Hifiman Ananda Review (headphone)

[hmscott]

Strongly disagree. I have listened to some headphones in my life (HD 660s, AKG 701, Hifiman Sundara, Beyer dt 1990, Beyer T5p and more ) and the Anadas are a fantastic pair of headphones. Its the first pair i own that dont need some EQ ou of the box. The treble is just perfect for me (ok coming from beyer maybe thats the reason) cant hear any sibilance or other things that bother me. In comparison to the Sunandas there is plenty of "subbass
rumble" and i dont see taht the Anandas lacking something in that region.

Totally the same reaction here. IDK what is being measured, but its not the Ananda I am listening to.

Both Hifiman headphones are stunning to listen to with enough power. I used the Topping D90 MQA / A90 stack for the EQ testing, but I prefer tubes on both headphones by swapping the A90 for an Xduoo TA-20.

I've tried the EqualizerAPO/Peace with the crinacle and oratory1990 ParametricEQ settings, and I don't like how either exaggerate the Bass / sub-Bass region and as for the rest of the adjustments they are so subtle they aren't very noticeable. Switching back and forth between Tidal with Exclusive Mode enabled and EqualizerAPO ParametricEQ enabled, I prefer the Ananda without equalization.

And the same goes for EQ on the HD660s. I actually disliked EQ on the HD660s much more than on the Ananda. Both are amazing to my ears, out of the box, flat without EQ.

Compared to the HD660s - which is also a great headphone - the dynamic drivers pale in comparison to the Ananda Planar drivers. Night and day experience. I was thrilled with the HD660s for about a day when I first got them, but the next day the Ananda arrived, and the HD660s has sat in its padded case with few exceptions since.

And the HE6SE V2 sounds about the same as the Ananda but needs a lot more power to reach the same levels of detail.

Whenever I dabble in headphone / IEM EQ, I'm soon without it, and happy again.

 

[VariousArtists]

Apologies if this is slightly off-topic (about the cable included in the Ananda/Arya) - why is the connector to each cup a 3.5mm stereo/TRS jack (3 poles) rather than mono/TS (2 poles)?

Am I right to assume that the 3rd pole has no use whatsoever even if I get a 3rd party cable with balanced connector to the source?

 

[solderdude]

Apologies if this is slightly off-topic (about the cable included in the Ananda/Arya) - why is the connector to each cup a 3.5mm stereo/TRS jack (3 poles) rather than mono/TS (2 poles)?

Am I right to assume that the 3rd pole has no use whatsoever even if I get a 3rd party cable with balanced connector to the source?

Yes, the ring is not used. Probably something that came to be over time.
Personally it was a missed opportunity.
Now they have to mark the cables L and R as well as the connections in the cups.
Had they been a bit smarter and made a cable with on both sides L + R in the connector they simply could use a cable that does not need L R markings.

So yes... only Sleeve and Tip are used in these headphones.

 

[Jimbob54]

Yes, the ring is not used. Probably something that came to be over time.
Personally it was a missed opportunity.
Now they have to mark the cables L and R as well as the connections in the cups.
Had they been a bit smarter and made a cable with on both sides L + R in the connector they simply could use a cable that does not need L R markings.

So yes... only Sleeve and Tip are used in these headphones.

The Audio Technica R70 is the rare beast that is wired that way I believe?

 

[solderdude]

The plugs seem to be marked L and R so probably are similar to Ananda wiring T and S only.
When you have the HP and a multimeter you can check.

 

[VariousArtists]

Yes, the ring is not used. Probably something that came to be over time.
Personally it was a missed opportunity.
Now they have to mark the cables L and R as well as the connections in the cups.
Had they been a bit smarter and made a cable with on both sides L + R in the connector they simply could use a cable that does not need L R markings.

So yes... only Sleeve and Tip are used in these headphones.

Thanks - and that's a very clever idea, bit like USB C for headphone connectors.

 

[Rayman30]

I like the treble energy of the Oratory EQ, but I added the 40 Hz bump that Amir added, makes it have more low end presents.

 

[KiyPhi]

The plugs seem to be marked L and R so probably are similar to Ananda wiring T and S only.
When you have the HP and a multimeter you can check.

Apologies if this is slightly off-topic (about the cable included in the Ananda/Arya) - why is the connector to each cup a 3.5mm stereo/TRS jack (3 poles) rather than mono/TS (2 poles)?

Am I right to assume that the 3rd pole has no use whatsoever even if I get a 3rd party cable with balanced connector to the source?

Solderdude is correct. They are TS only. I made my own cables for mine, both with TS connectors and TRS.

 

[chych7]

Sold off my HD650s (recommended here) when I got my Anandas, it wasn't even a close comparison. Objective measurements be damned, I know what I like!

 

[amirm]

Sold off my HD650s (recommended here) when I got my Anandas, it wasn't even a close comparison. Objective measurements be damned, I know what I like!

I made no comparison to HD-650 in my review. And objective results don't position one ahead of the other. It is a mixed comparison and needs judgement.

Did you try my EQ on Ananda?

 

[CTRLM]

Interesting test results.

