Headphone fans, I just got into AliExpress this 11.11 sale and these headphones were one of the two things I picked up (other's an IEM I'll post about when they get in). This will all be based on my impressions of early days of ownership, where I am avidly listening to many favorite albums with them to enjoy the music through this new lens.

I'm feeling pretty knocked out! I got these from the HiFiMan store on there, and they shipped direct from HiFiMan (just like the Sundara that I got from HiFiMan's own web store had). Price was ~$198 after coupons. They are the V3 version, which has lower weight and lower impedance than the Ananda Stealth V2.

The way they sound seems crazy good compared to that price. I'm pairing them with either Schiit Magni+ or Heretic, or Nitsch Piety, all of which seem to be able to adequately power them without any issues. I like them best with the Piety as it has a bit more slam to the sound, some subtle warmth (but still pretty flat). I don't listen at especially high volumes but I could see these needing decent current at higher volumes if you do. Please don't, though, tinnitus is real and lurks in the future for hapless sound blasters.

Overall I find them to have a fairly balanced tonality. Treble is generally pretty smooth, though it depends more on the track mix than with some cans. Especially bright tracks may lean into it a little heavy in spots in a way that can glare momentarily. Not something I notice in most music, though, and the treble reproduction detail is really good.

From my limited experience so far, HiFiMan planars seem to have strengths with regard to the perception of space around mix elements, and the ability to hone in on specific elements perceptually without losing them in the general din. Certainly the Ananda V3 are great for that, improving significantly in clarity compared to the Sundara, like they've got better "resolution." That's always an interesting thing to me to experience, because it's not like you lose the song when you swap to less revealing headphones, but there's an undeniable sense of just being able to hear more, more clearly.

You can easily hear doubling with them and can often make out the individual takes being combined. On the Sundara it blended together more. The soundstage is wide and high quality to my ears. It's nicely encompassing without feeling compressed. Snares have good "thwack," low frequency elements can rumble, cymbals are crisp and you can hear right out to the edge of reverberation space, and follow delay taps distinctly. Anything inherently spacious sounds especially big with them, and anything with panning & modulation is a real treat to hear.

Low frequencies are present and accounted for all the way down to the bottom of my ability to perceive them, but they aren't overpowering. Great extension with good balance. These have more perceptible rumble by far than the Sundara did when the music has it to offer, and that is true even after EQing the Sundara. These big egg shaped cups and massive drivers just have more to offer there, period.

I am not finding them to be genre limited. Very strong generalist, like strapping some good speakers to your head they handle diverse material well & don't let you down when you reach for more here or there from them with a given track. And what an improvement over the Sundara overall! Those older ones got my attention but they did not compel me to listen nearly as much as these Ananda Stealth V3 do. They're quick, they're exceptionally detailed, great stereo presentation & overall a great package soundwise. I feel like I won the waiting game here.

I will say, praise for the sound aside, they don't have a similar "wow, I can't believe it's only $200" build quality. I'd call it adequate at the price, not flimsy seeming, but not particularly stand out. Wearing comfort isn't the best, but it's fine (I found my Sundara to be more comfortable with similar construction overall - it had less clamp for sure). If I'd paid the prices these cost a few years ago I'd have wondered why they couldn't have used nicer materials in some respects, but for $198 and sounding so nice I'm totally fine with their construction.

Quick Comparisons:

Senn HD-650 / HD-6XX- My HD-650 are 20 years old and still sound really similar to my made-this-year HD-6XX, so I'm treating them as one for the purpose of this comparison! HiFiMan's house tonality is far removed from Sennheiser's 600 series sound. The HD-650/6XX are definitely warmer in some regards, but you notice the superior bass extension and the Ananda V3 and the treble is crisper and less relaxed. However HD-650 has a special midrange tonality that I still love. That's one of those that's very hard to do "just like this, but better bass and treble!" without actually losing something. The overall sound with the Ananda Stealth V3 is certainly more complete, but if you pair the HD-650/6XX with the right amp and get them dialed in for your tastes, IMO you've got a great balanced-but-warm sound overall and the treble detail is not missing even though treble level is lower. Ananda Stealth V3 have more modern capabilities though, and you can certainly hear their "bigness" when you put them on, by way of comparison.

Audio Technica ATH-R70xa - Great headphones with a very balanced tonality and good technical performance overall. They do roll off a bit toward the lower bass, which I rarely notice when using them on their own, but I can't help but notice it when swapping from the Ananda Stealth V3. The R70xa actually are pretty close to "like HD-650, but better," though those magic HD-650 mids still have an edge. Nevertheless, the dynamic drivers in the R70xa do have really good punch, moreso than what Senn was up to, and I can feel them moving more air on part of the plosive even than the Ananda Stealth V3. But despite that really nice punchy quality, they just can't hit the same rumble that the Ananda Stealth V3 can on the same track. Great foundation on the Anandas and it doesn't muddy the other elements of reproduction, very cool. I'll also say that I think the Ananda treble sounds really good even up against the R70xa, which is interesting as that's a real strength of the Audio Technica.

Grado RS1x (with G-Cushion) - Now we have a real challenger to the Ananda V3's resolution and presentation. Grados are famed for treble for a reason, and man, it's good, it's so good on these. I found them too bright with other cushions, but the G-Cushion nails it for me, with killer instrument separation and some reinforcement of the lows. And this modern "X" generation of Grado drivers is certainly capable of more low frequency extension than they used to be able to manage. But I'm gonna be real with you, RS1x bass is not at the same level as the Ananda Stealth V3 bass. They can't bring the rumble the same. What kind of miracle would it be if they could, though, the drivers on the Ananda Stealth V3 are comparatively so massive. That's the axis where they trade the most blows, highs vs lows. I think the RS1x has even better treble quality, and its midrange tonality is so special. To my tastes I believe it has superior timbre. But the Ananda Stealth V3 having a still good level of treble quality and a good overall timbre while also bringing the rumble down low for under $200 is really cool - these Grados are like $750!

I have more headphones and more thoughts, but I am going to wrap it here for now. Thanks for reading, hope whatever you're listening to sounds awesome!