Review on 🎧 HIFIMAN Ananda Full-Size Planar Magnetic Headphones - High Fidelity Design, Smartphone Compatible, Comfortable Earpads, Open-Back, Detachable Cable (Black) by Holly Rivera

HiFiMAN HE-400 was my first planar because it was the first planar at an affordable price ($400). However, it was heavy, uncomfortable and difficult to handle. Sound quality was muddy, especially in the mids and highs where Planar should excel. I took my old AKG K702 and never used 400s again. So I bought these headphones with trepidation and fully awaited their return. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Straight out of the box, these are the best headphones I've ever heard! The bass can be heard through Nirvana's Nevermore. The click and pop from Aja Steely Dan was amazing. I could actually hear the drumstick hitting the snare drum and the pick hitting the string. On Miles Davis Kind of Blue, Miles' trumpet and John Coltrane's and Cannonball Adderley's saxophones were stunning. They originally cost $999 but have dropped to $699, which still isn't cheap. But that makes them affordable for anyone who needs quality headphones. The main caveat is that you need a dedicated headphone amp to get the most out of them. You won't plug them into your phone and experience what they have to offer. First, open planar designs, they leak a lot. So listening to them in public without disturbing others won't work. I haven't had a chance to listen to them through the Audioquest Dragonfly Red or any other USB powered DAC/amp so take the risk as they say. You can return them but for this quality the best thing would be to upgrade the amp in my humble opinion. The standard cables are worth mentioning. A straight 1/4 inch. about 5 feet. or 1.5 meters and the other is a right angle 3.5mm by 1/4 inch. Adapter. The plugs are of high quality, but the outer shell is very flexible to the point of being brittle. The nice thing is that they are comfortable so you don't feel tied to an amp. The downside is that they're fragile, so it's a good thing they're not 3 meters long. However, it is easy to make a sharp bend or break. Just something to be aware of. Because they are detachable, they can easily be replaced with an aftermarket cable. Just remember that they have 3.55mm jacks, not 2.5mm jacks like previous models. That being said, unless you're really used to expensive stuff, I can't imagine anyone not liking these headphones. Certainly for home use, but with proper driving I don't see anyone sending back a usable kit. Update: after 100 hours of listening to 3 different brown noise tracks they sound great. There is a CD by Ayre Acoustics called "An Irrational But Effective CD for System Improvement". This isn't a tweak everyone will forget in a year. My audio dealer gave me his 2002 and I still use it today. I think it's 20 dollars. It will be the best $20 you will ever spend. The brown noise is subjected to "low-pass filtering to closely mimic the spectral distribution of music". This makes it ideal for hacking whatever it takes, including cables. This drive also has some features that I won't go into. I don't want to spoiler. But I digress. These headphones are beyond anything I've ever heard. Do they sound better than the $2,000 Audez or Sennheiser HD800 S? Or any other big trick money or really big electrostatic bucks? I've never heard of them as everything I do is online, especially since my audio store closed about 6 months ago. However, it is reasonable to assume that they do. $25,000 electrostatic headphones with their own tube amp and DAC are going to be the best headphones ever. Dude, the Sennheiser HE-1 costs over $50,000. You have to give Sennheiser $10,000 (non-refundable) and they will make them for you. The point I'm trying to make is if there are other headphones under $1,000 that sound better, I'd love to hear about them. And the price is reduced to $699. I've been an audiophile since 1979 so I know what I'm talking about. If you have a scratch, buy a pair. Break them carefully. Eyre's disc is perfect. You will not be disappointed. Ever since these headphones broke, they've really stood the test of time. I can't imagine headphones sounding this good for under $1,000. As I said, if you plug it into your phone, yes it will work and it will be quite loud, but if you really want to get the most out of it plan on a headphone trigger amp. You don't need a tube megabuck, but you do need an amp/DAC close to what you paid for it.