[timsams]

i know and i never want sus have bass like tc cause i'm currenty own the tc and respect the sus characteristic, just want to have it a lillte more deep and impact bass that would be great. Tc never had the organic and natural sound like sus. i wish i can try the cfa3 from headamp to compare with bliss

EQ is an option. I use mine with a low-shelf 10dB boost, 54Hz, Q0.5. If you don't like EQ, that's more or less the same setting used for Ifi xBass button

 

[BillinSF]

EQ is an option. I use mine with a low-shelf 10dB boost, 54Hz, Q0.5. If you don't like EQ, that's more or less the same setting used for Ifi xBass button

I run the Ifi with xBass thru AHB2 into Sus and it punches bass pretty hard.

 

[briantrinh86]

EQ is an option. I use mine with a low-shelf 10dB boost, 54Hz, Q0.5. If you don't like EQ, that's more or less the same setting used for Ifi xBass button

i don't use ifi dac to have that option.

 

[theveterans]

the thing i wish is sus has a little more oomph and impact to the bass region but still maintain sus's chracteristic , i don't know if the ultra high end amp can deliver better bass than the holo bliss kte. listen sus on bliss + may combo+ hqplayer i always feel the bass is not sastified to my preference. what amp under 10k better than the bliss? is the woo wa33?

You can get a primaluna integrated for less than 5K and it should slap Susvara’s bass. Just don’t expect ultra resolving ability that the WA33 JPS provides

 

[joshua1122]

Maybe I need to turn my audiophile card in, because I'm experiencing something ridiculously shameful I finally upgraded my Arya to a Susvara because I've recently heard a Sus on an Oor, and thought it would be a good upgrade. It's a different sound (side-grade) to my Caldera, so I liked it.

After burn in, I customized the oratory1990 PEQ to my ears (-7dB preamp), then have been testing my new Sus on a Jotunheim 2 all day. Surprisingly, I felt that the Jot2 gets pretty close in quality to my memory of how the Oor sounded. I have tons of headroom on the Jot2 (6.0W@32Ω, ~60dB @9:30 on knob, high gain), so I figured I'd see how the Magni Piety (1.0W@32Ω) would do, fully expecting it to choke and die miserably - we all know how hard Fussy Sussy is to drive.

I had to put the Piety up to about @11 on high gain to get it to about the same volume. I didn't immediately notice a huge diff! Careful listening revealed a slightly collapsed sound stage. The Piety (on high gain) is extra bassy/warm amp, so I didn't feel like I lost any bass, but I felt like I could sense less dynamics – but not confidently enough to pass a blind test. Overall not as good, but it still sounded pretty good, I thought.

So what about going down to a weaker FiiO M11s (670mW@32Ω) DAP? I had to pump it to about 73% volume on high gain to reach the same volume. I finally noticed SLIGHTLY less bass, and maybe about the same of sound stage as the Piety. I think I might feel less dynamics, but not by a significant amount. I feel I could add a bit more bass in the EQ, walk around the house with Sussy, and not really notice a tangible difference to the Jot2 at all.

Ok, how about a Qudelix 5k (240mW@32Ω)? Sacrilige, I say. Well, it took ~90% to volume match. Umm... with A/B testing fatigue, I honestly can't tell between the FiiO and the Qudelix in USB DAC mode

To save time, I jumped to last place: Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (13mW@32Ω). Volume matched at ~93%. To be scientific enough, I used a SPL meter + baffle to calibrate a 1kHz tone to the same 74.3dB on both the dongle and the Jot2. Subjectively... it was obvious dynamics suffered. The bass was flatter. Sound stage was much narrower. Imaging muddied. Compared to the Arya on Jot2, the Sus on the dongle is still a bit better on most metrics, but not by much.

However... Later, I was listening to music as I was researching the output power of other amps, and thought "man, this track sounds really good, just a bit loud"... when I realized my Jot2 volume knob wasn't reducing the volume: I was still plugged into the Apple USB-C dongle! The shame I felt – albeit my attention being elsewhere, this $8 dongle successfully tricked me into thinking I was using something literally 462x more powerful!

