[up late]

i auditioned the susvara and directly compared it to the final audio d8000 pro and focal 'nutopia'. each headphone was connected to the burson conductor 3r via its balanced headphone socket. now it might not be considered worthy of the susvara here but it did allow its talents to shine through sufficiently to leave a profoundly positive impression. so much so that i returned for another audition a couple of weeks later. i can't help thinking that says more about the headphone than the amp that powered it.

 

[jlemaster1957]

i auditioned the susvara and directly compared it to the final audio d8000 pro and focal 'nutopia'. each headphone was connected to the burson conductor 3r via its balanced headphone socket. now it might not be considered worthy of the susvara here but it did allow its talents to shine through sufficiently to leave a profoundly positive impression. so much so that i returned for another audition a couple of weeks later. i can't help thinking that says more about the susvara than it does about the burson.

Try Susvara with the 2023 Burson 3XGT with the upgraded power chip if you get a chance. I have found combined with YGGDRASIL OG that the dynamic bass, imaging and soundstage (while not perhaps the largest in the world but the most expansive —I— have heard) that others have described is very present, palpable and satisfying. YMMV.

Others, I am that mid-fi guy @thecrow mentioned above. I remain satisfied, if intrigued by the possibility of ‘more’. Burson will release an upgraded power module for the 3XGT this next month I will try next, it’s only a $300 upgrade. It’s true that I haven't tried speaker /power amps yet with Susvara because a) I am still unsure how best to do so most safely (there is a thread elsewhere on tbe forum called ‘speaker amps and headphones’ - I am reading thru and getting educated)- I may one day have a go; however, b) I am about to retire and go ‘on the road’ 3 months per year and can’t take my whole desktop rig with me when I go (especially not the Yggy, beast that it is), but want to take the Susvaras along- any additional gear I add now will in the short term need to offer me a transportable option that provides at least acceptable SQ- any suggestions?

 

[thecrow]

Try Susvara with the 2023 Burson 3XGT with the upgraded power chip if you get a chance. I have found combined with YGGDRASIL OG that the dynamic bass, imaging and soundstage (while not perhaps the largest in the world but the most expansive —I— have heard) that others have described is very present, palpable and satisfying. YMMV.

Others, I am that mid-fi guy @thecrow mentioned above. I remain satisfied, if intrigued by the possibility of ‘more’. Burson will release an upgraded power module for the 3XGT this next month I will try next, it’s only a $300 upgrade. It’s true that I haven't tried speaker /power amps yet with Susvara because a) I am still unsure how best to do so most safely (there is a thread elsewhere on tbe forum called ‘speaker amps and headphones’ - I am reading thru and getting educated)- I may one day have a go; however, b) I am about to retire and go ‘on the road’ 3 months per year and can’t take my whole desktop rig with me when I go (especially not the Yggy, beast that it is), but want to take the Susvaras along- any additional gear I add now will in the short term need to offer me a transportable option that provides at least acceptable SQ- any suggestions?

Is it a possibility to go with the he1000se whilst on the road?

if so, all you additionally need is a headphone jack or dongle for the road

 

[sahmen]

b) I am about to retire and go ‘on the road’ 3 months per year and can’t take my whole desktop rig with me when I go (especially not the Yggy, beast that it is), but want to take the Susvaras along- any additional gear I add now will in the short term need to offer me a transportable option that provides at least acceptable SQ- any suggestions?

I wouldn't consider the following option to be ideal for everyone, but having also pondered the idea of taking the Susvara with me OTG, and finding it extremely difficult to find means of powering it adequately away from my desktop setups, I have ended up with the idea of traveling with my He-1000se instead to deputize for the Susvara, at least on the road. I am glad to say that it has performed very well in that role on dongles and amp/DAC substitutes like those from Ifi (idsd Signature SE, Ifi Gold bar), and even on some from Cayin (RU6/7) without necessarily or exactly replicating the Susvara, but retaining enough of the latter's spirit and flavor to prevent me from missing it, while providing me with the sonic goodies of which it is capable in its own right, as the almighty He-1000se flying solo. Again, I am not sure that this option will satisfy every Susvara fan, at least not completely. What I am sure of is that, at least so far, I have preferred this option to the idea of transporting the Susvara itself in situations where it can be served exclusively by underpowered/underpowering dongles or transportable DAC/AMP combos.

