[Kammerat Rebekka]

Yeah I’ve sold off quite a few Audezes because of the Sundara.
I think what you’re describing as ‘resolution’ to me merely sounds like a brighter treble.
I’ve a/b/c’d the three on several occasions and there are never ‘things’ I hear over the Ananda/Arya that I can’t pick up over the Sundara. I feel they’re equally ‘detailed’. The big eggshaped Hifiman’s more forward treble though has a tendency to make minced meat out of poor production jobs…which isn’t something I encounter over the Sundara.

In the end tastes differ

 

[the1andonly]

Yeah I’ve sold off quite a few Audezes because of the Sundara.
I think what you’re describing as ‘resolution’ to me merely sounds like a brighter treble.
I’ve a/b/c’d the three on several occasions and there are never ‘things’ I hear over the Ananda/Arya that I can’t pick up over the Sundara. I feel they’re equally ‘detailed’. The big eggshaped Hifiman’s more forward treble though has a tendency to make minced meat out of poor production jobs…which isn’t something I encounter over the Sundara.

In the end tastes differ

I think you are pushing the sibilance reports my friend, which I have seen a lot of on different headphones(even on Audeze... which well... they are Audeze.... lol), but I was using DT1990's without pad swaps so we have probably a different idea of what hurting means... as far as resolution I am talking about mid range, in vocals, that said we are firmly on different sizes just from the bass response alone, I detest rolled off, so it will never be... that said I have few things shake on my head as much as Sundara's on Posterity from the Tenet soundtrack when the volume is pushed loud enough that I will hear ringing when I goto bed at night.... shame I don't EQ things though, if Hifiman ever gives a Sundara revision a flat base response or even better Harman shelf I will promptly nut myself and be back on here to sing it's praises

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I wasn’t really talking sibilance but more about prominent treble. Both the Ananda and Arya are tilted towards a brighter sound with extra energy in the treble, the Arya being the brightest of the two.
Also some Hifiman headphones tend to show a bass roll-off when there isn’t one to be found simply because of poor seal. The Ananda showcases this as does the Sundara. They both sound completely linear way down in the subbass to me..but there are quite a few measurements of the two headphones that show them rolling off.
Outside of the subbass thing though this measurement from Crinacle is spot on and also shows the extra energy up top:

And here’s the Sundara for reference:

 

[the1andonly]

I wasn’t really talking sibilance but more about prominent treble. Both the Ananda and Arya are tilted towards a brighter sound with extra energy in the treble, the Arya being the brightest of the two.
Also some Hifiman headphones tend to show a bass roll-off when there isn’t one to be found simply because of poor seal. The Ananda showcases this as does the Sundara. They both sound completely linear way down in the subbass to me..but there are quite a few measurements of the two headphones that show them rolling off.
Outside of the subbass thing though this measurement from Crinacle is spot on and also shows the extra energy up top:

And here’s the Sundara for reference:

I can look at the graphs all day, somethines they lie and the Ananda SHOULD have a worse seal by far vs the Sundara but my friend unless I am mistaken (hate to make it sound like I am saying get some sources to prove it.... but I think I do remember correctly) the Sundara is a pretty firm known bass rolled headphone, with the Ananda for a good deal of people sans seal broken being much more linear flat based to actually listen to for if not the majority a good deal of reviewers.... I know that is my experience, although the Ananda SHOULD be mor elikely to be seal broken it presents with although not flat but much more sub bass and better mid bass while the Sundara which SHOULD(I did have the newest rev. I believe 2020 pads) be a better seal, it was obviously bass rolled and from everything I remember is known to be bass rolled..... FR do lie sometimes and I am a firm believer this is one of those occasions....

I am not trying to purposely disagree with you BTW but these are my long held beliefs from memory from many hours of researching the two and listening to them

 

[the1andonly]

On quick rechecking of reviews I noticed Crinacles own website lists the Sundara AND Ananda as "Neutral" I honestly believe the Sundara before said "Bass rolled".... will check wayback or something
EDIT: This is wrong seems it always said neutral, my bad, others mention it as bass rolled but some mention drop off or "slight" roll on Ananda I will note it's less than people calling the Sundara bass rolled so there may be something there, but I also heard people say Sundara is "aenemic" which is utter bull unless you think no clarity and heavy thick vocals are natural

upon looking other reviews I see back and forth, some claim Sundara has better bass, other says Ananada/Arya has better base.... so I guess it is a tossup, fair to say people are probably hearing different things so neither one of us may be right or wrong, maybe only god knows...

