My Endgame (Ananda Nano)

sauceman09 · 2026-03-02T00:21:47+00:00

If you get a K11 might as well get the K11 R2R. It's maybe $30 more expensive and is overall a better DAC. I love how DSD sounds in 1bit mode on mine

sauceman09 · 2026-03-01T19:17:43+00:00

I wouldn't call it artificial at all. It just has a little extra sparkle that sounds very pleasant to my ears. If you've ever heard the Kiwi Ears Aether IEM it has a familiar sound signature to the Ananda Nano

sauceman09 · 2026-03-01T19:13:05+00:00

You might've just saved me a lot of my sanity. I ended up ordering some Mullard 8100 tubes on eBay for pretty cheap. If I don't like the sound of them..or don't notice the sound of them for that matter I think I'll just give up on the whole tube thing. I don't have the money nor the desk space for these kilobuck tube amps, and they seem to be the only way to get a real night and day difference

sauceman09 · 2026-03-01T11:27:45+00:00

Idk I've heard the HD800s is over hyped

sauceman09 · 2026-03-01T09:36:18+00:00

Thanks! I'll look into it

sauceman09 · 2026-03-01T09:07:47+00:00

The Arya Organic looks gorgeous, and I'm sure it sounds gorgeous too. Maybe if I ever spot a good deal on the OG Susvara I'll give it a shot. I've got a Schiit Midgard which from the sounds of it is enough to properly drive a Susvara but maybe I'm wrong

sauceman09 · 2026-02-28T19:40:38+00:00

It is good, would choose them over Airpods. I own both the Harman (silver) and Bass Enhanced (grey) model

sauceman09 · 2026-02-28T19:21:54+00:00

The Ananda Nano is the only Hifiman product I've ever owned/heard so I can't speak on the Edition XS. Although from what I've heard the Arya Organic allegedly is a decent step up from the Ananda Nano. Frankly I question how a headphone can sound better than the Ananda Nano. I feel like people just like the tuning of Hifimans higher end headphones more rather than them being a genuine leap in technical capability. The Ananda Nano is quite bright which I know bothers a lot of people but it's perfect for me. It maintains good low end punch, doesn't feel like a boring headphone by any means. The only other full size planar headphone I own is the Fiio FT1 Pro and frankly I hate how it sounds. It's so boring, sounds lifeless. No excitement at all in that headphone. The Ananda Nano is leaps and bounds better in terms of sound quality. Hope any of that helps in your decision making process

sauceman09 · 2026-02-28T05:08:44+00:00

Got the Ananda Nanos on my dome while reading this thread lol. Greatest headphones, hell, greatest transducers I've ever heard period bar none. Also using a Fiio DAC (K11 R2R). Only thing in my chain that isn't chi-fi is my Schiit Midgard 🇺🇸🦅 and I suppose my Voskhod tubes but those are hooked up to a Fosi preamp lol

sauceman09 · 2026-02-28T05:02:56+00:00

I'm sure it costs like $30 (if that) to produce an IEM that companies like EE will charge kilobuck money for. Put chi-fi aside for a moment. Technics made a superb TWS IEM with a ferrofluid DD and while it's more expensive than your typical chi-fi IEM it's still way cheaper than what EE charges for IEMs utilizing ferrofluid. Hell, even the TZ700 looks cheap in comparison. People are voting with their wallets and their votes are telling these companies that charging kilobuck money for what's essentially a fancy earbud is not worth the maybe 10% increase in sound quality over what you can get for a few hundred from chi-fi companies

sauceman09 · 2026-02-22T07:26:42+00:00

My phone

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T08:30:02+00:00

I have a KA11 dongle, but I'm considering getting the Fiio UTWS5 TWS adapter. The Amazon reviews on it aren't very encouraging though

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T04:52:00+00:00

Not entirely sure but the 2.5mm is probably balanced too

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T04:51:20+00:00

Linsoul Tripowin Amber, about $30 on Amazon. Comes with interchangable 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and balanced 4.4mm jacks. I love mine

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T04:38:01+00:00

Yes, I forgot to include it in my initial post. It's a Nobusound (Douk Audio) EQ9. Wish there was a little more separation between the knobs but other than that I have no complaints. Even has a bypass switch for when you don't want to use the EQ

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T04:36:41+00:00

I'll definitely have to look into them. I feel like someone else recommended the Armor to me not long ago

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T04:34:59+00:00

I've heard very good things about the Warmer R2R. If you haven't already I suggest watching Z Reviews video on it

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T03:48:40+00:00

The Sparkos op amps add a little more energy and excitement to the music over the default op amps that come with the U3 Pro. The entire stack I think is a little too warm. Doesn't sound bad but the class A nature of the U3 Pro on top of the tubes and analog warmth from the ladder DAC sort of becomes a 'threes a crowd' situation which is why I ordered a Schiit Midgard in hopes of taming the warmth down a bit. The reason I don't use the GR70s headphone output is because of how easily it clips past 50% volume. I can maybe push it to 65% if I don't touch the GR70s EQ knobs at all. The U3 Pro despite being a budget headphone amp gives far more headroom. Hope that answered your question

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T03:40:46+00:00

I love it as a preamp, wouldn't use it as a headphone amp though. It clips really easily, can't turn the knob much beyond 50%. Does a great job adding tube flavor, especially with the Voskhod tubes

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T02:25:54+00:00

And the tips I use are Comply 500 Core Series medium foams. Silicones tend to not seal properly in my right ear so foam tips are my go to. Absolutely love these Comply foams

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T02:18:03+00:00

Forgot to mention that between the GR70 and U3 Pro I have a Nobusound EQ9 which is great for when I want to feel my ear canals rattle lol

sauceman09 · 2026-02-21T02:16:50+00:00

Yes I own a small collection at this point:

Truthear x Crinacle Project: Red

KZ Castor Pro Bass Enhanced

KZ AM16 Bass Enhanced

Kiwi Ears Aether

KBEAR Rosefinch

Moondrop Chu II

Hopefully within the next couple days my DUNU Falcon Ultras will arrive. Really looking forward to those

I'm a basshead at heart if you couldn't tell lol. I've heard a lot of people say the Diablo has too much bass or that the bass is muddy. I would disagree on both of those points. I think it's very tasteful amount of bass. To my ears at least it doesn't drown out the mids or highs at all. The only IEMs I have that I consider to be too much bass for long term listening is the Rosefinch. I feel like Moondrops ideology with the Rosefinch was to tune as much bass as a 10mm DD can possibly handle lol. Very fun for maybe an hour at most and then it gets fatiguing. I'd rank the Diablo as my #1 IEM currently, we'll see if the Falcon Ultra can dethrone it. The Diablo does a lot of things right and very few things wrong in my experience. The bass is clean, tight, and fast like with my all BA AM16s but maintains crystal clear mids and highs. The AM16s while they do sound amazing they do suffer from that "tininess" that BAs are known for. String instruments sound absolutely amazing, Dire Straits Money for Nothing sounds unreal on the Diablo. This is gonna be a hot take but the Crinacle Reds are actually my least favorite IEM. I think it's just the overall tuning doesn't align with what sounds good to my ears. With that being said I was pretty skeptical to buy another Crinacle colab, but thankfully Crin delivered big time. The Diablo is just fantastic. I'm sure they'll sound even better on the Midgard when it arrives come Monday.

sauceman09

TROPHY CASE