[Sajid Amit]

Fun fact - The HE6 Resolve is wearing are mine. Sent to him so he can assess in relation to HE6se and HE6se2. Spoiler, he confirms OG HE6 is on another level.

Also note, I have Susvara pads slapped on the HE6, which really helps out streamline the otherwise jagged treble response of HE6 (eliminates some grain).

HE6 6 screw (4 screw is less punchy and more stat-like) remains the best headphone of all time for bass slam. To my ears, still better than Susvara, and likewise 1266 TC. Objectively.

They absolutely require speaker amping - no exception to that rule. They're 10-15% more difficult to drive than Susvara. Early production HE6 4 screw even tougher.

HE6 is a legendary headphone, and I will never sell it again. If I could go back in time, I'd never have sold my first pair, and own 3 pairs happily. It's the best guilty pleasure headphone for rocking out and toe-tapping.

Man, how I would love to own one, the OG HE6.

 

[DJJEZ]

Yeah, I could have gotten another Woo Audio stand for the TC but I just couldn't resist after seeing so many photos of the TC on it. Looks great for the Susvara and other HPs too and is an excellent value for them.

I have the woo audio stand as well. Fantastic build quality.

 

[Shahrose]

Man, how I would love to own one, the OG HE6.

Having owned two of the originals and for quite a while, don't feel too bad. The Susvara, TC and SR1a are all easily better overall.
The HE6 have their strengths for sure, the speaker-like bass depth, punch, their slightly V-shaped "fun" presentation and large sound. But, they are outclassed in transparency, imaging, layering and microdetail. Also, IMO, all three of the above are more comfortable and ergonomic.

 

[murphythecat]

My Susvara arrived and even though i know there are a lot of reviews i think why shouldn't i give my impressions.

Build: Looks and feels like it comes out of a candy automat and breaks after 10 days of use. Feels less premium than HEKV2 and HEKSE for me. It also suprises me by how much smaller the earcups are than the HEK ones. Unlike something like the Utopia where you feel like you have a good build thing in your hand this is not.

Comfort: Actually maybe the most comfortable headphone i've ever worn. Due to the softer pads it's also better to use with glasses

Sound: The best headphone i've ever heard. Very inoffensive and does nothing wrong. It's the type of headphone you give to your friends and let them guess how much it costs and they say 100 bucks. Thats the same with the Utopia. Once you listen to it you can't stop. It presents the music in the most cohesive and delicate way i've heard this far.

It sounds closer to the HEKSE than to the HEKV2. I think the biggest difference to those is the timbre. While the HEKs already have a rather natural sounding timbre for a planar the Susvara is really magical and sounds more like a dynamic headphone.

However overall the HEKs come not even close to the Susvara and are not a substitution. After hearing the Susvara i think it's questionable if the HEKs are really worth it over the HD600/650 even though i think they are great headphones and better than a lot of their competion.

Another thing about the Susvara is that it's really a complete allrounder. It can not only play everything but is equally good at every genre no matter if its male vocals, female vocals, strings, techno or whatever. It's overall on the more airy side and i'd call it's presentation effortless.

Where a Utopia is maybe a bit stronger when it comes to the speed and grip of e guitars and raw detail it's limited to certain music and also fatiguing. The Susvara just covers everything and is not fatiguing at all. It's a bit like a super HD650.

Next to the timbre and the imaging maybe the most impressive aspect for me is the bass that i didn't expect. It reaches so deep and the quality is miles better than anything i've heard from a headphone. I was never impressed by percussions before in music. Mostly i didn't even notice them but with this headphone they sound so different. Same goes for Techno/Trance. Just listen to Astrix with this headphone. I didn't expect it to excel here but it does.

Like mentioned earlier due to the softer pads and the smaller earcups it's actually way better usable with glasses than the HEKs. Those are literally not usable with glasses. With the Susvara you loose of course also some seal and bass but it's not that dramatic that it wouldn't make sense to use the Susvara with it.

Overall this headphone is in it's own league for me.

It almost seem like the

Susvara is a super HD650
Utopia a super HD800

You mention Astrix... Is it the same psytrance guy from back early 2000's?

 

[Slim1970]

It almost seem like the

Susvara is a super HD650
Utopia a super HD800

You mention Astrix... Is it the same psytrance guy from back early 2000's?

In no way does the Susvara resemble the sound of an HD650

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Having owned two of the originals and for quite a while, don't feel too bad. The Susvara, TC and SR1a are all easily better overall.
The HE6 have their strengths for sure, the speaker-like bass depth, punch, their slightly V-shaped "fun" presentation and large sound. But, they are outclassed in transparency, imaging, layering and microdetail. Also, IMO, all three of the above are more comfortable and ergonomic.

Yes I agree the Susvara is much superior to the HE6 on all accounts. I had the six screw version.
The HE6 fit wasn't comfortable either for my head as it's lower setting was still too big for my head (my Susvara is on the last lowest notch too - Don't know why Hifiman make their headphones with such a large size head and don't accommodate too well for smaller heads).

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

In no way does the Susvara resemble the sound of an HD650

Yes complete;y dfferent sound. I wouldn't even compare the Susvara with the HD650 as it is a major disservice to the Susvara ! I had the HD650 for a while some time ago.

 

[Trance_Gott]

HE6 is a very good but a little bright headphone. Susvara is better much better in all aspects with superior tonality.

 

[iFi audio]

I always thought taking your cables off every day would lead to some sort of issue with the connectors.

