After a couple days and 20+ hours on these new Ananda's I have reached a verdict. (In brief) The bad stuff first. 1. The cables: (see my above post) are trash. 2. The build quality: while better than I expected is not gonna work for me. One of the 3.5 jacks feels like it does not engage all the way and may lead to problems later. The pleather head strap , while not awful, is not easily replaceable and is a wear item. I have read where others who have Hifiman with a similar strap have had extreme difficulty getting a replacement. Even while said headphone was still in production(!). If I want to keep these for 10+ years, they will not make it. I am not a 'modder' or a 'leather craftsman'. I would happily purchase replacement parts if I knew they would last a while and be available. 3. the ear pads: Again these were better than I expected, but they appear to wear fast, are expensive to replace and I want to be able to replace these with OE pads years from now. I have serious doubts that this company will continue producing these after the headphones that use them go out of production ( or even make them readily available in the near future).
Now the good (great really). 1. The sound: These are the second best headphones I have heard at any price. The only headphone I like better is the HD800S ( I would give this a tie with the HD800). Without EQ I actually prefer these to the HD800/S. The HD800 is just the best for me overall. 2. Comfort/fit: For me the comfort and fit on these is only a little behind the HD800/S, which again for me, is the best comfort I have experienced. The ear pads on these are firm yet supple. The size and shape fits my fat head really well. 3. Build/style: While as noted above these have some fairly serious quality issues, there are some things about the build that I love. Ear pads . Fit . Style . Cup shape . and most of all they are very lightweight. They weigh slightly more than the HD800/S but in the hand and on the head they feel even lighter!
I may try the Edition X with the old (ugly) style headband later or maybe they will revise this model later. If they do revise it and improve even just the headband quality or serviceability I will be first in line. I am really sad to have to return these, but if I don't, I know for sure I will regret keeping them due to the above issues. Even though sound wise they were built with me in mind.
Just an fyi you can get this directly from Hifiman and can probably be modified to fit the Ananda: https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/original-headband.html