[Joong]

I am in this club with 2nd hand one from ebay, and finds it improved version from Sundara in lower areas.
Hifiman is always correct with classical orchestral music in its tonality balance, and especially correct in highs.
it is comparable to my LCD-x and is light for summer time.
But It is a little bit lagging in sub-bass area compared to LCDs, but is ok and justified with light weight in this hot summer day and overall tonality and the tonality for voices.

Ananada is the name of the most important disciple of Buddha, and I think it serves its name value for the cash cow for Hifiman which can be a Buddha from Asia who suddenly realized what is the reality in sounding world of this universe and tried to become a Buddha for Sonic world.

 

[Joong]

I like the highs of this phone, which is one of the legacies of Hifiman.
I had he-5LE, 6, 400, 500, and 560, which are always exceptional highs excluding he-400.
Topping A90 is good match to this and right out of the box it shows all qualities of Hifiman's household sonic signature.
It requires not huge power as was the case of He-6, but not light-weighted in mid and highs as was the case of He-560, where it evolved through Sundara to its way to higher world of sonic Buddha who cares poor man who cannot afford to get He-1000, or higher cost phones.

 

[Joong]

Hifimans always reminds me of Sennheizers in tonality and good matched with classical orchestral music aka big band music.
I recommend Ananda for those who considers HD800 for similar genre music. Ananda corrects for both low and highs.
HD800 and HD800S might be better in retrieval of music details which has been always declared in that ways.
But I frankly didn't realize those qualities in practical listening sessions, but always felt those senns should be better in bass and sub-bass.
This Ananda has filled those gaps left behind by sennheizers in very efficient ways.

 

[Joong]

Here is my summer toy replacing LCDs, and again and again Ananda expresses itself in classical orchestral music in very good way.

 

[Strat1117]

I am in this club with 2nd hand one from ebay, and finds it improved version from Sundara in lower areas.
Hifiman is always correct with classical orchestral music in its tonality balance, and especially correct in highs.
it is comparable to my LCD-x and is light for summer time.
But It is a little bit lagging in sub-bass area compared to LCDs, but is ok and justified with light weight in this hot summer day and overall tonality and the tonality for voices.

Ananada is the name of the most important disciple of Buddha, and I think it serves its name value for the cash cow for Hifiman which can be a Buddha from Asia who suddenly realized what is the reality in sounding world of this universe and tried to become a Buddha for Sonic world.

All true, the overall sound from Ananda is quite lovely, but don’t you think the noticeable lightness in bass attack/traction is hard to live with after the LCD-X? It is for me, although admittedly less so on classical than on jazz. Ideally, I think I’d like Ananda’s overall sound signature with LCD-X bass and construction (without having to spend $3k to get it).

Dream on….!

 

[Joong]

All true, the overall sound from Ananda is quite lovely, but don’t you think the noticeable lightness in bass attack/traction is hard to live with after the LCD-X? It is for me, although admittedly less so on classical than on jazz. Ideally, I think I’d like Ananda’s overall sound signature with LCD-X bass and construction (without having to spend $3k to get it).

Dream on….!

I have the same dream as you have. And two are complimentary to cover more sonic world instead of spending $3k

 

[Strat1117]

I have the same dream as you have. And two are complimentary to cover more sonic world instead of spending $3k

Yes - although I’ve been an audiophile for most of the last 40 years, I’m relatively new to the headphone end of the hobby, having lived happily with just a pair of Sennheiser HD580 Precision and a modest bedside Creek headphone amp setup for ~25 of those years. Coming from the audiophile world, I have a little philosophical hang up about owning multiple headphones for different types of listening. It makes sense intellectually, and I see it is commonplace for members of this forum, but for so many years my mindset was to try to ‘perfect’ my one stereo system, I now have trouble accepting that I need multiple headphones to cover the musical landscape. I want the ‘one can to rule them all.’

 

[tesarpa]

Yes - although I’ve been an audiophile for most of the last 40 years, I’m relatively new to the headphone end of the hobby, having lived happily with just a pair of Sennheiser HD580 Precision and a modest bedside Creek headphone amp setup for ~25 of those years. Coming from the audiophile world, I have a little philosophical hang up about owning multiple headphones for different types of listening. It makes sense intellectually, and I see it is commonplace for members of this forum, but for so many years my mindset was to try to ‘perfect’ my one stereo system, I now have trouble accepting that I need multiple headphones to cover the musical landscape. I want the ‘one can to rule them all.’

Take it as advantage, compared to speakers, where you can't have multiple setups with different signatures.

 

[DaOchin]

All true, the overall sound from Ananda is quite lovely, but don’t you think the noticeable lightness in bass attack/traction is hard to live with after the LCD-X? It is for me, although admittedly less so on classical than on jazz. Ideally, I think I’d like Ananda’s overall sound signature with LCD-X bass and construction (without having to spend $3k to get it).

Dream on….!,

I recently purchased the LCD-XC 2021 edition and it definitely is better than the Anandas, I still enjoy them but it's not on the same level.

 

[DTgill]

I recently purchased the LCD-XC 2021 edition and it definitely is better than the Anandas, I still enjoy them but it's not on the same level.

I would hope so, they cost almost twice as much as the Ananda.

I wonder how the LCD-XC 2021 edition sound against the Arya?

 

[HTSkywalker]

I would hope so, they cost almost twice as much as the Ananda.

I wonder how the LCD-XC 2021 edition sound against the Arya?

I don't believe any closed back cans can match or approach the performance of the Arya.

 

[HTSkywalker]

I recently purchased the LCD-XC 2021 edition and it definitely is better than the Anandas, I still enjoy them but it's not on the same level.

Well you are comparing a closed can to an open one, definitely the bass is better but not the soundstage. Seems you like bass and since the XC have the same drivers as the X only in a closed design, definitely the bass is tighter but probably you would have loved the X more than the Ananda even.
The only shortcoming of the X and XC is the sound signature which could be corrected with the Audeze Reveal Plus

 

[DaOchin]

I was browsing the XC thread the other day and it does appear you can convert them back and forth if you can get some grills from the X.

 

[HTSkywalker]

I was browsing the XC thread the other day and it does appear you can convert them back and forth if you can get some grills from the X.

True having the same exact driver

 

[Crepusculum]

I just received my Anandas today after purchasing them here in the classifieds from a fellow head-fier. I have listened to them for a few hours and I am thoroughly impressed. These are my first open-back headphones and when I start listening there is an odd feeling that takes a little bit to overcome, but I love how 'fun' these sound to me. I have tried them with EDM, Eletronica, Prog Rock, and Acoustic guitar tracks, and all good great. I was a bit worried because I had read that their bass response wasn't that great and the sub-bass lacked. That might be true, but they sound very bassy to me and I'm pleased with them. I compared them back to back with my Focal Radiance and while the Radiance had a slight edge in some aspects, I prefer the Anandas. I will be returning the Radiance because I cannot justify the price vs the Anandas with my setup - it's that close to me.

The only issue I have is that there is a fair amount of pressure on the back of my skull from the pad pressure. I was trying to search for a decent pair of replacement pads to no avail. If anyone has found a pad solution please let me know!

Otherwise a great headphone!