Funny….I also have HD650’s and was looking at the PC Mag glowing review (5 star) of the Ananda’s….
Then I thought I’d mosey over here and see what was on Audio Science. Surprise!
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Hifiman Ananda Review (headphone)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Funny….I also have HD650’s and was looking at the PC Mag glowing review (5 star) of the Ananda’s….
Then I thought I’d mosey over here and see what was on Audio Science. Surprise!
I bought the Ananda too and have been enjoying them for a few months. After Amir's review I can only conclude that my usage and preferences simply diverge from his. I definitely don't like bass as strong as his settings provide and I don't listen at high volumes. I did try a the Dan Clark Aeon RT. Terrific company and great service. I used Amir's EQ and just didn't like the sound and without EQ I preferred the Ananda. I thought that the Dan Clark was a bit clearer especially at loud volumes but I couldn't get the tone to work for me. On a classical piece that I enjoy there were a few notes on the piano that just came through way too strong. It's important to me that the headphone sounds good without EQ and with EQ. If Amazon, Apple, and Spotify dominate streaming music in the future then we may not have the ability to EQ those streams easily on all devices. I ordered the Drop Sennheiser 6xx to try out. I think that should give me a good idea if I'm going to experiment any more or just say pat with the HiFiMan.
If Amir's EQ settings don't work for you at least try Oratory's:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets
I tried Amir's NAD HP50 EQ and it was kinda horrendous, I think Amir measured a faulty unit, you could see his headband and driver cups were all misaligned. Always worth trying some other EQ's as one measurement may not tell the true story.
aandres_gm
Senior Member
I'm currently trying these and the Sundara, trying to decide which one I should keep. The Ananda is a bit more comfortable and has a wider soundstage. Came here to look for EQ presets to try and...what? Even without EQ, I feel both this and the Sundara have plenty of bass in every region. Trying Oratory's preset makes the headphones sound nice (different), but I need to take down the LF from +5,5dB to right around +2,0dB, as higher than that feels overwhelming (though I don't believe the rest of the range gets compromised).
Interesting results.
Interesting results.
Soundstage is something that often can't be replicated in a headphone & is specific to that headphone, so if you find the Ananda is superior in that respect then it could be the better choice as it's unreplicateable, whereas you can manipulate frequency response through EQ. As long as the Ananda doesn't have glaring frequency response problems (which it doesn't when I look now) in comparison to Sundara, then Ananada seems like the better choice given what you're saying.
Hi all. I'm enjoying this thread as a past Sundara owner and a current Ananda and Arya owner. IME, each HP has unique sound features from lower to higher end. Sundara: Light touch, still immersive and detailed, good step from a basic dynamic HP. Ananda: Bigger sounding than Sundara, good details, wider & taller presentation, linear from bass to treble. Arya: Bigger, bolder sounding than Ananda. Where Ananda gives the music skeletal structure, the Arya fills the music out with internal organs, muscles, tendons, skin, and hair - texture and layers. Arya's notes and vocals are tactile and can be easily felt. Bass is deep, controlled, and full. Happy listening all.
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I use a gentle set of EQ settings that I found in one of the online reviews. I couldn't find it again or would cite that here for reference. The settings are:
1: Peak/Dip 200Hz, -2.0db, Q3.0
2: Peak/Dip 700Hz, -3db, Q3.0
3: Peak/Dip 1500Hz, 3db, Q2.0
4: Peak/Dip 3500Hz, -1.5db, Q2.0
5: Low shelf 20Hz, 3db, Q.41
I usually don't use the 20Hz low shelf filter because I find the bass to be good as is. It's a subtle difference from no EQ.
aandres_gm
Senior Member
I'll give this a try later today
Great insight as always!Amir measures at levels others never do. Most headphones will be in trouble but at 114dB SPL. In the lowest bass less than 10% is not really audible at these listening levels.
When one is reaching 114dB at around 5kHz (even peaks in music) the bass would already be closer to 130dB or so. One wouldn't want to have this headphone on your head at these levels when upper mids reach those levels.
Bass levels... sure, certainly with a lot of bass boost that would be enjoyable (for the duration of a song) with 114dB bass boost.
It looks weird and poor quality at 114dB but in reality is looking at levels most will never ever reach (those that value their hearing).
Amir provides a measurement point others don't with the 114dB. Personally I look at the plot of 114dB and then disregard anything that happens above 100Hz and look at the 104 and 94dB traces to get an idea of distortion in the mids (where hearing is most sensitive).
