HiFiMan Edition X vs Ananda

Which Headphones Are Better?

Products

HiFiMan Edition X
HiFiMan Ananda

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1

Updated Mar 24, 2022 08:45 PM

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Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated Jun 12, 2023 04:26 PM

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Our Verdict

HiFiMan Edition X

HiFiMan Ananda

The HiFiMan Ananda are slightly better critical listening headphones than the HiFiMan Edition X, although they sound practically the same for most listeners. The Ananda benefit from the new HiFiMan headband design, so they have stronger metal yokes that should be more durable. They also have a slightly better-measured performance in bass, mid, and harmonic distortion, although it's not very distinguishable even for trained ears. On the other hand, the Edition X have a slightly better treble response, but it's above 20KHz and won't be audible to most. The Edition X are also slightly more comfortable for some since they have swiveling hinges but since the ear cups and pads are practically the same on the Ananda, there isn't much difference in the overall comfort level.

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Variants

  • Edition X
  • Ananda (Black)

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Standard
Edition X
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black
Ananda
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Amazon.com
Standard
Edition X
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Walmart.com
Black
Ananda
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Walmart.com
Standard
Edition X
B&H
Black
Ananda
B&H
Standard
Edition X
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Black
Ananda
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Main Differences for
Mixed Usage

Threshold 

0.10

Mixed Usage 

5.5
No major differences between these headphones for mixed usage. See full list of tests below.

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Type  

Over-ear
Over-ear

Enclosure  

Open-Back
Open-Back

Wireless  

No
No

Transducer  

Planar Magnetic
Planar Magnetic
Show Text 

Comfort 
 

8.0
8.0

Comfort Picture  

Weight  

0.88 lbs
0.9 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

1.16 lbs
1.3 lbs
Show Text 

Controls 
 

0.0
0.0

Controls Picture  

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
No Controls

Ease Of Use  

N/A
No Controls

Feedback  

N/A
No Controls

Call/Music Control  

No
No

Volume Control  

No
No

Microphone Control  

N/A
No

Channel Mixing 
 

N/A
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

N/A
No

Talk-Through 
 

N/A
No

Additional Controls  

N/A
No
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Breathability 
 

6.2
6.4

Breathability After Picture  

Avg.Temp.Difference  

6.6 °C
5.9 °C
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Portability 
 

5.1
5.5

Portability Picture  

 

9.45"
7.9" (20.1 cm)

 

7.09"
6.0" (15.2 cm)

 

3.94"
4.0" (10.2 cm)

Volume  

263.5 in³
190.00 in³ (3,113.53 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

N/A
No
Show Text 

Case 
 

0.0
0.0

Case Picture  

Type  

No case
No case

 

N/A
N/A

 

N/A
N/A

 

N/A
N/A

Volume  

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

7.5
8.0

Build Quality Picture  

Show Text 

Stability 
 

5.5
6.0

Stability Picture  

Show Text 

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Side Picture  

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Rear Picture  

Top  

Top Picture  

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Show Text 
Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Frequency Response  

See details

Frequency Response  

See details

Bass Amount 
 

-3.33 dB
-2.23 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-1.44 dB
-1.22 dB

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

7.9
8.5

Consistency L  

See details
See details

Consistency R  

See details
See details

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

0.41 dB
0.3 dB
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details

Raw FR L  

See details

Raw FR R  

See details

Raw FR R  

See details

Bass Accuracy 
 

8.8
7.8

Bass  

See details

Bass  

See details

Std. Err. 
 

1.59 dB
2.93 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

33.15 Hz
65.36 Hz

Low-Bass 
 

-2.52 dB
-5.46 dB

Mid-Bass 
 

-0.36 dB
-2.4 dB

High-Bass 
 

1.74 dB
0.59 dB
Show Text 

Mid Accuracy 
 

8.5
8.5

Mid  

See details

Mid  

See details

Std. Err. 
 

1.96 dB
2.06 dB

Low-Mid 
 

2.04 dB
0.06 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

1.91 dB
-0.51 dB

High-Mid 
 

-0.26 dB
-2.96 dB
Show Text 

Treble Accuracy 
 

8.8
8.1

Treble  

See details

Treble  

See details

Std. Err. 
 

