[539465]

Japan really is heaven

fixed that for you

 

[rlanger]

fixed that for you

Well, you live here long enough it's not all unicorns and pokemon, but yeah it's pretty great.

 

[Benaudio]

Ok, so after only a few hours of listening, you were right Benaudio. They are better in absolutely every way than the HE-4XX... except for the cable. This thing is a piece of dog doo. The 4XX cable is much better, and that's not saying much.

But that sound. Oh, that glorious sound. I bought mine used from e-Earphone in Tokyo so I assume they are fully burned-in. Pretty much brand new condition. They look like they've never been used actually and I paid the equivalent of US$250. So, pretty happy right now.

Out of my XDuoo XD05, they sound beautiful to my ears. Controlled bass with the perfect amount of slam, smooth, sparkling highs and nice mids. I don't tend to listen to a lot of vocal music, but guitars, saxes and other mid-range instruments sound fabulous. Right now I'm listening to Mark Lettieri's Deep: The Baritone Sessions, and it's shaking my brain in a very good way.

Instrument separation and clarity are wonderful and the soundstage is large enough to give the out-of-the-head feeling without being too large that it lacks the intimacy I like having with headphones.

The 4XX is definitely a capable headphone, and for the $140 I paid for them, probably really tough to beat for that price. But the Sundara are in another league altogether. I've had far more expensive setups in the 15 years I've been in this hobby, but none more pleasing to my ears.

glad you like them!
I don’t like to make recommendations because of the responsibility it entails, but this was a pretty safe one!

 

[Benaudio]

And yes, the cable is trash, I’m using Meze’s 50$ balanced one, great for the price

 

[ManuLM]

Hi There,
I am considering buying a Sundara to extend the lower part of the spectrum from my HD650.
The sundara sound like an appropriate candidate.
I'm on the verge of buying one, but I am wondering if Hifiman still has quality issues on the recent production ?
Reddit and many other places are full of people complaining about mostly failing drivers on Sundara. To be fair most of these complaints date from 2 years ago.
Has this issue popped up recently in here ?

 

[529128]

I never experienced any issues whatsoever. I think the problems are somewhat exaggerated. Not saying they never occur but negative experiences tend to dominate some forum threads. The Sundara is an amazing can - much better than its price indicates - and I would say it complements the HD650 very well.

 

[539465]

I never experienced any issues whatsoever. I think the problems are somewhat exaggerated. Not saying they never occur but negative experiences tend to dominate some forum threads. The Sundara is an amazing can - much better than its price indicates - and I would say it complements the HD650 very well.

6XX, Sundara, DT1990, perfect endgame for me with my Bas X A-100
mid forward, neutral, v shaped
vocals, chill movies/music, detail music/movies + gaming

feelsgoodman to be 4 headphone purchases deep and already be set

 

[529128]

feelsgoodman to be 4 headphone purchases deep and already be set

Excellent. Enjoy the music!

 

[ManuLM]

I never experienced any issues whatsoever. I think the problems are somewhat exaggerated. Not saying they never occur but negative experiences tend to dominate some forum threads. The Sundara is an amazing can - much better than its price indicates - and I would say it complements the HD650 very well.

Thanks for your feedback, that is a fair statement...
Meanwhile I just browsed the last pages of this thread, no complaints whatsoever on reliability
I'm actually thinking of buying them second hand so quality matters

 

[ics1974]

Hi There,
I am considering buying a Sundara to extend the lower part of the spectrum from my HD650.
The sundara sound like an appropriate candidate.
I'm on the verge of buying one, but I am wondering if Hifiman still has quality issues on the recent production ?
Reddit and many other places are full of people complaining about mostly failing drivers on Sundara. To be fair most of these complaints date from 2 years ago.
Has this issue popped up recently in here ?

No issues with mine but they are only a month one. I absolutely love the Sundara

 

[529128]

I'm actually thinking of buying them second hand so quality matters

You might want to check directly with Hifiman if they have a set of b stock/open box available. That would save you some money while getting their full warranty.

 

[529128]

I absolutely love the Sundara

Me too! Decided to sell mine as I have the HE-500 but now I miss it.

 

[539465]

No issues with mine but they are only a month one. I absolutely love the Sundara

NGL I don't think all companies are treated equal, topping just blew up 4 people(that we know about) headphones, some worth over $1000 refused to pay when it was their fault and morons on another forum are making threads literally 'Should I buy this topping amp; I know I shouldn't but should I buy this amp" I think Hifiman get a lot of flacc for being a Chinese company, all the reps I have talked to are in China or Chinese I think they may be a little out of touch due to general cultural language differences as far as some features of products or maintaining a good company image (social media wise they don't care as much from my experiences) but I really doubt they were ever horrible. I think it's that old made in China meme which has been slowly dying and as someone who does business with Chinese almost daily, in general their customer service is amazing.

 

[539465]

You might want to check directly with Hifiman if they have a set of b stock/open box available. That would save you some money while getting their full warranty.

these are US & Canada only btw (he is EU)

EDIT- actually Availability: Out of stock so not even for US/Canada
and I was told in general Sundara stocks right now are low, my Chinese business contact are all AFK until the 18th for holiday so I don't know situation but they may fully run out of stock soon if production in China is halted... that being said Hifiman support(at least outside China) will stay working thru holiday!

 

[liuj2001]

Japan really is an audiophile's heaven. Most users here take extremely good care of not only the products, but also the packaging, so you can often get deals on used goods that are in absolute mint condition.

Absolutely! Waiting for a pair of Sony IER-Z1R from a Japanese seller, even he just said it's used, but I expect nothing short of mint.
Not only audio gear, I used to buy used camera lenses from Japan market, they even put on gloves to handle the gear when taking pictures.