[wasupdog]

Not an exciting answer but it sounds like a better version of the hek v2.

 

[gonzalo1004es]

Not an exciting answer but it sounds like a better version of the hek v2.

Thanks!

 

[JeffMann]

To those lucky guys who’ve listen to them, what would you say is the headphone with the closest sound signature to the Susvara? thanks!

I own both the Susvara and the HE1000v2 headphone and they have a similar sound signature, although I much prefer the Susvara.

Jeff.

 

[AnakChan]

I own both the Susvara and the HE1000v2 headphone and they have a similar sound signature, although I much prefer the Susvara.

Jeff.

When I gave the HE1Kv2, I felt it was quite refined however it didn't sound involving. I've had a pair of demo Susvara's since August '17 and to me it's more engaging, involving yet yet maintain a large soundstage. It's also impeccably precise in instrument position. The catch with the Susvara is the need of a hefty amp (and mine's being driven by a speaker amp via the HE Adapter). None of my existing headphone amps can drive the Susvara with authority as with my speaker amp.

 

[gonzalo1004es]

I own both the Susvara and the HE1000v2 headphone and they have a similar sound signature, although I much prefer the Susvara.

Jeff.

Thanks!

 

[JeffMann]

When I gave the HE1Kv2, I felt it was quite refined however it didn't sound involving. I've had a pair of demo Susvara's since August '17 and to me it's more engaging, involving yet yet maintain a large soundstage. It's also impeccably precise in instrument position. The catch with the Susvara is the need of a hefty amp (and mine's being driven by a speaker amp via the HE Adapter). None of my existing headphone amps can drive the Susvara with authority as with my speaker amp.

I agree that the Susvara is very involving and that it has very precise imaging that produces "palpable instruments" (a vague term that I use to describe very precise imaging where the instrument sounds very "real" with lots of air space/blackness between instruments). The two sound reproduction features of the Susvara that I particularly like is its "musical accuracy" and its smooth treble response that is totally free of sibilance. This is the first time in 47 years of being an avid audiophile (who mainly listens to classical music and opera) that I have been satisfied with the sound reproduction of female opera singer voices. On a scale of 1-to-10 for an exaggerated treble response - my Susvara is a zero, my HE1000v2 is a 3 and my HD800 is an 8.

I do not find the Susvara difficult to drive with my Violectric V281 and V280 headphone amplifiers. In fact, I have my Matrix Sabre-X Pro DAC's volume control set at -12db so that I can use my V281 headphone amplifier's volume control in the 11 - 1:30 o'clock range (when the V281's gain setting is at zero gain).

Jeff.

 

[zhgutov]

This is the first time in 47 years of being an avid audiophile (who mainly listens to classical music and opera) that I have been satisfied with the sound reproduction of female opera singer voices.

I always find the LCD3 to be close to the lifilike reproduction of such things like opera, and the female voices in terms of tonal balance.
On the other side I always find the headphones with the spikes above 4 kHz wrong sounding with this kind of recordings (but they may be fun with other recordings).
This makes Susvara very interesting to try, thanks for sharing your impressions.

 

[mrlawng9]

Hi All. I too drive my Susvara's via a Violectric V281 fed by a Berkeley Audio Labs Alpha DAC II and their USB / SPDIF converter. I think the Violecric isn't quite enough to power them properly. I will likely check out a first watt or a NP .5 / .8 series amp soon.

BUT, my question to you all is about HiFiMan Support. I went to listen to my Susvara's Friday AM and unfortunately, something catastrophic has happened to them - no sound. Took me an hour to realize it wasn't the amp or DAC! I never would've expected this type of failure from them. Regardless, I can't seem to get HiFiMan's attention. They list a NJ number on their website. I left a message Friday and then again today - but no response. Does anyone have any tips on how to contact them? Thanks!

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Hi All. I too drive my Susvara's via a Violectric V281 fed by a Berkeley Audio Labs Alpha DAC II and their USB / SPDIF converter. I think the Violecric isn't quite enough to power them properly. I will likely check out a first watt or a NP .5 / .8 series amp soon.

BUT, my question to you all is about HiFiMan Support. I went to listen to my Susvara's Friday AM and unfortunately, something catastrophic has happened to them - no sound. Took me an hour to realize it wasn't the amp or DAC! I never would've expected this type of failure from them. Regardless, I can't seem to get HiFiMan's attention. They list a NJ number on their website. I left a message Friday and then again today - but no response. Does anyone have any tips on how to contact them? Thanks!

Very rarely do headphones just stop working overnight. Nothing I have ever experienced.

Something must have happened, did you leave them plugged in and a power surge has destroyed the drivers, or turn the amp right up before powering it on by accident?

Cables all functioning?

Tried the headphones out of another source?

Anthing visably wrong with the drivers, did an animal knock them over and it put pressure on the cable sockets on the cups and broke them?

Also the V281 drives them with ease, and has plenty of power to spare, I really enjoyed them out of the V281.

 

[AnakChan]

Hi All. I too drive my Susvara's via a Violectric V281 fed by a Berkeley Audio Labs Alpha DAC II and their USB / SPDIF converter. I think the Violecric isn't quite enough to power them properly. I will likely check out a first watt or a NP .5 / .8 series amp soon.

BUT, my question to you all is about HiFiMan Support. I went to listen to my Susvara's Friday AM and unfortunately, something catastrophic has happened to them - no sound. Took me an hour to realize it wasn't the amp or DAC! I never would've expected this type of failure from them. Regardless, I can't seem to get HiFiMan's attention. They list a NJ number on their website. I left a message Friday and then again today - but no response. Does anyone have any tips on how to contact them? Thanks!

Very rarely do headphones just stop working overnight. Nothing I have ever experienced.