Now, I wouldn't claim the dongle sounds close to the Jot2. But the difference between a volume-matched dongle, Qudelix 5k, and Jot2 isn't as big as I had imagined it would be. I didn't get any noticeable distortion (I guess 50-60dB is "quiet"?), and anything > 100mW seems to have a "passable" enough experience. Of course, we don't pay $6k to just get a "passable" experience, so this is all moot point. Sorry for the long rant. I just found it funny that without critical listening, I couldn't even tell I was on a dongle! For shame... I guess "Fussy Sussy wasn't really fussy, Was he?"

On a more serious note: Any opinions on Oor vs Bliss for Sus, for someone that EQ'd (at least on a Jot2) +7dB bass shelf, +2-4dB into mids, and -4dB the ~9.5kHz peak? This small experiment has seriously shaken my faith in whether I'd even be able to appreciate a difference on a Oor, Bliss, CFA3, etc. Are any of those a big noticeable upgrade vs a Jot2?

 

[timsams]

Maybe I need to turn my audiophile card in, because I'm experiencing something ridiculously shameful I finally upgraded my Arya to a Susvara because I've recently heard a Sus on an Oor, and thought it would be a good upgrade. It's a different sound (side-grade) to my Caldera, so I liked it.

After burn in, I customized the oratory1990 PEQ to my ears (-7dB preamp), then have been testing my new Sus on a Jotunheim 2 all day. Surprisingly, I felt that the Jot2 gets pretty close in quality to my memory of how the Oor sounded. I have tons of headroom on the Jot2 (6.0W@32Ω, ~60dB @9:30 on knob, high gain), so I figured I'd see how the Magni Piety (1.0W@32Ω) would do, fully expecting it to choke and die miserably - we all know how hard Fussy Sussy is to drive.

I had to put the Piety up to about @11 on high gain to get it to about the same volume. I didn't immediately notice a huge diff! Careful listening revealed a slightly collapsed sound stage. The Piety (on high gain) is extra bassy/warm amp, so I didn't feel like I lost any bass, but I felt like I could sense less dynamics – but not confidently enough to pass a blind test. Overall not as good, but it still sounded pretty good, I thought.

So what about going down to a weaker FiiO M11s (670mW@32Ω) DAP? I had to pump it to about 73% volume on high gain to reach the same volume. I finally noticed SLIGHTLY less bass, and maybe about the same of sound stage as the Piety. I think I might feel less dynamics, but not by a significant amount. I feel I could add a bit more bass in the EQ, walk around the house with Sussy, and not really notice a tangible difference to the Jot2 at all.

Ok, how about a Qudelix 5k (240mW@32Ω)? Sacrilige, I say. Well, it took ~90% to volume match. Umm... with A/B testing fatigue, I honestly can't tell between the FiiO and the Qudelix in USB DAC mode

To save time, I jumped to last place: Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (13mW@32Ω). Volume matched at ~93%. To be scientific enough, I used a SPL meter + baffle to calibrate a 1kHz tone to the same 74.3dB on both the dongle and the Jot2. Subjectively... it was obvious dynamics suffered. The bass was flatter. Sound stage was much narrower. Imaging muddied. Compared to the Arya on Jot2, the Sus on the dongle is still a bit better on most metrics, but not by much.

However... Later, I was listening to music as I was researching the output power of other amps, and thought "man, this track sounds really good, just a bit loud"... when I realized my Jot2 volume knob wasn't reducing the volume: I was still plugged into the Apple USB-C dongle! The shame I felt – albeit my attention being elsewhere, this $8 dongle successfully tricked me into thinking I was using something literally 462x more powerful!

Now, I wouldn't claim the dongle sounds close to the Jot2. But the difference between a volume-matched dongle, Qudelix 5k, and Jot2 isn't as big as I had imagined it would be. I didn't get any noticeable distortion (I guess 50-60dB is "quiet"?), and anything > 100mW seems to have a "passable" enough experience. Of course, we don't pay $6k to just get a "passable" experience, so this is all moot point. Sorry for the long rant. I just found it funny that without critical listening, I couldn't even tell I was on a dongle! For shame... I guess "Fussy Sussy wasn't really fussy, Was he?"

