I took delivery of a new Susvara last week and have been enjoying them for about 25 hours. Here are some early impressions.
I would describe them as being nicely balanced and natural. The stage is equal in both width and depth and imaging is very clear. The texture on instruments is some of the best I've heard. I think however that they lack a bit in overall attack but otherwise they are up there with the 1266, my current favorite, in overall performance. The timbre is the best I've heard on a planar but it's not miles ahead of other planars like I had expected from reading some impressions. For me the timbre is comparable with dynamics like the Borealis or 650. However I really like the timbre of the 1266 and some think that it sounds really unnatural so maybe I'm perceiving timbre a bit differently.
To compare to some headphones the Susvara is softer in attack and bass and treble energy than the 1266. But it has a more even tonality and in doing so helps some of the microdetails present themselves a bit better. Versus the LCD-5 the Susvara wins hands down unless you want a bit more bass texture but the LCD-5 sounds a bit off with it's stock tuning where the bass and treble are light but the mids are forward. Cymbals on the LCD-5 sound lacking especially in shimmer or sizzle. EQ helps the LCD-5 a lot but I prefer not to EQ headphones when comparing them.
Here's two albums that I've enjoyed a lot on the Susvara in the past few days:
Five seconds flat - Lizzy McAlpine
Vulture Prince - Arooj Aftab
The comfort of the Susvara is some of the best I've experienced. It doesn't clamp too much, it's lightweight, and the pads don't touch my ears. I'm sure my thoughts on these headphones will change as I get more time on them but wanted to share some initial thoughts on them. Here's my setup at the moment: