Sivga P-II Planar Magnetic Over-ear Open-back Wood Headphone

Founded in 2016, Dongguan Sivga Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. is no stranger to the electronics industry. The people behind the company are Mr. Jian Zhou and Mr. Rongchun Pan. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot on the internet that can be found about either of them. However, it is known that Mr. Jian Zhou has at least two decades of industry experience. His previous work was done for globally established brands like Sennheiser, Bose, and Sony. When I asked a SIVGA representative to reveal which products Mr. Zhou specifically worked on, I received the following reply:

“We don't want to rely on them to be famous, we have our own brand, which is SIVGA. It can only be said that the products designed by Mr. Zhou Jian are still popular.”

While other companies would be happy to brag about their previous work for large companies, SIVGA is more focused on establishing its company as one of the greats. P-II was released in March 2020.

Unboxing Experience


Much like we’ve seen with the lower-priced Phoenix model, the P-II comes in a nice faux leather carrying case. The case is custom and perfectly houses all the components inside. This is a very nice touch from SIVGA because it ensures that there will be little to no movement in transport. The carrying case is designed to be functional rather than beautiful — which is more logical since the whole purpose of a carrying case is to make sure you can safely transport the headphones in it. Unlike the Phoenix or the Sendy Audio Aiva, P-II's carrying case is wider but thinner, making it easier to put in a backpack or something alike.

The unboxing experience, in my opinion, meets the expectations at this price point.

Formal format of what’s in the box:

1x faux leather carrying case
1x 4.4mm cable
1x 4.4mm to 3.5mm adaptor
1x textile pouch

Click to expand...

Wood. Metal. Precision.

If there was one thing I would take away from SIVGA and say it makes the company stand out on the market, it would be its consistency of superb build quality throughout its whole product line-up. From their cheapest models to their flagship, there is absolutely no use of cheap materials. The company’s now-signature use of metal and wood is what represents the name "SIVGA". However, there is a subtle but noticeable improvement in the quality of materials the higher up you go in its line-up:

Entry-level: SV005, SV006, SV007
Mid-level: Phoenix
Flagship: P-II

The Phoenix features more premium ear-pads, wood, and metal than the entry-level line-up. On the other hand, the P-II only features higher quality wood over the Phoenix.

The P-II being the company’s largest headphone, it comes as no surprise that it’s also the heaviest, weighing in at 420g. There are several factors that contribute to this weight, and size is just one of them. You have to remember that this is a planar-magnetic headphone, which means that it has two pairs of magnets — these magnets are far from being light. Unfortunately, the manufacturer couldn’t supply me with the weight of the drivers because all the P-II models have already been assembled. Something that I was very happy to see is the use of high-quality cabling on the inside of the headphone. How often do people spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on headphone cables but don’t pay attention to the cables inside the headphones? I think we can agree that the answer is a bit too often. P-II’s cables are visible from the outer grill, but also clearly visible when you open the headphones up.

The whole headband structure is made of metal. The frame being made of stainless steel, while the rest is made of aviation aluminum. The ear-cups are made of black walnut wood, while the metal details are made of the same aviation aluminum that is used on the headband.

It looks like SIVGA is stepping up the quality standards with the recent release of the SV021. At least from the pictures, it appears to me that the metal parts are of greater quality than the above-stated entry-level line-up.

What I am trying to say is that this company is pricing its products well. It doesn’t use cheap and bad quality materials on its cheaper line-up of products while making the use of high-quality materials exclusive to its flagship products. I am tired of the hierarchy practice in the headphone market where a company is almost telling the customer they are better off not purchasing their product if they are not going to be spending a pretty penny.



Cable

While it’s not winning any beauty contests, the soft braided 4-core 6N single-crystal copper is fairly well built. If I’m honest, I personally would have liked the cable to be a bit softer and less rigid. The way it is, either the braiding is too tight, or the insulation used is stiffer than usual. My guess is that it’s rather the latter.

SIVGA went with the classic option for the 2.5mm connectors on the headphone-end but didn’t go that route for the connectors on the amp-end. The P-II’s cable is in a 4.4mm termination, which is rather unusual for a stock cable. The Pentaconn (4.4mm) connection is becoming more, and more popular in both the headphone and the amplifier market, almost to the point where it’s the new industry standard. Regardless, SIVGA made sure to include a 4.4mm to 3.5mm adaptor. The last thing you want as a customer of a $400 product is to be searching for an after-market adaptor just to be able to use your headphones with a common source. I also found it very nice that the adaptor is in the same color, material, and design as the headphone cable. Aesthetics approved!

The attention to detail remains the same for the housings on the cable, as they are all made of metal. The Pentaconn’s housing has the company’s name printed on it and has a cross-hatch texture. A spring stress-relief is featured on the plug-end. In similar fashion, the headphone-end housing also features a partial cross-hatch pattern and has “L” and “R” labels printed in white. Actually, all of the housings are the exact same as the ones on the Phoenix’s cable.