On a more serious note: Any opinions on Oor vs Bliss for Sus, for someone that EQ'd (at least on a Jot2) +7dB bass shelf, +2-4dB into mids, and -4dB the ~9.5kHz peak? This small experiment has seriously shaken my faith in whether I'd even be able to appreciate a difference on a Oor, Bliss, CFA3, etc. Are any of those a big noticeable upgrade vs a Jot2?

Welcome to blinded test. Keep the gear that makes a difference for you and sell the rest for another headphones ^^

 

[jlemaster1957]

Maybe I need to turn my audiophile card in, because I'm experiencing something ridiculously shameful I finally upgraded my Arya to a Susvara because I've recently heard a Sus on an Oor, and thought it would be a good upgrade. It's a different sound (side-grade) to my Caldera, so I liked it.

After burn in, I customized the oratory1990 PEQ to my ears (-7dB preamp), then have been testing my new Sus on a Jotunheim 2 all day. Surprisingly, I felt that the Jot2 gets pretty close in quality to my memory of how the Oor sounded. I have tons of headroom on the Jot2 (6.0W@32Ω, ~60dB @9:30 on knob, high gain), so I figured I'd see how the Magni Piety (1.0W@32Ω) would do, fully expecting it to choke and die miserably - we all know how hard Fussy Sussy is to drive.

I had to put the Piety up to about @11 on high gain to get it to about the same volume. I didn't immediately notice a huge diff! Careful listening revealed a slightly collapsed sound stage. The Piety (on high gain) is extra bassy/warm amp, so I didn't feel like I lost any bass, but I felt like I could sense less dynamics – but not confidently enough to pass a blind test. Overall not as good, but it still sounded pretty good, I thought.

So what about going down to a weaker FiiO M11s (670mW@32Ω) DAP? I had to pump it to about 73% volume on high gain to reach the same volume. I finally noticed SLIGHTLY less bass, and maybe about the same of sound stage as the Piety. I think I might feel less dynamics, but not by a significant amount. I feel I could add a bit more bass in the EQ, walk around the house with Sussy, and not really notice a tangible difference to the Jot2 at all.

Ok, how about a Qudelix 5k (240mW@32Ω)? Sacrilige, I say. Well, it took ~90% to volume match. Umm... with A/B testing fatigue, I honestly can't tell between the FiiO and the Qudelix in USB DAC mode

To save time, I jumped to last place: Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (13mW@32Ω). Volume matched at ~93%. To be scientific enough, I used a SPL meter + baffle to calibrate a 1kHz tone to the same 74.3dB on both the dongle and the Jot2. Subjectively... it was obvious dynamics suffered. The bass was flatter. Sound stage was much narrower. Imaging muddied. Compared to the Arya on Jot2, the Sus on the dongle is still a bit better on most metrics, but not by much.

However... Later, I was listening to music as I was researching the output power of other amps, and thought "man, this track sounds really good, just a bit loud"... when I realized my Jot2 volume knob wasn't reducing the volume: I was still plugged into the Apple USB-C dongle! The shame I felt – albeit my attention being elsewhere, this $8 dongle successfully tricked me into thinking I was using something literally 462x more powerful!

Now, I wouldn't claim the dongle sounds close to the Jot2. But the difference between a volume-matched dongle, Qudelix 5k, and Jot2 isn't as big as I had imagined it would be. I didn't get any noticeable distortion (I guess 50-60dB is "quiet"?), and anything > 100mW seems to have a "passable" enough experience. Of course, we don't pay $6k to just get a "passable" experience, so this is all moot point. Sorry for the long rant. I just found it funny that without critical listening, I couldn't even tell I was on a dongle! For shame... I guess "Fussy Sussy wasn't really fussy, Was he?"

