[Matoriv]

By the way, I find that the $99 JDS Labs Atom drives the Sundara great. Especially on high gain, there is plenty of power and headroom. That being said, the ADI-2 DAC does better, not that surprising though.

First full week of listening to the Sundara, my positive thoughts on it are still the same. I even prefer it to the Elex for most classical/instrumental genres. You get that nice planar width and natural presentation the Elex just can't do.
This week I was experimenting with EQ more, and the Sundara responds incredibly well to EQ. For certain bright tracks, I prefer to bring down the upper mids just a touch, -2 dB at 4 kHz, and also the treble at 9.5 kHz. And -4 dB from 12 to 13 kHz which I find to be the most elevated region compared to the 58X and Elex. I'm pretty sure I have the most recent revision of the Sundara with the updated pads, since some reviewers think there was a stealth revision at some point last year, don't know if that's true or not. But my Sundara sounds very well balanced except for that one bright spot from 12 to 13 kHz. It's great though that the Sundara doesn't have any sharp peaks anywhere. It's more like gradual elevations spanning a larger area. Unlike the Elex which does have a sharp bright peak at 10.5 kHz to my ears. So the Sundara is nice and smooth, kind of like the 600 series Sennheisers, but with much better technical performance. And with some small EQ adjustments, it's even better for me.

Cool, thanks for sharing.
I was looking at the Elex too but it was quite pricey and read recent reviews of bad QC that have yet to be resolved.
Understand that the hifiman have similar QC issues but at about 1/3 the price of the Elex and good reviews (and curious about planar magnetic), figure might as well try it out.
Hope I do not have to wait too long for it!

 

[senorx12562]

Cool, thanks for sharing.
I was looking at the Elex too but it was quite pricey and read recent reviews of bad QC that have yet to be resolved.
Understand that the hifiman have similar QC issues but at about 1/3 the price of the Elex and good reviews (and curious about planar magnetic), figure might as well try it out.
Hope I do not have to wait too long for it!

I have the Sundaras, Elex, and the 6xx. Other than the pads, I have had no problems with the Sundaras, and the overall build quality seems pretty solid otherwise. I typically run them balanced from the Gungnir Multibit>Jotunheim combo, and am very happy with them. I can even drive them with my Shanling M0, but with no headroom at all, and they sound pretty thin. They really do benefit from more power and balanced operation.

Based on sound quality alone, I would probably choose the Elex, but it would be a tough call. They are much more open and airy than the Sundaras, with better staging, but the Sundaras are smoother and more "liquid" in presentation. If I had to have only one headphone, it would probably be the Senns, because of their reliability. They also have the best midrange tonality and timbre to my ears. I bought the Sundaras new, but the Elex was used, so was only $50.00 more than the Sundaras. Both at retail I think the Elex is double the price, so the Sundaras are a much better value.

 

[Matoriv]

You could split the outputs on the DAC via a split RCA cable to feed the amp and the headphones.

would the split RCA cable be something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/SING-LTD-Female-Splitter-Digital/dp/B07Q8FRWV9

 

[Matoriv]

I have the Sundaras, Elex, and the 6xx. Other than the pads, I have had no problems with the Sundaras, and the overall build quality seems pretty solid otherwise. I typically run them balanced from the Gungnir Multibit>Jotunheim combo, and am very happy with them. I can even drive them with my Shanling M0, but with no headroom at all, and they sound pretty thin. They really do benefit from more power and balanced operation.

Based on sound quality alone, I would probably choose the Elex, but it would be a tough call. They are much more open and airy than the Sundaras, with better staging, but the Sundaras are smoother and more "liquid" in presentation. If I had to have only one headphone, it would probably be the Senns, because of their reliability. They also have the best midrange tonality to my ears. I bought the Sundaras new, but the Elex was used, so was only $50.00 more than the Sundaras. Both at retail I think the Elex is double the price, so the Sundaras are a much better value.

Thanks, wow you have some high-end schiit!

I was not that impressed by the HD6XX even after a few months of usage through the fulla 2 and sold it after awhile.
I managed to find the Sundara here at 1/3 the price of the Elex so it was no brainer for me.
Hope to audition those schiit and Elex eventually before making a decision on them.

 

[yeboyi]

I have the Sundaras, Elex, and the 6xx. Other than the pads, I have had no problems with the Sundaras, and the overall build quality seems pretty solid otherwise. I typically run them balanced from the Gungnir Multibit>Jotunheim combo, and am very happy with them. I can even drive them with my Shanling M0, but with no headroom at all, and they sound pretty thin. They really do benefit from more power and balanced operation.

Based on sound quality alone, I would probably choose the Elex, but it would be a tough call. They are much more open and airy than the Sundaras, with better staging, but the Sundaras are smoother and more "liquid" in presentation. If I had to have only one headphone, it would probably be the Senns, because of their reliability. They also have the best midrange tonality and timbre to my ears. I bought the Sundaras new, but the Elex was used, so was only $50.00 more than the Sundaras. Both at retail I think the Elex is double the price, so the Sundaras are a much better value.

