[mammal]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

 

[vonBaron]

You judge Utopia a bit too harshly in my opinion. So Susvary and 1266 TC are generally better but also much more expensive. In my opinion, utopias are a great price / quality / sound / comfort ratio. BTW Susvara on stock pads (and cable) are worse than Utopia for me.

 

[mammal]

You judge Utopia a bit too harshly in my opinion. So Susvary and 1266 TC are generally better but also much more expensive. In my opinion, utopias are a great price / quality / sound / comfort ratio.

I was not pricing in value into my assessment at all, I will give you that.

 

[vonBaron]

If i want ultra SQ i choose 1266 TC too but if i want more musical and fun sound signature i always choose Utopia.

 

[Gadget67]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

As usual, a good solid review; very helpful.

I would not be hasty about writing off the Utopia, but I readily admit I literally haven’t used it since the1266 arrived. @Sajid Amit also likes the Abyss 1266 and Susvara and as I remember ranked them closely. @ra990 also owns both and I pm’d him about the Susvara initially, but after further discussion, decided on the 1266 and couldn’t be happier that I did. Of course I’ll be curious to see what you think when yo do additional testing when the Egoista arrives. I’m sure others will be chiming in.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Palyodgree]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

I look forward to your further thoughts on the Susvaras & 1266 , I am a young man growing up with all of the influences of 1980s however my musical tastes go deep from 1950s Jazz and popular music to Electronic Trance including much of everything in between . Having experienced the enormous talent each decade has to offer is something you should delve into .Your country has produced some enormous talent , just to highlight a couple like Caroline Henderson Jazz singer and Jazz at the Pawn Shop one of the all time best recorded Jazz Lps of the 20th century. I think your selling yourself short using such fantastic components and besides I don’t know where your favourite music takes you in your mind when you listen to it though I’m sure you will discover some music that will touch you emotionally deep inside and that makes this hobby so much more enjoyable.

I will be making a purchase decision on either the 1266 TC or Susvaras , next month my dealer has the revised Bakoon integrated amplifier from the 13r model to the 23r new model I am looking forward to checking out with these headphones.

 

[marcus2704]

removed

 

[OceanRanger]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

Thanks for these thoughts @mammal . Your experience with the 1266s around mid's AND with poorly mixed music from the 80's and 90's is very similar to my experience. In fact I've found that I am listening to this music less and less because of the flaws exposed by the 1266s. I'm debating my next pair of headphones and your comments are helpful.

 

[OceanRanger]

Interesting, that amp is on my short list for some tube flavor to go with all my solid state options. Glad you are enjoying it.

Plus one on the Dragon Liii. It pairs wonderfully with the 1266 TCs. Similarly to @Bonddam I've enjoyed some tube rolling. The stock TAD 12BH7s are great. I've found some Telefunken 6DJ8's to be a bit more spacious and a bit more noisy. I've also been enjoying some RCA 12BH7s too. I'm still curious about how this amp will do with Susvaras and don't know how to think about the math, but that question is best for another thread....

 

[SuperBurrito]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

Excellent review, and I agree wholeheartedly. Once I bought the 1266 and Susvara, the Utopia went into the closet. I tried the Utopias again several weeks later but can't find a reason to keep them....I'd rather sell them and use the funds for upgrade cables etc.

When Peter at Double Helix Cables is back from vacation in a few weeks, I'll order some adapters so I can hook up both headphones directly to a power amplifier (Chord Ttoby). Then there will be zero doubt about sufficient power.

In the meantime, I end up using the Susvara more than the 1266 due to the lighter weight and higher comfort level (for me). But maybe that will change once my Dakoni nuggets arrive later this week.

 

[Gadget67]

Excellent review, and I agree wholeheartedly. Once I bought the 1266 and Susvara, the Utopia went into the closet. I tried the Utopias again several weeks later but can't find a reason to keep them....I'd rather sell them and use the funds for upgrade cables etc.

When Peter at Double Helix Cables is back from vacation in a few weeks, I'll order some adapters so I can hook up both headphones directly to a power amplifier (Chord Ttoby). Then there will be zero doubt about sufficient power.

In the meantime, I end up using the Susvara more than the 1266 due to the lighter weight and higher comfort level (for me). But maybe that will change once my Dakoni nuggets arrive later this week.

I haven’t banished my Utopia to the closet yet; I’m going to give them a comparative listen with the1266 with music I have enjoyed with the Utopia (think Diana Krall and Norah Jones). I almost purchased the Susvara instead of the 1266 because I was concerned about comfort and constant fiddling with head adjustments. Glad I went the 1266 route, but maybe I won’t say that when I finally audition the Susvara…it never ends…(resigned sigh)…

 

[cangle]

New amp just came in the mail to drive my 1266, the Flux Lab Acoustics Volot. It's a class A dual mono amp with 16W of max power. Only listened very briefly so far and I'm sure this amp will sound better with time and as I adjust to it. Some things I've noticed is that bass feels more full, textured, and controlled. Vocals, especially female vocals have more body too them, and music just sounds more real especially with jazz / folk / other instrumental music. The only negative is that I feel like I'm missing some treble energy that I had with my previous amp but this may very well change with time / as this amp warms up. Here's a picture and I will update as I listen more to this pairing:

 

[ufospls2]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

You're on a good journey of discovery it seems dude. Enjoy them. Thanks for posting.