On a more serious note: Any opinions on Oor vs Bliss for Sus, for someone that EQ'd (at least on a Jot2) +7dB bass shelf, +2-4dB into mids, and -4dB the ~9.5kHz peak? This small experiment has seriously shaken my faith in whether I'd even be able to appreciate a difference on a Oor, Bliss, CFA3, etc. Are any of those a big noticeable upgrade vs a Jot2?

I have tried this type of comparison also. While I found that Susvara did definitely play "loud enough" on other gear, all of the loss in dynamics and stage that you reported was the result --even quite good mid-fi gear, e.g. Hiby R8 DAP--> Cayin C9 portable amp, which maxes at 2.6 Wpc into 32 ohms. For some other HPs, e.g. Drop HD 6xx, that same DAC/amp chain elevates the sound, expanding the sound stage and dynamics. Sus seems to need a better chain to sing as it was designed to do. For this reason, these days, I am leaving it at home with my desktop chain (such as it is) and taking other easier to drive gears with me OTG with my portable chain (R8 + Mojo2 + C9).

 

[theveterans]

Maybe I need to turn my audiophile card in, because I'm experiencing something ridiculously shameful I finally upgraded my Arya to a Susvara because I've recently heard a Sus on an Oor, and thought it would be a good upgrade. It's a different sound (side-grade) to my Caldera, so I liked it.

After burn in, I customized the oratory1990 PEQ to my ears (-7dB preamp), then have been testing my new Sus on a Jotunheim 2 all day. Surprisingly, I felt that the Jot2 gets pretty close in quality to my memory of how the Oor sounded. I have tons of headroom on the Jot2 (6.0W@32Ω, ~60dB @9:30 on knob, high gain), so I figured I'd see how the Magni Piety (1.0W@32Ω) would do, fully expecting it to choke and die miserably - we all know how hard Fussy Sussy is to drive.

I had to put the Piety up to about @11 on high gain to get it to about the same volume. I didn't immediately notice a huge diff! Careful listening revealed a slightly collapsed sound stage. The Piety (on high gain) is extra bassy/warm amp, so I didn't feel like I lost any bass, but I felt like I could sense less dynamics – but not confidently enough to pass a blind test. Overall not as good, but it still sounded pretty good, I thought.

So what about going down to a weaker FiiO M11s (670mW@32Ω) DAP? I had to pump it to about 73% volume on high gain to reach the same volume. I finally noticed SLIGHTLY less bass, and maybe about the same of sound stage as the Piety. I think I might feel less dynamics, but not by a significant amount. I feel I could add a bit more bass in the EQ, walk around the house with Sussy, and not really notice a tangible difference to the Jot2 at all.

Ok, how about a Qudelix 5k (240mW@32Ω)? Sacrilige, I say. Well, it took ~90% to volume match. Umm... with A/B testing fatigue, I honestly can't tell between the FiiO and the Qudelix in USB DAC mode

To save time, I jumped to last place: Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (13mW@32Ω). Volume matched at ~93%. To be scientific enough, I used a SPL meter + baffle to calibrate a 1kHz tone to the same 74.3dB on both the dongle and the Jot2. Subjectively... it was obvious dynamics suffered. The bass was flatter. Sound stage was much narrower. Imaging muddied. Compared to the Arya on Jot2, the Sus on the dongle is still a bit better on most metrics, but not by much.

However... Later, I was listening to music as I was researching the output power of other amps, and thought "man, this track sounds really good, just a bit loud"... when I realized my Jot2 volume knob wasn't reducing the volume: I was still plugged into the Apple USB-C dongle! The shame I felt – albeit my attention being elsewhere, this $8 dongle successfully tricked me into thinking I was using something literally 462x more powerful!

Now, I wouldn't claim the dongle sounds close to the Jot2. But the difference between a volume-matched dongle, Qudelix 5k, and Jot2 isn't as big as I had imagined it would be. I didn't get any noticeable distortion (I guess 50-60dB is "quiet"?), and anything > 100mW seems to have a "passable" enough experience. Of course, we don't pay $6k to just get a "passable" experience, so this is all moot point. Sorry for the long rant. I just found it funny that without critical listening, I couldn't even tell I was on a dongle! For shame... I guess "Fussy Sussy wasn't really fussy, Was he?"

