will look for a separate balanced DAC in the future but for now will start with a SE DAC.

 

[nishan99]

Can anyone speak to how the Ananda does with classical music? I'm looking for micro-detail, soundstage, and instrument separation, akin to HD800 but I'm hoping the Ananda has a more balanced sonic signature than the HD800 (no low-end).

I think the HD800 is superior on all of what you are asking except the bass of course.
I don't think you need more micro details than the ananda, as it is has a lot of them already which is distracting in badly recorded music, there is no joy of listening to the pianist moving his leg or the guitar sliding on the clothes, yeah it's cool to hear those details at first but then they become a distraction and annoyance.

 

[thecrow]

Some comparisons of headphones recently mentioned and queried about

https://majorhifi.com/hifiman-arya-review/

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Hey guys, just a quick question. has anyone tried the Ananda against the similarly priced Audeze LCD2C(Classics) ? im in the market for a planar and i'm a little stuck between these two. much appreciated!