External DAC + AMP for Hifiman Ananda with Macbook Pro 2020 as source

[charleski]

Shrug. I know what he did. One more time, the person who runs this site feels the same way as me.

 

[brandall10]

My original comment "Why not just go straight here and plug in Harman, then tweak?"

You're correcting something that was never said, yet conveniently ignore the conclusions Sean Olive's research - the majority finds this ideal (64% is a solid majority), and for the majority of those who don't, its not a huge discrepancy. One more time for posterity, Amir corrects all headphones to approximate Harman and has stated this is as correct as a preference curve as we are ever going to get. Do you jump into every thread to alert him of his tomfoolery?

I'm done here and unwatching this thread as I have no more value to add and certainly don't want to waste another second of energy on this. Continue to mansplain however you see fit.

 

[charleski]

My original comment "Why not just go straight here and plug in Harman, then tweak?"

You're correcting something that was never said, yet conveniently ignore the conclusions Sean Olive's research - the majority finds this ideal (64% is a solid majority), and for the majority of those who don't, its not a huge discrepancy. One more time for posterity, Amir corrects all headphones to approximate Harman and has stated this is as correct as a preference curve as we are ever going to get. Do you jump into every thread to alert him of his tomfoolery?

I'm done here and unwatching this thread as I have no more value to add and certainly don't want to waste another second of energy on this. Continue to mansplain however you see fit.

Well I think that’s clear …
“For the vast majority of people it [Harman curve] should sound great as-is.” is just missing the point entirely. In fact Sean Olive has been very clear that his research was solely aimed at producing a target that would be broadly pleasing. If you want great sound you need to put in the effort to move further on your own.

The 64% number comes from a simple 3-way forced choice that focussed on Olive’s later increase to the bass shelf. Most people preferred the amount of bass boost he proposed in 2015. That doesn’t mean the curve as a whole represents an ideal solution for each individual in that group, and claiming so is nonsensical.

 

[Palfim]

I also have an Ananda and a couple IEMs in the same price range . But for me it was the complete opposite, I liked the Anandas more and do 95% of my home listening on them, using just an eida 9038s and my phone.
Also prefer the orotary autoeq (convolver eq sounds best, if you have the means...I tried various peq methods, including qudelix5k hardware peq, uapp peq etc...sounds similar , but not quite as brilliant).

Since the Anandas were intented to be driven by a phone , I tried that ,too ...without any DAC or amp in between. It sounds the same but as you say, the bass and subbass are aenimic, even with eq.
Can't say exactly why, since sufficient headroom is there, it just sounds flat in the lower end. I only get satisfying subbass with a DAC and EQ.

To be fair, if you use a decent 200usd headphone with Harman eq, you get a similar sound, e.g. the recently reviewed Sennheiser Jubilee even has a cleaner subbass IMO, maybe try those?

 

[ASRaddict]

I also have an Ananda and a couple IEMs in the same price range . But for me it was the complete opposite, I liked the Anandas more and do 95% of my home listening on them, using just an eida 9038s and my phone.
Also prefer the orotary autoeq (convolver eq sounds best, if you have the means...I tried various peq methods, including qudelix5k hardware peq, uapp peq etc...sounds similar , but not quite as brilliant).

Since the Anandas were intented to be driven by a phone , I tried that ,too ...without any DAC or amp in between. It sounds the same but as you say, the bass and subbass are aenimic, even with eq.
Can't say exactly why, since sufficient headroom is there, it just sounds flat in the lower end. I only get satisfying subbass with a DAC and EQ.

To be fair, if you use a decent 200usd headphone with Harman eq, you get a similar sound, e.g. the recently reviewed Sennheiser Jubilee even has a cleaner subbass IMO, maybe try those?

I just got a Thieaudio Oracle yesterday and even though I am learning how to listen to them, I already think that the Ananda is much better overall. I did try the ANANDA'S with the L30 amp, but that did not manage to get any magic. Maybe I needed an external DAC/AMP before returning the Ananda's

Good suggestion on the Sennheiser - I was thinking AKG371 too - maybe that is "my" endgame

 

[ASRaddict]

I think the Macbook 3.5mm phono output has some sort of limitations for lowish impedance heaphones/IEMs. I have no idea why the topping L30 did not make a difference - it should have, if impedance is indeed the root cause.

I tried my Windows (Dell 7390) today with my Thieaudio Oracle and this video

and the difference between the mac and windows is literally night and day. On the MAC, I dont hear any bass/sub bass with the kick drum with the Oracle, but sounds gorgeous with the Apple earpods (go figure) - it is as if the DD on the Oracle is disconnected. Most of that is back with the PC, and now it is perhaps a difference between bloated vs tight.

Just a little hint of EQ at 150 hz (+2 db) for the Oracle seems to get me back to enjoying the music

Now I think returning the Ananda for the Oracle is a rookie mistake - duh !!!

 

[Palfim]

Now I think returning the Ananda for the Oracle is a rookie mistake - duh !!!

I don't think it was a mistake. These new types of DD+ba+EST IEMs are getting raving reviews all over the web, you just have a simple source/driving quirk which should be solvable easily somehow.
I would trade my used Ananda for a new oracle right away, plus there are enough cheap over ear headphones tested here which measure great and are adequate for home listening.

 

[ASRaddict]

Yes, they look and sound great and certainly sound very very good, though hand claps, cymbals and bells sound better on the Ananda's from what I remember.

The IEMs do have their unique sound signature is what I am learning from listening to the Oracle for the last few days. Comfort is very important and I do not have that sorted out yet with foam tips. And bass response depends a lot on the fit and seal.

The sound is certainly outside my head, and I use a little crossfeed to balance out some of the recordings that have hard panned left and right channel. This is unlike the Ananda, where the center of my head was the microphone for the vocals, and I could almost fee the singers breath on my head for a few close miked recordings.

The virtual barber binaural recording sounds fantastic with the Oracle, almost real. Best experience so far with that one