It was good but I chose the Ananda over it. Obviously there’s a big price difference though.

can you tell why? my next upgrade would for sure be a higher price point but that will take a while.

One of the reasons was the comfort level. Sundara can be uncomfortable for larger ears (like mine). The details across the entire spectrum of sound was much better too. For its price, Sundara is very good though. I recently added Focal Clear to my collection which is absolutely stellar, but the msrp price tag is 1400 usd, so it’s to be expected.

Edition xs would be another good upgrade if you like the hifiman sound

Sundara are great for 300 dollars, but they are lacking in certain aspects. Their soundstage is very strange, they seperate instruments well, and can image to some extent, but there is something unnatural about where exactly it positions sounds (for me anyway). They do lack some sub bass compared to other planars. And to me, their round earpads are plain uncomfortable.

But if you are happy, there is no reason to upgrade right away. I didn't get a straight upgrade until I bought some Meze109s for 900 dollars (Norway pricing, around $700 USD in normal countries). Edition XS is better overall, but that's more of something to consider for those who don't already own Sundaras.

i also owning a pair of dt 1770 pro if i wanna "isolate" myself in to the sound. for being closed headphones their soundstage is amazing

Personally for me the Sundara feels like a teaser before the real end game. Everything sounds very good and natural but I feel everything could be better. But I'm done with the Sundara because there is no reason to spend more than 350$ for headphones overall. If you have enough resources, you may try something different, but correlation between price and sound quality is gonna be far from the optimal. Maybe Edition XS is worth the money and very good for the price but I haven't tried it and won't do it.

I heard an interesting opinion that people who buy flagship items are mostly investing directly in the company and their future products. If you like HifiMan and want to support them, something like Ananda or Arya would be your next end game.

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So I have 6xx, sundara and recently focal clear OG. I also have access to hd598, and hd800.

The sundara are really an amazing pair of headphones for the price, and diminishing returns kick in quickly.

Comparing hd6xx to sundara, the sundara are crisper and cleaner, however the mids on sundara are not as full bodied, rich and smooth as they are on the 6xx. So for simple tracks with a mid focus, I usually prefer listening with 6xx. Guitar and vocal tracks like most on privateering by knopfler sound incredible on both, but shine more on 6xx.

I got the focal clear because to me they feel like a mix of the sundara and the 6xx. They are not as narrow as 6xx, and have in my opinion better richer, thicker mids than even the 6xx. Also they do not have the sennheiser veil which is apparent when going from sundara to 6xx. So a nice combination in my opinion.

They're amazing and can certainly be considered endgame. For me, the HD800s have that 10% extra on the Sundara that make them my personal endgame. Just a bit better soundstage presentation, better mids, less harsh treble.

Are they $1300+ dollars better than Sundara. Absolutely not. Again it's like a 10% improvement. I wouldn't say it's wise to spend $1600 on a single headphone, especially when a $300 Sundara is like 90% as good. But sometimes some of us get caught chasing that dragon lol.

For now. I love nine. Warm sound. Wide and open soundstage. Good for washing dishes by hand with jazz and DJ world musica sets. Latin. Reggae. Japanese funk jazz. It’s all good.

I loved the Sundara, but it hurted my ears because of the clamp. I saw someone was selling the XS with 1 years for $120 less than base price, so I upgraded right away. I had demoed the XS in store before, the XS fills out what's missing in the Sundara for me.

OP, as someone who upgraded from the Sundara to the Arya, only to return the latter, I'd say there's no need to upgrade at all! Yes there are headphones that have better technicalities out there, but over time a lot of us find that tonality is more important - and the Sundara has a great tonality imo.

Higher end cans are still lots of fun to try, so I'm not discouraging you from trying them, but if you're already enjoying your music tons with the Sundara, well isnt that essentially what people are looking for in upgrades? And you've already got it.

I'd say Sennheisers are great complementary cans to the Sundara; I'd recommend the 6xx or 650 (whichever is cheaper or looks better to you, sound wise they are essentially the same), or a 660S. Having variation keeps things exciting.

The Sundara is obviously the best at it’s price range. I recently had it for almost a year but then I felt like i want something more and the Edition XS really nailed everything.

Should give them a try when i can.

Made the same move as you a couple years ago and don’t regret it. The Clear has a very similar presentation to the Sennheiser, but is a lot better on the technical scale.

The fact that the Clear can be had for less than $1k these days makes it an amazing deal.

It’s the reason I pulled the trigger on it lol

Agreed, they are an amazing pair of headphones and I haven't found myself using 6xx or sundara since. The 6xx sound veiled and a bit muddy now in comparison. The sundara also seems thin and tinny in comparison. I do wish the clear had a bit bigger soundstage sometimes though.

Yea I played a couple tracks and as soon as I heard how soft and muffled the highs sounded next to the Clear I had pretty much made my decision.

I suppose the Clear’s soundstage could be bigger but I’ll admit I haven’t really heard anything that sounds wider than the Clear or Sundara (aka haven’t heard the Arya or HD800S) so I’m not really a soundstage junkie. I do think they image very well, and have an adequate soundstage, and still sound open to me. They almost give the effect of a ring around the head

I am fortunate, maybe unfortunate? Enough that my father has a pair of hd800 that I can borrow. However I do prefer the clears still, the hd800 don't have the richness and thickness that come with the clears and are sibilant and fatiguing at times, which the clear are not. I would say the hd800 are more picky with source.

For now my "endgame" is the Hifiman HE400se. I can describe it similarly to how you described your Sundara. Super clear, great extension on both ends, nice fitment, but a little on the heavy side.

These cans impress me a lot, especially now that I have a $600 speaker setup for my desk and these headphones sound a lot better in terms of overall detail and extension but not when it comes to staging scale or pure enjoyment.

At the moment it is difficult for me to feel a need to upgrade my headphone setup as the quality of the HE400se already feels amazing, the value is truly great. So when I eventually upgrade, it will be a big one and not a side grade.

My sundara's are my endgame for now but because of my home environment i have to use closed-backs for now so cant enjoy them very much

Yeah, I think when you look at the best headphones in this price category, it ends up coming down to preferences as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, but it’s hard to go wrong with any of them.

For example, some may gravitate towards the HD800/S for soundstage, precision, comfort, build, etc, but it’s more analytical/cold. The Clear has a more lively, fun and warm sound but you’re sacrificing soundstage.

I returned the Sundara for the same reason. It wasn't very comfortable and I was always aware of them on my head. I have the same problem with Beyerdynamic headphones. I thought it might be the rounded ear cups, but I didn't have a problem with the Fostex headphones I tried.