HIFIMAN Susvara Headphone Review

[OctoEmu]

I own it and I don't see anything wrong with the measurements. Susvara is literally designed to have almost no dampening whatsoever hence the massive group delay / reflections and that zig zag FR curves. Shocking to see AHB2 running out of steam at the same level A90 at 114 dB SPL, wow

I'd be coping too for $6000.

 

[OctoEmu]

Missed opportunity for the piggy bank panther!

 

[GPJ]

Looks like the HE400SE is an upgrade.

I grabbed a pair of HE400se last week for $59 directly from HiFiMAN that arrived in like new condition. And I received my $25 7Hz Zero 2 too (tu-tu).

Less than $85 for two units ....... just laughable .... nothing else is really needed .....

 

[ChargedCapacitor]

I had the susvaras for a stent, and have compared them to several headphones. The biggest negative to the susvara is it's ability to render vocals; not even EQ could fix it (which should be obvious when you look at the random and jagged nature of the mids). However, one thing that the susvara absoulutely crushed at was spatial localization. I guess the lack of dampening helped out in this regard; when it came to gaming, the susvara almost felt like I was using cheats. It was like night and day compared to the HD800, which sounded muddy in comparison.

I ended up selling them because my LCD-5 sounded more lifelike and could actually be EQ'd, but the LCD-5 spatial features are still no where near as good as the susvaras.

 

[fin]

Many consider Susvara as the pinnacle or end game gear of this hobby but there's always a question mark for me and Amir just give me the answer. Some might interpreted some of the headphone's imperfections as a unique "flavor," suggesting a distinctive sound quality. However, these so-called flavors or musical part are often just the result of distortion, group delay, resonance from design and FR flaws.

Susvara is a 2017 headphone, while HIFIMAN's expertise in design and manufacturing over the past seven years has certainly improved. They have developed newer, easier-to-drive planar models with fewer issues, such as the new Arya and Edition XS. However, the $6000 MSRP of the Susvara is effectively maintaining its top position, as price is often the simplest and most natural metric for people to gauge quality. It just shows how the mere digit of the price can influence people's opinions so much more than they realized.

 

[IAtaman]

Thank you for the review Amir.

That aside, we lack bass which is typical of a number of other headphones. Response is also insufficient in the 1 to 3 kHz which likely is there to keep the headphone form sounding too bright (given the lack of bass).

I think this is a much better way of interpreting the drops in highs then saying it is just a deficiency. Thank you.

I was disappointed to see high levels of distortion where our hearing is most sensitive:

Narrow spikes usually indicate resonances so they are audible beyond their distortion characteristics and point to design issues. We can also see how fast they escalate. 94 to 104 dBSPL causes a 3 3X or so increase but go to 114 dBSPL and they shoot through the roof. What's more, if you go just 1 dB beyond, the drivers bottom out and just buzz! Wanting to rule out Topping A90's own distortion I switched to Benchmark AHB2. Alas, I was not able to get above 113 dBSPL as AHB2 ran out of voltage drive. Taking this into account, we see that the problem is the headphone and not the amps:
View attachment 336683

This was surprising. Both AHB2 limiter story, and the distortion of the headphone above 94dB.
Is this maybe why some people find A90 "too harsh" at times, as it exposes the bad distortion characteristics of their beloved headphones?

 

[IAtaman]

Let's agree that objectively we are not doing well here. But "how does it sound?"

To those who think this concludes Susvara does not sound good, and would love too see it burned at a stake as a symbol of expensive audiophile gear,

I understand where you are coming from.

I am also very glad to see audiophile claims that sound excellence could only be achieved by spending a lot of money in audio gear is being proven wrong time and again. But allow me to remind you that this sentence marks the end of the objective review, and rest of it is all subjective. Do not confuse headphone measurements with DAC measurements please, in headphone measurements there are no objective conclusions. Amir might not like the headphone. It does not mean it does not sound good or you or someone else would not like it. Curb your enthusiasm, please.

 

[Count Arthur]

S tier!

 

[amirm]

Do not confuse headphone measurements with DAC measurements please, in headphone measurements there are no objective conclusions.

Of course there are. We don't do it to pass the time.

 

[deadkrillin]

There are objective circumstances, and these have an effect on what the conclusions drawn may be, but I'm also not sure I'd say it's something that's easy to boil down to objectively good or bad. Especially when we know thanks to Harman what the divergence and segmentation of listener preference can look like in proper test conditions.

 

[renaudrenaud]

I think, for this one in particular, we need a TotalDac and an amp in the same league.

But, I have a question to @solderdude this is not in par with your review :

Susvara

back to HIFIMAN back to measurements home published: Oct-29-2017 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘w…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

I am lost.

 

[MacClintock]

S tier!

 

[renaudrenaud]

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Exactly how I heard susvaras sound.
Something wrong is happening from 1khz ans above giving etheral/distorted/diffused sound.

Good headphone but outclassed by many others and at much lower price.

 

[majingotan]

This was surprising. Both AHB2 limiter story, and the distortion of the headphone above 94dB.
Is this maybe why some people find A90 "too harsh" at times, as it exposes the bad distortion characteristics of their beloved headphones?

