[SmartCheetah]

I also had the opportunity to compare Arya Stealth with Ananda Nano for a few weeks. I chose the Ananda Nano because of its speed, high-band detail and a soundstage that is more deep than wide. I hear rock and metal from ifi Gryphon and Sabaj Da3 DAC.

I see. This is interesting as for me the Arya Stealth is better than the Nanos for this kind of music. The Nanos sounded too sharp, shouty and harsh in some more aggresive guitar heavy tracks. Too analytical. While the Aryas are in between the slightly darker Edition XS and razor sharp Nanos. But even leaving timbre aside, I found the Aryas to be better allrounders with improved technicalities across the spectrum. The Nano might have advantage in acoustic rock as they're super transparent and you can feel the texture of each string strike, but that's a niche. As for the soundstage, I don't think the Nanos have an edge in either direction or depth. They were better than the Edition XS in that regard, sure, still not that much. But can't really compete with the Arya. At least on my setup.

But see, this is why, in general, I'd take all the comments over the internet with a grain of salt and try to listen/compare yourself. I read many opinions that my beloved Edition XS were at 90% of performance level of the Aryas and nearly gave it a pass. But I bought them in the end to realize they are on a whole different level. Of course not 3x better as the price suggests, but the gap is much bigger than 10% - which for me would mean that with a bit of EQ you can nearly catch up. You can't, their drivers are way ahead in technicalities.

In fact even the Nano was a significant upgrade from the Edition XS, bigger than I expected. This is why gave the Aryas a try in the end and I'm super glad I did. It was Ichos from Ichos Reviews (Audiophile reviews) who actually convinced me to try the Arya. We had a brief chat, he reviewed all 3, he said:

Differences (in timbre) are really minor. The XS is the warmer, the Nano the brighter and the Stealth in the middle.
The Stealth of course has better overall timbre, it resolves better, it images better and, yes, it has the widest soundstage. It is a higher level headphone.

For me it's 100% spot on.

 

[TheR0v3r]

I see. This is interesting as for me the Arya Stealth is better than the Nanos for this kind of music. The Nanos sounded too sharp, shouty and harsh in some more aggresive guitar heavy tracks. Too analytical. While the Aryas are in between the slightly darker Edition XS and razor sharp Nanos. But even leaving timbre aside, I found the Aryas to be better allrounders with improved technicalities across the spectrum. The Nano might have advantage in acoustic rock as they're super transparent and you can feel the texture of each string strike, but that's a niche. As for the soundstage, I don't think the Nanos have an edge in either direction or depth. They were better than the Edition XS in that regard, sure, still not that much. But can't really compete with the Arya. At least on my setup.

But see, this is why, in general, I'd take all the comments over the internet with a grain of salt and try to listen/compare yourself. I read many opinions that my beloved Edition XS were at 90% of performance level of the Aryas and nearly gave it a pass. But I bought them in the end to realize they are on a whole different level. Of course not 3x better as the price suggests, but the gap is much bigger than 10% - which for me would mean that with a bit of EQ you can nearly catch up. You can't, their drivers are way ahead in technicalities.

In fact even the Nano was a significant upgrade from the Edition XS, bigger than I expected. This is why gave the Aryas a try in the end and I'm super glad I did. It was Ichos from Ichos Reviews (Audiophile reviews) who actually convinced me to try the Arya. We had a brief chat, he reviewed all 3, he said:

For me it's 100% spot on.

Glad to read that you’re happy with the Arya Stealth - it’s an excellent headphone!

 

[TheR0v3r]

This is an interesting comparison.

Two years ago I auditioned the Hifiman Arya, HE1000SE and Susvara. I REALLY liked the Susvara but neither my rig or wallet was ready for it so I ended up with none of the three… Going only from memory, I can totally understand that the HE1000SE is technically better than the Nano. It’s kind of odd that despite that I have zero interest in upgrading from the Nano to any of the HE1000’s. The Nano just has so much of what those offers but at a much lower price!

Let me just elaborate a little more.

