[Mhog55]

Quad ERA-1's are among my most respected headphones (from a design perspective), but I never had a chance to listen to them.

I personally think that you should either pass on making a next purchase, or save up enough money to buy a >1k headphone. I think that the next step from the SR2 has to be an electrostatic setup (a true, good electrostatic setup will run you 3k-4k) or get a high-end/TOTL option like Sennheisers HD800 series, ZMF's headphones, Kennerton's (these guys put in a lot of work to make their headphones), and probably a dozen other companies that I didn't mention. Just based on my first listen of the P-II, I prefer the SR2 by miles. However, I am waiting for my AMP12 to arrive and then I will give the P-II a fair chance.

Regarding how hard the P-II is to drive, I would say that volume-wise, you need a decent amp. But I think that they greatly benefit of an amp that has enough power to drive them. That's why I'm waiting for the AMP12 to arrive. People say that it performs close to the DX220MAX, and that it reveals the top-end (unlike the AMP11 which leans towards the warmer side).


For example, Kaldas Research RR1 is an outstanding electrostatic headphone. You pair it with a good amp (I would avoid Stax) and you have a TOTL setup. The RR1 is greatly underpriced, so do not get fooled by the low price. That headphone makes your jaw drop.

I have little desire to spend more than 6-700 bucks on a headphone. I own the Magni. I've read a lot of comments regarding how the Sivga sounds rather closed in and boxy. I'm pretty satisfied with what I have now, but I'd like to own a headphone with bass emphasis.

 

[jasswolf]

And the Monoprice M570, Blon B20, Takstar HF580, and probably some other variants I’m forgetting.

There are some minor variations between the different incarnations but it’s a very popular platform that a lot of brands out of China are using to make their ‘own’ headphones.

Those are all the ones I'm aware of.

As far as I know, SIVGA is the core manufacturer of all of these. In other words, I believe Sivga is the OEM, and other companies made an OEM order of what we know as the P-II.

All of these headphones are different. They differ by headband mechanism, tuning, and probably more factors.

This is why I made this thread, because the P-II comes directly from Sivga.

My point here is that Aiva and the P-II would be more alike than the rest.

The M570 uses a notably different grill, while the B20 shows it's clearly dampened differently in the enclosure, raising upper mids and fixing mid-range resonance with a darker sound.

The HF580 is its own beast due to the plastic enclosure, but can be easily dampened too, and all seem to respond well to Aiva v2 pads.

Personally I don't see the point while the Sundara 2020 version and the Deva/5XX exist, and I'd imagine that we'll see updates over time that put further price pressure on the variants of this driver.

Interested in @Ichos' comparison with the Deva, which they were glowing of due to imaging, tonality and timbre.

 

[Ichos]

Did you feel that the daps you used were enough to drive them close to their full potential? I need another headphone like a whole in the head, but I've been curious about these for some time now. Member Voja helped with my Ibasso SR2 purchase, and I recently acquired the Quad Era-1. My favorite 2 headphones I've owned thus far, and there have been many. I'm curious how the Sivga compares and contrasts with them.

Yes they are pretty easy to drive , not like the Sundara.
With the DX300 at high gain where loud and playing with their full potential at 60% of the max volume.
The Sundara need to push at 80%.

Using a separate amp like the ZEN CAN they sounded just a bit more controlled but I didn't find much missing with the DX300.

 

[Chessnaudio]

How well would the Hiby r5 drive these? That is the pairing I have. More specifically, how do I know if a pair of headphones are being driven well? Make no mistake, I enjoy these immensely. I, however,have the Sendy Aiva pads on them. Which actually increses treble sparkle at a slight reduction in bass. Bass was present using @voja's test tracks

 

[voja]

How well would the Hiby r5 drive these? That is the pairing I have. More specifically, how do I know if a pair of headphones are being driven well? Make no mistake, I enjoy these immensely. I, however,have the Sendy Aiva pads on them. Which actually increses treble sparkle at a slight reduction in bass. Bass was present using @voja's test tracks

Great question!!

I'll tell you my opinion, which I'm sure not too many people share. I personally think that you cannot truly know if a pair of headphones is being driven well unless you directly compare it to a "superior" setup. Some of us have the privilege of owning several amps and DACs, thus making it easier to notice this. I know that I noticed the bass to be more muddy and of lower quality when pairing the P-II with something like a Shanling UA1/UA2.

