---
product_id: 64382783
title: "SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones"
brand: "hifiman"
price: "€ 427.53"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
category: "Hifiman"
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/64382783-sundara-planar-magnetic-over-ear-hi-fi-headphones
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

# 80% thinner diaphragm for ultra-wide freq. response Upgraded 3.5mm connector & OFC cable for lasting strength All-metal headband built for urban durability SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones

**Brand:** hifiman
**Price:** € 427.53
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🎶 Hear Every Grain, Feel Every Beat — Elevate Your Audio Game

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones by hifiman
- **How much does it cost?** € 427.53 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/64382783-sundara-planar-magnetic-over-ear-hi-fi-headphones)

## Best For

- hifiman enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted hifiman brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Next-Level Connectivity:** Enhanced 3.5mm headphone jack and premium OFC cable guarantee reliable, distortion-free audio for your professional setup.
- • **Rugged Elegance Meets Comfort:** Sleek matte black finish combined with a metal headband ensures durability without compromising on style or comfort during long sessions.
- • **Built for the Audio Connoisseur:** Requires quality amplification to unlock full potential—join the elite circle of audiophiles who demand uncompromising sound.
- • **Immersive Planar Magnetic Precision:** Experience breathtaking detail with a diaphragm 80% thinner than previous models, delivering crystal-clear highs and deep lows.
- • **Open-Back Design for Expansive Soundstage:** Dive into a wide, natural soundscape perfect for mixing, mastering, and immersive gaming experiences.

## Overview

The HIFIMAN SUNDARA headphones feature an ultra-thin planar magnetic diaphragm that delivers an expansive 20 Hz to 75 kHz frequency range with exceptional clarity. Crafted with a durable all-metal headband and upgraded 3.5mm connector, these over-ear headphones combine rugged urban style with professional-grade sound precision. Designed for audiophiles and professionals, the open-back design offers a wide soundstage ideal for critical listening, gaming, and mastering, though optimal performance requires a quality amplifier. With improved earpads and a reinforced OFC cable, the SUNDARA promises lasting comfort and durability for the discerning listener.

## Description

Product Description HIFIMAN SUNDARA: Beautiful Music to Your Ears About HIFIMAN Founded by Dr. Fang Bian in 2007, HIFIMAN is widely regarded as one of the leading manufacturers of high performance headphones and portable audio products. HIFIMAN is especially known for its critically-acclaimed Planar-Magnetic headphones that feature state-of-the-art driver technology. The company also designs and manufactures world-class dynamic in-ear drivers. The Sanskrit word “Sundara” literally means “Beautiful” and this all new Planar Magnetic headphone fits this description in every way. Specifications Frequency Response: 6Hz - 75kHz Impedance: 32Ω Sensitivity: 92dB Weight: 342g Newly Developed Diaphragm that is 80% Thinner than the HE400 Series With all metal headband and the weight spreading strap for outstanding comfort but with a more fashion conscious look with its sleek and sumptuous matte black finish New 3.5mm Headphone Connector for Enhanced Durability NEO “supernano” Diaphragm (NsD) “Hear what you have been missing” The all new NsD is 80% thinner than previous designs resulting in a faster more detailed response while retaining lush musicality never before possible. At between 1 to 2 microns thick, the NsD diaphragm sets all be standards. Hybrid Headband Design The new SUNDARA has a carefully designed weight dispersing strap allowing the headband to afford outstanding comfort. All combined in an accentuated fashion conscious look, with a sleek and sumptuous matte black finish. Form Follows Function A sleek visual headband, using lightweight aluminum to keep it strong, light and urban friendly Ready for Anything New 3.5mm Headphone connector for enhanced durability User Instruction Please allow for a period of “burn in” where you allow playback of audio for a period of 150 hours to allow the headphones to reach their fullest audio potential. The headphone connectors utilize a new 3.5mm connector (our prior models use 2.5mm). They slot in an identical fashion to the standard 3.5mm sockets as found on a multitude of audio devices. The supplied cable 3.5mm is user changeable and replaceable. A 6.35mm adapter can also be used in addition with the standard 3.5mm jack to enable use on outputs with a 6.35mm socket. Be aware the SUNDARA is relatively sensitive so please make sure to turn the volume dial low before connecting to an audio source. Please listen to the SUNDARA at moderate listening levels so that you can continue to enjoy their audio quality for years to come. Please refrain from touching the drivers as they do not require user maintenance and any contact may potentially damage the diaphragm. Troubleshooting Hissing/buzzing/noise: To prevent any unwanted noise or buzzing in your headphones caused by dust or hair on the membrane, it is recommended to store them in a dry, cool, and safe place.If you happen to notice any dust or hair on the driver, please remove it gently without touching the diaphragm. Sound quality not as expected/muffled sound/too quiet/not functioning: Planar headphones require a break-in period to achieve optimal performance. Typically, this process takes up to 150 hours. It's important to note that the SUNDARA headphones also require an adequate audio source to function properly. Please be aware that your phone or PC may not have sufficient power for the SUNDARA headphones. Stopped working/distortion: If you are using an amplifier to drive your headphones, it's crucial to check the DC voltage of the amplifier. Testing the output of your amplifier is essential to ensure its proper functioning. You can measure the voltage and current delivered to your speakers using a multimeter. For the headphones to be powered correctly without any damage, the multimeter should read less than 10 mV. While a DC voltage of less than 100mV generally doesn't cause damage, it may degrade sound quality and result in sound distortion. Parts missing: The SUNDARA headphones are accompanied by a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm stock cable and a 6.35mm adapter. These accessories can be found in the small black box included in the package, which also serves as a protective packaging for the headphones.

