HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R – Neo SuperNano Meets HYMALAYA In The World’s Best Sounding Wireless Headphones
HIFIMAN Ananda-BT is a $799 USD pair of headphones designed as an upgrade to the old Ananda Bluetooth that we have reviewed, and it comes with many improvements, including the R2R Architecture, Stealth Magnets, Neo Supernano Diaphragm, but still the same classy design we’ve been seeing from HIFIMAN in all of their headphones. Today we will review the Ananda-BT, and compare them with other similarly priced headphones including Ecoute TH1 Tube Based Wireless Headphones (850 USD), Focal Bathys (699) and Sennheiser Momentum 4 (338).
Introduction
The Original HIFIMAN Ananda Bluetooth was, at the time I wrote that review, the best wireless headphone available in the whole world. Now that we have reached 2025, HIFIMAN re-designed and tweaked the original with an R2R DAC, better ergonomics, and today we have to test whether we can give the title of the best wireless headphone in the whole world once again to the HIFIMAN Ananda BT R2R. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Huge thanks to HIFIMAN for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – Outstanding sonic performance, very similar to a well-driven HIFIMAN Arya Organic. Excellent resolution, high level of impact, and an engaging signature with a bold bass that has low distortion. Extreme maximum volume with no audible distortion. Performance is once again, worthy of the title of the best wireless headphone in the whole world. Long Battery Life, excellent microphone quality for taking calls, and the high instrument separation in the sound really make it special.
Cons – Much tighter frame and a tighter fit on the head. No passive noise isolation, which is unusual for a Wireless Headphone. A bit on the heavy side. Very long charging time.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Cg3kDl
Build Quality / Aesthetics
We start the review by reading the web page HIFIMAN has put in place for the new Ananda-Bt-R2R, and we see a lot of improvement on the technical side, as from the rather traditional Ananda, the new R2R version comes with the HYMALAYA R2R DAC, but also with Stealth Magnets and Neo Supernano Diaphragm. Here is the key to understanding most of this review, as Ananda Nano has just the Nanometer Thickness Diaphragm, but the new Ananda-R2R has the NEO version, which can be found on HIFIMAN Edition XS and HIFIMAN Audivina. This brings the performance of the Ananda-BT-R2R higher than HIFIMAN Ananda Nano, and while I did write the whole review without this introductory part and based on my hearing alone, I now understand what I heard and why.
The new HYMALAYA R2R DAC is a fully balanced headphone amplifier and DAC circuit, it has a separate DAC for the Left and for the right Channel, with a separate buffer, low pass filter and separate Dual Amplifier for each channel. There’s Built-In Oversampling technology in the Ananda-Bt-R2R, but you can’t turn it on and off to tell for sure how it sounds with and without it. Lossless, Wireless are two words that appear on the web page of the Ananda-Bt-R2R, and those are two separate words. This is because Ananda Bluetooth has the lossless wired connection, and the wireless connection which is almost lossless, supporting aptX HD, LDAC, aptX, AAC and SBC for the connection protocols. A lot of the performance here will depend on your smartphone.
Over the Wired connection, we have support for 24 Bit / 192 kHz, while for the Wireless connection we have support for 24 Bot / 96 kHz streaming. The magnets used in the HIFIMAN Ananda BT R2R are Acoustically Invisible Stealth Magnets, and this is a similar implementation to what we’ve seen on all the new Stealth versions of HIFIMAN Headphones. The Wireless connection works with all Bluetooth enabled devices, including the likes of iFi Zen Blue V3, Samsung S23 Ultra, or any other device like a windows PC computer. Same goes for the Wired connection.
Fit / Comfort
Jumping right into my personal usage and notes, the new Ananda-BT R2R is much tighter, feels better made, but also takes more strength to adjust compared to the original. While many people complained that the Ananda series has a loose fitting mechanism, I feel like the new Ananda BT R 2 R is a bit too tight to adjust. This being said, the adjustment mechanism allows both lateral and vertical swivel and a high degree of adjustment, so they will fit every head out there, you just have to fit them for your head and tweak it, as they will not auto adjust as easily as the older Ananda series of headphones.