I have the Ananda and EQ'd them using the AutoEQ filters based on Oratory measurements as a base, then I tweaked those filters according to my preference over multiple listening sessions to arrive at my preferred setting, as I feel that some of the published filters are heavy handed. I also ignore any filters over 15k as I probably can't hear it anyway. I do the same for my other headphones.

I really enjoy the Ananda and it is so different to my default desktop cans (Focal Clear). I tend to use the Clear during the day with heavier material and settle into a comfy chair with the Ananda for late night listening.

 

[amirm]

I just post a video review to get the message better across on what I think of the Ananda:

I put it in the review as well.

 

[paolomo]

I just post a video review to get the message better across on what I think of the Ananda:

I put it in the review as well.

Great! Very balanced video, so that everyone calms down... before the Sundara review strikes

 

[richard12511]

I'm starting to form the hypothesis, that group delay (as well as frequency response; particularly around 8 kHz and possibly around 2 kHz - aka, the Blauert bands) is responsible for much of the out-of-head soundstage (or is it instrument separation? I dare not answer that question yet) phenomenon. To wit, compare the Focal Celestee with the Utopia, Ananda and HD800S:

View attachment 122858 Celestee: "soundstage is mostly whacked in the middle of your head"

View attachment 122859 Utopia: "You get a halo of sound about 25 to 30% outside of your head with very nice instrument separation and excellent clarity."

View attachment 122857 Ananda: 'You do get nice sensation of "speakers away from your ear"'

View attachment 122860 HD800S: "What was remarkable and uncanny was separation of instruments."

I've played around with increasing and decreasing the 8 kHz peak^1 of the HD800 (not S), and have noticed, that the soundstage collapses when the peak is decreased; and increases when the peak is increased. I've also tried putting this peak on other headphones, with mixed results: though the soundstage might increase, an audible resonance peak is then detected. Clearly, frequency response alone isn't responsible for soundstage. I'm now suspecting, that the cause is reflections, as evidenced by group delay over specific frequency ranges. This also explains why fiddling with frequency response alters soundstage: as response changes, so does reflection intensity.

I'd love to further test this hypothesis with iems: I suspect, that they have no group delay at all, indicating no reflections, indicating a lack of soundstage. I'd also like to test whether or not simulating reflections and group delay, say by increasing reverb over specific ranges, increases soundstage. I tried this once, but the plugin I used was insufficiently precise. I wonder if the famed Smyth device does something like this....

Thoughts and opinions? I wish Axel Grell or other headphone designers were members of this forum: surely they have the knowledge we seek!

^1: Or is it a peak? If the frequency response is flat, but there are a tonne of reflections, would the frequency response curve show a peak where none exists? In such a case, the frequency response curve is not just measuring frequency response - but also reflections. Perhaps a free-field measurement could answer this question.

Interesting theory. It's known with loudspeakers that we actually do prefer some reflections, which is why Toole often recommends leaving the sidewall reflections in tact. It makes sense that something similar might be true for headphones.

 

[cursive]

I just post a video review to get the message better across on what I think of the Ananda:

I put it in the review as well.

Thanks for taking the time to make a video Amir. I agree that everyone got stuck on the seal and the bass, but that wasn't really the worst part of the graph or review. I noticed other measurements of the Ananda (like solderdude) show that same jaggedness throughout, which I can't say I've seen on other models. Hopefully someone can send you a Hifiman HE-1000 as those are one of the few higher models that have the same cup and diaphragm shape, I'd be curious to see if it suffers the same problems. The Ananda sell for $699, while the HE-1000 v2 are $2,999 so definitely quite a jump in price though.

 

[Deleted member 27694]

I just post a video review to get the message better across on what I think of the Ananda:

I put it in the review as well.

„It’s a flawed headphone.„ No backsies here. "I'll give you my measurement rig when you take it from my cold, dead hands"

 

[ShiZo]

The aryas are hyped. I wonder how they measure...

 

[Palfim]

I'm hoping they do better. If there's a similar shaped headphone with same style cans but better measurements I'm all for it.
Meanwhile I testet Amiir's EQ, the GitHub autoEQ one again and orotary's. I still like factory tuning the most, with about 12db elevated subbass. Not just standard EQ but using Viper4android with it's dynamic bass system and own subbass DSP Filter ("Viper Bass").
That's the only way to get a proper ear massage with the right music, but you need a better amp than just a phone. I need that huge boost for frequencys around 25-35hz, where the otherwise good efficiency is gone.
Also applying the AutoEQ convolver files through viper gives a way cleaner sound than using something like wavelet.(same tonality change, but less distorted/clipping sounding subbass frequencys ).

 

[LoyK]

Did you try my EQ on Ananda?

I tried it and I am not getting warm with it. It sounds a bit muffled/dull/honky to my ears.

What came to my mind:

On your screenshot your review Ananda looks more like the version on the left or?
My guess is that the material outside the drivers can have some impact on the high frequencies?

Anyone knows if Hifiman also changed the pads from older Ananda to newer ones?

 

[devopsprodude]

I just post a video review to get the message better across on what I think of the Ananda:

I put it in the review as well.

Great walkthrough of the review. Thanks!