Design

Because it’s one of the better-looking headphone silhouettes, I truly believe that this headphone could be turned into a multi-thousand-dollar headphone with the right investments. Of course, these investments would have to be quite large. I can just visualize the ear-cups being made of CNC-milled aluminum, a gorgeous looking satin/matte finish, and resulting in a very fine-looking headphone.

Let’s get back to reality. The ear-cups consist of two parts: the metal ring, and the wooden part. The wood makes the majority of the ear-cups, but on the outer part, there is a metal ring that follows the ear-cup’s shape. For the most part, the ring is flush with the wood, but there are parts where there is an ever so slight overflow that can only be noticed when you run your finger across the edges. On the inner side of the ring is the P-II’s iconic grill. I personally believe it’s the “cloud shape” grill and the contrasting silver plate that make the silhouette recognizable. One interesting detail in the metal plate is that the perforation holes are smaller towards the center, and they increase in size. Design-wise, it looks great, but the real question is whether the variance in the holes’ diameter affects the sonic performance. When it comes to designing driver's surroundings, you want them to be as consistent as possible. Visually-wise, the biggest design flaw, is the black grill that features the company’s logo. Unless you have a symmetrical design, you must make two sets of grills so you get a pleasant-looking design. This principle applies to ear-pads, though they don't suffer from such a design flaw. What SIVGA missed out on the P-II is that they only made one model of the grill, resulting in two grills that have the logo set to the right. Fixing this would take the company to pull back the current batch and manufacture a second model of the grill.

The headband construction consists of: a frame, a center-piece, a yoke, and a headband. The center-piece is the part that has the company’s logo printed in white, it is also the part that is connected to all the headband construction parts. The headband SIVGA opted for the P-II is a self-adjusting suspension system. I personally think this isn’t ideal for a 420g headphone, and I will detail why in the “Comfort & Fit” section. The way a self-adjusting headband works is by having the actual headband (the part that goes on your head) internally attached to two elastic straps, which are further attached to the center-piece. Once you unscrew the two sandwiched metal plates on the headband, you will find the elastic straps that are attached to a plastic piece. The plastic piece is the part that you can see, it is the part that goes into the center-piece. Like the sandwich part on the headband, the center-piece also features two sandwiched metal plates. Once you unscrew them, you will see it is inside here that both the headband frames and the plastic piece are screwed in. Now, the reason why I call this the center-piece is because it connects the headband, the frames, and the ear-cups, making it the part that holds the headphone together. The yokes are labeled for left and right, and are connected to the bottom of the center-piece with a single Philips countersunk screw. The headband construction can certainly sound a bit complicated when described with words, but once you look at the pictures, it shouldn’t be hard to put it all together.

I have to say, this is a very clean-looking headphone. The design team certainly put a good amount of effort into making the design decisions but certainly overlooked some details.

Comfort & Fit

I have a love-hate relationship with the P-II. The main problem is caused by the headband suspension system. Due to its heavy weight, making little movement can easily make the headphones move… which means that you have to be as still as possible. The elastic straps also don’t seem to be strong enough to truly make the headphones hold their position, as though the headphones do sag over time.

The ear-pads on the other hand are good but could’ve been even better. I know damn well that SIVGA is capable of taking things to another level and making the ear-pads more comfortable. Unfortunately, the horizontal diameter is rather small, resulting in an overall tight fit. The situation would be best if SIVGA separately sold a set of premium ear-pads that are made of high-density memory foam.

I didn’t experience any discomfort after long listening sessions, but the headphones never truly disappeared. Once again, you have to remember that this is a heavy headphone.

On a more positive note, the ear-pads are finally of adequate thickness. One of the biggest problems people faced with the Phoenix were the thin ear-pads. This being said, I am very happy to see a thicker set of pads on the P-II.

Sound Performance​

Soundstage and Imaging

While the soundstage is neither the biggest nor the smallest, I find it to be one of the strengths of this headphone. More than that, I find the imaging to be one of the strongest points of this headphone as a whole. I truly believe that both of these aspects are severely underrated. I don’t know what should be expected from the P-II, because while it is an open-back headphone, you have to remember that it has a pretty dense plate covering its driver. At least from the design perspective, something like a HiFiMan Sundara or a Sennheiser HD600 series is much more open. The main reason being the less dense grill and usually a soft material acting as dust protection. In P-II’s case, there is a solid perforated metal plate and a metal grill in addition. However, even with its dense design, it performs as an open-back rather than a semi-open headphone. This is a big accomplishment if you ask me.

I won’t lie, I was already sold when I listened to “Dogs” by Pink Floyd. When it comes to this specific track, it either makes me fall in love with a headphone or it makes me question its imaging capabilities. As usual, the core part in this song that I am referencing are the panning drums at 3:48.

To keep it short and sweet, I found the P-II to sound airy with a decently sized soundstage, and I personally found the imaging & separation to be above average.

Lows​

As you are about to find out, this headphone is quite tricky to amplify. I remember when I first listened to this headphone, and I wasn’t all that impressed. Later, I found out that I was pairing them with amplifiers that weren’t quite giving the needed juice. Perhaps, it is not about juice at all, maybe it’s about tonality. For me, the P-II sounded the best with the iBasso DX300 + AMP12 module. This combination resulted in a somewhat neutral/balanced bass response. Be aware: if you do not amplify these properly, the lower frequencies will sound bloated and muddy-ish.

