An outstanding headphone at a reasonable price. The Ananda Stealth from Hifiman. Available at APOS Audio... apos.audio/col... 1:03... Details and Specs. 10:55... The Sound. 15:00... Comparisons. 31:44... Conclusion.
I went Sundara , heard the Edition XS and sold the Sundara. Then heard the Ananda SE and sold the Edition XS, they really are superb and added bonus so much easier to drive and superb match for Mojo 2
Hard disagree. I have the Ananda Stealth (V3) and thought the Sundara was easily better. The V3 is supposed to be better than the V2 version that's in this video. The vocals on the Ananda Stealth are weak. It also seems to lack a bit of mid bass. This all makes the sound boring and unengaging. I have learned not to believe these headphone reviewers, including this one. They all said how great the Ananda Stealth was, which was BS. Never had that problem with Tyll, but he's long retired now as a headphone reviewer.
Have you tryed the Ananda Stealth whit differents amps? I love my ananda stealth better then my beloved hd600 whit the ifi zen one Dac and monolith aaa 887 amp. Even whit my dragonfly cobalt, the ananda stealth still sound ok. I think it is a question of taste more then a question of drivers tuning or headset quality. Have fun whit what sound great to you my friend!
@@fardosh4193 No, I haven't tried other amps. I use the amp that's on my Sony music player as it has enough power to run all my headphones. It runs the Arya Stealth which is harder to power than these Anandas. The Arya sounds way better than these crappy Anandas. The Ananda is probably the worst headphone I have ever purchased. Arya is one of the best though.
Got the edition XS just a few weeks ago and what you described feels like exactly what more I would like it (will keep an eye out for a ananda stealth deal)
Thank you so much for your review, William, and I'm glad to have subscribed to you! You seem like an awesome guy with lots of great knowledge about headphones and other items! And I would say that a lot that you mention here about the way that these phones operate is spot-on. A few months ago, I had never really heard about any planar magnetic headphones until I came across a few videos of Zeos talking about the Sundaras being a great "budget" planar headphone, and so I picked that up...but then I had an issue with my Sundaras where the earcups went out after about 5-6 months so I had to get a replacement. But instead of just getting the replacement from HiFiMan, I decided to also upgrade and get these after I saw how many problems the Sundaras had in multiple forums (as there are QC issues on some of the Sundaras, apparently). I really didn't know what to expect with these, but when I hooked them up and listened to some FLAC tracks using my Scarlett 2i2, I was ABSOLUTELY FLOORED by the extreme level of detail and resonance of the sound and instrument separation. I mean, the Sundaras were nice, nice headphones...very nice. But these Ananda Stealth planars are LETHAL in comparison and really, they kind of blew the Sundaras out of the water. Now these headphones have changed my WHOLE perspective of music listening out of my two decades of headphone auditioning and listening! Now I just need to find another DAC / AMP combo or all-in-one like this Focusrite Scarlett. But thank you very much, William! Thank you, thank you for your hard work, testing, and dedication to this review!
Great review. Love the Ananda Stealth. Not sure you specifically mentioned how they pair with the EF400 but I have found it a great pairing. I had an Asgard 3 with Multibit card before and found the EF400 slightly boosted the bass, smoothed the treble a tad and helped the spacial separation of instruments. Was a nice upgrade. Super happy. Thanks for the EF400 review as well as this one.
Great down to earth review, I do have to mention it is a shame the arya stealth (as the only brother/sister) wasn’t in the compare. I agree the ananda stealth is amazing understatement bang for the buck, but the arya v3 stealth is like take the ananda, and completes it. Also comfort wise. But okay yes they are double the price. But in a nutshell, you get close to the arya stealth
You lost me when you said the Sundara open back has more detail than the edition xs. I have both and the XS makes the sundara sound veiled. The XS is definitely more detailed imo.
Great review, I've had the Ananda Stealth for about a week, but the high clamping force made them unbearable to wear for me for longer than 30 min so I unfortunately had to send them back, but I really like the sound quality, if Hifiman would offer these with Arya headband they would be a clear winner under $1000, but I understand that hardly anyone would buy Arya then, because they are that good.
@@robbas_krk1510 i had arya and ananda on my desk and was able to compare them both for 3weeks back and forth. Basically the arya are better but definitely not worth the price increase i sent arya back and kept the ananda
very good headphones in their new pricing ~350$ maybe the best in that regard, it may look like they dont need that much power but I would not use them without decent amp
I have the original Ananda which i picked up second hand at half the price of the new Ananda stealth. Incredible headphones. It is paired with my Chord Mojo 2 dac/amp which sounds so beautifully natural. Its a pity you were not able to try this combination as the Mojo’s lossless DSP would likely fix many of the comparison points you mentioned. Its crossfeed feature also adds to the experience. Not sure if it would add much warmth though which I also like. I might one day try a Black Dragon cable to see if that would impart a tad more warmth. Anyway, i’m very happy - don’t listen through my speakers so much these days!