Again, while this might not be everyone's cup of tea, I deem it worth mentioning as a possible data point to consider under such OTG circumstances.

 

[sahmen]

Is it a possibility to go with the he1000se whilst on the road?

if so, all you additionally need is a headphone jack or dongle for the road

I was typing my previous post when yours appeared, and it reassures me that the suggestion of the Hekse is not anyway outlandish under these circumstances

 

[jlemaster1957]

I wouldn't consider the following option to be ideal for everyone, but having also pondered the idea of taking the Susvara with me OTG, and finding it extremely difficult to find means of powering it adequately away from my desktop setups, I have ended up with the idea of traveling with my He-1000se instead to deputize for the Susvara, at least on the road. I am glad to say that it has performed very well in that role on dongles and amp/DAC substitutes like those from Ifi (idsd Signature SE, Ifi Gold bar), and even on some from Cayin (RU6/7) without necessarily or exactly replicating the Susvara, but retaining enough of the latter's spirit and flavor to prevent me from missing it, while providing me with the sonic goodies of which it is capable in its own right, as the almighty He-1000se flying solo. Again, I am not sure that this option will satisfy every Susvara fan, at least not completely. What I am sure of is that, at least so far, I have preferred this option to the idea of transporting the Susvara itself in situations where it can be served exclusively by underpowered/underpowering dongles or transportable DAC/AMP combos.

Again, while this might not be everyone's cup of tea, I deem it worth mentioning as a possible data point to consider under such OTG circumstances.

Thanks- great and reasonable suggestions. I don’t have HEK-SE but have thought about getting a pair for a while- maybe this will spur me to action.

 

[up late]

Try Susvara with the 2023 Burson 3XGT with the upgraded power chip if you get a chance. I have found combined with YGGDRASIL OG that the dynamic bass, imaging and soundstage (while not perhaps the largest in the world but the most expansive —I— have heard) that others have described is very present, palpable and satisfying. YMMV.

i'd be happy to if the dealer has one for demo. that said, i didn't think much of burson's interface, which i found laggy and frustrating to use.

 

[HelpMeWithHeadphones]

i auditioned the susvara and directly compared it to the final audio d8000 pro and focal 'nutopia'. each headphone was connected to the burson conductor 3r via its balanced headphone socket. now it might not be considered worthy of the susvara here but it did allow its talents to shine through sufficiently to leave a profoundly positive impression. so much so that i returned for another audition a couple of weeks later. i can't help thinking that says more about the headphone than the amp that powered it.

Great to hear. Ill be getting the Sus soon here (few days) and I have the ifi Ican pro sig at the moment to run it. I hope that should be enough power for the time being, but will be getting a Ferrum stack (oor hypsos) soon as I heard that was a really good choice in solid state for the Sus.

 

[WATASHIWA]

Hi, i can really recommend the Feliks Envy with the Susvara, it sounds so amazing that i don’t want to change anything, love to listen it and get always goosebumps, have the Performance Edition with the Stock Tubes. DAC’s makes a huge difference in the chain. I am using the Cambridge Edge NQ Streamer DAC and it sounds Amazing for my taste.

 

[SteveM324]

Try Susvara with the 2023 Burson 3XGT with the upgraded power chip if you get a chance. I have found combined with YGGDRASIL OG that the dynamic bass, imaging and soundstage (while not perhaps the largest in the world but the most expansive —I— have heard) that others have described is very present, palpable and satisfying. YMMV.

Others, I am that mid-fi guy @thecrow mentioned above. I remain satisfied, if intrigued by the possibility of ‘more’. Burson will release an upgraded power module for the 3XGT this next month I will try next, it’s only a $300 upgrade. It’s true that I haven't tried speaker /power amps yet with Susvara because a) I am still unsure how best to do so most safely (there is a thread elsewhere on tbe forum called ‘speaker amps and headphones’ - I am reading thru and getting educated)- I may one day have a go; however, b) I am about to retire and go ‘on the road’ 3 months per year and can’t take my whole desktop rig with me when I go (especially not the Yggy, beast that it is), but want to take the Susvaras along- any additional gear I add now will in the short term need to offer me a transportable option that provides at least acceptable SQ- any suggestions?