“Why So Serious?” is a perfect track to test the sub-bass qualities in headphones, and has been my go-to test track for a while. The focus point is right around the 3:27 minute mark, where a drop occurs. Though I couldn’t feel any physical sensation of rumble, the P-II is definitely capable of digging deep. What I love about this particular track is that any imperfections are immediately noticed. Whether it’s sub-bass dominance, distortion, lack of quantity and/or body, etc. — these are all audible on here. The headphones had no problem reproducing the sub-tones, and actually succeeded in producing clean, thick-but-subtle sub-bass. When I say “thick-but-subtle”, I am once again referring to the fact that you will experience no physical sensation of rumble; which is not to say that they are incapable of producing rumble! Play Daft Punk's "Lose Yourself To Dance" and you'll hear the P-II roar (rumble).

The mid-bass, on the other hand, is slightly more pronounced. Listening to “Hydrogen” by MOON, and “Smoking Mirrors” by Lee Curtiss, I realized that this headphone performs very well within the electronic genre. The qualities that the P-II possesses are: strong impact, fast attack, and decently fast decoy.

If anything, the bass response is one of the stronger points of this headphone. However, it really goes back to my first point about pairing the headphones with a suitable amplifier.

Mids​

Remember how I said I first disliked the P-II? As it turns out, it was because I was listening to them while partially lying against a pillow, causing a severe difference in sonic performance. It’s not the good type that is in question, but a negative, unpleasant one instead. The next day, I proceeded to accidentally listen to them away from the pillow, and I immediately noticed they sounded normal and good. I further confirmed it was the pillow by just putting my hands slightly behind the ear-cups, noticing the immediate difference I mentioned before.

When it comes to strings, you know me — If they don’t sound right, I don’t want ‘em. Listening to classics such as Deep Purple’s “Soldier Of Fortune”, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, and other tracks that include strings, more notably Pink Floyd’s “Hey You”, “Some Other Time” by The Alan Parson Project, “Go Insane” Live 1997 published under Fleetwood Mac, I realized that the P-II performs quite well and doesn’t disappoint. For me, one of the biggest turn-offs is when guitar plucks do not sound right, and when the plucks do not reach me on an emotional level. That’s when I know something isn’t right.

Judging the mid-range on a larger scale, it can be called warm as though it doesn’t have any sharp edges or peaks present, making it a very easy-listening headphone. Additionally, the mid-range is slightly recessed, which makes it even more suitable for long listening sessions.

I will say that the mid-range recession is the most audible in vocals. It depends from song to song, sometimes the vocals sound perfectly fine and enjoyable, other times they have a slight nasal quality to them. My personal speculation goes back to the design of the holes on the silver plates. Since this is an open-back headphone, the surroundings around the driver make a big impact on how the driver sounds; making the perforation holes substantially smaller towards the center, while benefiting the lower frequency response and the lower mid-range, was not a good idea. Of course, if you are willing to invest your time to mod these headphones, you can certainly do so. However, it cannot be expected from an average consumer to risk damaging their $400 headphones.

So, what can be done? The best scenario would be for SIVGA to re-release the P-II and release a V2. I truly believe that this headphone would achieve its full potential if the visually appealing design was removed and replaced with a consistent and appropriate design.

Highs​

The upper range carries on the warmth present in the mid-range. I did my very best trying to find a song where the P-II showed the slightest sign of sharpness, but I did not come across such a track. I went through all of my tracks in my testing library, the tracks I remember from memory include:
Travis Scott’s “Stop Trying to Be God” (Stevie Wonder’s harmonica around 4:43), Chris Jones’ “Long After You Are Gone” (4:01), Miles Davis’ “Portia”, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” (7:17), Jeff Healey’s cover “Blue Jean Blues”, and just about every single track mentioned in any of my previous articles.

Tracks that are of essy/peaky nature: Joan Baez’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit”, Jeff Buckley’s “Forget Her”, Joss Stone’s “The Chokin’ Kind”, Paul Simon’s “Something so Right”

It didn’t matter what track I was listening to, because it was not hard to realize that there was a roll-off in the upper-frequency spectrum, which brings me to the…

Conclusion​

It is no secret that the P-II was made as a warm-sounding headphone. Whenever I hear the description “tubey”, I think of a headphone that has a rich lower frequency presence and a rolled-off high-frequency response. In a sense, it’s like the process of polishing. The shinier you want the finish, the finer you have to polish. What many people forget is that you must remove material in order to achieve that gorgeous, smooth, shiny finish. In similar fashion, to achieve its smooth and laid-back sound signature, the P-II takes away the edge and peaks from the highs. It is a headphone that allows you to enjoy music endlessly. It never gets fatiguing or tiring, but more importantly, it never gets boring.

