[yeboyi]

I know very little about sound cards, but maybe that’s just the way that soundcard is? It might be great at lower volumes, but “completely falls apart at higher volume.” This may just be a design such as .0002% THD at 1K at 100mw, but a full 20% THD at 1k at 200mw? This could be nothing more than a manufacture’s advertising and marketing campaign “tricking” people into thinking this card is .0002% THD at all volumes, but I doubt it is. Additionally, I agree with you that “headroom” may be an issue as the card may only be capable of 200mw RMS and Peak, so “overdriving” the card past 100mw could just be crushing the card as it’s not capable of handling that as it’s only good at 100mw max.

My guess would be that the sound card does not have high current or upscaling, so neither would apply. Further, my guess is the soundcard chip is getting super hot with overdriving and it should be clipping, but it’s a soundcard and it’s not.

I’m a little concerned about the headphones as this distortion melts voice coils in dynamics and I’m not sure what it would do to a planar?

Yep it's probably heat. Soundcards are not much different than dac amps though so no need to differentiate that much. There are not much soundcard anymore anyway. In this specific case easier to drive Ananda does not work well with AE5 soundcard at high volumes unlike harder to drive DT 1990. Difference is Ananda requires good current, 1990 requires good voltage. Voltage is easier to do for soundcard. Current i'm guessing is hard inside the case with all the heat going on. Soundcards are couple of cm away from a beefy gpus inside the case. They get really hot.

 

[bagwell359]

That's true, it's not a purely scientific study. I do think the onus is on expensive cable manufacturers to show that their products actually work though. If they were able to publish peer reviewed studies that demonstrated this then they could sell a lot more cables. Even if they do work, the sound quality is still limited by the weakest link. You would need to inspect and replace all the internal wiring in your chain including DAC, amp and the headphone itself.

I'm going off topic now. Higher end cables definitely look nice and are more durable. I've ordered the Neo musicia cables myself.

My argument is how far the plug is from the fuse box. Is the cable to spec? Are the screws holding down the wire tight? Is there oxidation in the wires? How far to the transformer? Is the transformer failing (check it during rain). How far to the power station. What's your VAC in? Is it steady or does it jump - esp outside 114-126 VAC. Anyone telling me a $5k or $10k (Synergistics has one) 5 foot piece of wire will cure any/all ills before hand is wasting their breath.

If every single headphone outfit selling over $150 retail cans would give us copper cables of say 22 ga. flexible, good connectors, etc.

I've called out HiFiMan for the dreadful cables they have: HE-6se ($1800 list), HEX v2 ($1800 list), Ananda ($999), throw back HE-500 ($899 list), HE-5se ($599 list). I understand that Ananda is now shipped with a better cable.

One other note: I have found many times differences with SE interconnects, but have seldom found much difference in balanced. I use nice DIY level balanced, and no multi-thousand Nordost or Cardas that I've heard is much different (not talking the flat stuff from Nordost, that stuff has an unusual fast treble).

 

[animefreeks]

My argument is how far the plug is from the fuse box. Is the cable to spec? Are the screws holding down the wire tight? Is there oxidation in the wires? How far to the transformer? Is the transformer failing (check it during rain). How far to the power station. What's your VAC in? Is it steady or does it jump - esp outside 114-126 VAC. Anyone telling me a $5k or $10k (Synergistics has one) 5 foot piece of wire will cure any/all ills before hand is wasting their breath.

If every single headphone outfit selling over $150 retail cans would give us copper cables of say 22 ga. flexible, good connectors, etc.

I've called out HiFiMan for the dreadful cables they have: HE-6se ($1800 list), HEX v2 ($1800 list), Ananda ($999), throw back HE-500 ($899 list), HE-5se ($599 list). I understand that Ananda is now shipped with a better cable.

One other note: I have found many times differences with SE interconnects, but have seldom found much difference in balanced. I use nice DIY level balanced, and no multi-thousand Nordost or Cardas that I've heard is much different (not talking the flat stuff from Nordost, that stuff has an unusual fast treble).