Something must have happened, did you leave them plugged in and a power surge has destroyed the drivers, or turn the amp right up before powering it on by accident?

Cables all functioning?

Tried the headphones out of another source?

Anthing visably wrong with the drivers, did an animal knock them over and it put pressure on the cable sockets on the cups and broke them?

Also the V281 drives them with ease, and has plenty of power to spare, I really enjoyed them out of the V281.

I don't think it's just volume though. Even my NW-WM1Z can drive the Susvara with sufficient volume that'll damage my hearing however (and that's where @mrlawng9's keyword has hit the mark) still doesn't drive the Susvara with sufficient "authority". It's a little hard to describe...the other analogy I can think of was a few years ago when I heard the Avant Garde Trio Classico where it played at a moderate volume but so effortlessly without sounding too "stressed" or too pushed. At least to my definition having a decent amp drives the Susvara in similar way - it drives the headphone with authority and ever so effortlessly.

@mrlawng9 about your issue, will see who I can reach from my side but no guarantees of any success though.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

I don't think it's just volume though. Even my NW-WM1Z can drive the Susvara with sufficient volume that'll damage my hearing however (and that's where @mrlawng9's keyword has hit the mark) still doesn't drive the Susvara with sufficient "authority". It's a little hard to describe...the other analogy I can think of was a few years ago when I heard the Avant Garde Trio Classico where it played at a moderate volume but so effortlessly without sounding too "stressed" or too pushed. At least to my definition having a decent amp drives the Susvara in similar way - it drives the headphone with authority and ever so effortlessly.

@mrlawng9 about your issue, will see who I can reach from my side but no guarantees of any success though.

I know it's not about volume, but out of the V281 the Susvara sounded effortless and never contsrained or stressed, unfortunately I only had the Marantz PM-5005 at the same time to test with Susvara and they sounded fuller out of that due to it's sound signature.

I now have the Keces S125 power amp, but no longer have Susvara to try out of it

 

[zhgutov]

V281 should be able to drive the Susvara at least up to 108 dB SPL with no "bad" distortion or something what can point to the possible problems (this is ~3000 mW per channel).
The harmonics at this point are below -100 dB relatively to the signal, no matter which test signal is used, and the distortion contain the 2nd and the 3rd harmonics primarily.
I am not trying to tell what this is the one and only thing which makes the sound good or not. But this is another point to consider, and this corresponds to the people who like this pairing.

 

[mrlawng9]

I don't think it's just volume though. Even my NW-WM1Z can drive the Susvara with sufficient volume that'll damage my hearing however (and that's where @mrlawng9's keyword has hit the mark) still doesn't drive the Susvara with sufficient "authority". It's a little hard to describe...the other analogy I can think of was a few years ago when I heard the Avant Garde Trio Classico where it played at a moderate volume but so effortlessly without sounding too "stressed" or too pushed. At least to my definition having a decent amp drives the Susvara in similar way - it drives the headphone with authority and ever so effortlessly.

@mrlawng9 about your issue, will see who I can reach from my side but no guarantees of any success though.

I agree wholeheartedly AnakChan. With the Violectric amp you can power the headphones but you get the feeling that there's about 30 - 40% of the headphones capabilities you're not 'harnessing'. IMO, It should sound more dynamic and more effortless. Some more context around this: The Pass Labs HPA-1 and XA30.8 both put out ~2.5 watts at 60 ohms - according to Pass Labs. One has significantly more current. My understanding is the former has a hard time powering the Susvara's and the latter does so exquisitely. I will report back once I get my pair fixed and a .5 / .8 amp in house.

And thank you - heading into day 3 of no contact from HiFiMan, I'd be appreciative of any contacts anyone may have.

 

[dill3000]

I agree wholeheartedly AnakChan. With the Violectric amp you can power the headphones but you get the feeling that there's about 30 - 40% of the headphones capabilities you're not 'harnessing'. IMO, It should sound more dynamic and more effortless. Some more context around this: The Pass Labs HPA-1 and XA30.8 both put out ~2.5 watts at 60 ohms - according to Pass Labs. One has significantly more current. My understanding is the former has a hard time powering the Susvara's and the latter does so exquisitely. I will report back once I get my pair fixed and a .5 / .8 amp in house.

And thank you - heading into day 3 of no contact from HiFiMan, I'd be appreciative of any contacts anyone may have.

I can agree with you about the HPA-1 with the Susvara also the HE-6 - I tried the HPA-1 with my HE-6 at London CanJam 2016. It couldn't drive them at all, I got clipping also. By the way, have the Pass Labs XA30.8 and it truly makes the Sasvara and HE-6 shine like nothing else! I have also driven my HE-6s with all the top Violectric amps so it would be similar results with the Susvara, Yes it has the power to drive them but you can still drive them better. The only way I can describe it is the effortless way!! similar to hearing a top artist singing and hitting notes effortlessly verses another artist singing and hitting good notes (they can surely sing) but it's not effortless. This is how the Sasvara and HE-6 is - to hear them at their best requires lots of high-quality current from a transparent amp.

 

[bozebuttons]

I agree wholeheartedly AnakChan. With the Violectric amp you can power the headphones but you get the feeling that there's about 30 - 40% of the headphones capabilities you're not 'harnessing'. IMO, It should sound more dynamic and more effortless. Some more context around this: The Pass Labs HPA-1 and XA30.8 both put out ~2.5 watts at 60 ohms - according to Pass Labs. One has significantly more current. My understanding is the former has a hard time powering the Susvara's and the latter does so exquisitely. I will report back once I get my pair fixed and a .5 / .8 amp in house.

And thank you - heading into day 3 of no contact from HiFiMan, I'd be appreciative of any contacts anyone may have.

Try & email them customerservice@hifiman.com