HIFIMANSUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones

There's nothing else quite like the HiFiMAN Sundara for £300 or less. Planar magnetic headphones are still a relatively rare choice of driver for headphones with only a few companies attempting to make them. HiFiMAN is not only unusual as a company for making planar headphones, it specialises in them.Planar magnetic headphones are essentially a thin sound producing diaphragm stuck between two rows of magnets. The diaphragm is suspended in the air between the two rows and produces sound from the fluctuations in the magnetic field as current is passed through the magnets. Planars specialise in reproducing fine detail from a recording for relatively little effort. At least, in theory. In practice, with a solid enough design, traditional dynamic driver headphones and planars can and do trade blows in fidelity on a regular basis. What is true for sure though is that planars have a totally different character to their sound than dynamic drivers - planars have a habit of throwing that fine detail they can retrieve in your face whether you're listening out for it or not.The Sundara model currently being sold on Amazon appears to be the July 2022 revision or newer. The Sundara was originally released in 2017 and has been modified several times since then, but this review will focus on the version I received. If you have an earlier version of the Sundara and want to update the headphone, all you need to do is replace the earpads with the latest revision as that is the only build change.The version I received came with the redesigned and much more modest cardboard boxes with foam inserts instead of the more elaborate display cases of earlier versions. The foam insert in the box includes a removeable piece that functions as a free headphone stand if that takes your fancy. It barely weighs anything so it's a little difficult to keep in one place on a desk. You also will receive a complementary dual 3.5mm to 3.5mm headphone cable and a 3.5mm to 6.5mm jack adapter. I had no problems with this cable, but this is easily replaced with aftermarket cables if it's not to your liking. The Sundara supports balanced audio input, and I recommend using it this way if you're able to do so.Unlike most of HiFiMAN's more expensive offerings, the Sundara uses their older round earcup design. It's quite snug on the ears and takes a little getting used to, but you should soon forget you have it on your head after a while. The headband is a simple metal band with a faux leather support band designed to even out the pressure on your head. In my experience this design is quite effective and comfortable, even if it feels a bit cheap. It's clear the budget is going mostly to the actual headphone drivers themselves, and I'm fine with this tradeoff.HiFiMAN has a house sound that all their headphones broadly adhere to like most headphone companies do. The sound signature is bright-leaning - the treble (3 - 10KHz) and air (10 - 20KHz) regions are emphasised slightly more than in a completely flat frequency response - and there is also a significant dip between 1000 and 3000Hz which further emphasises the treble and air regions. These regions contribute the most to a sense of detail and precision in what you hear, so this house sound is likely designed to highlight the planar's favourite party trick. Bass is audible but rolled-off - you can hear it all the way down to the lower audible limit of 20Hz but it's quieter than it should be in a flat response. If you are used to bassy headphones or a typically tuned car stereo, this will come as a shock at first, as this is the inverse tuning of what you're used to. Overall though, while there is light emphasis and de-emphasis in places, the sound signature is mostly neutral, not drawing specific attention to any region and giving every section of your music and audio equal attention in the presentation. As the cliché goes, you'll hear things in your music that were always there but that you never noticed before, over and over again. If you end up dissatisfied with the way they sound, they respond extremely well to EQ, so you can fill in and/or boost the bass and eliminate the 1-3KHz dip if you so wish. In other words, these are audiophile-grade reference tuned headphones with significantly better detail retrieval than the average.If you're unfamiliar with what makes a headphone or speaker audiophile-grade, it can be described as what was originally recorded and mastered is what you hear played back. If you're listening to a recording with a violin way off at the back of the room, an acoustic guitar right next to the recording mic and a cello slightly off to the side, on an audiophile headphone you will hear an acoustic guitar right in front of you, a violin that sounds very far away, and a cello slightly off to the side. This sense of a space instruments are playing in and how big it is is referred to as the soundstage and being able to precisely locate where the instruments are playing in the room is referred to as the imaging. If you wish to watch movies with surround sound or game on these headphones, the imaging and soundstage become much more important. Headphones can use binaural audio playback to mimic (or exceed!) surround sound in movies and games while still using a stereo signal.By audiophile headphone standards though, the Sundaras are nothing special in either imaging or soundstage. That is not to say they are bad - they will blow your socks off still if you're coming from mainstream audio but they do not particularly excel in either category - they are simply good enough for the job on both the vertical and horizontal axis, and that will probably be enough for most people.There is one caveat to this, however. You will probably get better imaging performance out of a HiFiMAN headphone at any price point if you feed it with a "dual-mono" source. This is a form of audio reproduction that keeps the left and right channels completely separate - the channels use separate amp circuits and never have any chance to mix by mistake at any point in the chain. If you do not do this, you may experience a "deadzone" of sorts in the centre image, where sound lightly panned less than ~15 degrees in either direction is artificially snapped to the centre channel at 0 degrees. This can subjectively make music sound more coherent in the centre but could be quite disorienting when gaming. The iFi Zen DAC v2 and the FiiO K7 are both dual-mono amps and you need to use the balanced 4.4mm connection on these amps to keep the channels truly separated, which will require a specialised aftermarket cable that you can find right here on Amazon.I said there's nothing else quite like the HiFiMAN Sundara for £300 or less. That's because there is no other headphone on the market that is this close to the complete package with the planar sound signature that doesn't cost more money. If you just want to buy one audiophile headphone and get it over and done with, this is the one to buy. If however you like the planar sound but want a headphone with exceptional soundstage and imaging, not merely adequate and dead-flat bass extension without the rolloff, consider extending your budget to £500 and looking at the HiFiMAN Edition XS.