My first time noticing the difference an amp & DAC make was when I hooked up my HD598 to a EarMen TR-Amp. Up until that point, I've been using the HD598 plugged into my desktop PC for years (no amp/DAC), and then I just heard it come to life with the TR-Amp.


Unless there is a severe (negative) quality in your headphones, the truth is that your ears will just get used to the sound.

This being said, if you are looking to see if upgrading is worth it. Take your r5 with you and go to a store that has more powerful amps, dacs, daps, if you hear positive differences and those differences make sense in the price increase, you can make a purchase that you know is worth it.

Hope I helped =)

 

[Chessnaudio]

Great question!!

I'll tell you my opinion, which I'm sure not too many people share. I personally think that you cannot truly know if a pair of headphones is being driven well unless you directly compare it to a "superior" setup. Some of us have the privilege of owning several amps and DACs, thus making it easier to notice this. I know that I noticed the bass to be more muddy and of lower quality when pairing the P-II with something like a Shanling UA1/UA2.

My first time noticing the difference an amp & DAC make was when I hooked up my HD598 to a EarMen TR-Amp. Up until that point, I've been using the HD598 plugged into my desktop PC for years (no amp/DAC), and then I just heard it come to life with the TR-Amp.


Unless there is a severe (negative) quality in your headphones, the truth is that your ears will just get used to the sound.

This being said, if you are looking to see if upgrading is worth it. Take your r5 with you and go to a store that has more powerful amps, dacs, daps, if you hear positive differences and those differences make sense in the price increase, you can make a purchase that you know is worth it.

Hope I helped =)

Thank you. Been trying to do just that to demo different headphones. Just hard to get away.

 

[Mhog55]

The R5 offers a watt worth of power, which is the general standard for least power needed to push planars. That being said, it may not push them to their full potential. Unless you listen to them with something more powerful, you'll never know the difference. File recordings can also make a difference. My R5 pushes my Quad Era-1 decently, but with some of my softer, vinyl recordings, I have to crank it up to almost full volume. Even then I sometimes long for more. Not sure how the Sivga compares to the Quads in terms of sensitivity.

 

[pricewool]

Appreciate this thread. And thanks to the person for the nice review linked earlier. I just got my pair and I’m in the third day listening. I’m quite pleased and always looking for a good value. The build, accessories, and packaging is well beyond the price point. Most importantly the sound from these is extremely pleasing to my ears. Excellent bass with slam and not bloated. Mids and highs nicely detailed and extremely smooth when powered by my xDoo Class A two tube hybrid amp in the chain right now. Soundstage is very nice. For my money, these are an exceptional and entertaining value! PS, I’ve had comments from people with those Sendy cans, and they’re not describing anything close to what I hear. I wouldn’t judge these based on other branded models from the same manufacture.

 

[Chessnaudio]

Appreciate this thread. And thanks to the person for the nice review linked earlier. I just got my pair and I’m in the third day listening. I’m quite pleased and always looking for a good value. The build, accessories, and packaging is well beyond the price point. Most importantly the sound from these is extremely pleasing to my ears. Excellent bass with slam and not bloated. Mids and highs nicely detailed and extremely smooth when powered by my xDoo Class A two tube hybrid amp in the chain right now. Soundstage is very nice. For my money, these are an exceptional and entertaining value! PS, I’ve had comments from people with those Sendy cans, and they’re not describing anything close to what I hear. I wouldn’t judge these based on other branded models from the same manufacture.

I had a similar experience. I saw it described as a warm meaty planar. And as you said with a (hybrid) tube amplifier it is even better

 

[Chessnaudio]

I have a line on a Smsl sp200 thx amp. How would the Sivga sound on this? Is it even necessary if I have a Ifi Zen dac/amp

 

[silent-circuit]

I have a line on a Smsl sp200 thx amp. How would the Sivga sound on this? Is it even necessary if I have a Ifi Zen dac/amp

Not necessary, in my opinion. The P-II is not very hard to drive (at least as far as planars go).

 

[voja]

Just tried gaming (Rainbow Six Siege) with these, holy crap are they horrible. Horrendous tonality, even worse imaging, and very fatiguing (sound-wise). I was driving them balanced (4.4mm) through Venture Electronics' Megatron. I had the Windows volume set at 8 or so, which was plentiful.

Yikes.