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Hifiman Ananda Review (headphone)

BlackTalon

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best thing now is to measure the forks, and if they are the same measure the distance down to the holes from the tops of the cups. If the holes are not midway I wonder if a cup may have been inverted prior to installing the pads, etc.
 

SlowCar

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@BlackTalon unfortunately everything measures the same... Forks, top to fork holes. The worst thing is that having them in hands i can't detect which part is making them uneven.
 

GaryH

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There's nothing wrong with them. In the photo you just have the left and right cups positioned at different angles relative to their forks.
 

SlowCar

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image.jpg
@GaryH If i tilt them to be even it looks like this
 

solderdude

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On my anandas one cup is lower than the other. Is it normal? Seems like problem with headband element or „fork” - i mean element coming to each cup.

Yes, normal. The left and right cup are angled differently.
The top of each cup does not allign with the headband.
As both cups are slightly off-set in the opposite direction while the cups themselves are the same.
 

SlowCar

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Yes, normal. The left and right cup are angled differently.
The top of each cup does not allign with the headband.
As both cups are slightly off-set in the opposite direction while the cups themselves are the same.
Ok, but still they should be off-seted on the same level. In my case (as picture above) left cup is always about 1cm lower/whole headband it tilted in right.
 

solderdude

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measure the yokes from screws to the headband and also the screw from the top of the cup.
Maybe the yokes on your Ananda got bent ?
 
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GaryH

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View attachment 181493@GaryH If i tilt them to be even it looks like this
Once again, you have still not positioned the cups so the angles between them and their yokes (forks) are the same. In the above photo, if you hold the cups still and move the headband (and so both yokes) to the right, the angles will be the same and you'll see there's nothing wrong with the headphone.
 

SlowCar

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@GaryH if i will do as you say, they will be the same angles until i stop holding them firmly. After that we will go back to first photo version with left cup goind lower.
 

GaryH

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@GaryH if i will do as you say, they will be the same angles until i stop holding them firmly. After that we will go back to first photo version with left cup goind lower.
Let's try this one more time a different way...Position everything exactly as in the second photo again. Now hold the headband in place, and rotate both cups on their hinges where they attach to the yokes anticlockwise until the angle between each cup and their yokes are equal.
 
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SlowCar

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@GaryH done as youve written. 3cm from each hing to top of earcup. See picture attached.

@solderdude screw to the top of the cup is the same. However obviously screw to headband is different about 0.5cm.

I cant detect any yokes bendings. However i suspect that left earcup has lower dumping, becauser nothing else seems to be bend etc. Maybe adjustment mechanism hidden in plastic is the culprit.

Anyway very poor for such pricing and age. Nothing like that happened to me with other brands such as beyerdynamic, akg or sennheiser (at lower prices)… i was hoping to jump to aryas if they are „better” anandas, now i will pass propably.
 

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MayaTlab

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@BlackTalon unfortunately everything measures the same... Forks, top to fork holes. The worst thing is that having them in hands i can't detect which part is making them uneven.

It's not easy to do, but have you checked if the radius/radii of the arcs of the various pieces forming the headband are symmetrical across the vertical axis (the radius doesn't have to be constant for the cups to line up, but symmetrical) ?
Same applies to the overall headband shape if the parts' radius/radii is symmetrical (particularly if small imprecisions occur at the points where each part joins the other, such as the yoke / extension housing or extension housing / top headband joints, which could throw off the overall symmetry of the headband even if individual parts are ok).

I've encountered similar more or less severe issues on several headphones (example : Austrian Audio Hi-X65, Airpods Max, QC45, 710BT, etc.), but for different tolerancing reasons.
 

SlowCar

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@MayaTlab metal part of the headband seems to be ok. Whats under plastic parts i have no idea. I was trying tonfigure out if yokes shape is ok but its hard since they are originally bend.
 

Rayman30

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@GaryH done as youve written. 3cm from each hing to top of earcup. See picture attached.

@solderdude screw to the top of the cup is the same. However obviously screw to headband is different about 0.5cm.

I cant detect any yokes bendings. However i suspect that left earcup has lower dumping, becauser nothing else seems to be bend etc. Maybe adjustment mechanism hidden in plastic is the culprit.

Anyway very poor for such pricing and age. Nothing like that happened to me with other brands such as beyerdynamic, akg or sennheiser (at lower prices)… i was hoping to jump to aryas if they are „better” anandas, now i will pass propably.

On quality, I have had Beyerdynamic DT770 in the past and had the Audeze LCD-X briefly, and currently have Sundara, HD650 and Ananda. I agree with you there is a lack of fit and finish present on the Ananda (Typical across the board with Hifiman) I think the Sundara's actually are slightly nicer in this regard. But for me, I just want them to sound good and last a long time, and while there is a lack of fit and finish, the build quality seems like it has decent longevity to it. A positive aspect to it is weight, for the size of the Ananda they are very light weight, the LCD-X on the other hand were absolute tanks on my head, these are large headphones and any additional materials will result in more weight, this is why one reason why I returned the Audeze. Honestly from what I have seen, the Arya has the same build just with a different paint job and different (maybe worse) headband. But I do appreciate good fit and finish, I really like my Airpods Max for this reason, very luxurious feeling/looking.

If you want big soundstage and detail retrieval and don't mind the weight, Audeze LCD-X resolve better than the Ananda but are much more intense and less stage. A lot of Planars less than $800 are sketchy, but maybe take a look at Sundara, Monolith M1060, Sendy Aiva, SIVGA etc.
 
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SlowCar

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I wanted lcd x because of their gorgous look, but without eq they sound worse than ananda for me. With eq there was just a little bit improvement in bass but small soundstage made them no go. Add high weight to this.

Also sundara, sendy and monolith in brief comparison didnt have qualities of ananda (tonal balance, soundstage).
 
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