Rayman30
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This is a non-scientific comparison between the Hifiman Sundara and Hifiman Ananda, without measuring equipment or proper volume matching, for the layperson who might have difficulty relating the measurements to real world listening experiences (aka me). I tried to listen at moderate volume on both, to where any higher would be uncomfortable. This is just my subjective experience and is not a substitute for scientific testing. Both headphones were plugged into a Topping A50S balanced 4.4mm output.
Songs Used:
Caravan Palace - Aftermath
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
Abba - Take a chance on me
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone
Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust
Infected Mushroom - Heavyweight
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
Static-X - All These Years
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Run the Jewels - Call Ticketron
Aurora - It happened quiet
Comfort - The cushions on the Sundara are softer and apply less clamping force, the Ananda are absolutely fine, but they do apply more pressure and are firmer.
Winner: Sundara
Bass - On the Sundara bass hits are more visceral and has more impact, it feels like your closer to the woofer, while more controlled on the Ananda it feels like you are farther away from the woofer, this comes across as more tonally accurate and appropriate on the Ananda but is more fun on the Sundara. It seems like the bass is less blended and has more clarity on the Ananda, it bleeds into the lower mids far less or is simply less distracting and lets me hear the lower mids more clearly, I respect the level of control and accuracy on the Ananda here, but I also enjoy the fact I can feel the bass on my cheeks with the Sundara. Both cans do not do well with sub base and have noticeable rolloff.
Winner: Tie
Midrange - There is an immediately noticeable middle to upper midrange shoutiness on the Sundara, it seems to be elevated there to my ears, which makes it sound a bit thinner and tinny compared to the Ananda. The Ananda tones it down here just enough, and comes across as more balanced, less fatiguing and softer overall, if a bit more scooped out and less engaging. I would say the Ananda takes a small step towards the midrange of dynamic driver headphones such as the Sennheiser HD6xx in terms of dynamics and a softer presentation. I’ve heard the midrange described as icy overall cool sounding by reviewers, I disagree, I think it has neutral to cool presentation though it can be a little thin on certain tracks, it definitely also has upper mid range shout, but its somehow less fatiguing than the Sundara, just watch out for the mids on overly compressed tracks, it can be overally thin.
Winner: Ananda
Treble - The Sundara has more treble energy, this slight elevation on the stock tuning does allow me to hear the finer details more clearly on the Sundara but it can come across as shrill and grainy, but I suspect this is due to factory tuning and not driver ability. The Ananda are more refined here, the treble is right where you would expect it. I know charts show an elevation here for the Ananda but I don't hear it. The Sundara stock tuning here is fatiguing to me, not so much on the Ananda.
Winner: Ananda
Imaging and sound stage - This is where the Ananda runs away from the Sundara. The instrument seperation is on another level, the soundstage (While I would not call it huge) is also significantly larger, the amount of air and distance between instruments is significantly better on the Ananda. I attribute this to cup and driver size, this must be that "holographic sound" that I keep hearing about. The Sundara are more intimate with far less instrument separation. This creates a boxed in sensation with certain songs on the Sundara, when switching back to the Anands it sounded like going from a studio to a concert hall . It is important to note, that some songs and certain situations had me preferring one or the other, so this is definitely prefence. One thing I did notice, was that the soundstage is so immense, that it can make the music sound a little disconnected at times, but I found this went away after some EQ.
Winner: Ananda
Conclusion: Both are great, if you don't have an amplifier then the Ananda is the best way to go since they are easier to drive. I have to say, the Ananda are superior to me, but its not night and day. I found that certain songs I preferred on the Sundara but more of the songs I preferred on the Ananda. Out of the box, the tuning of the Sundara is farther from the Harman Target, I feel like this has a lot to do with the differences here. If you asked me if the price difference was worth it, I would say this. If you plan on just plugging it in and listening straight away without any EQ, yes the Ananda is worth the price difference, however when using EQ to the Harman Target on the Sundara, they become a lot more balanced, and that makes it more complicated, then it comes down to how much you value imaging and soundstage.