Review: Quality Build, Top notch Soundstage, Great Sound, Great Comfort and affordable Balanced Headphones - Solid metal construction that doesn't feel heavy and fits snug on my head even with glasses on. The earcups have a strange shape but it fits better than my previous cans " DT990 Pros, AKG K712-Pros " Soundstage for Music is fantastic.... Now it has reduced horizontal soundstage compared to my previous 2 cans but not by much.. However vertically it smashes both of my previous cans! Outstanding to tell you the truth.. Gaming is rather impressive and not only does it easily destroy my AKG 712 pros but it beats out the DT990 pros too which was somewhat surprising! Very pleasing as a gamer. Comfort is brilliant but not as good as AKG 712 pros. I used to be able to GAME all day long on my AKG cans if I wanted too and would get up and forget that they were on my head! Now these do feel great and are very comfortable but just not the best! But I can still game for 4+ hours before I feel like I HAVE to take them off! Probably would be better without glasses to be fair as I do feel that added pain right by my ears and not the headband area or squashing the head! I'd say yee without glasses would fair better here. I use an IFI Zen DAC V2 connected to my desktop computer with balanced cables and it does sound outstanding....Balanced cables did improve sound slightly but it isn't night and day as expected anyway. I also own a Creative G6 BlasterX DAC/AMP - Creative G1 BlasterX DAC/AMP - Creative Sound Blaster Z - Fiio - FIIO E07K DAC/AMP and my onboard Realtek 1200 chipset. IFI ZEN DAC V2 blows the rest of them out of the water.. pointless having anything else except for the IFI ZEN DAV V2. Creative have lost their identity.. soundstage for gaming was laughable...useless trash.....IFI just blew my mind.. shocking actually.. This is a great buy to be honest.... if you want something that sounds great for music, great for movies especially with Dolby Atmos and Netflix! and when it comes to gaming.. I was gobsmacked..very impressed with how they perform! Very wide soundstage and no need for virtual surround.. it just works right out of the box without the need for any of the fancy creative SBX controls..... finally after 15 years I don't use a creative sound card.....
Review: Still a benchmark for audiophile sound quality (see Edit) - 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 desertcart 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 desertcart. 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. EDIT: Since this review was originally written, the prices for HiFiMAN headphones have crashed dramatically from the £300 and £500 price points mentioned just now. While this is great for the end user of course, it does change the calculus pretty dramatically for this product, which is now typically £169 instead of the £300 it was when I bought it. The HiFiMAN Edition XS mentioned above is now also only £189, so with only £20 difference between them, this now comes down to whether the Edition XS fits your head comfortably or not. If it does, it's easily the better headphone of the two especially for only another £20! If not, and you're not willing to pick up the popular aftermarket comfort straps for the XS, then the Sundara remains no slouch at its new price range. If you also just find the egg shaped HiFiMANs to be unwieldy then you have to spend a lot more than £169 to get HiFiMAN's next circular headphone in its current range, the HE 600. Also since this review was originally written a bevy of "budget" headphone options have hit the market, one of these being FiiO's JT7 which is a planar headphone for £105! Check that new option out too before pulling the trigger on these. Just remember though that I reviewed the Sundaras at £300 and thought they were worth that money easily.

