[Ethereal Sound]

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

I agree that patience is a virtue. I don't expect immediate replacement but you know, this is my third replacement, through no fault of my own and it's been over 2 1/2 months. Some may find that acceptable for a headphone of this cost but I certainly don't.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I agree that patience is a virtue. I don't expect immediate replacement but you know, this is my third replacement, through no fault of my own and it's been over 2 1/2 months. Some may find that acceptable for a headphone of this cost but I certainly don't.

Going through a third replacement is tough, especially for the cost at this level. Receiving a response a day in this hobby is definitely engaging at least, to be fair though. Btw, I'm not a huge fan of hifiman despite loving their products.

 

[BassicScience]

I agree that patience is a virtue. I don't expect immediate replacement but you know, this is my third replacement, through no fault of my own and it's been over 2 1/2 months. Some may find that acceptable for a headphone of this cost but I certainly don't.

You've obviously had some bad luck throughout this process, but based on their track record, HFM will make it right. I bought a new Holo Spring 3 DAC a while back, and it took three weeks to get a response to an email about the warranty transfer policy. I'd already sold it by the time I got the answer. Getting my Utopia fixed/replaced was a two month process that involved sending the headphone across the country twice at my expense. STAX apparently took weeks or months to replace some early X9000 units that had bad drivers. My point is that HFM isn't any worse than a lot of other companies when it comes to customer service, and I actually think they're above average. YMMV, obviously.

I'm not sure why you're peeved about the one email per day situation. HFM's customer support is based in China, about a 9-12 hour time difference depending on where you live in the US. If you want faster communication, maybe buy a ZMF or something...

 

[Ethereal Sound]

You've obviously had some bad luck throughout this process, but based on their track record, HFM will make it right. I bought a new Holo Spring 3 DAC a while back, and it took three weeks to get a response to an email about the warranty transfer policy. I'd already sold it by the time I got the answer. Getting my Utopia fixed/replaced was a two month process that involved sending the headphone across the country twice at my expense. STAX apparently took weeks or months to replace some early X9000 units that had bad drivers. My point is that HFM isn't any worse than a lot of other companies when it comes to customer service, and I actually think they're above average. YMMV, obviously.

I'm not sure why you're peeved about the one email per day situation. HFM's customer support is based in China, about a 9-12 hour time difference depending on where you live in the US. If you want faster communication, maybe buy a ZMF or something...

Yeah I suppose I've just been unfortunate enough to have some bad luck. I figured HFM CS was based in China. I was more upset about 1 email a day because I wouldn't get a response until the next day even if I would respond to their email within 10 mins. With my replacement process , it seems a lot was dependent on correspondence so not getting communication just delayed things further. Either way, I think I just got overly fed up with the whole situation, I understand the correspondence isn't bad at all. Based off your experience, I guess this is just par for the course, I just never had this many issues with other hifi companies so I wasn't aware this was supposed to be the norm.

 

[joseph69]

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.

Spoke to HiFiMAN over the phone (first call) +/-1 month ago, as well as the rep giving me her cell# so we could speak/text about replacing the Serenity Pads which were sent to me instead of the UltraPads I ordered for my original HE1000 V2. The UltraPads arrived within the same week before I even shipped back the Serenity Pads.

 

[Ethereal Sound]

Spoke to HiFiMAN over the phone (first call) +/-1 month ago, as well as the rep giving me her cell# so we could speak/text about replacing the Serenity Pads which were sent to me instead of the UltraPads I ordered for my original HE1000 V2. The UltraPads arrived within the same week before I even shipped back the Serenity Pads.

Wait, so the phone number on their website actually works?

 

[OCC7N]

I agree that patience is a virtue. I don't expect immediate replacement but you know, this is my third replacement, through no fault of my own and it's been over 2 1/2 months. Some may find that acceptable for a headphone of this cost but I certainly don't.

You have had 3 Susvaras that died on you?

Maybe something is not right in your system. HiFiMan is generous. I doubt their QC is that bad. Too high dc offset maybe?

 

[joseph69]

Wait, so the phone number on their website actually works?

Worked fine for me. And this wasn't the first time I've spoken to HiFiMAN over the phone.

 

[sahmen]

Wait, so the phone number on their website actually works?

Yep it did for me just earlier this week, although one usually have to be patient with it, because sometimes it seems automated to interface with other numbers and can act funny that way before someone eventually answers it, i.e. if they decide to, as opposed to letting it go to some dead-end answering service. I also find that I am more successful when I call them earlier in the working day (Eastern time) rather than later.

 

[Ethereal Sound]

You have had 3 Susvaras that died on you?

Maybe something is not right in your system. HiFiMan is generous. I doubt their QC is that bad. Too high dc offset maybe?

