[jsmiller58]

I don't see it. The latest video that appears is of HP-3.

Sorry - you are right. Only on the Patreon site for now.

 

[jsmiller58]

My earlier question still stands for those who have listened to these... are they giant killers, or just really good for $599? I am looking for just one more, a high end (sub $1700) can, and a planar would be ideal... Could these do, and save me some money, or if I am willing to spend the extra money will I get meaningfully more for it?

 

[DrummerLeo]

My earlier question still stands for those who have listened to these... are they giant killers, or just really good for $599? I am looking for just one more, a high end (sub $1700) can, and a planar would be ideal... Could these do, and save me some money, or if I am willing to spend the extra money will I get meaningfully more for it?

My opinion is it depends on what genres are you mainly listening to.
If you listen to pop, vocal, piano, violins more than others, they are “giant killer”, especially for vocals, they are certainly one of the best in my collection, tie with Susvara and utopia+Dana cable combo, both are around 4k, and they beat D8000 in vocal( not in pop due to D8000 has significantly more and better bass), but aiva is only $599.
If you prefer those huge symphony, they are not bad but you may have better options in this price range like new dt1990 or used T1, hd800.
If you like rock and metal, then go for fostex.
The case is overall they are stunning good at this price, almost unbelievable, simply because you can get a refined and appealing tonality, an amazing transparency that doesn’t belongs to the price range.
Sound wise I don’t feel they are that “cheap” when switch from Susvara to them. I do have that “cheap” feeling when switch to hd660s or even hexv2.

 

[mixman]

My opinion is it depends on what genres are you mainly listening to.
If you listen to pop, vocal, piano, violins more than others, they are “giant killer”, especially for vocals, they are certainly one of the best in my collection, tie with Susvara and utopia+Dana cable combo, both are around 4k, and they beat D8000 in vocal( not in pop due to D8000 has significantly more and better bass), but aiva is only $599.
If you prefer those huge symphony, they are not bad but you may have better options in this price range like new dt1990 or used T1, hd800.
If you like rock and metal, then go for fostex.
The case is overall they are stunning good at this price, almost unbelievable, simply because you can get a refined and appealing tonality, an amazing transparency that doesn’t belongs to the price range.
Sound wise I don’t feel they are that “cheap” when switch from Susvara to them. I do have that “cheap” feeling when switch to hd660s or even hexv2.

Wow, not sure we heard the same HP's maybe you got the supped up versions? The HP's I heard were no where near any of those you just mentioned. They were good basic Planars that do some things well and others not so well.

 

[DrummerLeo]

Wow, not sure we heard the same HP's maybe you got the supped up versions? The HP's I heard were no where near any of those you just mentioned. They were good basic Planars that do some things well and others not so well.

Maybe because of the amp and source as well.

 

[jsmiller58]

Wow, not sure we heard the same HP's maybe you got the supped up versions? The HP's I heard were no where near any of those you just mentioned. They were good basic Planars that do some things well and others not so well.

@DrummerLeo reaction seems more like Zeos’ experience than yours... however such divergent experiences causes me a little concern... not that everyone should agree, but rarely are reactions so polar opposite... still thinking hard about these...

 

[jsmiller58]

My opinion is it depends on what genres are you mainly listening to.
If you listen to pop, vocal, piano, violins more than others, they are “giant killer”, especially for vocals, they are certainly one of the best in my collection, tie with Susvara and utopia+Dana cable combo, both are around 4k, and they beat D8000 in vocal( not in pop due to D8000 has significantly more and better bass), but aiva is only $599.
If you prefer those huge symphony, they are not bad but you may have better options in this price range like new dt1990 or used T1, hd800.
If you like rock and metal, then go for fostex.
The case is overall they are stunning good at this price, almost unbelievable, simply because you can get a refined and appealing tonality, an amazing transparency that doesn’t belongs to the price range.
Sound wise I don’t feel they are that “cheap” when switch from Susvara to them. I do have that “cheap” feeling when switch to hd660s or even hexv2.

My musical tastes are more 80s rock, modern Country, and a little classical.

I had the DT 1990 before. I have the MD x Focal Elex which I think of as a better DT 1990. These are actually my favorite headphones, but I can only listen to them so long before fatigue sets in. I can listen to my ZMF Eikons, MD x MrSpeakers CX, and Sundara for hours - they don’t have the detail and impact of the Elex, which is why I don’t go to them first, and why I can listen to them longer!

 

[DrummerLeo]

My musical tastes are more 80s rock, modern Country, and a little classical.

I had the DT 1990 before. I have the MD x Focal Elex which I think of as a better DT 1990. These are actually my favorite headphones, but I can only listen to them so long before fatigue sets in. I can listen to my ZMF Eikons, MD x MrSpeakers CX, and Sundara for hours - they don’t have the detail and impact of the Elex, which is why I don’t go to them first, and why I can listen to them longer!

I understand your feel. I have never heard elex but I used to own elear, I think they might be similar.
For the genres you like, elear is very good at as well. However, from my experience with elear, I think it is a incompleted headphones. It has a very impressive bass and treble extension, but the bass mid and treble seems separate with each other and doing their own job. The lack of cohesion is the main reason I gave them up so quick, same thing happened on Sony z1r.
What I really like about aiva is that it is a very coherent headphones, and it gives some similar impressions with my other way more expensive headphones. There are some headphones in this price range has better bass, treble, soundstage, and sounds more “impressive” , but my opinion, “impressive” sometimes is not necessary a good nothing when a certain frequency overwhelms the overall expression of the music itself. It’s easy to be “extreme” but it’s hard to be “right there”.
Another good thing about aiva is that every note it delivers to me is very well textured. For example, in some violin and acoustic guitar records, many headphones even in higher price range like he6 has a metallic sound which is annoying, especially when the music is slow. However, aiva deal with this part beautifully. It smooth out the metallic tones and keep the clean and fluid sound of those instruments.
So as a summary, I think aiva is masterpiece in some genres(vocal lovers should seriously give it a try), and has no significant flaws in its overall sound quality. It may not be a satisfying headphones for certain game chasers, but it well accomplished its job as a comfortable and relaxing headphones for daily enjoyment.

 

[jsmiller58]

I understand your feel. I have never heard elex but I used to own elear, I think they might be similar.
For the genres you like, elear is very good at as well. However, from my experience with elear, I think it is a incompleted headphones. It has a very impressive bass and treble extension, but the bass mid and treble seems separate with each other and doing their own job. The lack of cohesion is the main reason I gave them up so quick, same thing happened on Sony z1r.
What I really like about aiva is that it is a very coherent headphones, and it gives some similar impressions with my other way more expensive headphones. There are some headphones in this price range has better bass, treble, soundstage, and sounds more “impressive” , but my opinion, “impressive” sometimes is not necessary a good nothing when a certain frequency overwhelms the overall expression of the music itself. It’s easy to be “extreme” but it’s hard to be “right there”.
Another good thing about aiva is that every note it delivers to me is very well textured. For example, in some violin and acoustic guitar records, many headphones even in higher price range like he6 has a metallic sound which is annoying, especially when the music is slow. However, aiva deal with this part beautifully. It smooth out the metallic tones and keep the clean and fluid sound of those instruments.
So as a summary, I think aiva is masterpiece in some genres(vocal lovers should seriously give it a try), and has no significant flaws in its overall sound quality. It may not be a satisfying headphones for certain game chasers, but it well accomplished its job as a comfortable and relaxing headphones for daily enjoyment.

Thank you!

