Hi, I'm posting this here and in
the offical review thread. Thanks for the opportunity!
Pros
Classy presentation
Great cable selection
Cables are replaceable
Comfortable ear pads
Headset is light
Very open and big sounding soundstage
Extremely comfortable.
Cons
Sound signature isn’t for me
Very costly, so many won’t be able to afford it.
"All you need is Love" is one of the greatest songs and Iconic to me. The world needs love, and more Closed-Back headphones. Closed-back headphones are one consideration as others around you can’t hear them. So many closed-back headphones just sound off, and it's a hard place in the market with many people preferring iems, or open-back headphones, or even dare I say it... Speakers. So the market for Closed back headphones are unique and Special. This headphone is special to me, as I've tested dozens of headphones in my day in a search for audio bliss and excellence. This is the most comfortable, premium headset, not perfect, but no King is. This headset is a true king in the audio world.
Thanks for the opportunity to test this headphone and I am reviewing this as part of the Audivina Review Tour. I wanted to say that I am extremely grateful to test this headphone as I think it is a very interesting piece in the market. I have been gifted an experience that is remarkable, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. This is a remarkable product and Hifiman continues to do amazing work to produce such high quality beautiful products.
Song Choice: Tidal list
here:
I listen to a wide variety of music. I pick the songs because of various reasons. But I picture myself locked away like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank blasting music and shut off from the world. It’s a blissful image.
The Marriage of Figaro -The opera song from Shawshank Redemption, terrible recording but fun and gets me in the mood to listen to music.
O mio Babino caro -This is a modern less operatic version but a song with great female vocals.
Video Rigoletto - “La donna e mobile” Sung by one of the three Tenors, great song for high-performing male vocals. Pavarotti is the greatest classic singer maybe ever. Fight me!
Iron man - The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band.
I Will Survive (1981 recording, I like her voice, and the old vocals, the drums, and various natural instruments really make this a favorite for me.
There is a light That never goes out - Smiths ( A classic, I just love it. It’s mellow, and I can tell a lot of the tuning if this song is done right.)
Jump (I like how the sound effects are in this!)
Star Child Someone recommended this song to me, and I like how funky it sounds and has nice vocals and a mix of music and things going on.
Dicke Titten Ramstein The beginning is amazing and the bass hits hard. Great song. I love rock and metal. The German language fascinates me
Master of Puppets: Very fast song. Helps me determine if the driver can keep up.
Cable I wanted to keep the cables nice for others so I tried to keep them in their packaging and got the opportunity to use a cable I had for my Focal Celectree. The cable selection is very strong. It has an XLR cable, 6.5 mm, and 3.5 mm cable connections for a total of 3 cables. It’s a nice touch and feels good for various uses that might be needed. I can’t see a need not met for this headset as it has all that one could think of. Very strong choices and the Cables are extremely premium, classy, and a nice touch.
Ear Pads These ear pads are very strong. Thematically they match the headphone, and they feel great on the skin for long listening sessions. They allow me to breathe and I don’t feel any pressure on my head. I am amazed and impressed at the feeling of these pads. I almost always swap ear pads, but I wouldn't swap these. They are just fantastic and so comfortable and breathe very well.
Comparison: The dreaded comparison: Hifiman Audivina vs the Audeze LCD-XC (2021) While the headphones are a 2000 vs 1300 MSRP I don’t have a lot of experience with other good closed headphones to compare. So I’ll try to do my best.
The packaging is 100% a win to Hifiman, the additional cables are very nice, the case is very manageable and easy to take with you places, and the comfort is to die for. The hifiman is the most comfortable headphone that I’ve ever used. The added case I think is better than the Audeze LCD-XC as that case is much larger and the headphone is made for production.
Target Demographic: I love headphones, but I don’t claim to understand everything. This is a headphone made for travelers who want to have a wooden headphone with them. It’s comfortable, portable, and beautiful. It looks amazing, has an easy-to-swap cable, and comes with a case that is perfect. I can see a Billionaire wearing these as a statement on a flight. The wood design rivals that of any DMF or any headphone that I’ve seen. The easily swappable cables mean you can use many other cables with it to customize it extremely easily. It’s a great option. This is a premium headset that is fun, but to me, this is a specialty traveling headset with some flair. This is your Neymer considered to be one of the greatest flair players of all time in soccer. He scores a ton, and assists, but causes some controversy off the pitch. But on his day, nothing and nobody can touch him he is a true legend, just like Audivina.
Graph:
Comfort:
The comfort of this headset is insane. It’s just premium with the headband being nice to wear, the design is very light. I feel that I am not wearing any headphones at all. It’s an amazing feeling to be honest, as most of the other headsets make feel like I’m balancing something on my headset.
I have a tradition whenever I get an over ears headset I go around the home and have both kids and the wife try it on. Everyone liked this one. The littlest one told me quickly it was cozy! So from the mouths of babes, we have our truth. This is a cozy headset, and I absolutely love it!
Recommended EQ: This headset needs eq with how it is tuned out of the box for me. I’m leaving two EQ’s for you, the first is my simple eq from Dolby that I did myself, and the second is what I got from the Squiglink tools.
Gifting/who is it for: This is an expensive headset, but it’s premium as can be. Great unboxing experience. Wonderful case, with multiple cables, and it is a fun experience overall. This is a premium headset in so many ways, that is a recommendation for those who can afford it.
Pairing: I used Topping DX1 dac through an SMSL SH-8s AMP. I find this headset easy to drive and needs a fair amount of power and I typically push my amp up to high gain, compared to most of my other headphones and iems. But I found this easy to drive even off a computer, but this is a headphone where I'd recommend an amp but it's not necessary.
Summary
Overall I am giving this an B- for tuning and an S- for technical abilities, but with a little eq it quickly becomes a classic with a smoothe presentation that makes everything sound so good and the Tuning score goes up to an easy S-. While not for me, the tuning of it isn’t that bad and the music is enjoyable on it. If you never use eq and are after sonic excellence in music as your primary quality, I wouldn’t recommend it, if you don’t mind trying EQ and can afford this, this is your flair headset and will find a home in your collection. With Eq, it’s just a mint headphone with great sonic characteristics. I would love it if a different tuned headset came out that had this headband and feeling that I could easily afford. I would love something in my lineup like this as the build quality is out of this world. I can wear it forever, without pain or weight to my head. And with EQ it’s just a delightful experience with fantastic drivers. While something like the Audeze LCD-XC is also a good headphone, it's so much heavier, the Audivina could tactfully be put in a backpack and run off a phone, and that is what makes this beautiful premium headset the King for audiophiles wanting a wired headphone for travel, or a premium headphone for home use.
Thanks for reading. Any feedback is welcome.