No, I've had one with driver failure. The other had an internally bent connector. I'm waiting on my third replacement. The susvara I had before ran on all my gear for years without issue so it's not a DC offset issue

 

[jlbrach]

Worked fine for me. And this wasn't the first time I've spoken to HiFiMAN over the phone.

I have never been able to get through to hifiman on the phone and e-mail communication takes forever...on the positive side when my earpads wore out I contacted them via e-mail...they asked for proof of purchase which I sent and they sent me out replacement pads free of charge

 

[rwelles]

A couple of days ago, I received a used pair of Susvara that are in absolutely mint condition!

Of course, the first question in this thread will be, what am I using to drive them?

A GS-X mini, which puts me somewhere be a brachiator and a barbarian. I bought this a few weeks ago with the thought that this would be a reasonable starting point. One of the great things about Headamp is their upgrade policy. I've been watching for info about their upcoming CFA3. They also carry the new HFM Prelude, but there very little info that I've been find on this one.

The first thing I listened to was The Planets (Mehta/LA Phil). I was gobsmacked by the soundstage coherency. My jaw dropped, figuratively and literally. I have never ever heard a symphony orchestra presented with such accuracy!! Everything was in the right place and never wavered in position.

The next thing I noticed was the perfect tonality. Normally, it takes my head a while to readjust to the sound when I switch headphones, "brain burn-in" if you will. From the moment I put on the Susvara, everything immediately sounded perfect. It didn't take even a sec; it just sounded "right" from the get-go.

No matter what genre I played, it still sounded perfect. These are the very first headphones I consider to be honest-to-god all-rounders. Everything else I've heard always worked well with some genres, but not across the board like these.

As a newbie owner, I have a couple of questions.

1. Alternative pads. These are pretty comfy, but they rub the tips of my outer ears just enough to be annoying. Hoping there is something just a touch deeper.
2. Cable recommendations. I've been using the Lavricable Master 4-core that I got for my HEK v2. The previous owner recommended their Grand 8-core.

...and yeah, a hardcover owners manual! I didn't even know that was a thing!!

 

[Ethereal Sound]

A couple of days ago, I received a used pair of Susvara that are in absolutely mint condition!

Of course, the first question in this thread will be, what am I using to drive them?

A GS-X mini, which puts me somewhere be a brachiator and a barbarian. I bought this a few weeks ago with the thought that this would be a reasonable starting point. One of the great things about Headamp is their upgrade policy. I've been watching for info about their upcoming CFA3. They also carry the new HFM Prelude, but there very little info that I've been find on this one.

The first thing I listened to was The Planets (Mehta/LA Phil). I was gobsmacked by the soundstage coherency. My jaw dropped, figuratively and literally. I have never ever heard a symphony orchestra presented with such accuracy!! Everything was in the right place and never wavered in position.

The next thing I noticed was the perfect tonality. Normally, it takes my head a while to readjust to the sound when I switch headphones, "brain burn-in" if you will. From the moment I put on the Susvara, everything immediately sounded perfect. It didn't take even a sec; it just sounded "right" from the get-go.

No matter what genre I played, it still sounded perfect. These are the very first headphones I consider to be honest-to-god all-rounders. Everything else I've heard always worked well with some genres, but not across the board like these.

As a newbie owner, I have a couple of questions.

1. Alternative pads. These are pretty comfy, but they rub the tips of my outer ears just enough to be annoying. Hoping there is something just a touch deeper.
2. Cable recommendations. I've been using the Lavricable Master 4-core that I got for my HEK v2. The previous owner recommended their Grand 8-core.

...and yeah, a hardcover owners manual! I didn't even know that was a thing!!

Awesome that you're enjoying the Susvaras. They are truly one of the, if not the, best all rounder headphones that you can get.

With regard to 1: The stock pads are best. If you absolutely must get aftermarket pads, you can get the Dekoni hybrid fenestrated pads and they should be pretty good. It should be noted that QC on the Susvara stock pads vary. I've seen/owned ones where the stock pads are more flush to the ear and others that have a bit more thickness to them and allow your ears to sit farther back from the drivers a bit.

2. I personally recommend a Norne audio silver cable.

 

[normie610]

I've been watching for info about their upcoming CFA3

Get this one when it becomes available. You won’t regret it.

 

[MatW]

1. Alternative pads. These are pretty comfy, but they rub the tips of my outer ears just enough to be annoying. Hoping there is something just a touch deeper. .

I also found them too shallow and I don't have large ears. The Dekoni pads are not much deeper. I ended up using ZMF auteur hybrid pads with a Hifiman mounting ring, as someone in this thread suggested, and I'm quite happy with that.