 

[mixman]

This is most likely my final take on this. I am going try to sum up objectively what my viewpoint is. At CanJam there were how many people there? I didn’t do the sales but at least hundreds maybe thousands? Many were Head Fiers, because it was a Head Fi show. I would say quite a few listened to these HP’s. I know most of the major online reviewers listened to them like Metal571, DMS and of course Z. I would think if these were that terrific and such an outstanding bargain you would definitely have heard more of a buzz on these. This thread is into the what, 4th page and there are only a couple of us even talking about these things. Look at the Stellia thread...$3K Hp’s, that many will not even be able to afford. Much of the buzz about them on the CanJam show thread and the Stellia thread came from CanJam. I am just saying even if I am totally wrong on these, if these are so spectacular, by now this thread should be off the charts with activity, but..........

 

[DrummerLeo]

This is most likely my final take on this. I am going try to sum up objectively what my viewpoint is. At CanJam there were how many people there? I didn’t do the sales but at least hundreds maybe thousands? Many were Head Fiers, because it was a Head Fi show. I would say quite a few listened to these HP’s. I know most of the major online reviewers listened to them like Metal571, DMS and of course Z. I would think if these were that terrific and such an outstanding bargain you would definitely have heard more of a buzz on these. This thread is into the what, 4th page and there are only a couple of us even talking about these things. Look at the Stellia thread...$3K Hp’s, that many will not even be able to afford. Much of the buzz about them on the CanJam show thread and the Stellia thread came from CanJam. I am just saying even if I am totally wrong on these, if these are so spectacular, by now this thread should be off the charts with activity, but..........

It is interesting that you compare the popularity of a matured audio brand with a new-comer.
There are many reasons why they are rarely talked, like the poor productivity, even poorer advertising. In terms of sound, like I said they are not mean to be a impressive headphones with punchy deep bass or bright exciting treble. I really doubt how many people will try records/genres aiva really good at during canjam. It is hard for people to love them at a
scenario like Canjam, but it is very easy to fall in love with them in a quite cozy room.
Anyway, I will try to contact Sendy or Musicteck to start a tour of Aiva, or I will just buy them and loan them out to let more people try them at home. They deserve more notice.

 

[Feilong4]

This is most likely my final take on this. I am going try to sum up objectively what my viewpoint is. At CanJam there were how many people there? I didn’t do the sales but at least hundreds maybe thousands? Many were Head Fiers, because it was a Head Fi show. I would say quite a few listened to these HP’s. I know most of the major online reviewers listened to them like Metal571, DMS and of course Z. I would think if these were that terrific and such an outstanding bargain you would definitely have heard more of a buzz on these. This thread is into the what, 4th page and there are only a couple of us even talking about these things. Look at the Stellia thread...$3K Hp’s, that many will not even be able to afford. Much of the buzz about them on the CanJam show thread and the Stellia thread came from CanJam. I am just saying even if I am totally wrong on these, if these are so spectacular, by now this thread should be off the charts with activity, but..........

I think most folks go for well-known audio manufacturers when going to shows. I speak for myself as well. If I were to see an audio manufacturer that I don't know about, I am less likely to try it especially since there are more "exciting" headphones to try out. FOTM sorta thing. In the CanJam thread, there was maybe only a few posts about these and I suspect that that was the case. Most want to try out the Stellia, the ZMF cans, etc and that's perfectly ok. Because there's so little exposure, I assume the Aiva's would get easily overshadowed even if the Aiva's are great.

I haven't heard the Aiva yet but I hope to soon once @DrummerLeo is ready.

 

[SoundHelmet]

There is at least one reviewer so far that is speaking really highly of them.
This is like his only video but apparenty he is metal571's friend and metal agreed with his impression based on his reddit comments.

 

[pichu]

There is at least one reviewer so far that is speaking really highly of them.
This is like his only video but apparenty he is metla571's friend and metal agreed with his impression based on his reddit comments.

I can vouch for Max. Good guy and yes Metal can vouch for him

 

[stimuz]

The case is overall they are stunning good at this price, almost unbelievable, simply because you can get a refined and appealing tonality, an amazing transparency that doesn’t belongs to the price range.

Why doesn't it belong in the $600 price range? China #1, putting that markup in check.