[seaice]

Mine never lasted more than a few months (usually 3-6). See the photo of some of my broken pads - mostly originals, one Dekoni in the middle. The photo should answer your question about glue. I use them almost every day (avg. a couple of hours per day), just sitting and listening when working on my PC. I believe this should not happen. I have owned many high-end headphones for years (e.g. Staxes 009 and 007), used them more than Susvara and this never happened. So the only conclusion is that the Susvara pads are just a piece of... There is no other explanation.

 

[Slim1970]

What I miss the most with the V2 is sense of air , separation and precision ; I am not overly impressed by the stage as it lacks sense of air and I find it a bit diffused -or bloated ( not precise ) , they are still burning but I feel them more fatiguing the hekse if for hours - long sessions .
@Slim1970 ( answering you question ) as for bloated I mean that it could be more precise and have less diffusion on some parts of the freq (> that is part of instruments , or definition of some instruments > think of classical , space of an instrument in regards to the whole space could be more defined , or more confined i.e. in a quartet if in regards to the others' that are playing with -instead of fused togheter .

What I miss with hekse is right timbre ( just an example for voices timber usually lacks body or sound very slightly hazed ) if I had this they would be perfect in their' own regard , I wonder if anything can be done since this depends so largely of the speed of response of the drivers ( fastest I've ever heard ) that somewhat eat decay

I get you. You want a more focused sound with better precision when it comes to instrument separation within the soundfield. This is a strength with the Susvara's, less so with the other headphones in Hifiman lineup. The HEKse's are better in this regard in comparison to the V2's, but as you are hearing you lose a bit of the natural sound and timbre in the process with the inclusion of the stealth magnets.

The Susvara's are able to maintain a better sense of speed, attack, precision, and spaciousness while still sounding natural in comparison to the other Hifiman headphones. This is what makes them special. The Susvara's are one of the best headphones I have ever owned. They just need to be properly driven to get the most out of them. I may look at acquiring them again at some point.

 

[orrman]

I'm starting to get worried about the lifespan of my Susvara pads from reading comments. I realize it will vary, but how long have you all gone with pads, if you had them brand new?
I'm assuming I can get direct from Hifiman...
And what's with the glue? Are they difficult to take off? Difficult to put new ones back on?

I've used mine for a year almost daily and pads were in great shape. I actually have a second set of pads but didn't end up using them and sold the Sus without them.

 

[boodi]

I get you. You want a more focused sound with better precision when it comes to instrument separation within the soundfield. This is a strength with the Susvara's, less so with the other headphones in Hifiman lineup. The HEKse's are better in this regard in comparison to the V2's, but as you are hearing you lose a bit of the natural sound and timbre in the process with the inclusion of the stealth magnets.

The Susvara's are able to maintain a better sense of speed, attack, precision, and spaciousness while still sounding natural in comparison to the other Hifiman headphones. This is what makes them special. The Susvara's are one of the best headphones I have ever owned. They just need to be properly driven to get the most out of them. I may look at acquiring them again at some point.

It remains to understand how can it be used and efficient on portable/transportable.

Hekse has a good amount of sub bass and also some kick/impact with good productions ( i.e. hi - res prdocution in general ), ...Susvara is different in this regard ? More ? Or rounder ? Or else..

 

[devilboy]

Mine never lasted more than a few months (usually 3-6). See the photo of some of my broken pads - mostly originals, one Dekoni in the middle. The photo should answer your question about glue. I use them almost every day (avg. a couple of hours per day), just sitting and listening when working on my PC. I believe this should not happen. I have owned many high-end headphones for years (e.g. Staxes 009 and 007), used them more than Susvara and this never happened. So the only conclusion is that the Susvara pads are just a piece of... There is no other explanation.

Good Lord. Get the hell out of here!
3 to 6 months? And this happens? Over and over again? Multiple pairs?
I simply can't believe this. If this is such a common thing for you how come It's not more of a well-known defect?
I'm just thinking of the process that I go through with them. I take them off the stand that holds them by the metal band, I gently pull them apart and place them gently on my head. My head stays relatively stationary throughout the listening session and then I reverse the process. What in God's name is going on that you have such an issue?

 

[boodi]

Good Lord. Get the hell out of here!
3 to 6 months? And this happens? Over and over again? Multiple pairs?
I simply can't believe this. If this is such a common thing for you how come It's not more of a well-known defect?
I'm just thinking of the process that I go through with them. I take them off the stand that holds them by the metal band, I gently pull them apart and place them gently on my head. My head stays relatively stationary throughout the listening session and then I reverse the process. What in God's name is going on that you have such an issue?

different clamping ( due to different head/jaws size ) ?

hekse and v2 have similarl and similarly built pads if I don't go wrong , and I can't see them lasting more then several months.. or 1 year..depending on how much use and other factors of course ..
the problem is the layer of foam that lays underneath , a material that is light , solid enough and nice on fit at first , and very much subject to deform permanently out of its shape quite fast with use .. too fast possibly . not sure why Hifiman didn't find a good substitute for it .

 

[Polygonhell]

Susvara pads are just a piece of... There is no other explanation.

Interesting I've had the same pads on mine for over 18 months, I've considered replacing them just because pads tend to compress over time.
It has to be something environmental going on there or your just incredibly unlucky.

 

[seaice]

Interesting I've had the same pads on mine for over 18 months, I've considered replacing them just because pads tend to compress over time.
It has to be something environmental going on there or your just incredibly unlucky.

