Not a ton of details yet but it is being shown off at the Munich High-End Audio show so I would suspect to see impressions and details come in over the next couple of days. Unless you can read Russian https://era-in-ear.com/news/vnezapno-hifiman-ananda-siurpriz-kotorogo-ne-ozhidali (or you can google translate it for some excellent amusement)
Looks like it will MSRP around $1000 USD.
Looks like a replacement for the he560 since hifiman just updated the he400i
The Sundara is the 560 replacement. This is going to be the update/upgrade to the HEX.
Just ordered another new HIFIMan model, the HE-6se…My headphone amp is a little weak output wise, so I’ll be using my AVR Zone 2 as the amp
I bet those new HE6se sound great. You’ll have to let us know if they live up to the hype.
-Paul-
Oh yuk, what a disappointment then
Haven’t been amazed with the Sundara from when I’ve heard it. Not a bad can at all but sounds more like a HE 4__ _ replacement than anything
The HE-6se is a great sounding and comfortable set of headphones. I can listen to them for hours without fatigue, They do take a powerful headphone amp, or a direct out from the amp speaker connection. They are my favorite pair of headphones (other pairs are Senn HD800, HD700). My Headphone amps are Schiit Mjolnir2, and speaker connection output to balanced jack from my Anthem MRX 720 AVR in Zone 2. Once I get some specialized octal to noval tube socket adapters and some more powerful output tubes (converting 1626 to 12B4A), I’m going to try the HE-6se with my new Kenzie Encore amp (single ended). You need about 2 watts to run the HE-6se; the upgraded output would put me at close to 1.5w output.
I’ve been writing up a review for these, I like em, they aren’t as rolled off as the HEX.
Look forward to reading your review. I haven’t even heard them yet!
Less than a year later Hifiman has announced a wireless version of the Ananda. https://www.twice.com/product/canjam-2019-hifiman-ba1000-ananda-bt
Not sure what the market is like for a $1200 open-back wireless headphone but I guess we will find out.
I’m surprised they introduced Bluetooth functionality at the Ananda level first. Seems like a bit of a gamble. Especially if they can only be driven wirelessly or through their built-in DAC/amp (I can’t find anything that indicates whether there’s a fully-passive mode/connection or not).
On the upside, the built-in electronics means they could, if they choose to, implement on-board DSP to maximize the performance. That’s been used to very good effect with a number of much-less-loftily priced wireless headphones (with and without fully-passive modes).
I cannot personally see buying a $1,000 headphone with a $200 wireless/DAC/amp module in it and not wanting to be able to bypass said $200-electronics to run them straight off my high-end gear when convenient to do so.
I had this problem with the Mobius too. It didn’t have a pass through to bypass the built-in amp. Not a huge deal, but annoying if the battery goes out. And you can accidentally discharge the battery over night very easily.
I hadn’t even thought about the battery dying!
I’ve been spoiled by the Sony WM-1000XM3, which really do get close to 30 hours on a charge (and can also be run passively), so battery life on a wireless headphone just hasn’t come up in a while (their predecessors were good for 20 hours or so too).
I was really thinking more in terms of the general idea that typical $1,000 planar headphones are worthy of more than your typical Bluetooth or embedded/mobile DAC/amp and wanting to be able to exploit those capabilities when at home.
Meh, I have to say I wasn’t impressed with the HE 6SE in stock form… I really feel at the price their sold at the ETHER 2 is a better option if you want “musical”
The 6SE has some strong points, bass is nice but too forward honestly. I’ve been told the stock HE 6SE is better than the stock HE 6 but the lightly modded HE 6 I heard up at the maryland meet was more even toned and just a bit better overall than this unit was stock… video review is up, written should be online here shortly
I have both HE6se and Ether2. What are you running for an amp with the HE6se? They are definitely power thirsty.