## Features

- Featuring Newly Developed Diaphragm that is 80% Thinner than the HE400 Series Resulting in a Wider Frequency Response, Faster and More Detailed.
- With the weight spreading strap for outstanding comfort but with a more fashion conscious look with its sleek and sumptuous matte black finish
- With its all metal headband the SUNDARA is built to take the rigours of urban street life. The SUNDARA is as tough as it is beautiful
- New 3.5mm Headphone connector for enhanced durability.
- This latest version of SUNDARA now is supplied with newly improved earpads for enhanced durability and a newly upgraded cable made with stronger, further improved materials (of OFC wire) custom designed for the headphone
- Please allow for a period of “burn in” where you allow playback of audio for a period of 150 hours to allow the headphones to reach their fullest audio potential

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B07BY82GLL |
| Age Range Description | Adult |
| Antenna Location | Music Listening |
| Audio Driver Type | Planar Magnetic Driver |
| Best Sellers Rank | 1,507 in In-Ear Headphones |
| Box Contents | Cable |
| Brand | HIFIMAN |
| Brand Name | HIFIMAN |
| Cable Features | Without Cable |
| Carrying Case Color | Black |
| Carrying Case Material | Cardboard or durable plastic |
| Colour | black |
| Compatible Devices | A variety of devices with audio output jacks |
| Control Method | App |
| Control Type | Noise Control |
| Controller Type | wired |
| Customer Package Type | FFP |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 756 Reviews |
| Ear placement | Over Ear |
| Earpiece Shape | Round |
| Enclosure Material | Metal |
| Form factor | Over Ear |
| Frequency Range | 20 Hz to 75000 Hz |
| Frequency Response | 75000 Hz |
| Global Trade Identification Number | 06925624201500 |
| Headphone Form Factor | Over Ear |
| Headphone Jack | 3.5 mm Jack |
| Headphones Ear Placement | Over Ear |
| Impedance | 37 Ohms |
| Is Autographed | No |
| Item Weight | 13.12 Ounces |
| Manufacturer | HiFiMan |
| Model Name | sundara |
| Model Number | SUNDARA |
| Network Connectivity Technology | Wired |
| Noise Control | Active Noise Cancellation |
| Noise control | Active Noise Cancellation |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Product Features | Lightweight |
| Product Warranty | 1 year |
| Sensitivity | 94 dB |
| Specific Uses For Product | Music |
| Style Name | Single |
| Theme | Audio |
| Unit Count | 1.0 count |
| Water Resistance Level | Not Water Resistant |
| Wireless Technology Type | cable |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** HIFIMAN
- **Colour:** black
- **Ear placement:** Over Ear
- **Form factor:** Over Ear
- **Frequency response:** 75000 Hz
- **Headphone jack:** 3.5 mm Jack
- **Impedance:** 37 Ohms
- **Model name:** sundara
- **Noise control:** Active Noise Cancellation
- **Sensitivity:** 94 dB

## Images

![SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HrT8LzbiL.jpg)
![SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61up65UlRbL.jpg)
![SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+o3B8hYtL.jpg)
![SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21PjjoSaKcL.jpg)
![SUNDARA Planar Magnetic Over Ear Hi-Fi Headphones - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nPS4Mj75L.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: Would this headphone be balanced? looking for quality headphones for my zen dac via 4.4mm pentaconn**
A: I use the Ablet 4.4mm cable with the Ifi Zen dac. Don't listen to the negative reviews. The balanced connection transforms the HifiMan headphones.