I also thought it was something in my environment, but I moved to a new flat ca two years ago, and it happened again with multiple pairs of new pads. The same happened in my old flat. So I must be somehow toxic, or my shampoo is. What other explanations are there?
I also thought it was my headphone stand, so I do not use it anymore; I hang Susvara carefully on the top metal band, but this has not helped.
This never occurred to me with other headphones/pads in the same environments I have been using Susvara... Yes, I use them very often, but that was the case with other headphones as well. But I owned the other headphones much longer and used them more frequently and not so carefully...

I think that the glued construction is not built to last my heavy (frequent) usage (sometimes long hours per day). But I am just sitting and listening, doing something on my PC, nothing extreme.

 

[orrman]

I also thought it was something in my environment, but I moved to a new flat ca two years ago, and it happened again with multiple pairs of new pads. The same happened in my old flat. So I must be somehow toxic, or my shampoo is. What other explanations are there?
I also thought it was my headphone stand, so I do not use it anymore; I hang Susvara carefully on the top metal band, but this has not helped.
This never occurred to me with other headphones/pads in the same environments I have been using Susvara... Yes, I use them very often, but that was the case with other headphones as well. But I owned the other headphones much longer and used them more frequently and not so carefully...

I think that the glued construction is not built to last my heavy (frequent) usage (sometimes long hours per day). But I am just sitting and listening, doing something on my PC, nothing extreme.

Your use description is not different from how I used mine and it was nowhere near being like that. They looked close to new until their last day. Maybe a bit more compressed from the clamp but not much.
Only difference I can think of is I really try not to use my headphones immediately after a shower or beard wash and let everything dry before putting them on. I use my speakers at those times (or the mysphere headphones when I had them lol)

 

[Pashmeister]

I'm starting to get worried about the lifespan of my Susvara pads from reading comments. I realize it will vary, but how long have you all gone with pads, if you had them brand new?
I'm assuming I can get direct from Hifiman...
And what's with the glue? Are they difficult to take off? Difficult to put new ones back on?

Mine got cracked up after a year and a half (humid country). But I blame the weather, even my old dekoni pads’ glue gave up. This time I got a bunch of silica packets in my display case to hopefully avoid that in the future.

 

[seaice]

Your use description is not different from how I used mine and it was nowhere near being like that. They looked close to new until their last day. Maybe a bit more compressed from the clamp but not much.
Only difference I can think of is I really try not to use my headphones immediately after a shower or beard wash and let everything dry before putting them on. I use my speakers at those times (or the mysphere headphones when I had them lol)

Thanks! I never use any headphones after a shower etc. I also measure temperature and humidity in my listening rooms and everything is OK. So I am not sure why this is happening repeatedly with Susvara pads. The glued construction of the pads is actually the only explanation I can think of after eliminating all other options.

 

[migo]

Mine never lasted more than a few months (usually 3-6). See the photo of some of my broken pads - mostly originals, one Dekoni in the middle. The photo should answer your question about glue. I use them almost every day (avg. a couple of hours per day), just sitting and listening when working on my PC. I believe this should not happen. I have owned many high-end headphones for years (e.g. Staxes 009 and 007), used them more than Susvara and this never happened. So the only conclusion is that the Susvara pads are just a piece of... There is no other explanation.

Are you sweating a lot? Or live you in are with high humidity? Friend of mine of mine have similar problem with Arya pads, but he sweats a lot. I've never that problem with Arya or Susvara now. Listening mostly every day for 1-2h.

 

[devilboy]

After owning the Meze Elite, the only acceptable method for me is magnetic pads. I simply don't know why the rest of the industry doesn't go this way.

 

[Frankie D]

@thecrow -or anyone- sorry if I ask again as you might have had all hekse hekv2 and Susvara , as well as most people here possibly ,
could you describe differences or tell which one is the most similar ?

Did you - or anyone - use Susvara on portable -transportable use ?
If yes, what equipment ?

Thanks , appreciated .


What I miss the most with the V2 is sense of air , separation and precision ; I am not overly impressed by the stage as it lacks sense of air and I find it a bit diffused -or bloated ( not precise ) , they are still burning but I feel them more fatiguing the hekse if for hours - long sessions .
@Slim1970 ( answering you question ) as for bloated I mean that it could be more precise and have less diffusion on some parts of the freq (> that is part of instruments , or definition of some instruments > think of classical , space of an instrument in regards to the whole space could be more defined , or more confined i.e. in a quartet if in regards to the others' that are playing with -instead of fused togheter .

What I miss with hekse is right timbre ( just an example for voices timber usually lacks body or sound very slightly hazed ) if I had this they would be perfect in their' own regard , I wonder if anything can be done since this depends so largely of the speed of response of the drivers ( fastest I've ever heard ) that somewhat eat decay

For transportable use you can try the Centrance Ampersand ( amp ) and M8 ( DAC ). Maybe some folks here have tried it with the Sus. I have heard it at shows with the Heddphone and like it very much. It looks to have more than enough power.

 

[BassicScience]

To learn how to change Susvara pads with the minimum effort, search this thread for "credit card".

I've currently got over a year on my stock pads, which is a record by a factor of 2 or so. I switched to the Dekoni FSS pads after introduction, and found the sound quite similar to the stock pads. Other users were less happy with them. The Dekoni pads' glue also failed after 6-8 months, but Dekoni replaces them free up to two years. The Dekoni pads can vary in thickness IME, so I bought a pair of stock last time I sent the Dekoni back for replacement, and they've been on the cans since.

I live in a moderate humidity climate, so attribute the failures to a poor design that stresses the thin glue joints too much even with normal handling. I posted a possible fix long ago. Search this thread for "electrical tape", if interested.