ThanatosVI
Headphoneus Supremus
They are a chinese company. In China more expensive = better.
There is a 0% chance that the new flagship will cost less than the Susvara.
HiFiMan Susvara
There is a 0% chance that the new flagship will cost less than the Susvara.
psy472
500+ Head-Fier
The price is a marketing tool. If it’s too cheap no one will take it seriously. However to justify the high price it needs to compare to the Susvara or at least be different and good enough that people are willing to pay, like the Shangri La estat.
up late
Headphoneus Supremus
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i'm not one to speculate about these things but if hifiman is close to announcing a successor to the susvara then i might have made the right decision to not purchase one at this time
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ThanatosVI
Headphoneus Supremus
True, either jump directly on the new one or Grab one from the massive Susvara influx im the classifieds, that a new release will create
Maybe short term, but not that much long term.
Remember Focal Utopia OG versus the new one.
Everyone sold theirs for 1800-2300 and when it turned out that the new one is slightly less aggressively tuned, people were (rightfully) mad because the new version didn't really improve on the old one, just a slight tonal shift. Of course a lot of reviewer spoke of better technicalities, better dynamics and larger soundstage, when most uf us aggree that all of that is not true. But the price increased by 1k. Thanks Focal. I really hope that this will not be the case here... Hifiman Susvara is one of my three favourite headphones and if the new one is better i'm gonna get it.
Currently we really can't do more than wait.
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AussieMick
500+ Head-Fier
The Focal Utopia III speakers have only seen incremental change since their release in 2010, largely because they arrived at a point of an incredibly high quality expression of what they were aiming for. It’s the Focal way and has been for a long time. It was completely predictable that the 2022 headphone wouldn’t be a revelation, but a growth.
I could see Susvara being the same. Since 2017 it’s been a shining example of its technology type, and a new version, if it’s to be a “Susvara 2”, is most likely going to be an evolution. If it’s a completely new flagship with different tech and notably superior performance, maybe it would carry a new name?
How about all of the Diana versions, or all the different Aryas? There’s no major change or revelatory jump in performance. Why would we expect a new Susvara (or Utopia, 1266, etc) to be any different?
I could see Susvara being the same. Since 2017 it’s been a shining example of its technology type, and a new version, if it’s to be a “Susvara 2”, is most likely going to be an evolution. If it’s a completely new flagship with different tech and notably superior performance, maybe it would carry a new name?
How about all of the Diana versions, or all the different Aryas? There’s no major change or revelatory jump in performance. Why would we expect a new Susvara (or Utopia, 1266, etc) to be any different?
However, quite a few people who had the dCS Rossini and Vivaldi (even the Ampex update) talk about on another hifi forum that they sold their dCS gear for a another TOTL DAC from a another manufacturer as they found the dCS sound too sterile, cold and fatiguing and although very transparent was not musical at all !High current, you say? Let me talk to you about tubes......
After demoing DCS a few times in the past few years I've come to understand that DCS's magic is that it really does sound different than anything else out there. There's really something to their ring dac technology. Now, whether you LIKE that difference or not is totally subjective, but given that it stands alone in a sea of sameness sort of justifies the cost in my
The dCS Vivaldi series is another matter and completely different from the Lina line !High current, you say? Let me talk to you about tubes......
After demoing DCS a few times in the past few years I've come to understand that DCS's magic is that it really does sound different than anything else out there. There's really something to their ring dac technology. Now, whether you LIKE that difference or not is totally subjective, but given that it stands alone in a sea of sameness sort of justifies the cost in my mind.
I'm not a speaker guy so i can't talk about that.
The Diana versions are not flagships, the 1266 is. And with the 1266 iterations, the community was angry, because there were so many iterations of them in a row with steep price increases. Even later when the TC was the newest 1266, it was 5k and got a price increase over time just by existing.
The Arya versions did not increase in price, rather the opposite: The old Aryas were price dropped and you could still buy them for some time for a very attractive price, the newest version just replaced the previous one. I also think there is not a single "major jump" in Hifiman headphones if you only look at one model and then the model that is priced slighly higher. It's a gradually slope. Maybe from the HEKSE to the Susvara if you have the amplification for it.
I have to say though, i'd rather have a company try to improve step by step than completely change their lineup (and house sound) like what Audeze did.
From what company could we expect the next big thing? Raal maybe, but the Immanis is not a planar. Audeze changed a lot and when Sony bought them they made one of the best headphones of the decade in my opinion, the Maxwell, but it's for a completely different use case. Fun fact, the headphone that gets the most time on my head is the Maxwell, i can listen to music while doing chores etc, and have a sound quality that's only slightly below a Sundara.