2.51 dB
2.87 dB

Low-Treble 
 

1.23 dB
-1.13 dB

Mid-Treble 
 

-1.15 dB
-0.71 dB

High-Treble 
 

-1.58 dB
-6.81 dB
Show Text 

Peaks/Dips 
 

8.3
7.8

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details

Peaks 
 

1 dB
1.45 dB

Dips 
 

1.26 dB
1.01 dB

Imaging 
 

8.8
9.0

Group Delay  

See details
See details

Phase Response  

See details

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.2
0.13

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

5.45
6.66

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

0.18
0.08

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

1.86
1.56
Show Text 

Passive Soundstage 
 

9.1
9.1

PRTF  

See details
See details

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

2.85 dB
2.82 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

6.11 dB
5.87 dB

PRTF Distance 
 

17.95 dB
15.9 dB

Openness 
 

9.8
9.7

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

9.9
10
Show Text 

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0

Virtual Soundstage  

Head Modeling 
 

No

Speaker Modeling 
 

No

Room Ambience 
 

No

Head Tracking 
 

No

Virtual Surround 
 

No App

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

8.7
8.3

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details
See details

WHD @ 90 
 

0.079
0.176

WHD @ 100 
 

0.092
0.074

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

No Firmware

Power 
 

Passive

Connection 
 

Wired

Codec 
 

PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz

EQ 
 

No EQ

ANC 
 

No ANC

Tip/Pad 
 

Default

Microphone 
 

No Microphone
Isolation

Noise Isolation 
 

0.7
0.7

Noise Isolation  

See details
See details

Isolation Audio 
 

Overall Attenuation 
 

-1.16 dB
-1.16 dB

Noise Cancelling  

No
No

Bass 
 

0 dB
-0.09 dB

Mid 
 

0.66 dB
0.57 dB

Treble 
 

-4 dB
-3.8 dB
Show Text 

Leakage 
 

0.1
0.0

Leakage  

See details
See details

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

69.45 dB
70.69 dB
Show Text 
Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

N/A
No

In-Line 
 

N/A
No

Boom 
 

N/A
No

Detachable Boom 
 

N/A
No

Mic  

No
No

Recording Quality 
 

0.0
0.0

Microphone Frequency Response  

Recorded Speech 
 

N/A
N/A

LFE 
 

N/A
N/A

FR Std. Dev. 
 

N/A
N/A

HFE 
 

N/A
N/A

Weighted THD 
 

N/A
N/A

Gain 
 

N/A
N/A
Show Text 

Noise Handling 
 

0.0
0.0

SpNR 
 

N/A
N/A

Noise Gate 
 

No

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

N/A

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

N/A
N/A

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

N/A

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

N/A
N/A
Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

0.0
0.0

Battery Type 
 

N/A
No Battery

Continuous Battery Life 
 

N/A
N/A

Additional Charges 
 

N/A
N/A

Total Battery Life 
 

N/A
N/A

Charge Time 
 

N/A
N/A

Power-Saving Feature 
 

N/A
No

Audio While Charging 
 

N/A
No

Passive Playback 
 

N/A
Passive Headphone

Charging Port  

N/A
None
Show Text 

App Support 
 

0.0
0.0

App Picture  

App Name  

N/A
No App

iOS  

N/A
No

Android  

N/A
No

macOS  

N/A
No

Windows  

N/A
No

Equalizer 
 

N/A
No

ANC Control 
 

N/A
No

Mic Control  

N/A
No

Room Effects 
 

N/A
No

Playback Control 
 

N/A
No

Button Mapping  

N/A
No

Surround Sound  

N/A

Surround Support 
 

No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Bluetooth 
 

0.0
0.0

Bluetooth Version 
 

N/A
No Bluetooth

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

N/A
No

NFC Pairing 
 

N/A
No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (SBC) 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (aptX) 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Latency (aptX HD) 
 

N/A

PC Latency (aptX-LL) 
 

N/A
N/A

iOS Latency 
 

N/A

Android Latency 
 

N/A
Show Text 

Non-Bluetooth Wireless 
 

0.0
0.0

Non-BT Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

Non-BT Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

Wired 
 

9.5
9.5

Cable Picture  

Analog Audio 
 

Yes
Yes

USB Audio 
 

No
No

Detachable  

Yes
Yes

Length  

10 ft
5.00 ft (1.52 m)

Connection 
 

1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS

Wired Latency 
 

0 ms

Analog/USB Audio Latency 
 

0 ms
Show Text 

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

Audio Only

Wired USB 
 

No

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

PC / PS4 Compatibility 
 

PC / PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PC / PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

No

Base/Dock 
 

0.0
0.0

Type 
 

N/A
No Base/Dock

USB Input 
 

N/A
No

Line In 
 

N/A
No

Line Out 
 

N/A
No

Optical Input 
 

N/A
No

RCA Input 
 

N/A
No

Dock Charging 
 

N/A
No

Power Supply 
 

N/A
No Base/Dock
Show Text 

Check Price

Standard
Edition X
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black
Ananda
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Standard
Edition X
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
Black
Ananda
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
Standard
Edition X
B&H
Black
Ananda
B&H
Standard
Edition X
BestBuy.com
Black
Ananda
BestBuy.com

HiFiMan Edition X

HiFiMan Ananda

Comments

  1. Comparison

HiFiMan Edition X vs HiFiMan Ananda: Main Discussion

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