Hifiman DEVA - Official Thread

[trellus]

I've owned these since Saturday when they were delivered by UPS from HiFiMAN -- unfortunately for me, I had to make an emergency unplanned trip out of state on Friday, so I missed delivery by a day and won't actually have them in my hands and on my ears for a few weeks. Bummer! But I'm definitely watching this thread and I like what I've read so far!

 

[Dobrescu George]

Heard from somewhere that it's balanced despite only having a cable one one side. Can I confirm?

The cable that goes inside the cup has 4 poles, so it could be balanced, but would need hifiman to confirm whether you can get a balanced cable there

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

Here's my fresh review of the Hifiman Deva: https://www.headfonia.com/hifiman-deva-review/

Have a good read, it's a very good headphone.

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

That is surprisingly cheap orthodynamic hp! I would be very interested get that on my hand. Considering 400€ is reasonable with shipping and tax.

Which country is it you're in, if you let us know we can check if a dealer near you has them?

Mark

 

[Miiksu]

Which country is it you're in, if you let us know we can check if a dealer near you has them?

Mark

Hi Mark! Thanks for helping me out. I'm from the Finland. So any EU country will do

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Hi Mark! Thanks for helping me out. I'm from the Finland. So any EU country will do

For Finland, you can try asking https://tur-pex.com/ as they would know which if any dealers there have stock, I'm mainly UK so I know that AMP3 have them listed here but I don't happen to know individual Finish dealers do too yet. You could also try our dealer list here if you like https://hifiman.com/dealers

Mark

 

[Miiksu]

For Finland, you can try asking https://tur-pex.com/ as they would know which if any dealers there have stock, I'm mainly UK so I know that AMP3 have them listed here but I don't happen to know individual Finish dealers do too yet. You could also try our dealer list here if you like https://hifiman.com/dealers

Mark

Never heared of that place. I asked them. Thanks Mark! I'll check if I can get it somewhere quite reasonable price.

Edit. Cool I got instant reply from the Tur-Pex. They will get it by the end of the month.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Unless it's delayed again, a DEVA should be arriving at my domicile today Can't wait to give this thing a listen.

 

[trellus]

Unless it's delayed again, a DEVA should be arriving at my domicile today Can't wait to give this thing a listen.

Ugh, I'm so jealous, mine have been sitting patiently for me back at my home UPS Store mailbox since April 5 and I'm stuck in Colorado on an unplanned trip for another 2 weeks maybe.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

It's always hard to explain why you are hooked by a headphone or iem, but for me it's always an important TEST.
Sometime it's due to ''emotional audiophile intelligence'' other time to ''rational audiophile intelligence''.
For example, I wasn't hooked by the MEZE 99 NEO, but I sure was overwhelmingly hooked by the SUNDARA.
In this case, I think it's due to technicalities and how revealing is the resolution.
The DEVA do deliver an highly resolving and realist sound, it can deal with busy track with ease, showing every instrument in their individuality.
In fact, they are more vivid and energic sounding than the SUNDARA, but with a slightly more intimate soundstage. Bass is tigher, while SUNDARA have some mid bass warmth that thicken timbre without canceling it's transparency.
With the SUNDARA you begin by enjoying music to discover its nuance through critical listening mode....while it's the opposite with the DEVA, you begin in critical listening mode, your in there right now and finally learn to be immersed by this and enjoy music with higher resolution than you use too.

In term of construction, DEVA is decent, but their a lot of plastic. The ears cups are all plastic including the grill....but this make them very light to wear too. Bluetooth dongle is all plastic too. As for Bluetooth purpose, I do try going outside with them but feel ackward for 2 reason: this lok kinda clumsy with Bluemini and sound leakage is just too intense...as expected. I see more this for in house purpose, or in the park, in the forrest, well anywhere without human. Hum, yep, the DEVA are perfect for SOCIAL DISTANCIATION!

Will share more impressions soon, but i'm very impress by the performance of the DEVA.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Little late to the party but I finally got around to writing up some impressions based on daily use over the last ten days.

The fantastic sound quality they output has played what is probably the strongest part in my enjoyment of the Deva so far. The vast majority of my listening has been conducted with the Bluemini installed, connected to my LG Q70 over aptX HD. Let’s start with the low end since that’s the part I’ve been most impressed with. The Deva’s bass is thick and rich with excellent extension, besting what the Sundara can output in my opinion. I’ve read in a few places that the Sundara is the bassier of the two, but I just cannot agree after a/bing the two using Earmen’s TR-Amp. I don’t feel subbass regions lacking at all over wireless (and especially not when wired), with the Deva able to provide an addictive, visceral rumble that compliments the punchy, warm mid and upper bass presentation. It certainly does my favorite drum and bass tracks justice in a way the Sundara cannot. The midrange is clean and prominent with an upper range push that lets vocals cut through. Detail and clarity are a subtle step back from the Sundara, and the upper mids could possibly benefit from being pulled down a couple dB, but I’m totally happy with it as is. Treble is clean and crisp with well defined notes and excellent control. Upper treble is dialed back a bit, something Sundara users might remiss since the Deva lacks the same level of sparkle and shimmer, though I appreciate that it lets the Deva’s detailed presence region shine. The sound stage sits somewhere between the capacious presentation of the Sundara and the more constrained and focused Brainwavz Alara, but closer to the Sundara. Width and depth are good, with smooth channel-to-channel transitions and excellent instrument separation and layering. Haven’t tried it with gaming yet, but I suspect the Deva will do just fine, especially in wired mode.

