[P.Car]

... I'm not buying another Chord product without trying it. I think it's the colorful LEDs that gets me. I remember in school, I always go to Applebee's. The food always sucked, but I keep going back. Then my friends were like, it must be the bright red logo that's draws you.

This is the best analogy regarding Chord gear I've ever heard.

 

[lunarhjs]

I measured the Susvara, the cups are 4.5 in wide, 1.8 in deep at the thickest portion of the ear pads, and 9 in tall. I want to store it like Audeze pelican cases. I though about rotating the cups so I can store it flat, but that’s too much stress on the head band. Which Pelican case should I get?

I obtained the 1400 Pelican case to fit for my Susvara and portable dac/amp.

 

[Whazzzup]

This is the best analogy regarding Chord gear I've ever heard.

well i didn't like riblettes from applebees and never went back. Chord sticking for me but i don't gear churn....

 

[gordec]

I'm demoing Soundaware P1 amp. It's a spectacular amp for driving the Susvara. I hate saying it, but it sounds better than my MHA100 and Pro iCan by decent amount. Very open, airy and natural sound.

 

[lunarhjs]

If anyone is interested, I'm selling a brand new condition HE1000 V2 with warranty, obtained from Hifiman. Only letting go because I got the Susvara. Located in NY to meet and can do PayPal. Looking for $2,000.

 

[lunarhjs]

I'm demoing Soundaware P1 amp. It's a spectacular amp for driving the Susvara. I hate saying it, but it sounds better than my MHA100 and Pro iCan by decent amount. Very open, airy and natural sound.

That's excellent news as it's been claimed to drive out the top headphones in the market and saves audiophiles the stress from sorting through the variety of amps in the market. I happen to be in the market for a true amp, and through my research the P1 does appear to be supreme. Its dimensions and weight is quite appealing as well. You should post a side by side photo of it with the Susvara.

 

[rgs9200m]

Yeah, Susvara is a great headphone. Very Goldilocks-sounding. From first listen, no thought of it being too bright, too dull, too bassy, bass-light, or anything.
Just sweet and natural with great impact and very very natural. A big step up from the HEKv2.
Sounds like the feeling you get when you find a great pair of new shoes and you just say ahhhhh...

Listening with the Lazulli Ref cable I had on my HEKv2. (Great match with the Susvara.)
And I'm not sensing any problem with build quality or craftsmanship either. It's a step up build-wise from the HEKv2, and I really had no issues with that.
In fact, I love the size adjuster. It locks in firmly and is not flimsy at all.
And comfort is 10/10.

 

[TheAttorney]

And I'm not sensing any problem with build quality or craftsmanship either. It's a step up build-wise from the HEKv2, and I really had no issues with that.
In fact, I love the size adjuster. It locks in firmly and is not flimsy at all.
And comfort is 10/10.

Having tried the Susvara at the London meet, I'll agree up to a point, although nobody could ever honestly claim that the HEK's are the gold standard in high end build quality - I'm not talking about whether bits fall off, or the precision of the size adjuster - I'm taliking about the fundemantally low cost of the metal and plastic parts that make up most of the Susvara and HEK. I'm all for a manufacturer saving money by getting low cost parts to work effectively. But I'm so very strongly against that manufacturer then charging OTT high end prices for such a low manufacturing-cost product. So for a balanced perspective on any product, I like to give praise where it's due, but criticism also where it's due.

Regarding comfort, I also agree up to a point, but on the Susvara I tried, my right (slightly larger) ear was definitely touching the driver enclosure - a complete deal breaker for me. It distracted from the otherwise fine comfort factor.
Some people will hate this, and others won't have a problem at all. Depending on exact placement, I can also get my right ear to very slghtly touch my HEK driver enclosure, but it's slight enough not to be distracting. I guess the difference in pad thickness is only 1 or 2 mm, and may even be due to sample variation, but i can only report on what I find.

 

[P.Car]

+1

Well stated The Attorney.

HiFiMan uses the cheapest materials they can find which is nothing new when it comes to manufacturing in that part of the world.

The problem I have is with the price of admission.

My HE-6 SE sound amazing for a fraction of the cost of the Susvara. The extra $4,000 cannot simply be going into the driver technology.

HiFiMan wanted to make a statement with the Susvara MSRP. They did just that but at a cost of losing some loyal customers.

The recent trend of pricing cans similar to speakers is not the direction this hobby needs to go in IMO.

This exact issue is what has killed the 2 channel HiFi stereo industry.

Not many folks can buy a speaker playback system that costs as much as a home.

Subsequently, HiFi is dying. A good indicator of this is the fact that last year's RMAF looked like a ghost town unless you were on the bottom floor of the hotel where CanJam was being held.

The hallways were literally empty on a Saturday afternoon which should be the busiest day of the three day event.

The pricing pendulum will hopefully swing back the other direction before it's too late.