On a more serious note: Any opinions on Oor vs Bliss for Sus, for someone that EQ'd (at least on a Jot2) +7dB bass shelf, +2-4dB into mids, and -4dB the ~9.5kHz peak? This small experiment has seriously shaken my faith in whether I'd even be able to appreciate a difference on a Oor, Bliss, CFA3, etc. Are any of those a big noticeable upgrade vs a Jot2?

Sus is a very forgiving headphone for a power hungry one. You can EQ the sus to match the volume and intensity of those big amps, but you'll never get the physicality/grandiose and refinements in the presentation that those big amps provide for the Sus.

 

[Exekuhtor]

Sus is a very forgiving headphone for a power hungry one. You can EQ the sus to match the volume and intensity of those big amps, but you'll never get the physicality/grandiose and refinements in the presentation that those big amps provide for the Sus.

100% true. It sounds good on almost everything, it is a forgiving headphone in that sense, the OG Utopia is not for example. The Sus won't be sounding (much) better than a HEK model, but it's not screaming "PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS CHAIN".
Once you heard the Susvara on an Envy with upgraded tubes or something on that level you truly know what this thing can do and why it's #1.

 

[timsams]

100% true. It sounds good on almost everything, it is a forgiving headphone in that sense, the OG Utopia is not for example. The Sus won't be sounding (much) better than a HEK model, but it's not screaming "PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS CHAIN".
Once you heard the Susvara on an Envy with upgraded tubes or something on that level you truly know what this thing can do and why it's #1.

So it's more of a synergy with tubes amps rather than a problem of power

 

[theveterans]

So it's more of a synergy with tubes amps rather than a problem of power

Enelum 23R or Bakoon 13R says otherwise

 

[Spawn300Z]

100% true. It sounds good on almost everything, it is a forgiving headphone in that sense, the OG Utopia is not for example. The Sus won't be sounding (much) better than a HEK model, but it's not screaming "PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS CHAIN".
Once you heard the Susvara on an Envy with upgraded tubes or something on that level you truly know what this thing can do and why it's #1.

You need to include the Riviera AIC-10 in this discussion. This amp make everything sound magical. IMHO

 

[joshua1122]

Thanks for the replies. I'm definitely looking for an amp upgrade, but reading a good chunk of this thread has left me conflicted and disillusioned as to what would work best for me.

The only higher point of reference I have is an Oor (without Hypsos), which didn't sound much better than my Jot2 (although mine is EQ'd, demo was not). My budget constraint is preferably <$4-6k, but my primary constraint is idle power consumption of about 50W. My listening area is small and I already have to use a quiet 120mm computer fan cooling my Jot2 (25W) setup to keep the area from getting too hot during the summer. Turn on too many amps, and I have to turn on a standing fan – it's about ~48dB @600Hz-1500Hz white noise, according to FFT sample. Then I'm really ruining the open back listening experience.

Envy sounds really nice, but 110W sounds like I'd either be sweating or drowning out my mids in white noise.

That limits me to Oor+Hypsos or Bliss, at least from the spec sheets I can find on "bigger" amps. Any suggestions on either of those, or another lower consumption amp that still sounds good on Sus?

 

[dleblanc343]

Different sheathing but the same conductors. The cables do feel sturdier and less tangly compared to these previous ones:

These cables are the ones that come bundled with HE1000v2 Stealth.

My Susvara from early summer came with two cloth sheathed cables from factory. Actually, quite nice.

 

[vsg28]

These cables are the ones that come bundled with HE1000v2 Stealth.

My Susvara from early summer came with two cloth sheathed cables from factory. Actually, quite nice.

Ahh weird, at CanJam London the Susvara had the same cables as HE1000 Stealth. Maybe that was just them using those cables for convenience. If it's cloth-sheathed, then is it similar to what the Arya Organic has?