The battery life is excellent, out of the 10 promised hours, you can get between 7 and 8 hours even if listening extremely loud, which is more than most wireless headphones deliver. Naturally, there are no ANC or passthrough modes and Ananda-BT R2R leaks as much as Ananda does, especially now that they come with stealth magnets, but on the bright side they do sound better than the Ananda Nano, unless you’re using a high-end source for the Nano. The charging time is one of the longest I have ever seen for a product, at 2.7 hours for a full charge, which means that you have to plan ahead and keep the Ananda-BT charged if you’ll be using them for 7 hours straight.
When wearing them, the fitting is great, but the weight can be a bit much, at 469 grams, but since there is an R2R DAC, AMP, and battery inside, it is lighter than some of the heavier traditional headphones we’ve reviewed. As with most wireless bluetooth headphones, there is some USB DAC delay when using bluetooth, but there is none if using the Ananda-Bt R2R Wired.
Connection to my smartphone is easy, everything just works, and the microphone quality is phenomenal as described by the person on the other end, although they do pick up both my voice and some background noise, so not great if you live in a noisy environment. There’s a reset hole if you need to reset the pairing, or if the headphones catch a bug, although during all of my testing they have been bug-free. The connection protocol will influence the sound heavily, and the smartphone source also matters a lot, this is something I recently noticed and will be making a larger review to expand on it.
Basically, just a couple of smartphones have a great sound, and the list so far includes all Samsung S series of smartphones and all Red Magic / ZTE flagship smartphones. With others such as the Motorola Edge series of smartphones, the sound is quieter and has a much lower quality, and with OnePlus the quality is also quite poor. Huawei phones, even older ones have great sound quality over the bluetooth connection in general, for all their smartphones, but I do not like the OS to recommend them. Xiaomi has poor bluetooth quality on all models, both entry level and flagships. Asus has good sound quality for all phones I tested. This is not a rant, but a list of observations and part of a much larger review I’m working on, after I purchased almost every smartphone I could to explore which provides a good sound for audiophiles. This happens with all headphones, not just HIFIMAN Ananda-BT, but it is good to have the insight if you commit to such a nice high-end headphone. The sound over wired is more similar across phones, although even there Motorola somehow sounds worse than Samsung and Red Magic phones do in general.
Sound Quality
Pairings – As I committed to having just two smartphones, and during the experiment I mentioned above I did return most of the ones that failed the test, I have tested HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R extensively with Samsung S23 Ultra and Red Magic 10 PRO. For the wired connection, I have connected them to both of those phones, but also to my computer. Somehow, both S23 Ultra and Red Magic 10 PRO sound almost the same over wired and wireless, and if using LDAC, you will not notice the difference. Forcing LHDC does not improve the sound over LDAC, and aptX, including aptX HD sounds much worse than LDAC for those phones (observation for all headphones, not a fault or characteristic of ananda-BT R2R). Ananda Bluetooth R2r is driven exceptionally well internally, and it sounds almost like driving Ananda Nano from a HIFIMAN Serenade or iBasso DX320 MAX Ti in overall resolution, quality and crispness of the sound.
Overall Signature – The best way to describe the new HIFIMAN Ananda BT R2R is to compare them to a mix of strengths from Ananda Nano but also Arya Organic as it draws a bit of character from both, and the final sound is more lively and more punchy, more dynamic than Ananda Nano, and much closer to a well-driven Arya Organic. There is no audible distortion even up to max volume, and at loud, the Ananda-BT-R2R reaches almost 120 dB. You can describe the signature as natural, slightly warm, with a bloomy and full bass, a vivid and direct vocal presentation that pushes the lead voices close to you, musical tonality, and a sharp, airy treble with a strong energy. The soundstage is wide, holographic, but not very deep. We have exceptional detail and micro-detail, regardless whether you’re listening to the Ananda-BT-R2R through the cable or LDAC Bluetooth.