Heresy! Nobody in their right mind listens at 113 dB SPL at all times unless they're literally trying to kill their hearing in under 30 minutes. At a more common 104 dB SPL, its distortion is still inaudible due to masking effects. IMHO. the drivers do not behave properly when it starts hitting above 104 dB SPL. Simple as that

 

[Palladium]

Everything is good actually if you move goalposts in light-year intervals.

 

[PenguinMusic]

To those who think this concludes Susvara does not sound good, and would love too see it burned at a stake as a symbol of expensive audiophile gear,

I understand where you are coming from.

I am also very glad to see audiophile claims that sound excellence could only be achieved by spending a lot of money in audio gear is being proven wrong time and again. But allow me to remind you that this sentence marks the end of the objective review, and rest of it is all subjective. Do not confuse headphone measurements with DAC measurements please, in headphone measurements there are no objective conclusions. Amir might not like the headphone. It does not mean it does not sound good or you or someone else would not like it. Curb your enthusiasm, please.

Hi,

I hear you.

But please take the following into consideration :
- You can subjectively like a headphone that has bad objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with bad objective measurements.

And that is totally OK. No one will tell you the opposite.
And no one forces you to consider that a headphone with the best objective measurements is the best.
As everyone will ask not to say that a headphone with bad measurements produces the best transparent sound.
It simply does not, even if you like it.

I think SolderDude wrote something like "Trust your ears to listen, do not trust them as a measurement tool".
I am always somewhat amused when I read reviews stating "You will hear the music exactly as the artist/sound engineer wants you to hear it".
How the f**k do they know what the artist wants us to hear ? Were they sitting in the studio or assisted at the mixing to tell ?
Unfortunately (or fortunately) only measures can tell that :-(

So yes, the Susvara may sound good to your ears.
But others may say they do not like it.
And don't get me wrong.
I am probably in the same camp as you
I happen to own the Sony MDR-Z1R headphone and that is one of my favourites.
A lot of people in here do not like it and say it can not sound good given it's measures.

Well maybe, it can not sound good...
But me I listen to it and I like it...
So yes, I like things taht do not sound good...
And so what ?

Regards.

 

[renaudrenaud]

Hi,

I hear you.

But please take the following into consideration :
- You can subjectively like a headphone that has bad objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with bad objective measurements.

And that is totally OK. No one will tell you the opposite.
And no one forces you to consider that a headphone with the best objective measurements is the best.
As everyone will ask not to say that a headphone with bad measurements produces the best transparent sound.
It simply does not, even if you like it.

I think SolderDude wrote something like "Trust your ears to listen, do not trust them as a measurement tool".
I am always somewhat amused when I read reviews stating "You will hear the music exactly as the artist/sound engineer wants you to hear it".
How the f**k do they know what the artist wants us to hear ? Were they sitting in the studio or assisted at the mixing to tell ?
Unfortunately (or fortunately) only measures can tell that :-(

So yes, the Susvara may sound good to your ears.
But others may say they do not like it.
And don't get me wrong.
I am probably in the same camp as you
I happen to own the Sony MDR-Z1R headphone and that is one of my favourites.
A lot of people in here do not like it and say it can not sound good given it's measures.

Well maybe, it can not sound good...
But me I listen to it and I like it...
So yes, I like things taht do not sound good...
And so what ?

Regards.

This is not the subject. Subject is the list measurements.

 

[IAtaman]

Hi,

I hear you.

But please take the following into consideration :
- You can subjectively like a headphone that has bad objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively like a headphone with good objective measurements ;
- You can subjectively not like a headphone with bad objective measurements.

And that is totally OK. No one will tell you the opposite.
And no one forces you to consider that a headphone with the best objective measurements is the best.
As everyone will ask not to say that a headphone with bad measurements produces the best transparent sound.
It simply does not, even if you like it.

I think SolderDude wrote something like "Trust your ears to listen, do not trust them as a measurement tool".
I am always somewhat amused when I read reviews stating "You will hear the music exactly as the artist/sound engineer wants you to hear it".
How the f**k do they know what the artist wants us to hear ? Were they sitting in the studio or assisted at the mixing to tell ?
Unfortunately (or fortunately) only measures can tell that :-(

So yes, the Susvara may sound good to your ears.
But others may say they do not like it.
And don't get me wrong.
I am probably in the same camp as you
I happen to own the Sony MDR-Z1R headphone and that is one of my favourites.
A lot of people in here do not like it and say it can not sound good given it's measures.

Well maybe, it can not sound good...
But me I listen to it and I like it...
So yes, I like things taht do not sound good...
And so what ?

Regards.

When you make a comment about an expensive headphone that people like to bash, it is assumed you are saying that because you own it, or you have some emotional connection to it or whatever. Which is understandable. But also regrettable. People should not be made to feel they need to explain their intentions for their comments to be taken for what it says.

Nonetheles, I do not have any emotional connection to Susvara. I don't own it. I listened to it briefly at a dealer some time ago and I was not impressed with it. I personally think most of its cult status as an amazing headphone is a self fulfilling myth. So I am not trying to say this is a good headphone or a bad headphone, I am merely objecting to the idea that one can make objective claims about a headphone unless it is demonstrably broken, which this headphone is not.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

. I personally think most of its cult status as an amazing headphone is a self fulfilling myth

Yes.