Seeing the recent release of the Sendy Audio Peacock, the P-II and the Aiva seem to have previewed what was going to be perfected in the now-flagship Peacock. All of the flaws present in the P-II appear to be fixed in the Peacock. There are certain standards to be expected at the $400 price point. This headphone gets a lot of things right, paying attention to the smallest details, but the things it gets wrong could’ve been easily fixed. This is why I strongly believe a re-release should be made. If I was to overlook the design flaw and the headband adjustment system, the headphone on its own would deserve a 5-star rating. Seriously, the build quality, the design, the accessories, it’s all on point. In terms of sound, if the metal plate would’ve been changed into a consistent design, I’m certain it would easily deserve a 5-star rating.

With this being said, these headphones should be a serious consideration for those in the market for a warm open-back under $500. Even better, if you are someone who is not afraid to do some simple DIY mods, it’s even easier to recommend.

Also, I want to say that my rating is based on the $399 MSRP. If you manage to find it on a good discount, go for it.

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Disassembly guide:​

Disclaimer: This guide serves an educational purpose. You take full responsibility for causing any damage to your headphones! The guide is shown for only one ear-cup.


Step 1: Remove the ear-pads



Step 2: Unscrew the 4 Philips screws — these screws hold the whole driver structure in place



Step 3: Carefully lift the driver and let it rest on the ear-cups (make sure they are lying down flat, so there is no pressure on the actual driver)



Step 4: Unscrew the 5 Torx screws (they are all on the same level, make sure not to unscrew any other screws!)



Step 5: Give yourself a pat on the back. Congratulations! You just let the grill free. To make it easier, you can put the driver back in its place while you flip the headphones over and take out the grill





The grill consists of 3 separate parts: the ring, the grill, and the metal plate. If you want to make your own plate, you can measure the diameter of the largest hole on the plate and ensure that in your plate all the holes are of the same diameter. If you do not want to do this, you can remove the metal plate altogether. However, you must measure the plate's thickness, trace it out, and cut out a piece of material that matches this thickness. If you do not do this, the grill will rattle and will not stay in place. As you can see in the last photo, the plate has a foam layer glued onto it, this is what makes the whole grill stay put. Also, be aware that this will allow more dust and dirt to get inside. The driver does feature a soft mesh on both sides, but be aware of this.

It's fairly easy to disassemble this headphone. When putting it back together, make sure you don't over tighten the 4 Philips screws, because they are the ones determining how much space there is for the ear-pads. That's why I suggest working with one ear-cup at a time. This way you can match the tightness to the "stock" tightness.

Hope this helps anyone who is interested to play around with DIY mods.

SIVGA P-II : The Warm & Musical Headphone


Disclaimer:

This was a loaner unit from SIVGA for the purpose of an honest review. Everything mentioned in this review are purely my own based on my experiences with the Headphone. I had it for a short while only and hence this is a short review.

Introduction:

SIVGA is a Chinese audio company focusing on stunning wooden designs with competitive pricing. The SIVGA P-II is their recent creation in 2020, an open-back over-ear headphone featuring a 97mm*76mm ultra-nano double-sided magnetic planar diaphragm unit as driver. The P-II comes with premium materials including gorgeous wood cups. It comes with a rich and textured sound from its planar driver - placing it in direct comparison with many great headphones including the Hifiman Sundara.
The P-II is priced at $399 USD.

Specifications:

Specifications are as below as found on SIVGA website:

http://www.sivgaaudio.com/product_d?id=1



Design & Build Quality:


The P-II is built with sturdy materials. The headband is made of CNC milled aluminum to ensure a smooth finish. The end of the aluminum headband arc is connected to a plastic gimbal that enables a degree of earcup rotation. The markings for left and right can also be found on the gimbals.

It comes with a suspension strap system that can be adjusted with a slide mechanism that smoothly slides along the headband. The suspension strap is made of 2 layers of leather with some foam in between, and the strap is finely stitched and finished allaying my fears of possible fraying down the road.

Package & Accessories:


The P-II comes in a black box, that opens from the top. The box is lined with foam inserts which protect the leather-made carrying case.
The case is molded to the exact dimensions of the P-II, which ensures that the headphones won’t be moving around too much inside the carrying case.
Inside the case are the headphones, the cables with 4.4mm balanced connector.
The box itself is nicely designed to ensure that the headphone will arrive to you in perfect condition.


Amp-ing Requirements:

I've found that this headphone requires quite a bit of amp-ing being a planar magnetic driver.
It does shine quite well when properly amped and sounds great with a good & powerful source.
Hence, a good & powerful amp I would say ... is mandatory.


NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SOUND....

Items used for this review:

DAC/AMP: IFI Micro IDSD Black Label Signature
DAP/Source : Cayin N6 MK2 with E02 Motherboard & iPad
Streaming Source: QOBUZ



Tracks Used:
The tracks I have used can be found from the below playlist that I have used and generally use for most reviews...





Let's now talk about the quality of Sound....

The BASS:

The Bass comes with good Thump & slam but lacks extension & details. it is amongst the weaker traits of this headphone being a Planar. Bass has a very impactful sense of attack, and thump. However, the richness and details which I had found in the SIVGA Phoenix is missing here - specially in the sub-bass region.

