I tried them out this weekend. I really wanted to keep them because I love the sound signature, but I felt like the fit wasn’t great. Does anyone else have any clamping force or ear cup fit issues? I also had to extend the band to the maximum length so the comfort strap was not really doing it’s job.
NEW! SENDY AUDIO AIVA Impressions?
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Posts
- 2,777
- Likes
- 2,136
I haven't had a comfort issue. I have a pretty large head, I think 24 1/4" circumference.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
- Posts
- 28,344
- Likes
- 32,175
Aiva is pretty comfortable phones, except the early batch stock pads, but the brainwavz is wonderful in everything
Kukuk
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Posts
- 2,589
- Likes
- 1,592
These are delightful. Maybe not to the level of my HE-500, but I certainly enjoy them more than I did the LCD-2C. I'll probably do a proper review of them when I have more time with them, but here are some quick thoughts:
Bass extension isn't superb, but it has decent impact.
Treble is accentuated but not bright to me.
Mid range is perfectly competent, though maybe not noteworthy.
Soundstage is maybe larger than average, but imaging is fantastic.
Extremely comfortable.
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Posts
- 2,777
- Likes
- 2,136
These are delightful. Maybe not to the level of my HE-500, but I certainly enjoy them more than I did the LCD-2C. I'll probably do a proper review of them when I have more time with them, but here are some quick thoughts:
Bass extension isn't superb, but it has decent impact.
Treble is accentuated but not bright to me.
Mid range is perfectly competent, though maybe not noteworthy.
Soundstage is maybe larger than average, but imaging is fantastic.
Extremely comfortable.
I had the exact same thoughts on it. Also they're the best looking headphones I've had. See if they change with burn-in.
Last edited:
CoryGillmore
Headphoneus Supremus
That Sony amp though
These are delightful. Maybe not to the level of my HE-500, but I certainly enjoy them more than I did the LCD-2C. I'll probably do a proper review of them when I have more time with them, but here are some quick thoughts:
Bass extension isn't superb, but it has decent impact.
Treble is accentuated but not bright to me.
Mid range is perfectly competent, though maybe not noteworthy.
Soundstage is maybe larger than average, but imaging is fantastic.
Extremely comfortable.
Kukuk
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Posts
- 2,589
- Likes
- 1,592
I basically bought it in the hopes that I'd never need to buy another amp ever again.
That was what I said about the two amps I bought before it, as well...
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Posts
- 2,777
- Likes
- 2,136
I don't even have an amp currently. I ordered an ADI-2 DAC from some store in the Netherlands, but it's taking them over a month to even get them in stock.
Kukuk
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Posts
- 2,589
- Likes
- 1,592
I have some more concrete impressions on these.
Build and comfort are really top notch. They just feel completely solid, though I guess for a $600 MSRP they should. The pad shape was a stroke of genius on the designers' part, as they are pretty much the perfect shape for a headphone. I really hope other manufacturers are paying attention. If I had one gripe about the build, I with the headband was a little more rigid. Just taking the headphones off makes the headband droop down. Obviously not a deal breaker, but it's just something I've never had to deal with with another headphone, and I'm not really sure how to cope. Hah.
Bass has kind of an interesting character. It's quick and detailed, but as mentioned before the extension's not great. It's not terrible, mind you; they do go down low, they just lose a lot of power. You can hear it's there, it's just not wowing you. It has good impact, though, and that makes them well suited for a lot of different types of music. For whatever reason, metalheads come to mind as the type of people to most enjoy the bass on these. Running through what little metal I have in my library, I find myself very pleased with their performance. Dethklok's The Gears is like my go-to track for breakneck bass, and a lot of headphones just break down into a mess of sloppy bass, but these stand up expertly. It's not the best quality track, but I think it does a good job representing typical mastering of metal music.
The mid range I maintain is good, even very good, if somewhat unexceptional. It's relatively flat, so anyone hoping for a rise in the upper mids like a good number of mid-centric headphones have are going to be somewhat disappointed. It does transition well into the low and mid treble, so it's never going to sound like anything is missing. It's just not mid focused, and that's fine.
Treble is really where these are most interesting to me. There's definitely a rise, but it's not in the usual places that treble-emphasized headphones have it. To my ear, they have a spike in the upper end of the treble, and it gives them a very particular sound that I rarely hear. I've heard a similar treble character in a headphone long ago, when I was first starting to get serious about headphones. It was the original Sony MDR-7509, and even at the time I thought that headphone was an odd duck. It was a closed headphone with a really nice sense of space, and it took me quite a while to figure out why that was. I came to the conclusion that it was that upper-treble emphasis, and I get the same impression from the Aiva. The emphasized upper-treble gives the Aivas a really nice sense of space, and an airiness that I don't hear in a lot of headphones. The down side of this spike is that there's some added sibilance, but even that has an upside in that it's basically on the tail end of normal sibilance, so it ends up not being terribly unpleasant. It just seems a little bit unnatural sounding in some music.
Because of the treble they end up sounding somewhat unrefined with some content, but that's really in comparison to my ToTL headphones. If I were to put them up against my DT1770, or something in that price category, I'd say they're very competitive. I also think they were really cleaver in going with a cloud motif for their design, as they have a nice, airy sound. In a way, their overall tonality reminds me a little of a Grado headphone. I think anyone looking for that kind of sound should strongly consider picking one of these up.
I actually may end up keeping these around for a while, and that just might be the strongest recommendation I could possibly give to a headphone. Hah.
Build and comfort are really top notch. They just feel completely solid, though I guess for a $600 MSRP they should. The pad shape was a stroke of genius on the designers' part, as they are pretty much the perfect shape for a headphone. I really hope other manufacturers are paying attention. If I had one gripe about the build, I with the headband was a little more rigid. Just taking the headphones off makes the headband droop down. Obviously not a deal breaker, but it's just something I've never had to deal with with another headphone, and I'm not really sure how to cope. Hah.
Bass has kind of an interesting character. It's quick and detailed, but as mentioned before the extension's not great. It's not terrible, mind you; they do go down low, they just lose a lot of power. You can hear it's there, it's just not wowing you. It has good impact, though, and that makes them well suited for a lot of different types of music. For whatever reason, metalheads come to mind as the type of people to most enjoy the bass on these. Running through what little metal I have in my library, I find myself very pleased with their performance. Dethklok's The Gears is like my go-to track for breakneck bass, and a lot of headphones just break down into a mess of sloppy bass, but these stand up expertly. It's not the best quality track, but I think it does a good job representing typical mastering of metal music.
The mid range I maintain is good, even very good, if somewhat unexceptional. It's relatively flat, so anyone hoping for a rise in the upper mids like a good number of mid-centric headphones have are going to be somewhat disappointed. It does transition well into the low and mid treble, so it's never going to sound like anything is missing. It's just not mid focused, and that's fine.
Treble is really where these are most interesting to me. There's definitely a rise, but it's not in the usual places that treble-emphasized headphones have it. To my ear, they have a spike in the upper end of the treble, and it gives them a very particular sound that I rarely hear. I've heard a similar treble character in a headphone long ago, when I was first starting to get serious about headphones. It was the original Sony MDR-7509, and even at the time I thought that headphone was an odd duck. It was a closed headphone with a really nice sense of space, and it took me quite a while to figure out why that was. I came to the conclusion that it was that upper-treble emphasis, and I get the same impression from the Aiva. The emphasized upper-treble gives the Aivas a really nice sense of space, and an airiness that I don't hear in a lot of headphones. The down side of this spike is that there's some added sibilance, but even that has an upside in that it's basically on the tail end of normal sibilance, so it ends up not being terribly unpleasant. It just seems a little bit unnatural sounding in some music.
Because of the treble they end up sounding somewhat unrefined with some content, but that's really in comparison to my ToTL headphones. If I were to put them up against my DT1770, or something in that price category, I'd say they're very competitive. I also think they were really cleaver in going with a cloud motif for their design, as they have a nice, airy sound. In a way, their overall tonality reminds me a little of a Grado headphone. I think anyone looking for that kind of sound should strongly consider picking one of these up.
I actually may end up keeping these around for a while, and that just might be the strongest recommendation I could possibly give to a headphone. Hah.
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Posts
- 2,777
- Likes
- 2,136
The one thing I didn't like was the bass extension. They went down to around 38 Hz or so at my listening volume while I would say the average for others I've heard is around 33 Hz. The best I've heard were my ZMF Eikon and LCD-4 going to about 29 Hz and my Mobius and MDR-Z1R going down to about 26 Hz.
I had no issues with treble and could not detect any oddities in voices or cymbals like I could with Beyerdynamics or the MDR-Z1R. There was some emphasis, but it still sounded natural to me.
I had no issues with treble and could not detect any oddities in voices or cymbals like I could with Beyerdynamics or the MDR-Z1R. There was some emphasis, but it still sounded natural to me.
Last edited:
What do you use to test bass extension?
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Posts
- 2,777
- Likes
- 2,136
I use something like this with my normal listening volume: https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
I use a sine wave.
headwhacker
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Posts
- 4,763
- Likes
- 770
headwhacker
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Posts
- 4,763
- Likes
- 770
This headphone is proof that, no matter what impressions you read or graphs you see. Your own ears and experience will decide.
I just happen to find a shop that carry this headphone and able to listen and do a comparison with Ananda. I will agree with Zeos about this headphone. It's a steal. The clarity is just out of this world. The bass is not actually bad. It reminds me of the beyer T1 which I loved but without the bloat.
In short, I had fun listening to Aiva while I find Ananda boring.
Graphs indeed does not tell the whole story. This headphone is not for everyone, but if you made your conclusion already without trying yourself you might regret it.
I just happen to find a shop that carry this headphone and able to listen and do a comparison with Ananda. I will agree with Zeos about this headphone. It's a steal. The clarity is just out of this world. The bass is not actually bad. It reminds me of the beyer T1 which I loved but without the bloat.
In short, I had fun listening to Aiva while I find Ananda boring.
Graphs indeed does not tell the whole story. This headphone is not for everyone, but if you made your conclusion already without trying yourself you might regret it.
This headphone is proof that, no matter what impressions you read or graphs you see. Your own ears and experience will decide.
Graphs indeed does not tell the whole story. This headphone is not for everyone, but if you made your conclusion already without trying yourself you might regret it.
Just wish (Mass)Drop had offered these earlier and I could have saved $100 plus another $15 for the XLR adapter I needed. Anyway, I don't regret buying the Aiva's sooner at all because I've thoroughly enjoyed them for the past several months. As you say let your own ears decide!
Users who are viewing this thread