Power will require more costly equipment to get a cleaner signal. If money was no object, I would buy a double conversion UPS and have a Panamax power conditioner plugged into that to get clean, constant 120v. Then you have to ensure the cables are up to spec. Even with all this, there is no absolute zero but it is the journey that gives excitement. Peace of mind knowing that you did most if not all you can to improve the sound, at least cabling and power wise.

 

[Deolum]

Just received my Ananda. Interesting headphone. First impression is that i much prefer it with electronic music like edm, techno and radio hits over natural recorded music like classical music.

Btw how can i check if my amp has high current?

 

[bagwell359]

Power will require more costly equipment to get a cleaner signal. If money was no object, I would buy a double conversion UPS and have a Panamax power conditioner plugged into that to get clean, constant 120v. Then you have to ensure the cables are up to spec. Even with all this, there is no absolute zero but it is the journey that gives excitement. Peace of mind knowing that you did most if not all you can to improve the sound, at least cabling and power wise.

I'm all for practical and even slightly off the wall improvements and yes I'd like a UPS, but that's money reasonably well spent, a 5ft 14 ga all silver wire for $10k is not, and the $5k one I ran into in the mid 90's - same thing.

I sold high end for almost 6 years, and invested in a high end shop as well for some years. There are the real breakthroughs, the pretty good updates, but not earth shattering, and pure marketing horse hockey.

The audiophile groups fell into:

1. "the modify a piece every 3 months or you are not "with it" club"
2. and of course "the Emperor has no cloths group as well"
3. the buy a fairly modest system and disappears.
3. then there is the guy who sells the high end to get the 40-50% discounts. You know DCM Time Windows retail for $660, so you buy a pair for $330, play them for 10 days, and sell them for $500 - that was me until I became a "biter" looking for sales, deals, and used equipment.

In 1977 you could buy high end (DQ-10, ADC XLM, Black widow on an Ariston TT, Ampzilla amp, Audio Research SP3-1 pre-amp. plus the best cable for $3 a running foot - for about $3400. In 1974, your speaker wire choice was zip cord or zip cord.

Today buy yourself some MBL's, pair of Mono 350 wpc Pass amps, Pass pre, Pass Xono, Koetsu Onix PLatinum, top Clearaudio table and arm, some crazy DAC and streamer, over the top cables, a UPS. What's that $225k? Probably more.

So in 43 years the price of the high end increased 66 times - and that was all built on covering research expenses? The high end is dying, its just trying to cash out - mostly on the vanity of the buyers.

 

[bagwell359]

Just received my Ananda. Interesting headphone. First impression is that i much prefer it with electronic music like edm, techno and radio hits over natural recorded music like classical music.

Btw how can i check if my amp has high current?

Ananda's are pretty efficient. 2 watts is probably plenty, 4 watts for sure. You'll break your ears trying to get a 4 wpc amp to run out of watts/current/voltage - whatever.

 

[Deolum]

Ananda's are pretty efficient. 2 watts is probably plenty, 4 watts for sure. You'll break your ears trying to get a 4 wpc amp to run out of watts/current/voltage - whatever.

So if i have a powerful amp i can be sure it has enough voltage and enough current?

 

[Dramlin]

Good dynamic headroom read: https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation/sensitivity-impedance-and-amplifier-power

Calculators are just there to give an idea. They are not super precise and perfect because let's say Ananda's spec is 103db/mw @25 ohm but the actual pair you got can have variances. Some amplifiers states their capabilities. THX 789 for example 1800mW into 32 ohm until 1% distortion.

Thanks for the good read and info. I think the Audeze article is what I have been missing; I didn't realize that it's normal for sounds to reach 40-50db higher in normal music listening. An amp incapable of producing those peaks won't be able to produce the intended sound.

That said, it seems like the answer to 'how much power does headphone xxxxxx need' is..

