Introduction
Hi Guys,
Today we are taking a look at a new true wireless set of earphones from Hifiman, the Svanar Wireless. Hifiman recently released their new top-of-the-line earphones, simply called the Svanar, which are a replacement for their RE2000 Gold earphones which were released around the same time as the Susvara headphones (2017.) I enjoyed and bought both the RE2000 Gold, and RE2000 Silver, and was curious what the new Svanar TWS might bring to the table in terms of performance whilst being an entirely different product category (wired vs wireless/Bluetooth.) For the rest of the review I will just refer to the Svanar TWS as the Svanar, but please keep in mind I am talking about the TWS version, not the much more costly and high-end Svanar wired.
The RE2000 Gold and Silver are one of my favourite earphones that I have heard or owned still to this day. They have a slightly V-shaped signature, great bass performance in terms of quality, and good detail and technical performance across the board. They did lack slightly in terms of comfort compared to other more ergonomic earphones, but in terms of sound, they did a ton of things right. The Svanar seems to build on the design ideas behind the RE2000 series, whilst of course adding many different technologies and ideas, being a TWS set of earphones. They both use the same “topology diaphragm” and although I’m assuming there have been changes over the years, the basic principle is the same. It is a single dynamic driver, vs multiple balanced armature drivers, or something like a tribrid or quadbrid setup that many earphones feature these days.
Technical Information
In terms of basic overall principles, the Svanar is similar to other TWS sets of earphones. They come with a case that they live in, which can also charge them. Being TWS, they have a DAC, amp, and battery built-in, and run entirely wirelessly from your phone, tablet, computer, or other source of choice. You can charge the battery in the case via USB-C, which will then charge the earphones when they are placed in their receptacles. The Svanar has three different listening modes, “High Fidelity,” “ANC,” and “Transparency.” High Fidelity turns off all DSP-like noise cancelling and provides the best overall sound quality. ANC is noise cancelling, providing up to 35db of reduction in ambient noise, which is very handy on something like a plane journey. Transparency mode activates the microphones in the earphones and lets you hear what is going on in the world around you as if you don’t have earphones in your ears. For most of my listening, I stuck with High Fidelity but did try and simulate an airplane environment with a portable AC machine, and it performed very well, reducing ambient noise significantly. I didn’t use the transparency mode very much, but it does function as intended and lets you hear conversations and such if you need to talk to someone or hear what is happening around you.
The built-in DAC of the Svanar is based on Hifiman’s new “Hymalaya” DAC architecture. It is an R2R-based DAC, and from what I understand is supposed to be similar to, but improve upon the PCM1704 DACs of days past. In the context of the Svanar, it is hard to say exactly how it sounds, as the earphones are a contained system, and you are unable to hear the DAC on its own, rather hearing the combination of the transducer, amp, DAC, wireless transmission altogether. With that being said, I do think it’s neat that Hifiman is doing more than simply trying to create headphones, and really do seem to be trying to innovate in other areas. Perhaps someday they will release a standalone DAC featuring the Hymalaya architecture, it would be interesting to hear how it performs in that context.
Now, the most important thing is how do the Svanar actually sound? In short, extremely good for a TWS earphone. The juggernaut of TWS, the Apple Airpod Pro are bested by the Svanar, that much was obvious to me.
Tuning/Frequency Response
The bass of the Svanar really reminds me of the RE2000 series. It is slightly elevated, definitely slightly more than neutral. I enjoy a fairly large amount of bass, usually EQ’ing it up on headphones a little bit via a low shelf, and the Svanar didn’t need any EQ increase in the low end for my personal preferences. I do think that being a single dynamic driver, it is common for the bass performance in terms of impact, slam, and speed to be quite a bit better than balanced armature drivers, and that is the case with the Svanar. It is not the absolute most refined or “best” bass I have heard from an earphone, but at this price point and considering the number of other features with the Svanar being a TWS pair of earphones, I was entirely satisfied with the low-end of the Svanar.
The mids are slightly more present in the low mid-range than I remember the RE2000 twins being, but that is based on memory so I could be incorrect in that assessment. In the middle of the mid-range, it’s slightly pulled back from neutral, which is similar to the RE2000, giving a slightly V-shaped signature when combined with the treble. Overall, if you prefer a warm and thick midrange, I don’t think the Svanar is the right choice if you aren’t ok with EQ’ing. If you are like me, and listen to lots of electronica, the Svanar really works well with that genre, as well as things like rock, metal etc…
The highs are slightly brighter than I remember the RE2000 being. There seem to be a couple of peaks in the treble and I played about with EQ to bring those down slightly. Once some measurements are available I would be able to pinpoint these peaks a bit more accurately, but I ended up trying 4khz and 8khz down about 1db each, and that seemed to help things. Without that EQ, I could see these really suiting someone who loves a brighter treble response, but for me, it got a bit fatiguing and harsh on certain poorer-quality tracks, especially over long listening sessions.
Technical Performance
The Svanar has very good technical performance for a TWS pair of earphones. The best I have personally heard, and as mentioned before I do think they sound better and perform better technically than the Apple AirPods Pro. They are quite detailed and do have a good amount of dynamic impact and slam, probably partly due to their single-dynamic driver nature. I do think that the RE2000 Gold is a bit better in terms of overall technical performance, but that does also depend on the overall system, as comparing non-true wireless earphones to wired earphones is very difficult to do on an entirely level playing field.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
The Svanar are very light and very comfortable. Much more ergonomically shaped than the RE2000 and comfortable for longer listening sessions. The only thing I found was that the “antenna” if you will, the long part of the earphone did slightly press into the area right below my ear, but it wasn’t enough to annoy or cause pain over time. The earphones are mostly made of plastic, and the back plate seems to be made from carbon fibre of some form. In terms of ear tips, I ended up using the double flange Hifiman tips, as I felt that gave the best sound quality overall. If you are going to be on a flight or have an ear shape that requires a bit more insertion depth, trying a pair of triple flange tips is worth your while. They will help provide more seal, and still sound very good, though not as good as the double flange tips, in my opinion. The storage and charging case seal magnetically, and the earphones pop in easily, also magnetically, which connects them to the battery to charge. You can charge the case via USB-C, or wirelessly via a charging pad.
The codecs available for the Bluetooth function are LDAC, AAC, and SBC. You can easily and quickly change between the listening modes by pressing the left earbuds faceplate for 3 seconds, allowing you to change between High Fidelity, ANC, and Transparency. When the battery power falls below 10%, you will hear a prompt saying “Low battery, please charge” every couple of minutes.
Conclussion
Spending time with the Svanar TWS has honestly been a real change of pace for me, I’m usually listening to wire headphones, and the TWS nature and overall usability of the Svanar TWS has been great. They sound very good for a pair of TWS earphones, though do lag behind slightly in terms of overall sound quality vs their older RE2000 siblings. With that being said, it has to be taken into account that they are an entirely different product category and do what they do within that category extremely well. Perhaps not the best choice if you are simply looking for the best-performing pair of earphones regardless of price or features, but if you want a pair of awesome sounding TWS earphones, with all the convenience that comes with that genre of product, then the Svanar are absolutely, 100% worth trying. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Hifiman comes up with over time in their wireless range, and if they are able to continue to create great-sounding products, that also have all the “mod cons.”
