[ufospls2]

Well, thats a couple months that I have owned the Susvara now. I have come to three main observations, and I am pretty set on these now, vs the first few days of ownership when I still wasn’t 100% sure.

1. The Abyss Phi is still my favourite headphone, but it is close.
2. The Susvara is a worthy upgrade over the HE1000V2, but not $3000(!)USD worthy.
3. It is the comfiest headphone I have owned.

So. The Susvara vs the Abyss Phi is an interesting comparison. The Phi is more in your face, aggressive, and the Susvara is more relaxing and chilled out. Its a softer sound. The Susvaras bass is more wooly and round sounding. It doesn’t box your ears off like the Phi. The mids on the Susvara are a bit more forward. The highs are also a little bit less sibilant and smoother than the Phi. In terms of soundstage, the Phi are larger and wider.

I listened to the HE1000V2 again, and the only thing it does better than the Susvara is it has a taller soundstage. I think this might be due to the shape of the cups? I’m not sure. The Susvara does every other aspect of sound reproduction better. Is it worth $3000USD more? No, but if you can get a good deal on the Susvara, and you should be able to, it is worth saving for.

The Susvara is so comfortable. Even more comfortable than the HD800(S) to me, and that was my previous most comfortable headphone. They aren’t too heavy, and the weight they do have is well distributed. The ear pads are really comfortable, but I would have liked to have seen real leather and better craftsmanship on them. That brings me to my next point.

The Susvara have a much better build than the HE1000V1, which I used to own. They are a tiny bit better than the V2’s, but don’t feel as sturdy as the Sundara. I have been careful with them, but they haven’t fallen apart, or had any troubles yet. With that being said, especially at their asking price, the build and materials could be way better. Perhaps if they had gone all out in terms of materials and craftsmanship, they would be worth the current MSRP. As it stands? They fall short. In terms of sound, yeah, they are pretty darn good.

 

[gordec]

Well, thats a couple months that I have owned the Susvara now. I have come to three main observations, and I am pretty set on these now, vs the first few days of ownership when I still wasn’t 100% sure.

1. The Abyss Phi is still my favourite headphone, but it is close.
2. The Susvara is a worthy upgrade over the HE1000V2, but not $3000(!)USD worthy.
3. It is the comfiest headphone I have owned.

So. The Susvara vs the Abyss Phi is an interesting comparison. The Phi is more in your face, aggressive, and the Susvara is more relaxing and chilled out. Its a softer sound. The Susvaras bass is more wooly and round sounding. It doesn’t box your ears off like the Phi. The mids on the Susvara are a bit more forward. The highs are also a little bit less sibilant and smoother than the Phi. In terms of soundstage, the Phi are larger and wider.

I listened to the HE1000V2 again, and the only thing it does better than the Susvara is it has a taller soundstage. I think this might be due to the shape of the cups? I’m not sure. The Susvara does every other aspect of sound reproduction better. Is it worth $3000USD more? No, but if you can get a good deal on the Susvara, and you should be able to, it is worth saving for.

The Susvara is so comfortable. Even more comfortable than the HD800(S) to me, and that was my previous most comfortable headphone. They aren’t too heavy, and the weight they do have is well distributed. The ear pads are really comfortable, but I would have liked to have seen real leather and better craftsmanship on them. That brings me to my next point.

The Susvara have a much better build than the HE1000V1, which I used to own. They are a tiny bit better than the V2’s, but don’t feel as sturdy as the Sundara. I have been careful with them, but they haven’t fallen apart, or had any troubles yet. With that being said, especially at their asking price, the build and materials could be way better. Perhaps if they had gone all out in terms of materials and craftsmanship, they would be worth the current MSRP. As it stands? They fall short. In terms of sound, yeah, they are pretty darn good.

I agree with your assessment. Now in terms of your comparison to the Phi, I feel Susvara can give you that aggressive, in-your-face quality in tracks that are recorded such. However, Susvara doesn’t “enhance” average quality tracks to give you that dynamic presentation. I don’t know the answer because I have never tried the Phi because my neck won’t be able to handle the Phi which sucks because I want to hear them. I think we are looking at the very best planar or as matter of fact dynamic headphone can do. Now Sennheiser HE1 is still in another league, but the technology is very different.

 

[Matez]

I agree with your assessment. Now in terms of your comparison to the Phi, I feel Susvara can give you that aggressive, in-your-face quality in tracks that are recorded such. However, Susvara doesn’t “enhance” average quality tracks to give you that dynamic presentation. I don’t know the answer because I have never tried the Phi because my neck won’t be able to handle the Phi which sucks because I want to hear them. I think we are looking at the very best planar or as matter of fact dynamic headphone can do. Now Sennheiser HE1 is still in another league, but the technology is very different.

My experience tells me that Susvara shows what music and hardware is at work far better than most headphones out there. It can sound laid back or aggressive and forward, it's like a well-balanced chameleon without too much of its own character I'd say. But I've never heard Abyss at my place. It doesn't look comfy though.

 

[gordec]

My experience tells me that Susvara shows what music and hardware is at work far better than most headphones out there. It can sound laid back or aggressive and forward, it's like a well-balanced chameleon without too much of its own character I'd say. But I've never heard Abyss at my place. It doesn't look comfy though.

Totally agree. Susvara really shines when tracks are well recorded. Poorly recorded tracks Susvara doesn’t sound too much different from HeK, but if the track is well-recorded, Susvara really separates.

I’m looking for a new DAC. I have been using the integrated McIntosh DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I feel I can squeeze more out of the Susvara with a better DAC. Any recommendations? Things I care most about are natural sounding and great soundstage depth.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Totally agree. Susvara really shines when tracks are well recorded. Poorly recorded tracks Susvara doesn’t sound too much different from HeK, but if the track is well-recorded, Susvara really separates.