A pinna probably does alter distortion at mid-high frequencies somewhat Can't say how much a few dB probably at most.
I use a $ 0.60 microphone capsule with a fixed gain home made mic pre-amp and nowhere near AP quality distortion levels ADC (EMU 0402).
Above 95dB the measurement chain distortion becomes a thing and at just above 100dB becomes too high so alas cannot measure higher.
People should realize that before judging headphone by THD, Distortiom tested at 104db and 114db are only practical below 100hz.
And For those who prefer a flat bass instead of Harman bass boost, 94db spl after 100hz plus 104db below 100hz is the practical thd graph (maybe 114db below 30hz is also worth checking),
i.e actually look at blue line line after 100hz, red line below 100hz, and maybe green line below 30hz.
Low distortion all the way still indicate great engineering though.
How did the Drop headphones compare?
Quite good. They remind me a bit of IEMs which is a good thing for me. I think it's what reviewers have described as a close sound. Without EQ they sound just a tad dark. That makes it easy to listen to them for lengthy periods of time without anything getting annoying. The Ananada seems a bit flashier in it's sound without EQ. Probably just a bit more sparkle in the presence and treble regions compared to the 6XX and a bit better in the bass without EQ.
I've been using Oratory's EQ settings on both the Ananada and 6XX and I really like the sound of both. If I could only buy one then I'd buy the 6XX. For me, I like the intimate sound and the clarity is terrific. I'm not consider price in that decision; just sound preference.
I think I'm understanding Amir's view on the Ananda in the context of his preference for bass energy. On the Ananda when I EQ the bass up to Amir's settings it seems to overwhelm the sound too much and doesn't have the impact that it has with the 6XX. I don't hear it being off balance with Oratory's settings on the Ananda. The sound seems a bit bigger on the Ananda and for some that may be more exciting. Amir's shrugging panther seems to fit because if you like that sound then you'll really enjoy them but if you like an intimate sound then you can get that a lot cheaper.
Really though, both are very enjoyable. I'm still scratching my head a bit as to why the Dan Clark Aeon RT worked so poorly for me. I wear glasses and I did see where someone did measurements to show frequency response if there isn't a good seal and it seemed that the Aeon's frequency was disrupted around 500 Hz where as the HiFiMan designs were disrupted much lower in the bass region. That could be why the Aeon sounded uneven to me even with EQ. I really want to try the Aeon Noire closed. Those seemed to measure very close to the Harman curve by Oratory.
In summary, the 6XX sounds great to me. Not great for it's price or value; just sounds great. I'm really enjoying the music with these and not sure what I'd get by spending more money.
The only change from earlier models has been that a very thin acoustic fabric has been attached to the inner and outer parts of the driver baffle instead of the ear pads I believe. P.S... How do you like the Singxer Sa-1 as opposed to the thx 887? I used to have the '887 before I got my Gustard H20.
Thanks! Can't remember, where, but thought I read something about magnet modifications as well. May be just my faulty memory at play.
I am really liking the SA-1. The 887 was very good, but I am happy with having upgraded.
Any differences in presentation going from an opamp thx based amp to a discrete class A amp? With the Ananda or other cans...?
I don't own the Ananda, my go to headphones are the HD6XX and ZMF Auteur. "Presentation" is quite subjective and difficult to describe, for me at least. I do feel the SA-1 sounds "smoother", and has a more dynamic bass control. Others of course will characterize it differently.
This is a bit like comparing the "sound" of DACS, these are all transparent devices when you get to a certain level of quality, so I have a bit of a problem making silly claims about sound of DACS and amps, after a certain point it makes no difference......all the ones you mentioned are audibly transparent, so no difference.
Understanding that no component is 100% transparent means that each component in a chain has potential to add to or take away from a signal. If there was complete transparency our listening sessions would truly be like being at a live event. You said that you have a problem with making claims about how a DAC or amp sounds. Well I don't have a problem doing so. Amps more than DACs have an impact on SQ of a set of cans. The more revealing the cans the more source components have an impact on SQ. Well, back to Ananda now...
The headphone or speaker is the determining factor in making the difference, and not the amp/DAC as long as you have a good enough amp/DAC. All the ones you listed were tested by Amir & audibly transparent. That's the good thing about getting a proven measured DAC/amp, you know that you can forget about that part of the chain, then all that matters is your headphone & speakers. So I still have a bit of a problem with people spouting stuff about the sound of DAC/amps if they've been proven audibly transparent on this site. Yes, fine, back to Ananda.
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