First of all, a thank you to Hifiman for allowing me to take part in the loan program for the Sundara, which arrived safely a few weeks ago. I will give my honest impressions on my first experience with a magnetic planar headphone, and you should be aware that I am under no obligation to advertise this product – these impressions are my own.
Having seen other reviews online regarding Hifiman Headphones, the only negative issue appears to be a history of quality control problems. However, the Sundara seems very good in this respect. Solidly built, it has a pleasing, understated look about it. Some have pointed towards wear in the headband adjustment, but I don’t see this as an issue if you own the ‘phones, you just set it and forget it, and enjoy the music. The Sundara is comfortable on my smallish head, the lack of swivel in the head piece the only criticism.
That’s not to say you should throw these around, however. They’re not built for professional use, although they have an analytical sound. If you want to break down the music content and not the ‘phones, try the Sony Professional series or Beyer Dynamics, for instance. After all, you might chuck a g-shock watch on the table after use, but you would treat a Breitling, Vacheron or any other precision instrument with more respect, and you should do the same here.
I would like to have seen a balanced cable included in the box alongside the conventional one, as I would like to have tried it with the balanced output on my Pioneer XDP player. And a carry case or bag would be useful.
There are three areas in its sonic delivery I find particularly impressive:
· Sheer quality in the presentation of acoustic instruments – piano, guitars, voices etc.
. Speed of delivery – a particular quality of the planar unit, it seems. There is a lovely sense of space around instruments.
· Sound stage – not the widest, but I prefer my performances from the perspective of rows 10-20 in the audience, not looking up from the front row. If you want the lead singer right in front of you, singing to you personally, the Sennheiser experience may be more for you.
A sign of a quality headphone in my view, is when one can listen at moderate volumes and still get the full flavour of a wide dynamic and frequency range. Set the volume to medium on a quality source, and the room to private and you will settle back to a thoroughly musical experience. The Sundara makes some of my other headphones i.e. Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro, Sennheiser Amperior (my on-ear favourites), Philips Fidelio X2 seem a little hyped. Extended listening through my Cambridge CXN2 via my Cyrus One amp makes me realise how good the Sundara is.
These headphones are not private and you are not sealed from the outside world. So, external interference from a tv, local road rage incidents, a partner intent on reminding you of your marital or material duties etc. will interrupt your temporary reverie.
On first listen, you may feel there is a lack of bass quantity in the Sundara, but this is not the whole truth. It is not hyped, and the frequencies do not bleed into each other. The higher frequencies are fairly pronounced, however. Like all revealing headphones, these will ruthlessly expose limitations in the recording or reproduction processes or poor-quality recordings.
These will work fine from a smartphone, and sound very good when using Tidal or Neutron, for instance. They have made friends with my Hifiman Supermini too.
So, these are my impressions. Thanks to Hifiman for including me in the loaner programme. I would love to compare them to the Ananda sometime.
The defining question after all this would seem to be: would I spend several hundred pounds of my own money to add the Sundara to my collection?
Well actually, I already have.
Thanks for reading.
Having seen other reviews online regarding Hifiman Headphones, the only negative issue appears to be a history of quality control problems. However, the Sundara seems very good in this respect. Solidly built, it has a pleasing, understated look about it. Some have pointed towards wear in the headband adjustment, but I don’t see this as an issue if you own the ‘phones, you just set it and forget it, and enjoy the music. The Sundara is comfortable on my smallish head, the lack of swivel in the head piece the only criticism.
That’s not to say you should throw these around, however. They’re not built for professional use, although they have an analytical sound. If you want to break down the music content and not the ‘phones, try the Sony Professional series or Beyer Dynamics, for instance. After all, you might chuck a g-shock watch on the table after use, but you would treat a Breitling, Vacheron or any other precision instrument with more respect, and you should do the same here.
I would like to have seen a balanced cable included in the box alongside the conventional one, as I would like to have tried it with the balanced output on my Pioneer XDP player. And a carry case or bag would be useful.
There are three areas in its sonic delivery I find particularly impressive:
· Sheer quality in the presentation of acoustic instruments – piano, guitars, voices etc.
. Speed of delivery – a particular quality of the planar unit, it seems. There is a lovely sense of space around instruments.
· Sound stage – not the widest, but I prefer my performances from the perspective of rows 10-20 in the audience, not looking up from the front row. If you want the lead singer right in front of you, singing to you personally, the Sennheiser experience may be more for you.
A sign of a quality headphone in my view, is when one can listen at moderate volumes and still get the full flavour of a wide dynamic and frequency range. Set the volume to medium on a quality source, and the room to private and you will settle back to a thoroughly musical experience. The Sundara makes some of my other headphones i.e. Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro, Sennheiser Amperior (my on-ear favourites), Philips Fidelio X2 seem a little hyped. Extended listening through my Cambridge CXN2 via my Cyrus One amp makes me realise how good the Sundara is.
These headphones are not private and you are not sealed from the outside world. So, external interference from a tv, local road rage incidents, a partner intent on reminding you of your marital or material duties etc. will interrupt your temporary reverie.
On first listen, you may feel there is a lack of bass quantity in the Sundara, but this is not the whole truth. It is not hyped, and the frequencies do not bleed into each other. The higher frequencies are fairly pronounced, however. Like all revealing headphones, these will ruthlessly expose limitations in the recording or reproduction processes or poor-quality recordings.
These will work fine from a smartphone, and sound very good when using Tidal or Neutron, for instance. They have made friends with my Hifiman Supermini too.
So, these are my impressions. Thanks to Hifiman for including me in the loaner programme. I would love to compare them to the Ananda sometime.
The defining question after all this would seem to be: would I spend several hundred pounds of my own money to add the Sundara to my collection?
Well actually, I already have.
Thanks for reading.