The MIDS:

Midrange is just great and amongst the key strengths of this being a Planar magnetic driver. They are very musical muscular and textured with good amount of details. Every instrument in this region has good layering and can be identified clearly.
Vocals sound natural with good extension and texture - they just sound great.
Guitars sound very clear - specially when there are strings that are being plucked individually. Similarly, pianos also sound very articulated and striking when individual notes are being played.

The TREBLE:

Treble seems just great. textured and airy. Treble is also a bit more faded and is almost as good as the midrange.
Cymbal hits are very crisp & precise, with good attack. The decay of each percussive strike is also very natural.
The treble has good amount of extension, where there is a good sense of airiness. However, the airiness doesn’t hamper enjoyment,
which makes the P-II quite pleasant and energetic, but never fatiguing.



The SOUNDSTAGE:

Soundstage is amongst the weaknesses despite the planar driver. It has very average width and depth. This is where the Hifiman Sundara does much better in my opinion.

Imaging & Timbre:

Sense of direction is good and the sound seems natural - However, the details retrieval seemed a bit sub-par compared to others in similar price bracket such as the Hifiman Sundara.



Conclusion :

Having said all that - The SIVGA P-II to me seemed like the amongst the good performing headphones in the given price bracket. It comes with comprehensive sound performance and is just great for Mids & Treble focused genres. The staging and details retrieval characteristics prevent this from being a recommended headphone for acoustic tracks.

About SIVGA.​

SIVGA is based out of Dongguan (China) and was founded by two childhood friends, Jian Zhou and Rongchun Pan who shared a common love for music and good quality headphones. Jian had been working in the field of headphones for nearly 20 years before he founded SIVGA Audio, where he was a senior technical engineer of a leading OEM headphone factory in China and led the R&D, headphone design, craftsmanship as well as manufacturing departments. During his career in the last company, Jian worked with many international well-known headphone brands and played a very important role in helping those brands grow. Rongchun on the other hand was an avid audiophile who obsessed over the ultimate pursuit of sound quality and with a very keen sense of hearing and rich experience, he developed a good knack of tuning headphones. SIVGA are an OEM as well as have their own line of headphones under the brand names -SIVGA and Sendy Audio. They follow boutique as well as modern efficient manufacturing techniques where their wooden ear cups are built and finished by hand whereas all the metal parts used in the headphones are CNC machined to perfection.

Disclaimer.​

I'd like to thank SIVGA for sending me the P-II for a review. I am not affiliated with the company or any of its sellers and write this review with an unbiased opinion regardless of how the review turns out.

Just a heads up, P-II is priced at $399 but it shows a higher price (around $480) on AliExpress because that is inclusive of VAT for EU countries and AliExpress only allows a fixed price and not dynamic pricing for different countries. So, if you're interested in ordering, I'd recommend messaging and asking them where you'd be able to get the best deal since they have a growing network of dealers now and one might be in your own country.

Links - SIVGA P-II (Official Website) | SIVGA Official AliExpress Store

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Technical Specifications.​

• Driver - 97mm x 76mm Planar magnetic
• Frequency response - 20kHz - 40kHz
• Impedance - 32Ω
• Sensitivity - 98dB +/- 3dB
• Cable - 1.6m Balanced cable with 2.5mm headphone connectors and 4.4mm jack
• Weight - 420g

Included in the box.​

• P-II headphone
• 4.4mm Balanced cable
• 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter cable
• Headphone carry case
• Cable sack

Technology, Build Quality and Design.​

As per SIVGA, it took them 3 years of hard R&D, tuning and innovation to finish and perfect the planar magnetic driver, overall industrial design, material selection, acoustic damping and final manufacturing. They state that all parts right down to the screw were independently designed.

P-II oozes of boutique build, design as well as premium quality right from the ear cups to headband and grill design. P-II is a very well thought out product with an obsessive focus to every minute detail in design. It has massive eye candy quotient and I'm mightily impressed!

Planar Magnetic Driver. ​

P-II has a 97mm x 76mm planar magnetic driver with in-house developed OTV technology and double neodymium magnet structure with 108 well arranged acoustic holes. The PCB ultra-nanometer composite diaphragm and aluminium belt plating allows the whole structure to be thinner and lighter.

​

Black Walnut Wooden Cups.​

The wooden cups are made from Black Walnut wood. They are cut by CNC but are sanded, finished and stained to perfection by hand, which is labour intensive and requires very good skilled craftsmen. The cup grill has a black metal ring with a very nice and attractive honeycomb design and a small SIVGA logo on the right. Since the whole process is complex and takes time because a lot of it is built by hand, P-II is generally produced in small quantities as a boutique product.

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Ear pads.​

P-II has hybrid ear pads made of high protein leather and velvet fabric on the side. It was designed after consulting data of various face shapes which helped them design a custom shape by varying the foam thickness of the ear pads at different points that touch the cheek, jaw and mastoid. This helps it fit more snugly and comfortably than normal ear pads. The inner part of the ear pad is oval in shape and is designed to engulf the outer ear completely. All of this results in a very easy and comfortable fit. More on this in the 'Fit and Comfort' section below.