Stop reading this and go and buy them.Not conviced? Fine. I have a pair of HD660s which cost almost twice the price and I don't feel in any way guilty for comparing them.Comfort: These are the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn, they are heavier than the HD660s but the clampint force is a lot lighter. When placed on my head, my head feels more comfortable like they were meant to be there and had been missing all these years.Build Quality: This seems good no obvious signs of poor quality, lots of metal is used in the construction.Cables: My only criticism here is that no balanced cables are provided. Others have mentioned them being stiff? I do not get this, I find them very flexible for the thicker cables that come with premium headphones. Compared to the kevlar ones which come with HD660s these are extremely flexible. I would say they are comparable to the straight parts on my DT770 Pros.Sound Quality: The first thing I noticed was the clarity and detail of the sound, I am going through all my music discovering new details I have noticed before, the sounds are just so much more natural.The sound stage is good, wider than any other headphones I have. Imaging is not quite as good as my Sennheisers but the difference is not huge.Lows is somewhat recessed compared to most planar headphones, if you want bass cannons, these are not your best choice. There is bass there and it is good and fast attack and release. You could probably eq the bass up if you are that way inclined. Sub-bass is there and you can feel it. Highs are clear and detailed with a boost in the mid treble, I haven't noticed any sibilance at all. Mids are neutral which is pretty much where I want them to be. So no V-shaped curve but something sitting closer to the Harman target curve.Value: For £240 I am not aware of anything even close to this quality and it punches way above its weight. These would make an ideal introduction to HiFi headphones.

Incredible cans from Hifiman with one big flaw. But lets start from the beginning.Construction is a plus. From oldschool design to materials used. Everything fits perfectly, pads are comfortable, tension is very good.Sound is incredible. This are my first plannar cans and what sound they deliver! Although bass (as mentioned in other reviews) is not massive it is there and goes to level beyond bouncy and overwhelming one in more trendy cans (im talking about you Sony and Beats). But dont think for a moment that bass is muffled by treble or mids. No, it just perfectly fits with them giving very wide stage.This is kind of sound that reveals everything, so poorly recorded tracks will still sound poorly (although you can play with eq in your source to "pump" them up). But well recorded albums and tracks shine incredibly. Very often you can explore them anew, hearing small things you never notice (or heard) before.Now to the one big flaw (on this beautiful gem)... the cables. They are horrendous, like taken from old cheap headset. How on earth can you give so cheaply made, barely bending (second pictures show how the cable still didnt straighten after over month of use), very stiff cable in headphones originally costing 350£!!! Its like giving you a ferrari on racing track on old, worn out tires!!! Its like giving you really good thing (all those hand shakes and smiles and good words) and then finish it with a spat in the face!!!I really cant understand how can you give such good cans with subpar cables...Shame on you Hifiman... shame. Better option would be taking of cable and lowering the price.