timber i think is one of those things that dosenāt matter until you hear really good timbre. or well some people also donāt care as much lol. iām really looking forward to your impressions about the edition xx, looks really interesting!
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FWIW I have the 6XX (known for good timbre) as well and much prefer the 4XX. I have auditioned a few of the ZMF line which is known for good timbre and like the Utopia a lot more. (In fact, I felt the Utopia was more open and natural whereas the ZMF headphones I listened to sounded closed off and overly smooth in comparison.) Mostly EDM music which has a lot more synthetic sounds compared to something like classical or jazz, so maybe that contributed to my experience. Also, Iām inexperienced, so it could be thatā¦ 
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Whatever we hear, we hear and thatās what counts for each of us. However it is great to see the comparisons and variety here. This is a great forum, filled with knowledge and decent people who are genuinely interested in helping each other!
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oooooo interesting, hey no its all good. i do know that some people donāt necessarily care about timbre too much. i myself focus on vocals but know people who actually donāt care. then thereās others who mostly care about bass. etc etc. everyone just seems to like different things
yeah for sure. also the different types of music people hear besides the gear
Yeah, so for me. I think everything different about the 6XX was less to my preference, namely the mid forward FR and intimacy with narrower soundstage. I think I also do not like an overly smooth sound. I like quality bass and quantity should be neutral or warm. I think I like speed as well. Most importantly, I like open, large, full sound with separation. Thatās actually why I was in between the Sundara, Edition XX and Ananda and just happened to settle on the Edition XX.
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@sa11297 Be sure to let us know what you think of them. I had same issue with my friends 58x Good vocals but way to narrow. Made me feel caustrophic. 
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Okā¦Claustrophobic! lol
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gotcha, fair enough. there is a pretty nice quality to speed i must say. since you listen to edm i bet thats why itās you like those qualities so much as well. i listen to alot of kpop so itās nice having something bright or neutral but also timbre since i listen to alot of indie and ballads
Yes, 6xx was claustrophobic as well for me after the 4XX. I think FR and soundstage together contributed to that.
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Yeah, To give another tidbit, the Fostex and Audeze line were also not that impressive to me. Although they had bass, which is what I expected to be looking for, I donāt think they had some of the other qualities I enjoy.
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ive noticed that happens to alot of people, thinking they want bass but then figuring out itās not actually the most important thing to them. personally i really like most sound signatures. ive loved warm, loved bright and am now loving neutral. possibly the most. the only deal breaker is a super off timbre
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Sharing this here ā and in the Ananda thread. A lot of information, very complete comparison.
He also talks about the sundaras āslamā again.
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Mine are coming in on Friday from Amazon (Hifiman is the vendor), anyone know how to tell the revision pads from the original? Curious to see if I am getting the newer version.
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The revision pads will be more angled essentially, but apparently most any new unit is going to come with new pads at this point
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I bought from Amazon months ago and they were the revised versionā¦ I wouldnāt worry
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As a late addition to an earlier post, the Periapt XLR cable for these 'phones is $99.00.
I really donāt want to read through the entire thread, but do have a question. Has anyone here heard both the Sundara and the old HE560? Iām curious how they compare. I used to own the 560, and while it was fine, it was kind of like the HD650 to me, which I wasnāt a huge fan of.
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They are pretty different, also the he560 really loves way more power than the sundara. The sundara is a fair bit more refined and a bit more detailed imo, and the signature is more neutral where the 560 was like a slight w shape but it depends on the amp. I do prefer the impact on the 560, but otherwise I do think the sundara is pretty different
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Ok, good to know. I thought the 560 was good, not great. The thing that killed it for me was the original price, never thought it was worth that. That said, I got it towards the end of production when it was in the $350 range. For that money it wasnāt bad at all.
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