I won't have a full review ready any time soon, but I can't see my thoughts changing too much. The couple hours I've put in through the Bluemini in DAC mode and wired have been just as impressive. So far I've been preferring the Deva over the Sundara thanks to the extra warmth and more relaxed upper treble, even if I think the Sundara is technically the better of the two. Plus, the Bluemini is awesome. Haven't experienced a single hiccup yet.

 

[biggbenn74]

Excellent impressions. I'm looking at picking up the DEVA soon, however, I just purchased a used set of MrSpeakers Ether C Flow's and they have been sucking up all of my listening time. Not sure when I'll be pulling the trigger on a set officially, but hopefully soon. I'd like a wireless headphone that also has a little bit of warmth to it.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

My full review of the DEVA is published on Headfi and my BLOG.

I do not have Bluetooth headphones on hand right now and do own the Master&Dynamic MW60 which sound like transistor radio compared to the DEVA, don't even worth a comparison as DEVA is fom a far away higher league.

The DEVA are like a (smoothly) brighter SUNDARA, with slightly less sub-bass and a more analytical sound. I really suggest to use a good amp with those, 1000mW@32ohm kinda amp or DAC-AMP as the sound scale up with higher quality audio gear.

These are excellent for watching movie too, perfect cozzy TV watcher wireless headphones.

 

[Heathb]

I have had the Deva for about a week and want to point out a couple of things nobody has mentioned to this point. These are neither negative or positive as the sound is fantastic and I will also comment on this also below.

1.) The ear ups themselves are huge. I am assuming this is due to the driver being used. I have a pair of HE400i and the difference is very apparent. The Deva will sit lower than most headphones. It almost comes in contact with your neck.

2.) The headband is very think but not very wide compared to most headphones. This can make finding the sweet spot on your head difficult depending on how your head is contoured. This can make the Deva’s feel a little unstable. Initially.

I also feel like a better understanding of the three ways the Deva’s can be hooked up need clarification.

1.) Using the blue mini will be a Bluetooth connection. I will say this upfront. The sound the blue mini provides is outstanding. 80% output is way loud enough and the Deva’s holds all its compsure. 60% is the perfect.

2.) Using wired USB connection utilized the blue mini’s DAC/AMP. The Deva’s can be hooked up directly out of your computers USB port into the Blue Mini. This cord is included and probably 6ft in length. In theory this should provide the best possible sound of all the connection. I preferred the Bluetooth connection. This connection seemed to take away some of the dynamics that come through Bluetooth. I know this should not be the case but there is some magic happening through the Bluetooth connection.

3. Wired 3.5 connection. You can remove the blue mini which exposes a 3.5mm balanced connection which accepts the included 6ft 3.5mm cored. Take note when using this connection one end of the 3.5mm is balanced and on is not. You must connect the balanced end into the Deva’s and the other end into your single ended source. The connection has the most opportunity. The sound through this connection was as good as Bluetooth. I do not have a lot of DAC’s/AMP but I used it with the following:
Ear Studio ES100- Good match for sound quality but didn’t have enough power.
Fiio Q1 Mark 2: Didn’t sound as good as Ear Studio but provided better power.

I then used the Ear Studio and FIio as DAC’s through my Nobsound Tube amp and this was pretty good. Had the power and sound quality.

My plan is to get a Schiit Modi 3+/Hersey and I think this think will come alive through a wired connections.

Overall, the sound quality can be summed up with these two words: Resolution and Detail

These have unbelievable resolution and detail to levels I have not heard. Along with my 400i’s my other headphone reference points are the Meze 99 Classics and a set of Blon 03 IEMS. By the way if anyone has not heard the BLON’s i urged you to spend the $35 and buy em. They will not disappoint. They are in a class all their own. Imaging on the Deva is decent but not the best. I guess something has to be sacrificed to get this level of detail. It goes without saying the these headphones are going to play what you give them and play them exactly how it was recorded. These leads to some songs just killing it through the Deva’s and other just sound really good. The Deva’s are not a flat or boring headphone. They cover the frequency range extremely well especially in the bass and mid area. The bass is fantastic and true planar. The bass does not hit extremely hard its just all there. Drums are Amazing. Vocals are very good and well positioned. Treble is butter smooth with no fatigue for my ears.

Hifiman has created something very unique that seems to check all the boxes.

 

[Beagle]

The DEVA are like a (smoothly) brighter SUNDARA, with slightly less sub-bass and a more analytical sound.

Ugh..