Hifiman Ananda Review (headphone)

[Takanaka]

This thread has proven to be very entertaining, I’m almost through my bag of salted popcorn.

 

[Chocomel]

I've talked aboot it before but will mention again it's not a case of wrong vs right Measurements for what's the "true" seal/bass extension. The varying Measurements are just showing how the bass response can vary depending on the seal you get. The best way to handle this is trying to fully characterize this behavior, ideally you would take a bunch of in-ear Measurements on a bunch of people and analyze it but that's a bit much to ask for of course. However what should be doable is using glasses/a wig/whatever to try and show what's going on, or the reviewer can add some in-ear Measurements of their own.

As for the ananda specifically rtings Measurements clearly show they get some variation in bass response with their in-ear Measurements, standard behavior for a planar headphones relying on a front seal for bass extension. However there also appears to be a (small) difference in bass response between the channels that seems inherent to the headphone. https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/hifiman/ananda

 

[MayaTlab]

I'm concerned the lack of proper seal on the rig may skew some of the data you present and I would find them personally inconclusive, especially when you look at data found elsewhere on the Ananda.

As already linked to in that thread, Rtings' bass measurements, which are done on five different real humans, and from which they also derive their consistency graphs, show that capacity to effectively seal across a wide range of listeners seems to be an inherent problem of the Ananda's design and that some users experienced a very similar behaviour to what Amir measured in this thread.
Most other measurements of the Ananda show a drop off at very low frequencies BTW.

 

[Racheski]

Well, proudamerican WAS pushing for someone to send the headphones to "Resolve" as if he were that reviewer while being that same person!

IT'S JUST ALL SO (DUMB AND) SKETCHY.

Well, we should probably try and find out because either it is not Resolve and we would not want folks to get the wrong impression in fairness to the real Resolve, or it is Resolve and the unprofessional behavior needs to called out. I just cannot imagine it is the latter - that would be insanely bad judgment.

 

[devopsprodude]

Nice, another square to add to ASR Headphone Measurement Bingo.
View attachment 122954

You forgot "I've done a lot of listening tests between these and other headphones, and these were definitely the best, so Amir's testing is irrelevant."

 

[R.T]

re: he6- different strokes for different folks- i do find he6 quite natural sounding with solid weight behind notes. sundara does not have that solidity of notes but i am still happy with it at its price point.
when you say latest sundara revision what exactly do you mean? do you mean is there a v2 version? i read somewhere that Hifiman denied there is such a thing as updated sundara? instead it was claimed there was glue between pads and surrounding plastic frame which use to break seal - this glue was changed to accommodate hotter climate and its stability. it was claimed that no other change was made in product.
anyways, we are going away from topic of ananda which is this review on. i did listen and thought ananda didn't sound right. i am a minority obviously.

Sorry if this is off topic but I figured this would resolve the quoted text.

A few months ago when I was dealing with a warranty service through HiFiMan, I chose to ask the question regarding possible different Sundara versions. The following is an emailed answer I got from HiFiMan. This should clear up any questions regarding rumoured Sundara versions.



Hi there,
We have noticed online that there is chatter of a so-called “Stealth Revision” of the Sundara but I can assure you that it doesn’t exist. No headband changes, no driver changes, no cup changes, nothing. The only change, which we felt so tiny we didn’t mention publicly was that we changed the glue used on the PaliPads (which are what the Sundara uses.) That’s it, the glue on the pads. We did this to enhance the durability of them as we found in warm conditions, they would over time slowly come apart and this new glue is better suited for such environments.

Therefore, you do not need to worry about whether you have the “latest model” as there is only one. The replacement earpads for you will be the latest version.

Sorry if the rumor mill that can be the internet gave you any concerns about the Sundara and should you have any other questions, do please feel free to email us anytime.

Regards
Jane

 

[paolomo]

I am seeing people worrying about their Anandas not being good anymore. This violates basic causality, that's physically impossible, if you liked them before they won't get worse after a review. I also see people worrying about a review that can hurt someone's Youtube views and likes. I have no respect for you.

Full disclosure, I got my Anandas days ago, I like them and I am only happy that someone who does not even know me has posted a detailed and authoritative review, not to mention EQ settings that are not based on a blackbox and poorly understood optimization algorithm. For free. And now I can go back to my internet persona who jokes about panthers and Radiohead songs.