This review was done with strock tunings, I much prefer Oratory EQ, which is closer to the Harman curve.
Songs Used:
Caravan Palace - Aftermath
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
Abba - Take a chance on me
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone
Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust
Infected Mushroom - Heavyweight
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
Static-X - All These Years
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Run the Jewels - Call Ticketron
Aurora - It happened quiet
Comfort - The cushions on the Sundara are softer and apply less clamping force, the Ananda are absolutely fine, but they do apply more pressure and are firmer.
Winner: Sundara
Bass - On the Sundara bass hits are more visceral and has more impact, it feels like your closer to the woofer, while more controlled on the Ananda it feels like you are farther away from the woofer, this comes across as more tonally accurate and appropriate on the Ananda but is more fun on the Sundara. It seems like the bass is less blended and has more clarity on the Ananda, it bleeds into the lower mids far less or is simply less distracting and lets me hear the lower mids more clearly, I respect the level of control and accuracy on the Ananda here, but I also enjoy the fact I can feel the bass on my cheeks with the Sundara. Both cans do not do well with sub base and have noticeable rolloff.
Winner: Tie
Midrange - There is an immediately noticeable middle to upper midrange shoutiness on the Sundara, it seems to be elevated there to my ears, which makes it sound a bit thinner and tinny compared to the Ananda. The Ananda tones it down here just enough, and comes across as more balanced, less fatiguing and softer overall, if a bit more scooped out and less engaging. I would say the Ananda takes a small step towards the midrange of dynamic driver headphones such as the Sennheiser HD6xx in terms of dynamics and a softer presentation. I’ve heard the midrange described as icy overall cool sounding by reviewers, I disagree, I think it has neutral to cool presentation though it can be a little thin on certain tracks, it definitely also has upper mid range shout, but its somehow less fatiguing than the Sundara, just watch out for the mids on overly compressed tracks, it can be overally thin.
Winner: Ananda
Treble - The Sundara has more treble energy, this slight elevation on the stock tuning does allow me to hear the finer details more clearly on the Sundara but it can come across as shrill and grainy, but I suspect this is due to factory tuning and not driver ability. The Ananda are more refined here, the treble is right where you would expect it. I know charts show an elevation here for the Ananda but I don't hear it. The Sundara stock tuning here is fatiguing to me, not so much on the Ananda.
Winner: Ananda
Imaging and sound stage - This is where the Ananda runs away from the Sundara. The instrument seperation is on another level, the soundstage (While I would not call it huge) is also significantly larger, the amount of air and distance between instruments is significantly better on the Ananda. I attribute this to cup and driver size, this must be that "holographic sound" that I keep hearing about. The Sundara are more intimate with far less instrument separation. This creates a boxed in sensation with certain songs on the Sundara, when switching back to the Anands it sounded like going from a studio to a concert hall . It is important to note, that some songs and certain situations had me preferring one or the other, so this is definitely prefence. One thing I did notice, was that the soundstage is so immense, that it can make the music sound a little disconnected at times, but I found this went away after some EQ.
Winner: Ananda
Conclusion: Both are great, if you don't have an amplifier then the Ananda is the best way to go since they are easier to drive. I have to say, the Ananda are superior to me, but its not night and day. I found that certain songs I preferred on the Sundara but more of the songs I preferred on the Ananda. Out of the box, the tuning of the Sundara is farther from the Harman Target, I feel like this has a lot to do with the differences here. If you asked me if the price difference was worth it, I would say this. If you plan on just plugging it in and listening straight away without any EQ, yes the Ananda is worth the price difference, however when using EQ to the Harman Target on the Sundara, they become a lot more balanced, and that makes it more complicated, then it comes down to how much you value imaging and soundstage.
This review was done with strock tunings, I much prefer Oratory EQ, which is closer to the Harman curve.
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). Better stop there and please don't ever listen to a well driven Arya. I'm trying not even think about heKv2 or heKse but it's almost inevitable in a "resistance is futile" kind of way, haha.
