Hifiman Sundara Over-Ear Full-Size Planar Magnetic Hifi Stereo Wired Headphones For Studio&Audiophil
HIFIMAN SUNDARA Over-Ear Full-Size Planar Magnetic HiFi Stereo Wired Headphones for Studio&Audiophiles (Black)
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- Featuring Newly Developed Diaphragm that is 80% Thinner than the HE400 Series Resulting in a Wider Frequency Response, Faster and More Detailed
- With the weight spreading strap for outstanding comfort but with a more fashion conscious look with its sleek and sumptuous matte black finish.
- With its all metal headband the SUNDARA is built to take the rigours of urban street life. The SUNDARA is as tough as it is beautiful.
- New 3.5mm Headphone connector for enhanced durability
- The slimline SuperMini is the perfect on the partner for the SUNDARA. The SuperMini with its abundance of audio power output and the SUNDARA’s grace and poise makes them the velvet glove over a marble fist.
Brand : HIFIMAN
Category : Electronics,Headphones, Earbuds & Accessories,Headphones & Earbuds,Over-Ear Headphones
Rating : 4.5
ListPrice : US $299
Price : US $299
Review Count : 1333
SalesRank : 0
HIFIMAN SUNDARA Over-Ear Full-Size Planar Magnetic HiFi Stereo Wired Headphones for Studio&Audiophiles (Black)
- Short Answer: Yes, but depending on your setup your mileage may vary.Scale of 1 - 10, 1 worst, 10 best:Stock with no EQ and driving off Phone:Clarity - 6xx - 7, Sundara - 9. 6xx has good detail/resolution, but the Sundara has amazing detail/resolution.Bass - 6xx - 8, Sundara - 6. 6xx more forward/warm mid bass, but lacking sub bass. Sundara is flat overall, but the sub bass is stil audible.Mids - 6xx - 9, Sundara - 7. 6xx is very intimate and mids are more present/close. Sundara is maybe 2 steps back. It is not distant but at the same time not in your face like the 6xx.Treble - 6xx - 5, Sundara - 7. 6xx treble rolls off and therefore has a very smooth sound (not harsh at all, some may prefer the 6xx treble), but it sacrifices some clarity and sounds veiled. Sundara has clarity for days and very flat treble that sounds natural and not artificial.Sound Stage - 6xx - 3, Sundara - 7. 6xx has little to no sound stage. Sundara has good soundstage, but not best in class. In my opinion the sound stage on Sundara is perfect. If the sound stage is too big then their is no intimacy with the music. But this also depends on genre of music and preference. Sundara sounds amazing with orchestral musicImaging - 6xx - 4, Sundara - 8. 6xx has poor imaging, Sundara very good nearly perfect 3D directional imaging, good for games and music in general.Driving off amp/dac combo with EQ:Clarity - 6xx -8, Sundara - 10. To be clear the Sundara wins hands down in detail resolution across the frequency response. lows, mids, highs with or without a good source.Bass - 6xx - 8, Sundara - 10. Sundara has better frequency response and just scales better with a better source. When I EQ the Sundara it has much better sub bass and I can produce a very satisfying punch/slam that I can\'t on the 6xxMids - 6xx - 9, Sundara - 8Treble - 6xx - 6, Sundara - 8. because the 6xx is already colored from its warm presentation its difficult to EQ in or out more treble while the Sundara is very flat/neutral and keeps the clarity, even if you EQ -4db or +4db.Sound Stage - 6xx - 4, Sundara - 8Imaging - 6xx - 5, Sundara - 9With the 6xx you kinda get what you have out of the box, it is difficult to EQ, because it has a colored sound signature already. Sundara just scales better with a better source and with EQ you can make it sound amazing to your exact sound preference.Long Answer:If all you want to do is drive your headphone off your phone/lapto then the Sundara is a medium upgrade (sundara require more juice to drive). if you want to get the most out of the Sundara then you are gonna want to drive it off a good amp/dac combo as everything just sounds more detailed and resolving. the Sundara just scales better with a better source.When it comes to frequency response, this is where the Sundara really shines to me. The 6xx don\'t EQ very well, because the 6xx is already a colored headphone. If you own a 6xx you know it has a mid bass presence that makes everything sound warm and slightly veiled. The treble response is more smooth and somewhat recessed and everything sounds very intimate (no sound stage). The Sundara is the exact opposite with a very flat and neutral frequency response that also extends much better in the lows and highs. For example the 6xx may have mid bass, but it lacks sub bass and rolls off around 100hz, so when I EQ more sub bass +4db around 30 - 80hz the Sundara create more punch/slam in the sub bass that I can\'t reproduce with the same EQ in the 6xx.Furthermore the Sundara does not suffer from the veiled highs that the 6xx has. The treble response on the Sundara sounds more true to the original recording with a more natural timbre, nothing sounds artificial. The amazing part is the Sundara brings a bit of sparkle and energy to the highs, but it does so without being fatiguing or sibilant. Yes, compared to the 6xx it is more bright, but at no point would I consider the Sundara to be V shaped or over emphasizing treble; it is in fact perfectly neutral. However, if you are a fan of the treble