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Headband.​

P-II's matte black headband is CNC machined from stainless steel. The head pad too is made out of high protein leather and is cushioned with small brick shaped design which is extremely comfortable for hours on the end. It has an elastic band on the inside and adjusts automatically when you wear the headphones as per your head shape and height without the requirement for manual adjustment.

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Yoke.​

The yoke is CNC machined out of an Aluminium alloy for high durability. It allows rotation of ear cups to 90° and a swivel of 30°.

Cable.​

P-II comes stock with a very nice 4-core 6N Single Crystal Copper OCC balanced cable with 2.5mm headphone connectors and a 4.4mm jack termination. It has a very nice and ergonomic Y-split with an oval chin slider that fits slides down to complete a cylindrical design of the Y-split. The connectors and jacks are high quality and seem rugged and built to last. The cable is soft and supple, and wraps up very easily and unwraps without much effort of tangling. It's not the softest cable in the market but I'm very happy to see a well built premium cable with a headphone in this price range.




SIVGA also offer the same 4-core 6N Single Crystal Copper OCC with different jack terminations such as a 4-pin XLR as well as different adapters to purchase separately aftermarket. They are all hand built in their own factory and are all built to order as per your requirement. SIVGA were kind enough to send me another cable with a 4-pin XLR termination as well as a 4.4mm female to 4-pin XLR male adapter as well as 4.4mm female to 1/4" jack adapter to try P-II's pairing with my desktop setup.

Leather Case.​

P-II is not the most compact headphone nor is its case. The case is made out of leather and is very well built. P-II sits in the case with the ear cups flat. All in all, the case keeps the luxurious premium design of the P-II intact and is slim enough to fit in my small laptop bag easily and comfortably.

Fit and Comfort.​

Even though one would consider P-II medium-heavy at 420g, it fits quite comfortably. The padded head pad does not exert a lot of pressure on the head as it adjusts automatically based on your head size. There isn't a lot of clamp force at the ear cups, they swivel to 30° and are able to fit according to the shape of one's jawline quite nicely. What's even better are the ear pads that are wonderfully shaped and feel like they've been customised for one's head and ears specifically. Of course since P-II isn't as light as the HD6XX, you're aware of it being on your head but I've never experienced any neck or jaw pain after having worn it for hours continuously but I do start feeling the weight after a couple of hours if I haven't taken any breaks in between.

Sound Analysis.​

Note - My main impressions are with the stock ear pads. I also received Aiva's fenestrated ear pads which are a perfect fit on P-II and have written impressions with them separately. Also, these impressions are with the HiBy R6 2020 and iBasso DX160 as the source. I've written impressions with my production desktop setup later in the review too. Even though it has low 32Ω impedance and 98dB sensitivity, its sound signature shines through a nice powerful balanced output of a good DAP and even more on a good desktop setup with a clean linear powerful amp.

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Summary - P-II has a nice warm-ish balanced sound signature. It has very well done neutral and linear bass which has very good clarity but also good weight and slam when the song demands it, linear lower midrange up till 800Hz, a tiny bump at 800Hz that introduces slight honk, an upper-midrange tuning that isn't as forward as Harman Target or headphones like Sennheiser HD6XX or Focal Elex, fairly easy lower-treble tuning, a bit more present upper-treble compared to lower-treble where a 12kHz peak adds a bit of sizzle and sparkle into the signature and fairly good extension till 20kHz. It has good extension at both ends but neither is over-exaggerated. What impressed me most was the separation between layers of instruments, depth wise as well as across the width. It has a soundstage that engulfs the front of your head, like you're wearing a helmet of tiny speakers mounted inside till the parallel line of your ears. Lol! The soundstage is quite interesting and holographic for the price in my opinion.

Let's dig in deeper to know more...

Bass – Even though P-II is an open back headphone, there is no sub-bass roll-off. Sub-bass is fairly linear and neutral but has good weight and rumble when songs call for it, like in Linkin Park's 'Sorry for Now' where there is a rumbly sub-bass dominant bass line playing right from 5 seconds onwards. Both sub-bass and mid-bass are very linear, reference-ish and tastefully done. Overall, bass is very clean, has really good resolution, weight as well as well defined clarity and definition in the centre image.

Mids – Lower-midrange is very clean and neutral up till 800Hz. There is a tiny ~2dB bump at 800Hz which introduces a bit of honk in P-II's sound signature. Since the Q factor of it is so small, a lot of people might not even notice it. Even some Focal headphones like the Clear, Elear and Utopia have a bit of bump in the 800-1.5kHz range. It's a bit more noticeable if you switch to P-II after a reference-ish headphone like the HD6XX, which is more linear in that range. There is a trick to get rid of it with SIVGA's fenestrated ear pads of Aiva that are a perfect fit for P-II, but more on that later in the review. Upper-mids are a bit easier than Harman Target or headphones like HD6XX, Elex and Clear but instruments still have strong definition and clarity but are less forward as they are in HD6XX and Focals. P-II has a dip at around 2kHz compared to reference-neutral but isn't as recessed as the Audeze LCD-2C in the rest of the upper-midrange. What really impresses me in P-II's midrange is the realism and musicality without the forwardness. As a musician and audio engineer, even though I love the HD6XX and know that it is more accurate in the midrange, there is something about P-II that makes me pick it up again and again to listen. I'm guessing its musicality over absolute reference neutrality would certainly work for a lot of people.