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Like I mentioned previously, it is a matter of getting a proper seal.
People with different headshapes and jaw-lines will have different experiences
The headphone (and general sound signature) remains the same. It’s only the bass and subbass that are affected by seal-breach. Mids and treble are unaffected.

 

[pataburd]

IMHE, the Sundara are definitely more coherent and even-handed throughout the frequency spectra than the Ananda.
However, IMHE, the Ananda--admittedly the brighter of the two--definitely resolve better and are generally more detailed and transparent across the board.

 

[the1andonly]

Like I mentioned previously, it is a matter of getting a proper seal.
People with different headshapes and jaw-lines will have different experiences
The headphone (and general sound signature) remains the same. It’s only the bass and subbass that are affected by seal-breach. Mids and treble are unaffected.

IMHE, the Sundara are definitely more coherent and even-handed throughout the frequency spectra than the Ananda.
However, IMHE, the Ananda--admittedly the brighter of the two--definitely resolve better and are generally more detailed and transparent across the board.

you guys are making me miss that damn thing too much and I am now realizing I never got to try it on the Oppo HA-1.... If I ever get another iFi amp too use for portable with bass boost and can find one around $200 shipped I will probably bite although I already have too many headphones :*( my poor wallet

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I have bought the Sundara like 4 times by now

 

[Electrolite]

My older pads were flat and my ear kept touching the headphone so I got Dekoni Hybrids and I really like them.

Spoiler: Dekoni vs Older:

Spoiler: Older pad:

Spoiler: Dekoni:

I didn't noticed any significant change in the sound signature, maybe slight more sub-bass and slight more sibilance. To fix the sibilance I just reduced by 1 DB all bands above 10k.

Dekoni is stiffer compared to the original pads but this prevents my ears from touching the interior. I wear glasses and the original pad hurt me while the Dekoni molds around my glasses (I still need to test long run if it fixes the issue completely).

If anything changes I'll update my post but for now I really like the Dekoni.

 

[seanwee]

My older pads were flat and my ear kept touching the headphone so I got Dekoni Hybrids and I really like them.

Spoiler: Dekoni vs Older:

Spoiler: Older pad:

Spoiler: Dekoni:

I didn't noticed any significant change in the sound signature, maybe slight more sub-bass and slight more sibilance. To fix the sibilance I just reduced by 1 DB all bands above 10k.

Dekoni is stiffer compared to the original pads but this prevents my ears from touching the interior. I wear glasses and the original pad hurt me while the Dekoni molds around my glasses (I still need to test long run if it fixes the issue completely).

If anything changes I'll update my post but for now I really like the Dekoni.

So thats what v1 pads looked like. Its bizarre though, I got mine at launch and it already had the supposedly "new" pads, as in they were angled to be thinner at the front and thicker at the back. I just bought a pair of new pads (old ones were starting to flake a bit) and they are identical to the original ones i had.

 

[Electrolite]

So thats what v1 pads looked like. Its bizarre though, I got mine at launch and it already had the supposedly "new" pads, as in they were angled to be thinner at the front and thicker at the back. I just bought a pair of new pads (old ones were starting to flake a bit) and they are identical to the original ones i had.

I had the 2020 revision angled pads but they were so worn that they almost got flat.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

I've had Sundara since 2020 and love their balance and tonality. I checked at the time and confirmed I had gotten the 2020 revision. Today (a bit late) I discovered there was supposedly a 2021 revision.

Can anyone describe the differences (if any) or kindly link to a post which does?

And... speculating here, but any word on a stealth magnets Sundara?

 

[swva]

I've had Sundara since 2020 and love their balance and tonality. I checked at the time and confirmed I had gotten the 2020 revision. Today (a bit late) I discovered there was supposedly a 2021 revision.

Can anyone describe the differences (if any) or kindly link to a post which does?

And... speculating here, but any word on a stealth magnets Sundara?

I don't know what changes may have been made but I ordered the Sundara from Audio46 and they actually had it listed as the 2021 revision in parenthesis. Maybe you could send an email to them to see if they have any input on the new version or hopefully someone will chime in that owns the 2020 and 2021 revisions.

 

[m0lari]

I had the 2020 revision angled pads but they were so worn that they almost got flat.

Did your ears touch the driver when the Pads where new, or just when they began to get worn out?

I have the sundara for 2 month now and absolutely love them soundwise, however my right ear is touching the driver / foam what makes them uncomfortable to wear after a short time.
Dekoni Pads are hard to come by where i live and are very expensive. I dont know if the increase in stiffness would be enough to let my ears not touching the drivers, as the dekoni have the same depth as the stock pads..

Another option would be to try ZMF universe Pads, but i cannot really predict how drastic those would change the sound.