Hifiman Ananda Unveiled

The ‘beautiful one’ — Hifiman’s Unveiled technology at $549

Hifiman shared all four of these headphones — the HE600, Edition XV, Ananda Unveiled, and Audivana LE — and I have spent the past several months having them within easy arm’s reach, and this gave me a huge opportunity to spend a decent time comparing each of them with each other and also with some excellent competitors that I also recently reviewed like the HEDD D1. It has been one of the more enjoyable extended review periods I can remember.

I have lived with them long enough that I started to give them some nicknames. So, for the Ananda Unveiled I ended up calling it “the beautiful one” as I got that comment from lots of visitors. But does it sound as beautiful as it looks? Let’s find out.

After three months of use, primarily through the JDS Labs Element IV and Topping DX5 II, even my wife, who normally ignores whatever headphone I have out, started to say positive things both how it looked and ended up listening to it many times; I think she even started to understand the hobby. I mostly kept the magnetic veils fitted when the headphone was not in use. But before I get into the details, let’s look at the unboxing:

Unboxing and packaging

The Ananda Unveiled arrives in Hifiman’s clean outer packaging, with product information on the box panels:

The specification panel on the side of the box is worth a closer look:

Inside, the earpads are packaged separately with protective covers, and the cable accessories sit alongside the headphone. The Ananda Unveiled includes one notable extra over the HE600 and Edition XV — the Magnetic Veils themselves, plus individual carry pouches for each veil and earpad, giving the whole package a level of protection the more basic models do not offer:

As with other Hifiman Headphones, you get the cable inside a small accessories box:

The package contents are: the Ananda Unveiled headphone, a 1.5m 3.5mm headphone cable, a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter, earpads (installed), and one pair of Magnetic Veils.

Design, build quality, and the Unveiled technology

The Ananda Unveiled catches your eye immediately. With the veils off, the exposed driver sits visible through the open grill, and shows why I called this the Beautiful One of the four headphones.

Here is the one I tried at the London Canjam last year:

So I thought it was the best-looking headphone of the four and
one of the best looking headphones in my collection, up with some of the Yahama headphones I reviewed earlier in the year.

The side view shows the angle, scale and geometry of the egg-shaped earcups well:

The earcup surface is finished with a textured material — matte, tactile, not plastic-feeling — and the grille work and cup construction are consistently precise:

The Magnetic Veils

The Magnetic Veils are the defining accessory of the Unveiled lineup. They attach magnetically to the outer face of each earcup, covering the exposed driver when you want to protect it from dust, pet hair, or curious fingers. The veils on the Ananda Unveiled use a lighter, more open mesh compared to the versions found on higher-end Unveiled models — a cost-appropriate choice at $549 that still gets the job done. Two views of the veil panels show their design and construction:

The individual carry pouches for the veils and earpads are obviously required for the Unveiled drivers but give the overall offering a sense of premium quality that is way beyond its price:

The foam insert in the box that doubles as a headphone stand is also present with the Ananda Unveiled but I didn’t really use it with the pouches.

Unveiled technology and the Neo Supernano driver

“Unveiled” means what it says — the grille is gone. The conventional headphone grille reflects sound back onto the driver as acoustic interference; remove it and the driver operates in a cleaner environment. Hifiman first applied this on the flagship SUSVARA; this is what it looks like at $549:

The driver is the Neo Supernano planar magnetic design, the same family as the HE600 and Edition XV.

At 22Ω and 93dB it is the easiest to drive of the four — technically an Apple usb-c dongle can push it, though a decent DAC/amp gets considerably more from it.

The included cable is the same functional-but-unremarkable 3.5mm as the rest of the lineup:

I say this in every Hifiman review (except for the Audivana-LE review), but it would be great to get a better stock cable.

Fit and comfort

The Ananda Unveiled uses the same new composite headband design shared across all four new Hifiman models — smoother adjustment, better weight distribution, and no need for aftermarket comfort straps.

There is an excellent extension on the headband even for the largest heads:

At 449g (excluding veils and cable) it is lighter than the Edition XV and sits comfortably for multi-hour sessions.

The earpads are generously sized with good ear clearance, and the deep egg-shaped earcup geometry creates a sense of space that helps both comfort and the headphone’s spatial sound presentation:

Sound impressions

All listening impressions were formed using the JDS Labs Element IV and Topping DX5 II, with no EQ applied.

Bass

The bass extends well and is clean throughout — broadly in line with what the HE600 and Edition XV deliver, though each has its own character. While it doesn’t show this in the measurements, I actually felt the sub-bass better with the Unveiled, not sure if this is because the driver is more open, but I got a more vicersal feel from the sub-bass with the Unveiled. I feel you get the full picture of what is in the recording without bloom or mid-bass warmth colouring the presentation.

On “Angel” by Massive Attack, the deep synth bass layers carry real weight and texture, extending cleanly into the sub-bass without losing the definition or decay that separates good planar bass from the muddier low end of dynamic drivers at this price.

Midrange

The midrange is open and well-proportioned, with good body and vocal presence. The Unveiled design’s acoustic benefits are perhaps most audible here in what is absent: there is less of the slight veiling or congestion that can creep into headphones where the grille reflects sound back onto the driver. Voices come through with natural clarity and no sense of artificial distance. On “Hunter” by Björk, the close-mic vocal sits with convincing presence in the centre image while the layered production elements around it are clearly separated — the kind of spatial midrange organisation that this headphone does particularly well.