Try the Ananda. Probably destroys both Sundara and Elex.

 

[Matoriv]

Try the Ananda. Probably destroys both Sundara and Elex.

Yup, hope to try as well but will probably destroy my wallet too

 

[yeboyi]

Yup, hope to try as well but will probably destroy my wallet too

Ahahah Yeah their price is fair but they are expensive cans. It requires you to push your budget. Still end of the day it will worth it imo. Also better than wasting ton of money on placebo dac/amps. My only concern is durability with them.

 

[morndewey]

Been many reports of channel imbalance on these?
Is there a simple clever way to verify proper channel balance?

 

[senorx12562]

Ahahah Yeah their price is fair but they are expensive cans. It requires you to push your budget. Still end of the day it will worth it imo. Also better than wasting ton of money on placebo dac/amps. My only concern is durability with them.

I love placebo. Probably about as much as you love kool-aid.

 

[MalinYamato]

Sundara arrived today. I bought the Chinese "beauty" 中国美人 to complement my Japanese Denon 日本電音 AH-D7200 in genres such as classics and jazz. So far I have listened to them for about an hour and I am amazed. The improvement in sound with respect to classics and jazz is more than I expected of Sundara. Oppo ha-2SE (high-gain and base-boost on) has enough power to feed them, but I am curious how much an upgrade in gears, amp and dac may improve the sound further.

 

[Shane D]

Sundara arrived today. I bought the Chinese "beauty" 中国美人 to complement my Japanese Denon 日本電音 AH-D7200 in genres such as classics and jazz. So far I have listened to them for about an hour and I am amazed. The improvement in sound with respect to classics and jazz is more than I expected of Sundara. Oppo ha-2SE (high-gain and base-boost on) has enough power to feed them, but I am curious how much an upgrade in gears, amp and dac may improve the sound further.

That should be a real nice combo. Great mix of open and closed.

 

[DivineCurrent]

Been many reports of channel imbalance on these?
Is there a simple clever way to verify proper channel balance?

You could use a sine tone generator, like this one: https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
Start from 20 Hz and slowly sweep all the way up to 20 kHz, and see if you can hear any differences in the left and right channels. I find even perfectly channel matched headphones like the Sennheiser HD 600 still vary a bit, most likely due to slight hearing loss in different frequencies in each of my ears. So as long as it doesn't sound drastically different, you should be ok. My Sundara has great channel matching.

Has anyone here had the chance to compare the Sundara to the original HE-500? I am interested in finding one to compare the two, since I've heard so many great things about the old HE-500. Specifically I'm wondering if there is better bass impact and dynamics on the HE-500, since it's a double sided magnet design.

 

[senorx12562]

Based on my recollection of the 500 (been a few years), the Sundara is kind of a 500 without the 500s' problems, which for me were comfort and weight, build quality, and highs that could get a bit strident and grainy; Sundara's highs are much smoother. That said, the 500s did have better bass extension, though not as fast. From memory, I don't think the slam differs much, and the low-end dynamics are a little better on the Sundara, which might be a function of the speed of the Sundara.

 

[DivineCurrent]

Based on my recollection of the 500 (been a few years), the Sundara is kind of a 500 without the 500s' problems, which for me were comfort and weight, build quality, and highs that could get a bit strident and grainy; Sundara's highs are much smoother. That said, the 500s did have better bass extension, though not as fast. From memory, I don't think the slam differs much, and the low-end dynamics are a little better on the Sundara, which might be a function of the speed of the Sundara.

Interesting. I was wondering if the highs would be toned down a little in level on the 500s, but maybe that isn't the case. Same with the dynamics. Then again, I do compare the Sundara to the Elex occasionally, and the Elex dynamics are just insane so not really a fair comparison for a planar vs. a high excursion dynamic driver. However, the Sundara does amazing in it's own right, beating out Sennheisers in most categories. Haven't tried an Audeze yet, but something tells me I won't like them as much as the Sundara. Especially if they are recessed in the 3-5 kHz upper mids/lower treble, that area is very important for instrument timbre.

 

[senorx12562]

Interesting. I was wondering if the highs would be toned down a little in level on the 500s, but maybe that isn't the case. Same with the dynamics. Then again, I do compare the Sundara to the Elex occasionally, and the Elex dynamics are just insane so not really a fair comparison for a planar vs. a high excursion dynamic driver. However, the Sundara does amazing in it's own right, beating out Sennheisers in most categories. Haven't tried an Audeze yet, but something tells me I won't like them as much as the Sundara. Especially if they are recessed in the 3-5 kHz upper mids/lower treble, that area is very important for instrument timbre.

Had lcd2s, and the problem you vote was exactly why I sold them off. Some may disagree, but that is why the market supports so many different 'phones. And unlike some others, I don't doubt how other people hear. At least out loud.