im definitely not an expert in this or any field, basically i just watched some youtube videos about them being good for music making and thought eh why not? then was very happy with my semi-impulsive decision, although i didn't really test any others out. but these seem to be great. i will say i just recently had an issue with them lol, user error mostly i think, sorta. maybe this is just how planars work with amps from topping but i plugged them in and out with the power on and afterwords they were distorted as hell. so i returned them through amazon and got another pair coming tomorrow. with a 3 year warranty. it seems crazy that doing that would break them so maybe there is an overall QC problem with them, or i just fucked them up somehow or got unlucky. im not sure what happened tbh but they broke.

still well worth the upgrade from the hd600s in terms of everything, i can see what you're saying about another pair being as good/better for media consumption. im loving the hd600s for movies and videogames and stuff but yeah not for the music i make. like missing a third of the picture not having the ananda's now.

im just using oratory1990's eq settings btw, this one i think

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x8gu....pdf?rlkey=1ktv3frohbxcxnsikryr9iylp&e=1&dl=0

 

Here are the measurements https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...c-compared-to-topping-d30-and-fiio-e10k.2097/

 

True, but I knew of that test, and for that money it's ok he comes in at third place.
I would have to listen on the level of an atomic bomb exploding next to me to hear these 'problems' anyways.
Like that thing with a -90db sine wave (in 16 bit).
Somehow I would expect a converter to produce quantisation noise if I fed it -90db at 16 bit.
Or those jitter spikes, these sit at -100db.
My personal guess is that I hate most modern DACs and Headphone amps because nowadays it's all measure over everything else.
An then they use way to steep reconstruction filters with pre ringing and what not.

 

The reviewer said it sounds great and he couldn't believe the price

 

Slight update if anyone cares- my headphones the hifiman ananda nanos were NOT messed up. However 2 of the 3 ports on the front of the topping dx5ii are, the xlr and 4.4 mm connections are broken and distorted. Phones sound fine through 1/4 inch. So i take back any disparaging remarks I made about hifiman QC and redirect them towards topping instead.

 

Neumann NDH30's

 

A little update to the Hifiman Ananda Nano I was so impressed with (and still am).

I had to deal with that thing that they're way too bright for my taste (it's a personal thing, I need a lush airband, maybe more than others but they DO sound bright). Because I want them to work on most sources without extra software I tried my thing with tissue. That used to work well on other cans and tweeters, it's that ancient trick people did in the early eighties with the first iteration of the NS10.

That didn't work well with those headphones. First of all I need two layers in that case, and that could be an issue because the two layers can make a flapping sound. What made it especially hard is that the Ananda Nanos have no padding and the tissue would just sit on the metal grille (and that could make another sound in itself).

So... I dug a little in my closet... I bought cheap running socks lately...
The red circled part of the snocks quarter running socks from amazon is the perfect fit, its thick enough to tame the pescy high frequencies.
Disclaimer: In theory there could be an impact on the low frequency response, because that extra layer would move with the low frequencies and take out energy. But I could not hear an audible effect. And a lot of commercially available headphones have exactly something like that, so it can't be that bad I guess.




//EDIT// PS: For anyone saying now that this is the most stupid thing he has seen in a long time:
The chief designer of schoeps once said "At the design phase, we drill a hole somewhere and measure. We do this until we're happy"

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2026 at 8:53 PM