• Determine your headphone sensitivity. In this case, the Ananda is 103db at 1mW at 25 ohm.
• Determine your normal constant listening level and add 40-50 to it. I like 75db, so I think going up to 120db (+45db) in spikes is probably sufficient to get the full sound out of the Ananda's..
• Use this headphone calculator to determine how much power in mW is needed for your spike DB level. In this case at 120db the Ananda will need 50 mW.
• Check your Amp/phone/sound card output power specs. For example, an xDuoo XD-05+ outputs 1000 mW at 32 ohm. If your Amp specs are a different ohm than your headphone, you can use the calculator above to check how much voltage is produced, then you can input the voltage with the headphones ohm into the 'current calculation' section to see how much power is produced. In this case, 1000 mW at 32 ohm comes out to 1281 mW at 25 ohm for the Ananda.
• If your amp/phone/sound card produces more mW than the headphones require at your spike level, then you are likely good to go.

Going up to 130db will take drastically more power for any headphone (50mW at 120db vs 502mW at 130db for the Ananda) since power consumption doubles every 3db.

Side note, to get the Arya up to 130db will take 10,000 mW / 10 watt (90db per 1 mW @ 35 ohm). I don't think anyone can seriously do that, so about 120dB in spikes is probably more ideal and realistic to say that you've got enough power. 120dB on the Arya is exactly 1,000 mW / 1watt @ 35ohm, which should probably be the minimum target for anyone looking to upgrade to the Arya.

 

[bagwell359]

So if i have a powerful amp i can be sure it has enough voltage and enough current?

Most transistor amps are rated for watts. Ananda's are a lowish load for a headphone which is right in the wheelhouse of most standard SS amps/integrated amps. Some headphones are much higher in load and tube amps tend to do a good job with those.
Its a good idea to look for info from manufacturers and reviews, and also users - and of course if you can get one to try out.

I know volume wise my cell will drive the Ananda to levels I can't stand, but I don't like the sound from my cell although some love it (LG v40), but I love my big amp much better, it can drive anything under 200 ohms.

 

[Deolum]

Most transistor amps are rated for watts. Ananda's are a lowish load for a headphone which is right in the wheelhouse of most standard SS amps/integrated amps. Some headphones are much higher in load and tube amps tend to do a good job with those.
Its a good idea to look for info from manufacturers and reviews, and also users - and of course if you can get one to try out.

I know volume wise my cell will drive the Ananda to levels I can't stand, but I don't like the sound from my cell although some love it (LG v40), but I love my big amp much better, it can drive anything under 200 ohms.

I have tube amp which can be set either in OTL mode or Low Impedance mode. It can drive In Ears as well as high impedance headphones. But i don't know what is ment with the "current" everyone talk about in context of planars.

 

[Pugzilla]

How does the Ananda respond to EQ, specifically the Harman curve?

 

[bagwell359]

I have tube amp which can be set either in OTL mode or Low Impedance mode. It can drive In Ears as well as high impedance headphones. But i don't know what is ment with the "current" everyone talk about in context of planars.

I'd say its clear you want to set your amp for "LI" mode for any planar you may use. I found a volts-to-watts-calculator (and it has a reverse part) where you can convert. I couldn't cut and paste it but it was easy to find.

 

[Deolum]

I'd say its clear you want to set your amp for "LI" mode for any planar you may use. I found a volts-to-watts-calculator (and it has a reverse part) where you can convert. I couldn't cut and paste it but it was easy to find.

Yes i like the sound in low impedance more than in OTL. Well i just think it has enough current.

The Ananda has the best bass i heard from any headphone till now. Is there any headphone with a similar bass that hits even more? For Techno it can't be deep enough.

 

[bagwell359]

Yes i like the sound in low impedance more than in OTL. Well i just think it has enough current.

The Ananda has the best bass i heard from any headphone till now. Is there any headphone with a similar bass that hits even more? For Techno it can't be deep enough.

Sure how much you want to spend? And is used a problem?

 

[Deolum]

Sure how much you want to spend? And is used a problem?

Used preferable. Maybe up to 2k.