Treble

The treble is the Ananda Unveiled’s strongest suit and where it most clearly separates itself from the other three Hifiman headphones in this group. The Unveiled technology’s removal of grille-induced reflections produces a treble that is notably cleaner and more extended than a conventional grille design would achieve — there is more air and detail retrieval, a more precise sense of cymbal decay and transient attack, but without the edge or harshness that sometimes accompanies elevated high-frequency energy. On “Tamacun” by Rodrigo y Gabriela, the guitar string attack and fretboard percussion come through with exceptional clarity and presence, each strike distinct and well-placed — this is the headphone in this group for acoustic and instrumental music. The treble is more forgiving than the HE600 while being more extended and detailed than the Edition XV, sitting in a natural middle position that suits a very wide range of music.

Soundstage and imaging

The Ananda Unveiled has the widest, most open soundstage of the four Hifiman headphones in this review set, and it is not particularly close. The egg-shaped earcup geometry has always given Hifiman’s larger headphones a sense of space; the Unveiled technology’s cleaner acoustic environment pushes that further. On “Born, Never Asked” by Laurie Anderson, the layered vocal treatments and ambient soundscape fill a wide, well-defined space that extends clearly left and right with good front-to-back depth as well. Imaging within that stage is precise — instruments hold their positions through dense passages — though I would give the slight edge in imaging sharpness to the HE600, which trades some of the Unveiled’s width for more focused localisation. The Ananda Unveiled is the headphone in this group that makes the strongest case for what open-back planar listening is all about.

Comparisons

The Ananda Unveiled sits alongside the HE600, Aune AR5000 MK2, and Edition XV in this comparison shot — the group of headphones that formed the core of the past three months of listening:

Against the Edition XV in direct comparison, the two headphones make an interesting pair. The Edition XV is better for long-session listening with any genre and has the more forgiving treble; the Ananda Unveiled is better for soundstage, imaging, and for music where treble detail and air are priorities. Both are excellent and the choice between them depends more on what you value than on absolute quality:

Specifications

Measurements

Against the Harman OE 2018 target, the Ananda Unveiled shows a clean, linear bass region and a mature, balanced midrange, with treble that is more extended than the Edition XV but still well-controlled. The Unveiled technology’s acoustic benefits are visible in the high frequencies:

Compared with the tilted DF target, you get the majority of the bass and midrange tracking extremely linear, and then we get that familar Hifiman 1-2Khz soundstage dip, and you get some decent treble extension:

This measurement confirms you should not think of leaving the “Veils” on, it will just give you a horrible sounding closed back experience:

One measurement worth including for the record — the Ananda Unveiled with glasses. As with many Hifiman egg-shaped headphones, wearing glasses introduces a small bass boost from the modified seal. For spectacle wearers this can actually be a welcome characteristic, adding a touch more low-end weight to an already clean bass presentation:

The direct comparison with the previous Ananda generation shows the tuning evolution clearly — the Unveiled has a more refined upper-frequency presentation and the benefit of the grille-reflection reduction in the treble region:

Plotted alongside the HE600 and Edition XV, the three new open-back Hifiman headphones show a consistent tuning approach — the Unveiled sits between the more energetic HE600 treble and the more relaxed Edition XV, with its own character shaped by the open grille design:

Against the Hedd Audio HEDDphone D1, the Ananda Unveiled’s wider soundstage character and cleaner treble extension are visible in the measurements; the D1’s warmer, more midrange-focused response is a clear contrast:

Two further comparisons with the Harman target alongside the FiiO FT and Verum 2 give a sense of where the Ananda Unveiled sits in a broader competitive context:

Distortion performance is clean and consistent across the frequency range:

Rating explanation

The Pragmatic Rating of 5 is for a headphone that feels distinctly better than its price. The Unveiled technology started on Hifiman’s flagship and filters down here intact, and the result is the most technically interesting of the four hifiman’s I am reviewing now. The wide soundstage, nice sub-bass and clean treble extension are very nice and you notice them immediately, which is not always true of spec-sheet improvements.

The Price Rating of 5 is because $549 for this level of performance is genuinely good value. This is the one in the four-pack where I most felt the product exceeded its price. I feel this is cheap enough to be a nice birthday present for an audiophile, but with its looks and the unveiled drivers will be appreciated coming from most other headphones.

The Features Rating of 4 is more because the magnetic veils look a little cheap and you need the carry pouches, and of course you get the same ordinary cable as the rest of the lineup. The Measurements Rating of 5 is straightforward: clean distortion, tight channel matching, and frequency response that measurably shows the Unveiled technology doing what it claims. The acoustic benefits are real and visible in the data.

Conclusion

The Ananda Unveiled has the widest soundstage and the best sub-bass of the four hifiman headphones I was reviewing and is by far the most visually interesting. It most clearly demonstrates what the Unveiled technology is trying to achieve. At $549 it brings a flagship acoustic concept to a broadly accessible price point. It looks extraordinary and sounds excellent, and I have worn it for multi-hour sessions without discomfort, and while initially I was worried about leaving the driver exposed, I think over the iterations of this technology Hifiman has made it much safer and easier to live with an unveiled headphone.

If you are moving up from an Edition XV and want something with more air, sub-bass and staging, with a visual design that you will actually want to look at — this is the obvious next step. If you are an audiophile with a small collection already and want something a little different and a little special with its Unveiled design, the Ananda Unveiled is an easy recommendation.

It is, without question, the beautiful one of these hifiman headphones.