**Q: Can someone recommend a good balanced 4.4mm cable to use with these? to work with my ifi zen dac v2. cheers.**
A: I use the Ablet Hifi cable 4.4MM balanced male for Beyerdynamics… it works fine with the Sundara and Ifi DAC

**Q: Why did mine arrive in plain cardboard box with Hifiman tape around it and just polystyrene cut to the shape of the headphones and no instructions.**
A: HiFiMAN revised their packaging in 2022 on all their current products. The packaging you describe matches this revised packaging.

**Q: How are these for gaming and movies? Do they have a spacious sound stage with accurate imaging? Thanks!**
A: I use mine for music and gaming on my PC. They are great at both.  Excellent soundstage and locating people on sound along is easy.  Had senhiser 600s before these and these are much better.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Quality Build, Top notch Soundstage, Great Sound, Great Comfort and affordable Balanced Headphones
*by M***S on 27 December 2021*

Solid metal construction that doesn't feel heavy and fits snug on my head even with glasses on. The earcups have a strange shape but it fits better than my previous cans " DT990 Pros, AKG K712-Pros " Soundstage for Music is fantastic.... Now it has reduced horizontal soundstage compared to my previous 2 cans but not by much.. However vertically it smashes both of my previous cans! Outstanding to tell you the truth.. Gaming is rather impressive and not only does it easily destroy my AKG 712 pros but it beats out the DT990 pros too which was somewhat surprising! Very pleasing as a gamer. Comfort is brilliant but not as good as AKG 712 pros. I used to be able to GAME all day long on my AKG cans if I wanted too and would get up and forget that they were on my head! Now these do feel great and are very comfortable but just not the best! But I can still game for 4+ hours before I feel like I HAVE to take them off! Probably would be better without glasses to be fair as I do feel that added pain right by my ears and not the headband area or squashing the head! I'd say yee without glasses would fair better here. I use an IFI Zen DAC V2 connected to my desktop computer with balanced cables and it does sound outstanding....Balanced cables did improve sound slightly but it isn't night and day as expected anyway. I also own a Creative G6 BlasterX DAC/AMP - Creative G1 BlasterX DAC/AMP - Creative Sound Blaster Z - Fiio - FIIO E07K DAC/AMP and my onboard Realtek 1200 chipset. IFI ZEN DAC V2 blows the rest of them out of the water.. pointless having anything else except for the IFI ZEN DAV V2. Creative have lost their identity.. soundstage for gaming was laughable...useless trash.....IFI just blew my mind.. shocking actually.. This is a great buy to be honest.... if you want something that sounds great for music, great for movies especially with Dolby Atmos and Netflix! and when it comes to gaming.. I was gobsmacked..very impressed with how they perform! Very wide soundstage and no need for virtual surround.. it just works right out of the box without the need for any of the fancy creative SBX controls..... finally after 15 years I don't use a creative sound card.....

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Still a benchmark for audiophile sound quality (see Edit)
*by V***N on 12 April 2023*

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. EDIT: Since this review was originally written, the prices for HiFiMAN headphones have crashed dramatically from the £300 and £500 price points mentioned just now. While this is great for the end user of course, it does change the calculus pretty dramatically for this product, which is now typically £169 instead of the £300 it was when I bought it. The HiFiMAN Edition XS mentioned above is now also only £189, so with only £20 difference between them, this now comes down to whether the Edition XS fits your head comfortably or not. If it does, it's easily the better headphone of the two especially for only another £20! If not, and you're not willing to pick up the popular aftermarket comfort straps for the XS, then the Sundara remains no slouch at its new price range. If you also just find the egg shaped HiFiMANs to be unwieldy then you have to spend a lot more than £169 to get HiFiMAN's next circular headphone in its current range, the HE 600. Also since this review was originally written a bevy of "budget" headphone options have hit the market, one of these being FiiO's JT7 which is a planar headphone for £105! Check that new option out too before pulling the trigger on these. Just remember though that I reviewed the Sundaras at £300 and thought they were worth that money easily.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Proceed With Caution
*by J***T on 17 January 2026*

