Why buy a bunch of mid-tier cans that will ultimately leave you wanting more (and later spending more) vs buying the best you can afford? I use to have a bunch of pretty-good mid-tier cans (up to $500) because I didn’t want to spend close to or above $1k on one pair of headphones. I now get much more pleasure out of owning fewer but much better gear. I really only need 2 or 3 top notch cans to make me very happy. But this is a process and I agree with the earlier post by Wave Theory.
I recently, 1 or 2 months ago, sold my Ananda and bought the Arya, open-box from Hifiman’s website, for $1,300 (no tax or ship cost). It was a great trade for MY ears. The Ananda is a very good headphone, wide, very detailed and strong bass. But, I just didn’t enjoy the music as much as I wanted for $700. The Arya, after a good 50+ hour burn-in, is musical and just fabulous. Detailed, good controlled bass, very balanced across the spectrum, not as wide as the Ananda. With the Arya, I know I will be content, at least for some period of time.
the Ananda’s are nice, but the Arya’s are superior. or at last, that is my opinion. if you ever get the chance to demo the Arya, do so. try to listen to songs you’re fond of and know well.
Grill mod is an absolute must and I put some dekoni hybrids on and everything culminated into my absolute endgame. For me personally the he6se v2 with those mods is everything I ever really wanted out of a headphone and more. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a headphone disappearing. It’s right on the cusp of sounding like it’s just not there at all. If these things could be powered off my phone, my search would be completely over. I guess maybe a headband mod might be good for extra comfort. Seriously though the grill mod made these go from headphones I like to my favorite all around pair.
is that the honeycomb grill mod ? also I’m looking to get new pair of earpads i was thinking of the fenerated sheepskin and the audeze carbon fiber headband.
Yeah the honeycomb grill. I’m going to buy a pad adapter and use the xl velour pads I have lying around and see if that can make them really disappear. If there was a fully inner and outer fenestrated hybrid like the gl2000s I think that would be closer too.
I literally just sold my Ananda for a used pair of Arya… Idk why, they sound significantly brighter than what I can rmb the anandas used to be, the sense of scale and clarity are there and a notch better than the anandas. This pair of “used” Arya is only a month old, so it could be that they arent burnt in yet, but Im not so much of a burn in believer if im to be honest… lets see…
Agreed. Be it Clear, LCD-X, Arya, or mest. I have never heard anything under 1k that competes. That is not to say price indicates performance, but instead just that, generally speaking, performance costs a certain amount to make.
Sorry it wasn’t, I just purchased a pair and love them. Sold my gl2000 and I don’t care to own any of the mentioned hps any longer. I have the adorama version which is going for $650.
Man. Huge missed opportunity with the gl2k. I absolutely love my he6se but there’s some kind of fucking witchcraft happening with the gl2k once you do the equivalent of a grill mod to them. The detail is probably better on the he6 and maybe better slam potential buy holy fuck the stage im fairly certain is possibly the best there is. I haven’t tried the 1266 or susvaras as they’re way out of my price range but IF they’re any better stage wise im pretty sure it’s not worth the extra $5,000+ and is probably barely noticeable. I need input from people with both but nobody seems to want to try…
Also they lose every shred of that odd tuning they have when you pull the dust covers and tuning paper off. It blew my mind that that’s all that was making them sound the way they do.
I’ve had the Ananda for about 2-3 years now. When I bought them I auditioned the HEK V1, Arya and Sundara using the dealers expensive dacs/amps, something from mytek, and iFi I believe using dealer interconnects.
What had stuck in my head over the years is that the Hek had better timber, but treble that could be fatiguing, the Arya sounded super similar to the HeK, and the Sundara just couldn’t compete.
The Ananda was interesting because I couldn’t tell much of a difference between it and the Arya. When I took the Ananda’s home they sounded a lot worse with my modest modi 2 uber/magni 3 and stock cable. After I upgraded to a THX 789, it sounded cleaner/clearer, but dynamics were kind of flat. Finally, I upgraded to a balanced periapt cable. WTF it’s like the whole thing came alive and dynamics were KILLER. Everything was clearer too. I’ve dissected the stock Ananda cable after it failed and I can tell you the wiring is total garbage. Sorry to the cable nay sayers, but the first thing you need to do is replace the default cable. It’s like upgrading to a new set of headphones.
I’ve gone back to audition the Arya using my own THX 789, periapt cables and my Ananda’s to see if there worth while. To be honest I couldn’t hear much of a difference. If you listen to strictly acoustic music, I guess I’d consider stepping up, but to my plebeian pop, rock, j-pop and video game OST’s. Nah.
Weird, I listened to a loaner Ananda with a SDAC-B/THX AAA 789 (balanced output) and was thoroughly unimpressed. Worse dynamics than the Arya, far less bass rumble, weak instrument separation, lack of soundstage on the same setup. Almost opposite to everything that you experienced. I liked how easy the Ananda is to drive and its FR. That’s about it. My old setup might not have synergized well with it according to my ears. I admit that I was overly kind in my rating: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hifiman-ananda.23314/review/22982/
Still, if you are happy with the Ananda, that’s great! You saved a bundle of money while finding a headphone that you enjoy. At the end of the day, all that matters is whether we enjoy how our music collection sounds with our gear.
