[Mystel]

An HE-1 tuning with Susvara technicalities would be the Susvara 2 for me. Biggest complaint that I have with HE-1 is the soundstage being a bit intimate for my tastes. An in-between bass tuning from HE-1 and Susvara is my ideal one though

Similar sentiments. I use the Susvara more than the HE-1.
I believe that with the right chain/eq , the Susvara can sound eerily close to the HE-1, while keeping those advantages over it.

 

[up late]

I must have missed something. Where did this talk of a follow-on to the Susvara come from?

try page 1,627

 

[thecrow]

Abyss does excell in realism when it comes to ambient soundtracks, movies and gaming.

I’ve demoed the 1266 two or there times without being wowed enough to consider paying (close to) their asking price.

maybe next time i am going to have have to have a Brian Eno session with them

 

[Leto Dal]

Similar sentiments. I use the Susvara more than the HE-1.
I believe that with the right chain/eq , the Susvara can sound eerily close to the HE-1, while keeping those advantages over it.

Interesting. Yet to listen to He-1, but would never expect Sus having superior technicalities to a 60k showcase piece, that Im honestly not considering a consumer grade headphone.

 

[IanB52]

Have you actually owned those headphones? The midrange of susvara is much more engaging than Abyss in my oppinion. The tonal richness of susvara also exceeds abyss. I have both Susvara and Abyss ab 1266 phi tc. The abyss exceeds at soundstage, mid bass, and technical performance. However the abyss lacks the tonal richness, and realistic timbre of the susvara in most music. Abyss does excell in realism when it comes to ambient soundtracks, movies and gaming.

Yes, and Susvaras biggest problem is lack of black background, and a somewhat colorless/pale tonality. And the vocal midrange being somewhat recessed and lean. Abyss does have a black background, and more vibrant colors, and others like Meze, Audeze, and even Diana TC and MR have more fleshed out vocal midrange.

 

[Leto Dal]

Yes, and Susvaras biggest problem is lack of black background, and a somewhat colorless/pale tonality. And the vocal midrange being somewhat recessed and lean. Abyss does have a black background, and more vibrant colors, and others like Meze, Audeze, and even Diana TC and MR have more fleshed out vocal midrange.

You will be surprised about mids and vocals on Susvara with 300b tube. Imho Susvara comes to life when you introduce a good tune amp into your chain. It became a different hp in my case.
I think one of the main properties of Susvara is it not having much of its own tonality - it’s transparent and simply reveals what the rest of your chain does.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

ok, fine that is as much power as needed for headphones...I listened to it...drove the susvara without issue fwiiw

Ok. I will plan and look forward to listening to the EF1000DAC some time this year with my Susvara.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Yes, and Susvaras biggest problem is lack of black background, and a somewhat colorless/pale tonality. And the vocal midrange being somewhat recessed and lean. Abyss does have a black background, and more vibrant colors, and others like Meze, Audeze, and even Diana TC and MR have more fleshed out vocal midrange.

My Susvara set-up doesn't have any of the items you mention. What source input and amp are you using with the Susvara ?

 

[IanB52]

My Susvara set-up doesn't have any of the items you mention. What source input and amp are you using with the Susvara ?

I use an EMM Labs DA2 into Zähl HM1 with DHC Chimera cable. Was definitely even less colorful when I had the Ferrum stack.

 

[up late]

Yes, and Susvaras biggest problem is lack of black background, and a somewhat colorless/pale tonality. And the vocal midrange being somewhat recessed and lean. Abyss does have a black background, and more vibrant colors, and others like Meze, Audeze, and even Diana TC and MR have more fleshed out vocal midrange.

'others' that you happen to own. you're entitled to your preferences and opinions of course. i've auditioned the susvara, abyss diana tc and meze empyrean but not the audeze lcd-xc or diana mr.

the empyrean was a disappointment to my ears, with an overly warm and thick sound signature that masked whatever clarity and resolution the drivers were capable of delivering. the build quality and comfort for which it is renowned was superb tho. i much preferred the sound of the elite, however, which i regard as a significant improvement as well as an enjoyable listen.

i've auditioned every diana with the exception of the phi and mr models. it's a headphone that has always appealed to me because of its design and build quality. but its comfort was problematic for me until the introduction of the v2 iteration, which was a welcome improvement. abyss has made numerous revisions to the diana's ear pads and headband over the years, with the tc being the most comfortable diana that i've worn to date.

while every diana has impressed me with its 'eye-blinking' clarity and detail retrieval, these qualities combined with its lack of stage depth has made it an intense and potentially fatiguing listen for me. it's a headphone that i've fancied but i guess we just weren't meant to be.

then i heard the susvara and it is the only headphone in the group that i am seriously considering purchasing. i've posted my impressions of it previously in this thread so i won't repeat them here. suffice to say that my susvara experience is similar to the many who already own it and have shared their impressions in this thread.

my preferences and opinions of course.

 

[theveterans]

I use an EMM Labs DA2 into Zähl HM1 with DHC Chimera cable. Was definitely even less colorful when I had the Ferrum stack.

I would try swapping interconnect cables in your system and see if black background improves. IMHO, Susvara is telling you your system isn’t fully optimized yet and there’s a bottleneck somewhere which I suspect would be interconnects and digital transport to DAC and the cable associated with it

 

[thefitz]

Ergh that's disappointing to hear that they are wasting their time on an easier to drive worse version of susvara.

Been waiting patiently for susvara 2 or susvaras successor lol

Presumably this forthcoming can is the "Arya version" of the Susvara.

Word on the street at the time was that the Arya was an HE1000V2 driver stuck in an Edition X chassis. Anyone who's owned/heard the Arya and HE1000V2 know that they don't sound the same, but they're clearly of the same stock.

 

[Frankie D]

This is a cross post from the CanJam impressions thread. I thought it made sense to post it here as well. At the show the Audio Technica NARUKAMI amp connected to my Susvara was incredible though not affordable:

I heard the HE-1 a bit earlier and heard the Raal Imanis both before and after. I also brought another buddy with me who loves the Susvara. We went through a series of tracks ( I used the same on each HP ) and also spun some disks ( they had an excellent SME turntable connected as well ). Neither of us ever heard the Susvara sound as good. Tremendously detailed, musical, fast and great bass ( tight and strong when called for ). The best sound at the show in my opinion. A must listen.

The AudioTechnics HP did not wow me. I heard it both prior and at the show. We were told they are working on a better headphone.

 

[dudeX]

CanJam NYC impression of listening to Susvara on a Mass Kōbō 465 headphone amp ( 17000 USD shipped from Japan).

I’ve never heard the Susvara sound so good. It opens up, it punches with bass, and vocals carry weight. And this is with conference noise around me.

Less expensive tube amps also work well but the Mass Kobo blew me away.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

This is a cross post from the CanJam impressions thread. I thought it made sense to post it here as well. At the show the Audio Technica NARUKAMI amp connected to my Susvara was incredible though not affordable:

I heard the HE-1 a bit earlier and heard the Raal Imanis both before and after. I also brought another buddy with me who loves the Susvara. We went through a series of tracks ( I used the same on each HP ) and also spun some disks ( they had an excellent SME turntable connected as well ). Neither of us ever heard the Susvara sound as good. Tremendously detailed, musical, fast and great bass ( tight and strong when called for ). The best sound at the show in my opinion. A must listen.

The AudioTechnics HP did not wow me. I heard it both prior and at the show. We were told they are working on a better headphone.

Lucky you, guys, to listen to a 100k $ amp. Not canjam in my country, sadly. It would be nice to read more of your experience.