Looking for a good amp for the V3 of the Andana Stealth. These are the lower impedance 16ohm at 93db sensitivity. I'm a complete noob at this and bought these headphones after watching your review. Great job by the way. Having a hard time on finding a tube amp for the impedance at 16 ohms. Any good advice for me? Thank you in advance and keep up the great work. Really enjoyed your videos
The Schiit Vali amp would be a good match. It is a hybrid amp: uses a 5670 tube for the input and solid state for the output. I have ordered the Ananda Stealth and I am going to use that Vali amp with it.
Hey William - really appreciate the review. I love my OG Ananda but with the Stealth Magnet version on sale for $549 new right now I'm very tempted to pick up a new pair and sell my current set to cover most of the cost. Having tried both, would you consider it worth the cost/hassle for the upgrade? A richer Ananda sounds like an end game headphone to me and the current price is hard to beat... but almost every review describes the improvements as subtle and it's tough to do a cost-benefit analysis without access to a pair. Many thanks for what you do!
Any thoughts on what they called Ananda V3 with m stealth magnetic but significant lower sensitivity (92 dB) and weight also reduced from 440g to 398g. Not the nano one by Ananda stealth v3.
The only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger on these is the much talked about QC issues. Anyone here has had the Ananda Stealth for more than a year? Have you experienced any issues with the driver?
So another parameter would be "enjoyability". You're saying that Ananda is a better, more technical headphone granted. But does that translate to more enjoyability over the XS in your opinion? So many times I've heard more expensive technical headphones that I don't enjoy as much.
Have you heard the newest silent revision of the Ananda Stealth (V3)? I wonder how your thoughts differ from the Stealth you reviewed? (which i assume was the stealth v2)
The V3 Ananda Stealth only difference is it's lighter and has lower impedance. I just ordered one and am now wondering what amp to get for it with this lower impedance. Would love your opinion. By the way love your reviews and I'm a new subscriber @@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250
Hi ! This review was made over the Andara Stealth Magnets V2 or V3 ? There’s seems to be 2 versions of it, v2 is 103dbdb 25 ohms and V3 is 93db 16 ohms. Thanks 🙏🏻
According to the box it came in. The Ananda Stealth I reviewed is 27 ohms, and 103db. The non-stealth I reviewed previous to this was 25 ohms and 103db. The Ananda NANO is 14 ohms and 94db.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 so in your opinion Ananda Stealth Magnets is a better buy than Edition XS. Price is about the same in AliExpress but I’ve have seen so much hipped and greats reviews around Edition XS and so little around Ananda Stealth Magnets that make me doubt. I’m on a budget, around 400 usd, and have only one shoot ! Like big soundstage and be able to hear details that I’ve never heard before in music. Thanks !
I have the Ananda Stealth and the Ananda Nano and I'll tell you. The sound stage is appreciably wider in the Stealth, the Nano brings out BRUTAL detail (being very good in the others in the Nano it is exaggeratedly good) but they present the instruments in front of you, too close and can be tiring. For Rock, Metal and Hip Hop, the Stealth is clearly better, for everything else, or wanting a more relaxed listening with a larger soundstage, the Stealth. If I had to choose one, I would choose the Stealth, for their notable soundstage and major instrumental positioning; If you prioritize detail above all this and/or you also preferably listen to the 3 musical styles that I mentioned, somewhat more forceful. go for the Nano head on.
It may have enough power? but the internal dac/amp will not bring out the potential of the headphone. Something like the $79 iFi UNO in between will greatly improve the sound.
btw, i've bought mine Ananda SM on Chinese market with some help of international marketplace, Ananda SM is 420-450$ there, and XS are almost on same price league there (400-430$), that's madness, sometimes Ananda is even cheaper than XS, there is no reason to take XS in this case
@@bradhuskers he prefers a lot of headphones after that because he have tons of them, he already forgot about XS lmao, if i had so many headphones i'll probably change my opinion on them every review because it's hard ears to keep so much info about what you've heard before, and my opinion is based on direct comparison for a long period and wasn't affected by tons of other HP's and DAC\AMP's, i would like to be wrong because i've purshased XS first and lost some money on that choice =(