presentation of the 6xx this is something to consider.The one area where I think the 6xx comfortably competes with the Sundara is the mids, but it does so in a different manner. The mids are great on the 6xx, they offer a very rich and inviting presence even when driving off your phone/tablet. But like the rest of the frequency response, the mids sound darker with more girth on the 6xx. The Sundara on the other hand presents vocalists with a more airy presentation and instead of hearing everything up close and personal, the vocalist is maybe 2 steps back, the vocalist is neither in your head or distant. The clarity in the mids for the 6xx comes the closest to matching the Sundara\'s clarity/resolution, but to be clear the Sundara is a more resolving and detailed headphone hands down across the entire frequency range with or without a good source.The clarity and resolution is aided by the Sundara\'s superb imaging and sound stage, which allows the listener better instrument separation and directionality. In tracks that are very busy with multiple instruments or singers at once, the 6xx can sound muddy at times. Even though the Sundara is not class leading in sound stage, I think the Sundara strikes a perfect balance in sound stage and intimacy. The Sundara offers enough sound stage for instruments to breathe in a busy recording, but at the same time still keep some of the intimacy and vocal presence that the 6xx is so loved and known for. It is a master class balancing act.Final Thoughts:If you listen to a lot of bass centric music like I do, but you don\'t like to EQ, the Sundara may not be for you! The Sundara out of the box is not a bass head type of headphone, but it can be with EQ. This is actually what won me over and why I ended up keeping the Sundara. Out of the box I was a bit disappointed on the overall quantity of bass. Like I said earlier the Sundara has audible sub bass and mid bass, but it is flat. When I bumped up the lower frequency by +4db the Sundara bass out scales the 6xx. With EQ I was able to reproduce a very satisfying slam/punch in the lower frequency that I could not reproduce with the same EQ on the 6xx. It almost sounds like a mini woofer is built into the Sundara. So with EQ I got the Sundara to sound amazing with my sound preference. Also because the Sundara is so neutral I think it responds very well to EQ without distorting or coloring the rest of the frequency range.Put simply the Sundara scales better and has a higher ceiling in detail retrieval, sound stage, imaging and overall frequency response when paired with a good source and the Sundara is like a blank canvas because of its neutral tonality I can EQ it to my ideal sound preference. To be completely clear, using an amp/dac stack allowed me to increased the volume and improved clarity/sound stage. It was only after I used EQ that I was able to produce a very satisfying sub/mid bass response. For anyone that is curious my source to drive my headphones is a Douk P1 tube amp.
- Prior to owning these, my best benchmark for headphone quality would be the ATH-M50X, which I\'m sure is the case for many going into the world of open-back headphones for the first time. They did the job with their dynamic drivers and closed back design, but now that i never go full-can outside the office, I knew something like these open-back headphones would be ideal for a desktop setup, given they don\'t get hot or uncomfortable, and i was definitely right about that. I can tell these will last long just from the lack of ear sweat, not to mention solid build quality. I get no creaking or extraneous noises when i put these on, which i love. I was cautious going in to the planar magnetic side of things due to their iffy reputation among fans of bass, but i can say this is a speaker type definitely worth considering as open back headphones, and I\'m now in love with this style. Now the bass is present and satisfying, but less pronounced than I\'m used to, since these are balanced for accuracy. I have a FiiO A3 as my amp, which has a bass booster that doesn\'t compromise clarity from what i can hear, and does add a satisfying punch to my bass heavy stuff. Combining this type of speaker with an open back design doubles down on width and clarity since you don\'t have a speaker enclosure trapping and reflecting sound all over the place, but rather a magnetic coil / membrane that is more evenly distributed and allows sound to vent more evenly. These are the only planars i\'ve owned, and they are pretty mid in terms of price range, yet they are the clearest sounding headphones i\'ve ever heard. When it comes to dialing in volume, i was never a numbers guy, now I need to remember my settings so i don\'t risk pushing the volume, which is a good problem for these headphones because you\'d need to deafen yourself just to find any distortion on these. The instrumental separation is unreal, lyrics will POP! Your ears will get drawn into melodic lines getting passed around that were previously almost inaudible. Headphones like this will change how you hear music. If you\'re ready to drop a significant buck on your first quality pair of accurate monitors for a room with low background noise, these will blow your mind!
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