 

[devopsprodude]

I love how @amirm has said multiple times something like "this is what I've done to determine that the problems shown aren't from any problems with issues with pad seals" and people are still "yeah, but did you try to fix the pad placement to get a good seal?" He has demonstrated multiple times that the issues shown in the measurements have NOTHING to do with gaps with the pads.

 

[antdroid]

Here is my Susvara I just measured with 4 different "seals". The Green line is a good seal. There is a slight 30Hz bass-roll off with my rig right now, that I am trying to determine why, so ignore that. It's about 2 dB rolled off, i think due to a loose seal around the base of the coupler.

The other lines are when i put a space to break the seal or put it hanging off the plate as shown in pics.

good seal, green line


Partially broken seal, Blue line

large seal broken, raised up a bit, Magenta line

Pad overhanging flat plate, teal line



and here's my coupler.

 

[Chocomel]

I love how @amirm has said multiple times something like "this is what I've done to determine that the problems shown aren't from any problems with issues with pad seals" and people are still "yeah, but did you try to fix the pad placement to get a good seal?" He has demonstrated multiple times that the issues shown in the measurements have NOTHING to do with gaps with the pads.

I'll take the rtings Measurements over amir's EQ methodology. His Measurements are typical for a planar/estat having a leaky front volume.

Edit: and if you look at the Measurements antdroid just posted you can clearly see (again) how seal is changing the bass response.

 

[Racheski]

You forgot "I've done a lot of listening tests between these and other headphones, and these were definitely the best, so Amir's testing is irrelevant."

Yeah some version of that should be on the Bingo board. I don't want to diminish the enjoyment of folks who own or demoed the Anandas and like them. Something like, "The measurements are wrong because my ears disagree"

 

[devopsprodude]

Yeah some version of that should be on the Bingo board. I don't want to diminish the enjoyment of folks who own or demoed the Anandas and like them. Something like, "The measurements are wrong because my ears disagree"

Yeah, sorry, I was hella wordy with my sentence. Yours is much better.

 

[netforce]

Just wanted to clear something up, Resolve is a friend and my coworker. He said that proudamerican is not him, and that he was banned just because the long/lat matched but can't appeal until his ban is up. Its not a grand conspiracy on his part of astroturfing and making alts or anything, just a case of mistaken identity or coincidence.

 

[lichie]

It's pretty clear that it's insanely bad judgment. Again, Resolve--as proudamerican--said that the headphones should be sent to Resolve for review. That's proof enough.

But if it makes you feel better you can ask him to rank on the scale of 1-10 just how proud of an American he is.

Would you mind providing your evidence for Resolve and proudamerican being the same person? It would be laughable if all you are using is a tool to find approximate location based on IP address. Anyone in the same city as Resolve and using the same ISP will show up with the exact same location.

 

[amirm]

and here's my coupler.

That's a single cup measurement. As such, you can twist the headphone into positions that would not exist in a standardized jig like I am using. And can apply pressure that would not be representative of what the headband can do by itself.

 

[amirm]

Would you mind providing your evidence for Resolve and proudamerican being the same person? It would be laughable if all you are using is a tool to find approximate location based on IP address. Anyone in the same city as Resolve and using the same ISP will show up with the exact same location.

Something strange is going on. Taron from headphones.com contacted me saying someone is trying to register under his name and his email address!

 

[Chocomel]

That's a single cup measurement. As such, you can twist the headphone into positions that would not exist in a standardized jig like I am using. And can apply pressure that would not be representative of what the headband can do by itself.

I think it was just to show how seal can change the bass response, but rtings in-ear Measurements show (some) people can achieve a good seal with the ananda.

 

[spartaman64]

It's pretty clear that it's insanely bad judgment. Again, Resolve--as proudamerican--said that the headphones should be sent to Resolve for review. That's proof enough.

But if it makes you feel better you can ask him to rank on the scale of 1-10 just how proud of an American he is.

idk resolve never struck me as that kind of person. more likely it was a resolve fanboy or something.

 

[antdroid]

That's a single cup measurement. As such, you can twist the headphone into positions that would not exist in a standardized jig like I am using. And can apply pressure that would not be representative of what the headband can do by itself.

Yes I agree. I also think the Ananda headband style kinda sucks. It doesnt have swivel capability, which would really helps conform to different contours that the other hifiman headbands have.

 

[devopsprodude]

Yes I agree. I also think the Ananda headband style kinda sucks. It doesnt have swivel capability, which would really helps conform to different contours that the other hifiman headbands have.

Sundara headphones have same design and they are very comfortable, although not as comfortable as AKG K712 cans.