For the sake of argument let’s view some of the headphones from the point of technical abilities (highly subjective!):

• Tier 1: Audeze LCD-5, Focal Utopia, Hifiman HE1000SE, Hifiman Susvara etc.
• Tier 2: Hifiman Ananda Nano, Hifiman Arya Organic, Hifiman HE1000 Stealth etc
• Tier 3: Hifiman Arya Stealth, Hifiman Edition XS etc
• Tier 4: Hifiman Ananda, Hifiman Sundara etc
• Tier 5: Sennheier HD 600 etc

The thing is that when we listen and judge a headphone’s performance the ”tuning” has a major/massive influence on the sound AND we’re actually hearing the tuning of the ENTIRE system. This is for example why my HD 600 works. It’s technically very far behind the Nano, and actually masks some potential issues in a system, but it’s tuning is so good that it turns out being very enjoyable.

The system sans headphone has a massive impact on how we perceive the headphone. And the better technicalites a headphone as the more impact the systems tuning will have on the sound. You can hear this for yourself if you experiment with only minor EQ adjustments. The Nano’s technical strengths make it a perfect headphone for this experiment.

IF you want to experiment try making just few adjustments (my suggestions):

• 25 Hz (+3 dB w/ Q=0.5)
• 220 Hz (-2.2 dB w/ Q=1.1)
• 1800 Hz (+3 dB w/ Q=2)

These are just examples of areas to try, not an entire EQ profile.

Edit: Rephrased a sentence.

 

[TheR0v3r]

This weekend I have the luxury of auditioning the Mola Mola Tambaqui (amazing!!!).

A SOTA component like the Tambaqui shines the light on the entire system and highlights any shortcomings. Even at this level the Nano delivers a performance that is impressive to say the least. It’s fast, detailed, with a good sense of space and nice tonal balance after some some minor EQ adjustments. I won’t harp on about it’s strengths because you know ’em. There are however two shortcomings, or weaknesses, that become appearant with the Nano’s when listening to the Tambaqui that I’d like to share.

These two areas are soundstage and resolution. It has a smaller, less expansive stage than for example Hifiman Arya’s and HE1000’s. It keeps the presentation fairly tight, both in width and depth but with nice layering and sharp imaging. And while it’s detailed it doesn’t have that abilty to resolve sounds with the ease and precision of the very best headphones.

The issue when looking for a potential upgrade is finding a headphone that adresses these weaknesses without losing the strengths of Nano - that’s easier said than done. Pretty fantastic for a headphone now selling for around €500!

 

[TheR0v3r]

New review:



Always appreciate his points of view.

 

[Silence33]

Hello,

Thanks for sharing the review,

I agree a lot in this analysis, we can see this guy has access to many top-level headphones, apparently he dedicates to that ... and there is no reason to distrust his objectivity.

Since I first heard the Nano I knew they were superior to anything I ever had, and I only hear people confirming that they are special.

This Holy Week I will have time to reflect, enjoy the Nanos and abstract myself from everything with them again .

We do not forget to thank God this week.

A cordial greeting to all !!

 

[martel80]

I just stumbled upon a pdf Sonarwork released a few days ago for what they consider their top 30 headphones in 2024.

I was surprised that they did not include any Hifiman Cans. I'm wondering why that is. I've never seen them commenting on any Hifiman cans. It seems like there's a hate / love relationship with that company. Is it possible that in their early days, they had huge QC Control issues ? I'm just trying to understand why they are just plainly ignored honestly.

I'm also puzzled by one of their claim;

When working long hours in the studio on
your productions, mixes, and masters, two
requirements absolutely must be met by
your headphones:
→Neutral sound
→Comfort

Why Comfort ? Anyways, I wont go in length but studio accommodation and placement is FAR from comfortable or zen imo. I think accuracy is a lot more important. But anyways, that's just my opinion.

Reading their review, I'm tempted to give a shot to the HEDD HEDDphone (2). The Jade II system also tickles me. I would love to actually find something faster then the Nanos but that can also take Corrective EQ easily. I think thats the flaw of both HEDD and Jade cans.

 

[sendler2112]

That’s very interesting. Thanks for sharing. If you ever find a sound profile from the same source but for both devices, I’d really love to know your opinion when the frequency response is out of the equation.