Sennheiser doesn't do planars and doesn't seem to make any progress with their (in my opinion) laughable revisions of the HD650 (and even the other new one, HD490). People want a successor of the HD800S for years, and a cheaper, not so fancy HE-1 for 8-15k, but nothing happens.
While smaller developers pop up and they release excellent planars (Erzetich, Modhouse), they are not the best of the best. Abyss did that, which was a miracle.
I personally think that we reached a plateau for planars, because nothing came out that touches the Susvara (or 1266) for years. If Hifimans new flagship does not improve on that, i truly believe nothing ever will. The only step up would be to switch to electrostats or more obscure stuff like ribbons. But because i really like the planar sound, that might not be an option for me.
So yeah, if Hifiman can't do it, probably noone else can.
The Diana versions are not flagships, the 1266 is. And with the 1266 iterations, the community was angry, because there were so many iterations of them in a row with steep price increases. Even later when the TC was the newest 1266, it was 5k and got a price increase over time just by existing.
The Arya versions did not increase in price, rather the opposite: The old Aryas were price dropped and you could still buy them for some time for a very attractive price, the newest version just replaced the previous one. I also think there is not a single "major jump" in Hifiman headphones if you only look at one model and then the model that is priced slighly higher. It's a gradually slope. Maybe from the HEKSE to the Susvara if you have the amplification for it.
I have to say though, i'd rather have a company try to improve step by step than completely change their lineup (and house sound) like what Audeze did.
Because it's been nine years since the Susvara release and they are de facto the pioneers in the planar headphone world that always have the best technicalities for each price point. I agree that sound is subjective, but to me Hifiman is the cutting edge company when it comes to planars (which i like more than any other driver variant). And then they went for closed back headphones and it went to sh!t. Also, the price seems higher than Susvara, that should be an indicator.
From what company could we expect the next big thing? Raal maybe, but the Immanis is not a planar. Audeze changed a lot and when Sony bought them they made one of the best headphones of the decade in my opinion, the Maxwell, but it's for a completely different use case. Fun fact, the headphone that gets the most time on my head is the Maxwell, i can listen to music while doing chores etc, and have a sound quality that's only slightly below a Sundara.
Sennheiser doesn't do planars and doesn't seem to make any progress with their (in my opinion) laughable revisions of the HD650 (and even the other new one, HD490). People want a successor of the HD800S for years, and a cheaper, not so fancy HE-1 for 8-15k, but nothing happens.
While smaller developers pop up and they release excellent planars (Erzetich, Modhouse), they are not the best of the best. Abyss did that, which was a miracle.
I personally think that we reached a plateau for planars, because nothing came out that touches the Susvara (or 1266) for years. If Hifimans new flagship does not improve on that, i truly believe nothing ever will. The only step up would be to switch to electrostats or more obscure stuff like ribbons. But because i really like the planar sound, that might not be an option for me.
So yeah, if Hifiman can't do it, probably noone else can.
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IMO dCS is one of those extremely polarizing brands. People either really like it , or just outright hate it. Im more in line with chrisnyc75 in terms of my personal opinion. Its just simply very different in signature from the other hifi DACs.
While my preference is still towards Wadax/MSB , i can still see why some people like the dCS sound. This is a subjective hobby after all.
That said, i dont find dCS Vivaldi Apex sterile/cold and fatiguing. Its literally the opposite. I find it warm/lush and completely not fatiguing at all. You can play badly recorded tracks or anything harsh in the upper frequencies on their DACs and they still play fine. I cannot say the same for most other hifi DACs (I've tried a lot). In fact, this is usually the reason as to why people dislike the dCS sound. Its simply too 'safe', laid back and unengaging. 'Boring' if you will.
Anyway back on topic, really interested to see what can they improve on the susvara.
Sand Dan Glokta
100+ Head-Fier
Even if hifiman releases a new flagship it would cost immanis range or even more. It remains to be seen if the improving will worth the price difference. Now you can buy a “new” susvara (open box) for 4k. Im more in buying things when the new version is released and the prices go down.
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Susvara launched in June 2017 for $6k. That's equivalent to $7.7k as of April 2024. So if it launches at $8k in July 2024 that would be almost the exact same price adjusted for inflation.
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awesomenatorrad
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I'll just wait for a steep retail discount if the susvara replacement is an upgrade, if its simply an easier to drive version, I am happy with the susvara the way it is.
ufospls2
Headphoneus Supremus
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Well, I guess we will find out soon enough, June 3rd.
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