Treble – Lower treble is smooth and well-balanced whereas upper treble is a bit more prominent in comparison, introducing a bit of musical excitement but in a fairly balanced manner. Because of smooth and easier lower treble, there is no hint of sibilance or spanky hi-hats. The 12kHz upper treble peak on the other hand adds a tiny bit of sparkle and sizzle to P-II's signature. P-II is very open and fairly airy in its upper treble presentation with good extension till 20kHz, which adds on to help songs sound exciting.

Soundstage and Imaging - Soundstage isn't the widest in this price segment of open-back headphones but it is one of the cleanest with excellent separation between instruments throughout the soundscape while maintaining a nice warm-ish sound signature. Being an open back, it is much wider, deeper and more holographic than most closed-backs as well as most open-backs I've tried in the range, barring a couple. What I really dig is the strong sense of realism in P-II's soundstage that a lot of headphones don't have. Width is fairly wide and it has good depth too but the excellent separation between instrument layers, be it width or depth wise, adds a dimension to the soundstage that enables the holographic experience. It's definitely an out of head soundstage, but it sounds like you're listening to the band performing in a century old heritage concert hall than an open arena.

SIVGA's fenestrated ear pads (Aiva pads).​

Knowing that Sendy Audio Aiva's ear pads are a direct fit, I wanted to try them on P-II and SIVGA were kind enough to send me a pair. They don't feel too different from stock ear pads on the head but they affect the sound signature significantly. With Aiva pads the signature tilts more towards the upper-midrange with bass and lower-midrange reducing. With this, that 800Hz honk disappears and you perceive a much more forward presentation in line with HD6XX but in turn the bass weight and slam takes a hit too. I perceive the soundstage boundaries wider and slightly deeper with the Aiva pads and even the lower-treble becoming a bit more present as compared to the stock ear pads.

Now this is a case of 'you win some, you lose some'. I do like the more forward, slightly more energetic and the wider soundstage of Aiva pads but I like the bass slam, note weight, lower-midrange naturalness and the more balanced and complete sounding signature of the stock ear pads too. Also, I can increase levels to fun loud levels more easily with the stock ear pads. I'd recommend spending the $30-35 extra for the Aiva ear pads and trying them out for yourself to see which ones you like more. My tilt is more towards the stock ear pads, but well....

SIVGA P-II with DROP THX AAA 789 Linear Amp.​

Now my desktop setup is more pro-audio-ish since I use the DROP THX 789 Amp with my Universal Audio Apollo Twin Interface for my music production work. Now this is where SIVGA offering their cables in different jack terminations and multiple adapters comes in use. The DROP 789 Amp has a 4-pin balanced XLR connection whereas P-II comes stock with a 4.4mm balanced cable. For that, they have a 4.4mm female to 4-pin XLR adapter as well as their stock cable in the 4-pin XLR termination. There are multiple other options too and I'd recommend having a look at their store for all the current offerings.

Moving on to sound impressions, P-II has more bass weight and slam, more instrument realism, better separation and slightly more open and airy soundstage on my desktop setup. Even though the soundstage sizes are similar, the boundaries are a bit more defined on the desktop setup with the 789 Amp. Again, this is easily perceivable but isn't a big significant difference. I also don't know which element in the chain is bringing out the most refinement but P-II sounds good on both setups to be honest. DROP 789 is a linear amp and is known for its clean neutral amplification which doesn't add much or any colour from its side which I think pushes cleaner power to drive the P-II and helps it sound cleaner, more open and airy. Even though it has a low impedance of 32Ω and 98dB sensitivity, I do hear its sound signature shining much better through a nice powerful balanced output of a good DAP and even more on a good desktop setup with a clean linear powerful amp. DAPs like HiBy R6 2020 and iBasso DX160 can easily power the P-II from their balanced outputs, so no need to go looking for a desktop setup if you're thinking of getting the P-II. But if you can get one, I'd highly recommend looking at the THX AAA 789 Amp as a pairing with the P-II since I highly dig it.

Comparisons.​

Sennheiser HD6XX - HD6XX is a dynamic driver open back headphone. HD6XX is much lighter than the P-II, so it feels much lighter on the head but has more clamp force than the P-II. Also, P-II's ear cups are custom shaped and feel much easier on the cheek and jaw plus its yoke's 30° swivel and 90° rotation are something the HD6XX does not have. HD6XX ear pads are fairly comfortable but I find P-II was more comfortable overall, except for the awareness of it being on your head at all times because of its weight. Build quality and premium quotient is not even a competition and P-II wins in both departments hands down with its boutique design and build. Moving on to sound, HD6XX is a more reference-neutral sounding headphone whereas P-II has a more warm, musical and exciting sound signature. Even after all that, P-II is actual the more neutral and accurate sounding headphone in the bass department. HD6XX has a a bit of sub-bass roll-off and a minor mid-bass bump but P-II is completely linear with very good low end extension right down to 20Hz. HD6XX does lower-midrange more linearly whereas P-II has a tiny bump at 800Hz. HD6XX is more neutral and forward with its upper-midrange presentation whereas P-II has lesser pinna gain and isn't as forward as a result. Even then, P-II does not lose out in instrument realism but HD6XX does have more accurate tonality and timbre of instruments. HD6XX has more prominent lower-treble but P-II has slightly more upper treble and a bit better extension up top. P-II has better separation between instrument layers depth and width wise, better precision in imaging as well as a much better and more holographic soundstage than HD6XX.