My system is getting fairly well dialed in now. In addition to the Burson Conductor Pro SE with bypassed top of the line Sparkos Pro op amps fed hirez files via USB from ASIO Foobar or ASIO Qobuz through a Supra Excalibur and 16 cores pure silver headphone cable, I also have the VMV D2R DAC and P2 amp stack. It is not just that the HiFiMan HE1000SE has a wider soundstage but that the way that this comes about is that it can dig deeper into whatever information is coming from the far edges including the las bit of hall sound and reverb decay. Is it 5 X better based on price? No way. I really feel sorry for the early adopters that paid $3500. It would seem pretty fair for HiFiMan to offer them a $1,000 store credit. Which would then buy 2 pairs of Ananda Nanos for spares and travel. The HE1000SE also have a fuller sound. The instruments are slightly fuller and more naturally fleshed out. Easier to listen to even though snare drum cracks are still explosive.

I did listen to the Meze 109 Pro at CanJam NYC and would easily choose the Nanos as they are faster, blacker, and slightly more technically fine detailed. The Meze is much more relaxed and easier for people that don't listen to rock and want a sound that would never get fatiguing.

The Nano is untouchable at more than twice the price and I would choose it over the tighter (constricted?), more organic soundstage of the Arya Organic which sells for $1,200. Which I expect to also come down in price again now that you can get the HE1000 V2 and or Stealth Magnet? (I thought the SE stood for "Stealth Edition?) for $1,200. How many HE1000's are there? Just as many or more than the Ananda and the Arya. HiFiMan is killing it.

WaveTheory is most often turning to the HE1000SE as his reference even with Susvaras, Meze Elite, Focal Utopia, ect on hand. Based on the performance but also as a reviewer's tool due to it being easily driven to the best that any amp can deliver.

 

[martel80]

The Nano is untouchable at more than twice the price and I would choose it over the tighter (constricted?), more organic soundstage of the Arya Organic which sells for $1,200. Which I expect to also come down in price again now that you can get the HE1000 V2 and or Stealth Magnet? (I thought the SE stood for "Stealth Edition?) for $1,200. How many HE1000's are there? Just as many or more than the Ananda and the Arya. HiFiMan is killing it.

Very interesting review.

As far as I understood, SE stand for special edition. I don't remember where I read that. I think it's kind of the 4th edition of the HE1000.

I'm surprised by his review of the Thungsten and now I feel I might need to re-read reviews of the HE1000 SE.

I was kind of motivated to try electromagnetic in the Jade II package or the ribbon ones in the HEDDphone, but this guy description of the HE1000 SE is really making me doubt my thought process.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[sendler2112]

now I feel I might need to re-read reviews of the HE1000 SE.

Here is the full review of the HE1000 SE

 

[martel80]

Here is the full review of the HE1000 SE

So apparently I was wrong. The SE came before the Stealth Magnet. Still, I'm listening to another review he did and he,s comparing the two at their MSRP and he seems to firmly believe that the SE is a much better headphone then the V2 Stealth Magnet version.

That was interesting.

 

[Enther]

Do you think Ananda Nano need burn-in?
and what are the main changes?

 

[martel80]

I didn't feel like the cans changed their presentation at all over time but I do feel like it does take a significant amount of time to get used to the bright presentation of the Hifiman line-up.

If you're used to a more conservative and professional treble presentation, the Hifiman cans might be a shocker. I personally found them harsh at first but quickly had them measured and received a calibration file that brought them back into audio engineering referential territory. A very significant amount of treble was subtracted from them ( amongst other smaller changes in the frequency curve) and I now feel like I get a presentation very similar to my studio monitoring environment.

On the other hand, if you're coming from a Bose sound system or used to your TV screen built in speakers (I'm exaggerating to make my point obviously), you might not even hear anything wrong with them.

All in all, it really depend where you're coming from and what you expect from them.

Personally, I was looking for something with a very fast time response and they delivered way over my expectation. The rest is really just personal preferences based on needs and taste.

 

[sendler2112]

Somehow Audio Science Review managed to show a measurement of the Ananda Nano with flat bass and very high distortion.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/hifiman-ananda-nano-headphone-review.53534/

 

[martel80]

Somehow Audio Science Review managed to show a measurement of the Ananda Nano with flat bass and very high distortion.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/hifiman-ananda-nano-headphone-review.53534/

Amir measurements are at the height of his English proficiency.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...no-headphone-review.53534/page-4#post-1937403

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...no-headphone-review.53534/page-4#post-1937511