HIFIMAN ANANDA Over-Ear Open-back Planar Magnetic Headphones, wired-Black

Product Information

My use for the Ananda will be to have it at home to use when I can sit in a quiet space and get lost in the music. There are times when I will prefer a warmer signature, something more focused on bass, etc., those depend on my mood but the Ananda is something that I think will form a very valuable part of my home headphone set up. The Ananda is a bit different from the Edition X V2, sharing a new generation driver design called NEO supernano diaphragm which indeed brings a few improvements but comes in a slightly questionable housing/design. Additional perceived clarity is brought out by the non-smooth treble, which has a slight sparkle at the top to make notes stand out more. Sound leakage. To those in the same room, it will sound like you have two portable speakers attached to your head. These do leak a lot of sound, so there’s no chance of wearing these in an open office. On a positive note, the sound leaking out is of decent quality, so it’s only the amount of sound leaking out that you need to worry about. Likewise with so much sound leaking out, there’s really no isolation of external noise for the listener. So, these headphones are really best for you and others when you are in a mostly quiet environment where others won’t be disturbed. As its Sanskrit name implies, Ananda produces sonic “bliss.” With its advanced planar-magnetic technology and ultra-thin diaphragm, the Ananda sounds similar in many respects to the company’s more expensive offerings. Better still, it can be used “on-the-go” with a smartphone or portable audio device. The Ananda is a top performer in its price class and a great value."

The Ananda is a great sounding headphone that holds up very well against more expensive competition. It has an open soundstage and high resolution. The bass is tight and deep the highs are nice and liquid. It has a delicious midrange presence. As with all headphones, preference is subjective: If you hate the forward sounding midrange presentation of e.g. the Sennheiser HD650 or the Oppo PM1, you might not be as happy about the Ananda as I am. But for me, having a sweet, slightly pronounced midrange reminiscent of the HD650, but with more resolution, wider and deeper soundstage as well as great bass- and treble extension, is a fabulous thing.Bass is in line with my definition of “neutral”, with good extension down to the lowest area. While sub-bass is not in line with the rest, with a relatively steep slope that starts around 100 Hz, it still is more than present enough to be clearly audible and has enough force to come across as almost physical, like the rest of the area. Still, it’s worth noting that the Ananda do not offer the same deep rumble as other headphones like the HE-560, with sub-bass being noticeably recessed in comparison. On the other hand, mid-bass is more present and has much more strength. What you can find in the general bass area is a great amount of detail and good layering, together with impressive speed that collectively make instruments really come to life. Bass is surprisingly nimble and the Ananda doesn't disappoint here. The Sub-Bass is very detailed and has presence down low without any bloom or bleed and the Mid-Bass too has a great amount of details and clarity, Bass in general is , linear, detailed and extremely well controlled.

I loved the Ananda, if I don't have my Stax system, I might buy and build my system around Ananda, and happy to call it an end to the journey. They are that good.This song is mildly compressed to my ears, there is some imaging there but the song does not benefit from the soundstage of the Ananda that much, because due to its compression or how it was recorded, it seems to be leaner in the mid range, the Ananda with this song might place the mids a little to recessed, resulting in having to turn up the volume a bit to get satisfactory vocal volume. The Sundara is more engaging and cohesive with this particular song, likely a result of the way the song was recorded. Build quality section of any Hifiman headphone is always a hot topic. While they truly had some issues in the past, they do tend to get better lately. It also shows with the Ananda, which is built…good, but don’t expect Focal or Audeze level of craftsmanship when it comes to materials and finishing. They are slightly more dipped in 1-2k than the HE500 and HD6XX (by ~2dB according to InnerFidelity and solderdude's measurements) but are still enjoyable the same, as the Ananda's mids tends to veer closer to a softer, more neutral presentation. The Ananda BT are somewhat heavier than the wired version, as they weigh 460 g (vs 399 g). Although this difference is not extremely large, I can clearly feel the difference on my head. The Ananda BT are still quite comfortable, but they’re not as comfortable as the Ananda. What does one gain from climbing halfway up the mountain? Better views, for sure, but are they worth the effort? And if so, wouldn't it be better to just keep climbing to the summit?