I’m looking for a new DAC. I have been using the integrated McIntosh DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I feel I can squeeze more out of the Susvara with a better DAC. Any recommendations? Things I care most about are natural sounding and great soundstage depth.

iFi iDSD Micro Black Label, excellet DAC

https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.com/2017/05/ifi-idsd-bl-pinnacle-of-dac-and-amp.html

 

[gordec]

iFi iDSD Micro Black Label, excellet DAC

https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.com/2017/05/ifi-idsd-bl-pinnacle-of-dac-and-amp.html

I tried the BL. It doesn’t sound as good as the McIntosh integrated amp. The only thing the BL did better was native DSD. It’s a fine DAC for what it’s designed for but not really desktop level DAC.

 

[lunarhjs]

Totally agree. Susvara really shines when tracks are well recorded. Poorly recorded tracks Susvara doesn’t sound too much different from HeK, but if the track is well-recorded, Susvara really separates.

I’m looking for a new DAC. I have been using the integrated McIntosh DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I feel I can squeeze more out of the Susvara with a better DAC. Any recommendations? Things I care most about are natural sounding and great soundstage depth.

Get the Hugo2.

 

[seaice]

Totally agree. Susvara really shines when tracks are well recorded. Poorly recorded tracks Susvara doesn’t sound too much different from HeK, but if the track is well-recorded, Susvara really separates.

I’m looking for a new DAC. I have been using the integrated McIntosh DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I feel I can squeeze more out of the Susvara with a better DAC. Any recommendations? Things I care most about are natural sounding and great soundstage depth.

Chord Hugo TT2 or Dave. I really like Dave with Susvara. And Dave>iFi Pro iCan as well.

 

[T Bone]

I’m looking for a new DAC. I have been using the integrated McIntosh DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I feel I can squeeze more out of the Susvara with a better DAC. Any recommendations? Things I care most about are natural sounding and great soundstage depth.

Chord has announced their new Hugo TT 2 (thread) with a nearly double the number of FPGA taps than the "old" Hugo TT. It should be hitting the streets later this summer. I plan to order one as soon as they become available.

 

[lunarhjs]

Chord has announced their new Hugo TT 2 (thread) with a nearly double the number of FPGA taps than the "old" Hugo TT. It should be hitting the streets later this summer. I plan to order one as soon as they become available.

I've been planning to get the Hugo 2, but I've been concerned that they will release a Hugo 3 by next year. So I'm thinking to wait it out for my Susvara as I'm also getting a dac.

 

[seaice]

Chord Hugo TT2 or Dave. I really like Dave with Susvara. And Dave>iFi Pro iCan as well.

Plus the Chord Hugo TT 2 could have a great headphone amp. The specs are OK even for Susvara.

 

[T Bone]

Plus the Chord Hugo TT 2 could have a great headphone amp. The specs are OK even for Susvara.

Agreed - I am impressed by the details that Chord has released. It looks like the headphone amp will drive just about anything out there including high-efficiency speakers!
I'll quote Robb Watts directly from the Hugo TT2 thread.

But where TT2 really comes into it's own is raw power; you have the capability of 18W RMS using the balanced XLR, and 7W RMS single ended (SE). What's interesting about this is that when the power goes up, the measurements stay the same - no degradation as the load is increased. And you can drop the load impedance, and the linearity is unaffected, and this is absolutely crucial for driving tough loads. This project has proven very interesting, as there has been a lot of cross-fertilisation from the prototypes of the power pulse array project (which promises huge powers); indeed, the TT2 OP stage comes from the power pulse array design.

...snip...

It has a standby switch which puts power to well below 2W; and the remote also controls standby.

The power supply actually is quite complex; on powering up, a specific fixed current is drawn from the PSU to charge the supercaps, and this takes typically 10 seconds to charge. Two sets of inductors are used to filter the input, plus copious RF filters; also the PSU is not any old unit - I needed a power supply that would meet international safety specs, and have no measured difference in performance (measured using the APX 2.5MHz ADC's) with the power connected or disconnected - and eventually after testing several, I found the unit supplied with TT 2.

TT2 has a low gain setting; this ensures that the OP noise voltage is only 1.6uV - that's the lowest residual noise of any DAC I have ever designed (against the high gain max OP voltage it's -135dB). I have to account for the AP's 1uV of residual noise to do this measurement!

 

[T Bone]

I've been planning to get the Hugo 2, but I've been concerned that they will release a Hugo 3 by next year. So I'm thinking to wait it out for my Susvara as I'm also getting a dac.

If you need a portable amp for your Susvara, the Hugo 2 is certainly a good choice. I've been impressed by it in the role of DAC/Amp Combo.
If you need a DESKTOP DAC and Amp in a single unit for your Susvara, you might want to give the forthcoming Hugo TT 2 serious consideration. (TT=Table Top)

Another desktop amp to consider is the well regarded HeadAmp GS-X mkII. As an owner, I can tell you it is a fantastic amplifier and able to drive anything. I was at CanJam SoCal 2018 and was encouraged to see so many vendors demonstrating their hihg-end headphones using the HeadAmp GS-X - including the Susvara!

 

[gordec]

I tried Hugo and the TT mk 1. Never enjoyed the Chord sound. I was thinking the Schiit offerings or one of the popular R2R Nos DACs.

 

[onlychild]

Any DAVE owners running the Susvara straight from the DAVE with no amp?

Just starting to look into the Susvara and not sure if DAVE’s 2W is good enough.