Are you not satisfied with your iems and Hiby R8 for portable use? I see you have several excellent iems and I'm curious why you wouldn't use them for travel. I retired about a year ago and I do a fair bit of travel. I wouldn't think of traveling with any of my full size headphones (even the easy to drive ones). For travel, I'm very satisfied with my Hiby R6 Pro2 and Sony IER-Z1R. I used to own the HEKSE and I wouldn't travel with it even though it's much easier to drive than the Susvara. Also, although some may disagree, imo the HEKSE is a significant step down from the Susvara. I definitely wouldn't buy the HEKSE for travel even if it's for a month or two at a time, but maybe that's just me.

 

[OCC7N]

Whats the most powerful portable headamp?

I name the first one from experience

iFi Diablo with 4.4.

Whats more powerful vs its size?

Damn I miss the Diablo.

 

[jlemaster1957]

Are you not satisfied with your iems and Hiby R8 for portable use? I see you have several excellent iems and I'm curious why you wouldn't use them for travel. I retired about a year ago and I do a fair bit of travel. I wouldn't think of traveling with any of my full size headphones (even the easy to drive ones). For travel, I'm very satisfied with my Hiby R6 Pro2 and Sony IER-Z1R. I used to own the HEKSE and I wouldn't travel with it even though it's much easier to drive than the Susvara. Also, although some may disagree, imo the HEKSE is a significant step down from the Susvara. I definitely wouldn't buy the HEKSE for travel even if it's for a month or two at a time, but maybe that's just me.

It’s funny you should write this because after I posted I thought the same- after I got the Sus’s they sort of took over my audio journey, and every new addition to my listening rig that I added to help bring them alive was rewarded richly - there is really nothing like them that way. But I have Arya too which is quite good with the R8 + Cayin C9 plus as you say the IEMS which (fit and seal issues aside) are all excellent sonically. It’s just hard to contemplate an extended period not hearing Susvaras.

 

[Ethereal Sound]

Kind of a quick update and sort of warning for potential hifiman customers but my recent experience with hifiman customer support has got to be one of the most exhausting and annoying experiences I've ever had with any company in hifi. I'm waiting on my third replacement Susvara (first came with internally bent connector, second had driver failure in left channel) and their customer service is so unresponsive at times it's almost unreal. To make matters worse, for some reason they have absolutely no way to contact them over the phone so I'm limited to waiting for their one email response per day, which usually arrives at 3AM. I received photo confirmation that my defective unit was delivered to their warehouse last Friday and I still haven't received any confirmation of a replacement unit being sent out yet. Literally any issue with them takes 2 weeks+ due to their poor communication.

Susvara still is the best headphone, in my opinion, barring maybe HE1 but their CS is just so frustrating to deal with I almost want to cry haha, it's like their CS's goal is to suck all joy out of this hobby. Anyways, hopefully my replacement unit is sent out shortly and this whole saga (which has gone on since the end of June) will end and I can never have to deal with their QC and CS ever again. *knocks on wood*

 

[BassicScience]

Kind of a quick update and sort of warning for potential hifiman customers but my recent experience with hifiman customer support has got to be one of the most exhausting and annoying experiences I've ever had with any company in hifi. I'm waiting on my third replacement Susvara (first came with internally bent connector, second had driver failure in left channel) and their customer service is so unresponsive at times it's almost unreal. To make matters worse, for some reason they have absolutely no way to contact them over the phone so I'm limited to waiting for their one email response per day, which usually arrives at 3AM. I received photo confirmation that my defective unit was delivered to their warehouse last Friday and I still haven't received any confirmation of a replacement unit being sent out yet. Literally any issue with them takes 2 weeks+ due to their poor communication.

Susvara still is the best headphone, in my opinion, barring maybe HE1 but their CS is just so frustrating to deal with I almost want to cry haha, it's like their CS's goal is to suck all joy out of this hobby. Anyways, hopefully my replacement unit is sent out shortly and this whole saga (which has gone on since the end of June) will end and I can never have to deal with their QC and CS ever again. *knocks on wood*

Patience is a virtue. Good luck getting any TOTL headphone replaced immediately.

 

[jlbrach]

the Raal team is wonderful with problems and I have had good service from audeze and abyss over the years