Bass – Starting with the low-end, HIFIMAN increased the clamping force and tightness of the headphone, but this has an effect of deepening the bass, creating a warmer, fuller presentation in the low-end, with an outstanding level of depth and volume. The low-end fills the entire soundstage and while the sharp and airy treble does contrast it, I can almost call Ananda Bt R2R warm and full sounding. The bass is on the slower end, having a long decay, creating a very natural presentation for acoustic instruments, but has a high level of punch and impact, giving EDM and Pop music the kick it needs.
Midrange – We have an almost W presentation, because voices are also fairly forward, especially lead voices which are presented quite close to the listener, in a vivid, and clear manner, and naturally from a frequency response point of view. Voices layer nicely and are separated form the instrumental layer, usually the lead instrument also sounds quite forward, but the background layer is pushed in the back spatially, quieter in volume, and has a high level of separation from the lead. For rock music, and for female voices, the upper midrange is sharp, strong and vivid, this creates an emotional presentation, despite the musical texture.
Treble – You can say for sure that HIFIMAN-Ananda-Bt is a sharp and crisp sounding headphone, it has a strong extension, up to 20 kHz, you can hear everything, and the most surprising part is just how little compression you hear even if you’re using LDAC. You can force the smartphone to use LDAC at max quality for the best treble clarity and extension, as that is what gets killed first when using Bluetooth. You will never run out of air, detail and energy up top, this makes rock music engaging, interesting, but also sharp and not relaxed. In fact, the sound of the Ananda-Bt-R2R has the engagement and energy factor of Arya Organic rather than the slightly smoother and more relaxed character of Ananda Nano.
Dynamics – We have excellent dynamics, and I did not expect to say this about a Bluetooth headphone, which will most of the time compress the dynamic range. There’s a good definition and contrast between instruments, and even in Metal tracks, including those from Dimmu Borgir, you can clearly hear the background violins, pianos, even during the loud screamed parts, which indicates a good handling of dynamics. Even loud recorded tracks, to the point of clipping, are presented distortion-free and with the background instruments still audible, but quietly, and not compressed to be too loud. Excellent general presentation of dynamics can be heard with the Ananda-Bt.
PRaT / Textures – For the most part, we have a smooth, musical and lean presentation of textures. This makes rock and metal music free of fatigue and harshness. Despite the bright and sharp treble, we have a softer handling of even the harshest instruments like guitars and harsher synths.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Ananda Bt R2R has the best handling of loudness of wireless headphones, they have outstanding control up loud, but can be listened quietly. The sound does change with the volume quite a bit, going from a bright, vivid sound at loud and max volumes, to a deeper, more mature presentation more quietly, but losing some bass in the process. Basically, at a quiet level, it is brighter, more airy, and deeper sounding in the soundstage / presentation. At medium volumes, the sound gets much more dynamic, more engaging, but the sound loses some depth in favor of width. At very loud volumes, they still have good control, but there is a much bolder and bloomier bass, and a more forward voicing.
Soundstage – Ananda-BT R2R has a wide sound, with a medium depth. The soundstage expands more laterally, but the instrument separation is very good, different instruments are never bundled up together, and you always hear and can pinpoint aht is playing and where. The imaging is thus very good, although with an open-back and stealth magnet + nano Diaphragm headphone, I would have expected nothing less. Generally, here is where they have the most in common with the Ananda Nano, the staging is almost the same, both in shape and amount.
Comparisons
HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R vs Sennheiser Momentum 4 (799 USD vs 338 USD) – The comfort of the Ananda Bt is higher, as they have larger earcups, allow for more adjustment for a large head, and are not significantly heavier than Momentum 4. Basically, I feel better with the sponges and large cups used by HIFIMAN, and Momentum 4 in particular has a complex electronic piece inside which detects when you’re wearing them, but that can cause discomfort over long periods of usage. Sonically, Momentum 4 is a true bass cannon, it creates a deeper, fuller and stronger bass, but Ananda-BT-R2R creates a far more detailed, cleaner sound with a better instrument separation, better definition and clarity. It is a much better pair of headphones sonically, even if you are not searching for their exact signature, but they are open back, leak and do not isolate. Ananda-Bt gets much louder than Momentum 4, and has better control at high volumes, but charges slower, and has a slightly shorter battery life. Overall, ananda Bt R2r is a much better buy.
HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R vs Focal Bathys (799 USD vs 699 USD) – The shape of the Bathys has been a favorite of buyers for a long time now, but the actual wearing comfort of the Ananda-Bt-R2R is better, they have larger earcups and are a pair of headphones you don’t really feel on your head while you’re wearing them. Bathys is great for a closed-back headphone, they feel more closed, provide ANC and do not leak almost at all, being perfect for airplane trips, and for public usage, while Ananda Bt is open-back and will not isolate and will leak your music to the outside. Theoretically, the fashionable Bathys is better as a wireless pair of headphones, but then we hear the sonics, and Ananda BT has a much better definition, cleaner sound with better imaging, a higher degree of instrument separation, a more neutral, more transparent sound and a higher maximum loudness, basically being a better headphone than the Bathys in every sonic aspect, unless you want the warmer tone of the Bathys, for which they are known for. I personally know I prefer the Ananda-Nano-Bt for the sonic presentation, although my wife does still like the Bathys for their fashionable design.
HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R vs Ecoute Audio TH1 Vacuum Tube Wireless Headphones (799 USD vs 850 USD) – From a constructional standpoint, Ecoute TH1 is a smaller pair of headphones, easier to carry around and transport, they are closed back and have a highly effective ANC, passthrough mode, and will not leak your music to the outside. The battery life of TH1 is about as long as Ananda Nano Bt if you’re listening at the same volume, and they both can get quite loud, but Ananda-BT gets much louder, around 120 dB max versus the around 105 dB at max for Ecoute TH1. The wearing comfort of both is great, Ananda-Bt feels like the weight is more evenly distributed, they have a larger earcup, but neither headphone doesn’t get hot during usage, even though TH1 has a tube inside. Sonically, they are quite different, Ananda-Bt is natural-warm-musical-full sounding while TH1 sounds bright-crisp-open-revealing. You can get a much bassier sound from TH1 if you connect them passively to an analog source, but that’s not how they were designed to be used as then you’d be missing the tube and the DAC inside. While I like both headphones, Ananda-BT-R2R plays a much more traditional HIFI sound and is much easier to recommend to someone who can use them as they are open-back.
Value and Conclusion
HIFIMAN Created a real entertainment center with the Ananda-BT R2R, and they have exceptional value. While some experienced audiophiles will dislike having their freedom of choosing the DAC and AMP taken away, for those who just want something that works, and which sounds excellent, the new Ananda-Bt R2R is a perfect mix of sonic performance and reliability, for a rather pocket-friendly price. Not only this, but those are headphones with a reliable and sturdy build, and as I still have the original HIFIMAN Ananda Bluetooth from 2019 and it still survives, I can vouch for the reliability of the HIFIMAN Headphones.
Award – HIFIMAN created the Ananda Blujetooth in 2019, a pair that I named then the best sounding Wireless Headphones. I had little experience, only did hear a couple of models, but now in 2025, after reaching over 900 written reviews, and after having at least heard if not fully reviewed most wireless headphones available on the market, especially the flagship end of the spectrum, I can confidently say that Ananda-BT R2R is the best sounding wireless headphone you can purchase today. Sonically, in comfort and for its reliability, it does everything so nice. While it is not a closed-back headphone and has no ANC, the raw sonic performance makes me choose it every single time I try to think of which headphone would be the best wireless out there. So I will be adding it to the Audiophile-Heaven Hall Of Fame, a well-deserved place and title.
At the end of the day, HIFIMAN managed to offer us the best sounding wireless headphone at this moment, especially based on sonics alone. Ananda-BT R2R is the kind of model that you hear once, but never forget, and it is fully recommended if you’re looking for a wireless, Bluetooth Open-Back pair of headphones with outstanding dynamics, clarity and a punchy sound, and if you don’t plan on taking them on a plane trip, because they are wireless, HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R is the perfect pair of headphones you can purchase to enjoy both wireless for convenience and wired for precision and quick response.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Cg3kDl
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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