 

[Bonddam]

New amp just came in the mail to drive my 1266, the Flux Lab Acoustics Volot. It's a class A dual mono amp with 16W of max power. Only listened very briefly so far and I'm sure this amp will sound better with time and as I adjust to it. Some things I've noticed is that bass feels more full, textured, and controlled. Vocals, especially female vocals have more body too them, and music just sounds more real especially with jazz / folk / other instrumental music. The only negative is that I feel like I'm missing some treble energy that I had with my previous amp but this may very well change with time / as this amp warms up. Here's a picture and I will update as I listen more to this pairing:

Nice amp. I guess that's the flagship. I found bass is dependant on transformers, at least that's the deal with tube amps. Looking at stereo shelf that Flux is big.

 

[Bonddam]

As I promised, after one day of Susvara/Utopia/1266 trifecta, here are some of my initial impressions (out of Bartok).



Susvara's realistic tonality made me rediscover gems like Linkin Park, that simply sounded too distant on 1266, so I did not enjoy them as much. I had expected to like their newer stuff with Susvara, as that sounds quite warm/relaxed, but thought I would like their old edgy stuff more on 1266 - boy I was wrong. To me, 1266 mids sound like the singer is singing from a hallway, from a bit of distance, where as with Susvara, it is front and centre and I cannot resist Chester's voice on Susvara. With 1266, they sound a bit cold and metallic, which I thought went well with his screaming songs, but Susvara proved me wrong. Since I am 90's kid, I listened to a lot of bands like these. But roughly 10 years ago, I switched to EDM instead (Deadmau5), and the only vocals I ever tested were more of a synth-pop kind (like The Weeknd). I am glad that my recent audition of Sennheiser HE-1 showed me how good mids can be, and had me rediscover my love for them.

Technically speaking, I am under-powering Susvara, with only 2.8 W into 60 Ohm - I will revisit this post once my Viva Egoista 845 amp arrives, which should have enough power for Susvara. In any case, I am finding 1266's soundstage more holographic and spacious. Also, I feel that 1266 can extract more detail from the song, especially if it is well recorded. On the other hand, older stuff that is not so well mixed sounds better to my ears on Susvara. After sharing these notes with some other folks, they told me that Susvara will open up (soundstage) and will pack better punch once driven properly, so I am definitely excited.

Some of you may have noticed that I did not really mention Utopia, why is that? To my ears, Utopia is not at the same level as AB-1266 or Susvara. I feel as if it lacked resolution/detail, which is very critical to me, no matter what "tonality" I am after. Utopia is the easiest to drive out of these three, so I don't think it was problem with the source. Also, all three headphones are burned in, and with Utopia I tried two different cables (stock and Moon Audio Silver Dragon). Also the resolution I am talking about is in the lower end register, the bass does not feel layered enough. What I liked about Utopia though is its super intimate soundstage, with quite nice mids (not as nice as Susvara though). This worked very well on some vocal centric intimate songs, but on the other hand, all other songs were presented this way, even if it was not meant to be. Unlike Susvara, which was able to render intimate for intimate songs, and open for open songs. 1266 on the other hand, tries to go always for open soundstage, which works magic on well recorded EDM, but not necessarily on songs I expect to sound intimate.

Now, which headphone would I chose if I could only own one? That depends on what music I would find most important to me. In the last 10 years that has been hands down EDM (often no real life sound reference), so I would chose AB-1266. For anything that is heavily based on real life sounds / human voice / natural tonality, my choice would be Susvara (even with 3W into 60 Ohm amp). I don't want to (yet) get into more detailed comparison, as I am worried that Susvara is being underpowered. I am extremely happy one can power it with Bartok (no issues with volume), and it sounds very good already. But I have a feeling, things will get better with Viva Egoista 845. Some of you laugh at me, but the reason why I don't have a Rossini DAC is that it does not have headphone out. It is very important for me that the core of my listening gear is a device that is all in one (streamer, dac, amp) so that I can transport it between rooms and still listen to good music. I don't expect to be carrying 30kg amplifier around, that one will sit on a rack, haha.

So all in all, I have a theory that AB-1266 and Susvara together are like a king and a queen, forming a well functioning kingdom, that would not work without either of those. If you can only own one headphone, chose one of these two (as long as you can power it properly, if you cannot, 1266 is easier). So far I considerer them headphone 1A and 1B, they are both that good. I think together they outperform HE-1, as EDM was better on AB-1266 and I suspect the rest on Susvara. If you can own multiple TOTL headphones, I think you should consider auditioning Susvara, and adding it next to AB-1266. Mind you, I still have Valkyria coming in on Monday, so let's see how that one sounds. Also worth pointing out, I haven't heard SR1a with HSB1and my memory of BHSE+009 is very faint. I tried LCD4 in the past as well, but that was simply too heavy headphone for me (and when I tried it, it was underpowered as it run directly out of Dave). So take all of my above comments with a grain of salt, as I have very little or fresh experience with other TOTL cans. Nevertheless, I hope this text helps AB-1266 owners, who are on the fence deciding if they should give Susvara a try. I think it is worth it, but it will come down to your priorities, on which you end up using more. Thanks for reading!

Only thing that got me not to keep the Susvara is the bass compared to the 1266. Basically kept me from buying utopia. I'm down to the 1266 and TH900 mk2. Finding that planar manufacturers don't have the bass like dynamic. 1266 does because of the gap which resonates the bass. Only other planar I liked was RAD. Empyrean has bass like a dynamic but lacks the clarity of 1266 and only sounds really good on bass heavy music. So if I bought another headphone it be 1266 for no other reason to look at it lol.