Hopefully some manufacturers are reading this thread and take note...

 

[gordec]

+1

Well stated The Attorney.

HiFiMan uses the cheapest materials they can find which is nothing new when it comes to manufacturing in that part of the world.

The problem I have is with the price of admission.

My HE-6 SE sound amazing for a fraction of the cost of the Susvara. The extra $4,000 cannot simply be going into the driver technology.

HiFiMan wanted to make a statement with the Susvara MSRP. They did just that but at a cost of losing some loyal customers.

The recent trend of pricing cans similar to speakers is not the direction this hobby needs to go in IMO.

This exact issue is what has killed the 2 channel HiFi stereo industry.

Not many folks can buy a speaker playback system that costs as much as a home.

Subsequently, HiFi is dying. A good indicator of this is the fact that last year's RMAF looked like a ghost town unless you were on the bottom floor of the hotel where CanJam was being held.

The hallways were literally empty on a Saturday afternoon which should be the busiest day of the three day event.

The pricing pendulum will hopefully swing back the other direction before it's too late.

Hopefully some manufacturers are reading this thread and take note...

Are you saying headphones are killing 2 channel speaker systems? The headphone sale in general has been going up every year. https://www.statista.com/statistics/327000/worldwide-sales-headphones-headsets/

 

[P.Car]

gordec,

No, what I'm saying is if we all have to pay $8,000 for a top end headphone in a few years, I believe a lot of folks are going to throw in the towel.

The reason headphone sales are growing (I believe) is that it doesn't cost $100,000 to get into a good sounding system.

Let's keep it that way.

 

[rgs9200m]

Maybe I'm not too attuned to these things, but I don't really see much difference in materials between my Utopia/LCD4/Susvara. Maybe I would need to look more intently.
But as long as it's sturdy, I am not concerned. Sound is everything to me. But that's just my outlook, just personal. And the Susvara sure is sturdy.
And the sound! OMG.

I actually find the Hifiman significantly more comfy than the LCD or Utopia. And I have pretty big ears that stick out. I'm 6 feet tall with a fairly large head. Again it's personal, but for me, the HEK and Susvara are tops in comfort.

And if you look around just a little and ask, there are good deals on the top Hifiman (and other top-end) phones.

I had the original HE6 and it was too shrill and aggressive with me and my headphone amps were struggling. The Susvara and HEK are fine with regular headphone amps.
(I was almost scared away thinking I'd need a speaker amp, but this was not true. It seems about the same as the HEK in this respect. So no problems there at all.)

And again, repeating, the sound is worth every penny to my ears.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Maybe I'm not too attuned to these things, but I don't really see much difference in materials between my Utopia/LCD4/Susvara. Maybe I would need to look more intently.
But as long as it's sturdy, I am not concerned. Sound is everything to me. But that's just my outlook, just personal. And the Susvara sure is sturdy.
And the sound! OMG.

I actually find the Hifiman significantly more comfy than the LCD or Utopia. And I have pretty big ears that stick out. I'm 6 feet tall with a fairly large head. Again it's personal, but for me, the HEK and Susvara are tops in comfort.

And if you look around just a little and ask, there are good deals on the top Hifiman (and other top-end) phones.

I had the original HE6 and it was too shrill and aggressive with me and my headphone amps were struggling. The Susvara and HEK are fine with regular headphone amps.
(I was almost scared away thinking I'd need a speaker amp, but this was not true. It seems about the same as the HEK in this respect. So no problems there.)

And again, repeating, the sound is worth every penny to my ears.

My worry with the Susvara's build quality would be the ear pads crumbling after less than two years, which has happened to at least several HE1000 V2's. HiFiMan's soft materials are garbage. Also 2.5mm headphone connectors are just not very sturdy, no idea what they were thinking. Their old screw on type is better but they should just use mini XLR.

Also a used Susvara is still over $4k which is kind of crazy for any headphone, let alone one with somewhat cheap build quality and cable.

 

[gordec]

As a happy Susvara owner, I agree that the build quality can be better. It’s really good, but it’s not Utopia. I also agree it’s a little overpriced because I don’t think any headphone should be more than $3000. But I think most of us who bought the Susvara care utmost about sound, and it’s the best sounding can I have heard. Some of us are at a point in our lives where that amount of money isn’t going to alter long term outlook of our families’ financial situation (I hope). But I agree with everyone’s point of view. If Susvara was $3500 MSRP, not one would be saying anything.

 

[rgs9200m]

Again I stress this is all IMHO, but to me, Fang and his designers are gifted engineers and he has pulled away from Audeze in the magplanar world.
It's almost impossible to compare the Susvara and Utopia, because they are such different listening experiences. But I absolutely cannot say which sounds better.
Of course it's new-toy syndrome, but the Susvara would never leave my desk if I had to choose...

This is really a golden age of headphones compared to even 5 or 10 years ago. I'm sort of shocked at the level of quality out there.