HifiMan Sundara - Sundara too is a planar magnetic open-back headphone. It is lighter at 372g, has a bit less clamp force and feels lighter on the head with a more open feeling open-back design. Build quality, design and QC wise, P-II wins hands down as it has a much more premium boutique design and build. Coming to sound, Sundara is overall brighter and a bit more clinical reference-ish sounding headphone compared to P-II. It has a sub-bass roll-off at 60Hz whereas P-II is more accurate, neutral and has better low-end extension. Both have neutral mid-bass presentation but P-II has more overall note weight, slam as well as rumble. Sundara is more neutral and accurate with its lower midrange presentation whereas P-II has a tiny bump at 800Hz. Both have dips in the 2kHz range but then Sundara is more forward with its upper-midrange presentation. Sundara has more prominent lower treble as well as upper treble with a colder tonality. P-II comes off as warmer and more musical in comparison. Sundara has a wider soundstage owing to its upper-treble tuning but at the cost of it coming off as bright. P-II has a more natural sounding soundstage with sharper imaging, better resolution as well as separation between layers while maintaining an easier warmer sound signature.

Ollo S4X - Ollo S4X is a dynamic driver open back headphone and is tuned as a reference headphone for audio engineers and musicians. It too has boutique design and build quality but I have to give it to SIVGA for nailing the design, build quality and premium-ness while keeping P-II's price under $500. P-II definitely looks like a much more expensive headphone in front of the S4X, even though S4X is no slouch and is quite the looker itself. Sound wise, P-II's bass has better isolated clarity, rumble, note weight as well as slam. S4X is more neutral and reference-ish with its lower-midrange as well as upper-midrange presentation. As a result, S4X's sounds spankier with its forward upper-midrange and is more accurate in tonality and timbre presentation. Even though P-II hasn't been tuned to be a neutral reference headphone, is still has very good instrument realism, clarity and fairly natural sounding instrument tonality. S4X has more neutral and present lower-treble whereas P-II has more upper-treble in comparison. P-II sounds a bit more open and airy with better extension up top. Both have good separation between instrument layers as well as resolution but P-II does it better in comparison as well as has better imaging. Even though S4X's soundstage is no slouch and I quite enjoy its presentation, P-II has a more open and wider sounding soundstage. All in all, S4X is more tonally accurate and a better reference headphone but P-II sounds more fun, exciting, is more spacious sounding of the two and has better technicalities in several areas.

Conclusion.​

P-II has a lot going for it as it is a well thought out product with an attractive design, extremely good build quality and a sound signature that isn't trying to hit a target curve perfectly for reference sound but is going for an interesting, exciting and musical signature instead which has very good separation between layers, resolution, details and an interesting soundstage. Even though it has a low impedance of 32Ω and 98dB sensitivity, its sound signature shines much better through a nice powerful balanced output of a good DAP and even more on a good desktop setup with a clean linear powerful amp. Well, if you're tired of owning and listening to reference-neutral headphones and would now like to get a nice warm, exciting and musical headphone, I definitely recommend giving P-II a shot!

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Gear used for testing and review.​

• DAPs – Hiby R6 2020 | iBasso DX160
• Audio Interfaces - Universal Audio Apollo
• Desktop Amp - DROP THX AAA 789 Linear Amp
• Laptop – Apple Macbook Pro 15″
• Phone – OnePlus 7 Pro

Reference Songs list.​

• Foo Fighters – The Pretender, Best of you, Everlong & Sonic Highway album
• Coldplay – Paradise, Up in flames & Everglow + Everyday Life Album
• Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings & Ellipsis albums
• Ed Sheeran – Thinking out loud, Bloodstream & Galway Girl
• Dave Matthews Band – Come Tomorrow album
• Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia album
• Chainsmokers – Somebody, Sickboy, This Feeling & Closer
• John Mayer – Slow dancing in a burning room, Stop this Train, Say & A Face to Call Home
• Gavin James – Always & Hearts on fire
• Switchfoot – Meant to live & Dare you to move
• Porcupine Tree – Sound of Muzak, Blackest Eyes & .3
• Our Lady Peace – Do You Like It & Innocent
• Linkin Park – Papercut, Somewhere I belong & Talking to myself
• Maroon 5 – She will be loved, Payphone & Lost stars
• Lifehouse – All in all & Come back down
• Breaking Benjamin – Diary of Jane
• Karnivool – Simple boy & Goliath
• Dead Letter Circus – Real you
• I Am Giant – Purple heart, City limits & Transmission
• Muse – Panic station
• James Bay – Hold back the river