I see this as a potential issue for IEMs more than regular headphones. Connectors such as mini-XLRs and 3.5mm plugs can take a lot of beating for years, so personally I wouldn't worry

 

[ThanatosVI]

I see this as a potential issue for IEMs more than regular headphones. Connectors such as mini-XLRs and 3.5mm plugs can take a lot of beating for years, so personally I wouldn't worry

Good to know

 

[Deolum]

It almost seem like the

Susvara is a super HD650
Utopia a super HD800

You mention Astrix... Is it the same psytrance guy from back early 2000's?

Or the Susvara a super HD650
and the Utopia a Super HD600.

For me the Susvara and the HD650 share a lot of characteristics, mainly having that smooth and unfatiguing top end while still being fun to listen to and balanced through the whole spectrum. This is in contrast to most modern headphones who feel like they are treble boosted to fake detail.

I don't know. In the early 2000s i was driving around in a stroller. But everyone knows "Deep Jungle Walk" i think. If not it's time to do it now with the Susvara.

Where can i start with looking for an amp with a great synergy for the Susvara? Since it's a softer headphone and my Dac is a softer R2R dac i'd like a harder sounding amp. Currently i use the THX887 which is fine but i'm not really sure about the power. However i owned once many totl amps and i'm not really keen on doing so again because i don't feel that amp price and performance correlate at all. So is there a page or something like that in this thread that's about the best amps? Or does anyone have a good suggestion? Something like the V281 wouldn't fit most probably because it's too smooth.

 

[KojiCO]

I haven't seen a dedicated thread to this headphone yet, so I thought why not create one,

So who has heard them?

Post impressions and pictures below

http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/hifiman/susvara.html

The earpads are a different shape due to the shorter and rounder housing

I have had the susvara on the review desk for a week now, and have put in close to 35 hours of listening time.

These headphones are some of the most natural sounding organic headphones I have heard, in the last 16 years, you will not find flashy gimmicks about the sound signature of these headphones, there is no party tricks to deceive you to pull you in and to give what is and naturally there.

They have some of the most beautiful cohesive interpretations of sound you will find, Instruments actually sound real, so much so that I am finding it difficult picking up other headphones on the desk after a long listening session. Singers perform to you personally, The way the vocals come across with emotion body and a sense of realism that’s breathtaking that times. It’s the placement of instruments in the mix soundstage decay micro detail dynamics and timbre is so cohesive so natural that when going from these headphones to another, you realise the majority of other headphones in the 1000 to 2000 category sound artificial at worst and mimicking at best.

LCDX, HD 800 S, P9 signatures T1 even extending the limit to anole VX. I spent a little time with Verity closed so I would not like to give compressions here for now, but it made all of those headphones on my desk and others utterly redundant.

I am finding myself in the situation where I am selling literally everything on the shelf to start over with a new system with susvara as the centrepoint.

To get this type of sound in a package that is so comfortable that can be worn for hours at a time it’s just happy days

If you’re still interested in more I will link the article once I write my review later on this week

This head phone definitely gets from my recommendations

Getting your Dekoni aftermarket pads before the hp, that is hilarious!

 

[Roasty]

Or the Susvara a super HD650
and the Utopia a Super HD600.

For me the Susvara and the HD650 share a lot of characteristics, mainly having that smooth and unfatiguing top end while still being fun to listen to and balanced through the whole spectrum. This is in contrast to most modern headphones who feel like they are treble boosted to fake detail.

I don't know. In the early 2000s i was driving around in a stroller. But everyone knows "Deep Jungle Walk" i think. If not it's time to do it now with the Susvara.

Where can i start with looking for an amp with a great synergy for the Susvara? Since it's a softer headphone and my Dac is a softer R2R dac i'd like a harder sounding amp. Currently i use the THX887 which is fine but i'm not really sure about the power. However i owned once many totl amps and i'm not really keen on doing so again because i don't feel that amp price and performance correlate at all. So is there a page or something like that in this thread that's about the best amps? Or does anyone have a good suggestion? Something like the V281 wouldn't fit most probably because it's too smooth.

The Bakoon Amp-13R is a very well-regarded pairing with the Susvara. quite a few folks here have it and love it.

 

[Shahrose]

Or the Susvara a super HD650
and the Utopia a Super HD600.

For me the Susvara and the HD650 share a lot of characteristics, mainly having that smooth and unfatiguing top end while still being fun to listen to and balanced through the whole spectrum. This is in contrast to most modern headphones who feel like they are treble boosted to fake detail.

I don't know. In the early 2000s i was driving around in a stroller. But everyone knows "Deep Jungle Walk" i think. If not it's time to do it now with the Susvara.

Where can i start with looking for an amp with a great synergy for the Susvara? Since it's a softer headphone and my Dac is a softer R2R dac i'd like a harder sounding amp. Currently i use the THX887 which is fine but i'm not really sure about the power. However i owned once many totl amps and i'm not really keen on doing so again because i don't feel that amp price and performance correlate at all. So is there a page or something like that in this thread that's about the best amps? Or does anyone have a good suggestion? Something like the V281 wouldn't fit most probably because it's too smooth.

Yes, I can appreciate the similarities.

Both the Susvara and HD650 are smooth, non-fatiguing, highly-scalable all-rounders that are among the best at their price points.

Though this second comparison isn't as close, the Utopia and HD600 are both neutral-ish headphones with a slight bass rolloff. Neither wows on first listen but shows its worth with more experience/headtime.

 

[Clive101]

I have been a long time eyeing up the Susvara and reading the forum about to pull the trigger to go with my WA33 EE JPS.......but @Bonesy Jonesy what have you done to me.

I see the HIFIMAN EF-1000 & SUSVARA COMBO seems to be good value when purchased together now you got me thinking !
(Sorry about the damage on delivery).

What do I do ?