The Sundara open backed headphones from HiFiMan are a long established favorite amongst those seeking to venture beyond the shallows of audio perfection. These headphones may be your first glimpse of the uncharted depths of your very own hi-fi obsession. Over the years the price has tumbled, starting at $399 and steadily dropping even in the last month or so. I bought these at £169, but they were over £200 just last month (which was December 2025). At that price it may be true to say there is very little competition in terms of pure sound quality. These headphones may actually reach beyond personal preference (for which there is no accounting!) into a place where almost any "style" of listener will be well served. My primary use for these headphones was to provide an uncoloured, neutral sound image for final mixing and mastering of music. To that end they have performed amazingly well, and I've also enjoyed using them for listening. Compared to the Audio Technica ATH-M50x cans that I've been using for the last few years, and the in ear Linsoul KZ ZS10 Pro buds, the Sundara is very much a step up. Gone is the muddy lower mid-range of the ATH-M50x and the ridiculous over extension of sub-bass on the Linsouls. The planar design of the Sundara headphones really does allow a perception of detail that can be quite breathtaking. To give just one example, one of my first listens was to a track I'd already mastered, one that I knew intimately. There was a percussive shaker sound at one point, which had always represented itself as a little "pssshh" of white noise. The Sundara actually presented that same sound as a tightly grouped series of small "tck" sounds, which was the sound of the individual grains of rice in the shaker hitting the plastic shell! The same kind of detail is available throughout the audio spectrum. However, there are a couple of downside to these headphones, which will bother some greatly and some not at all. First of all, they are VERY revealing. Bad mixes will not be flattered. These are not a comfortable listening experience. If you are looking for sweetness or amelioration of less than perfect audio, look elsewhere. To give one example, I was listening to a recent acquisition of The Grateful Dead's In The Dark, having not heard it for many years. Whilst it did sound great, there was a point where the bass guitar was unacceptably prominent, and having heard it I could not unhear it. Checking with my other monitoring headphones and speakers I found the problem to be somewhat masked, less apparent to the point where I would probably not have cared. More importantly, these headphones are rated at a massive 37 Ohms. Thankfully, I have a very capable amplifier (Kenwood KAF-3030R) which is about twenty years old now, and it copes admirably with the demand, although I do have to turn the volume pot from around ten o'clock all the way up to somewhere mid afternoon, depending on the source material. I tried them with my phone (OnePlus Nord 4) and audio interface (Behringer UMC204) and neither coped well, producing a very coloured, somewhat muffled end result, which I can only imagine is a result of the headphones never being driven fully. So, your experience will depend heavily on the amplification you have available, and like I sad at the start, these headphones may well lead you into a search for perfection that could see you buying new stuff just to get the best out of them. Thankfully, I got lucky. Lastly, it's not really a downside, more of a characteristic of the design, but the Sudaras are open backed, meaning you will pollute any space you occupy with that treble leakage so beloved of public transport users everywhere. Even if you could drive these headphones fully in a mobile situation, they clearly not intended for such an environment. To sum up, a fantastic set of headphones if you can get them at the right price. HiFiMan may have other models that occupy their production line these days, and who knows, they might sound even better. But I feel like one other reviewer on YouTube who said it was hard to imagine there ever being a better sounding planar design. Yes, the Sundara headphones give a wonderful listening experience just as long as you are prepared to meet their demands.

## Frequently Bought Together

- HIFIMAN SUNDARA Flat Drive Headphones, Black
- HIFIMAN Edition XS Full-Size Over-Ear Open-Back Planar Magnetic Hi-Fi Headphones with Stealth Magnets Design, Adjustable Headband, Detachable Cable for Audiophiles, Home, Studio-Black
- NewFantasia Replacement Audio Cable Compatible with Hifiman Sundara, Arya, Ananda Headphones 3.5mm and 6.35mm to Dual 3.5mm Connector Jack Male Cord 3.1meters/10ft

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*Last updated: 2026-06-07*