HiFiMAN Sundara Headphones

Product Information

I’ve talked a lot about the Sundara vs. the HE400se. But where does it stand against the HD600? From a tuning standpoint, bass and treble have better clarity on the Sundara. Though I’d say both headphones roll off about equally on both ends in terms of extension, the Sundara’s roll-off doesn’t feel so noticeable. The sharpness of the mid treble masks the upper treble roll-off while the control of the bass allows it to clearly rumble right before it rolls off. The HD600 has more of a midbass punch focus to it’s sound and a mellower treble that completely free of the brittleness found in the Sundara. And of course, the mids of the HD600 have a smoother sound, slightly more natural tone compared to the aggressiveness of the Sundara. From a technical standpoint the Sundara edges out the HD600 on practically all fronts. While macrodynamics is about the same, the Sundara really pulls ahead in terms of microdynamic control. If I had to use one word to describe the difference between the Sundara and HD600 it would be clarity. While the HD600 strives towards a tonally pleasing sound, the Sundara is laser focused on a transparent, analytical signature. The extended guitar section by Don Felder and Joe Walsh was simply marvelous. It was bright yet not fatiguing and as clean as I have ever heard it. The auxiliary instruments all sounded like they surrounded the guitars and built upon each other. One thing I noticed was that the Sundara struggled to fully give the spotlight to the guitars and instead had many of the other instruments encroaching in with similar loudness and impact. The new mounting system still uses a six-slot system that clips onto the driver’s mounting base instead of onto a metal mounting trim ring. There’s a visible perforated plate or phase plug in front of the driver diaphragm so it’s not a completely open driver which outputs directly to the ear, it’s closer in appearance to a T50rp driver. It seems to be the only driver within the HIFIMAN lineup that employs some sort of phase plate or that I can recall.

HIFIMAN Sundara Closed Back Review — Headfonics HIFIMAN Sundara Closed Back Review — Headfonics

You do however get a feeling of a much more rigid headphone on your head. However, the Focus A pads and the headband strap do a good job of softening up the grip and dispersing pressure in a balanced manner making the Sundara a more than comfortable fit. The headband still has a leather adjustment strap underneath for pressure displacement and comfort. You can adjust the height of the band as a whole via a notch system on both sides of the band. The materials of the strap have slightly changed now with a faux leather finish. Driving the Sundara is easy as it is just 37 Ohms with a sensitivity of 94dB. A smartphone is ‘ok’ and can drive it to loud enough volumes, but wasn’t ideal. An audiophile DAP or desktop set up is still the most optimal way of using them. Gone are the elaborate display cases of the HE series such as the wood of the HE560 and the faux leather of the HE400i. In part, I guess it saves a little on budget costs for the project and more on the headphones but I do miss those cases a little.Like the HE400se, the Sundara’s bass tuning is the same most of the HiFiMan headphones. Flat. Needless to say, there is not a hint of bloat or mud on this headphone. Unlike the HE400se however, the bass of the Sundara sounds fuller with more depth to it. I would not call the Sundara anemic in any way. Bass has a nice sense of slam, control, and resolution, so-called “planar bass” if you will. Though there is a slight roll-off at the very lowest octaves, rumble is plenty present. It’s quite a bit better than the HE400se but do I get the feeling that there’s some performance still to be found. Perhaps in the Ananda. Mids I think comfort is more attributed to the new pad design which has the same sized 100mm round shape but it seems much softer and moldable. Caroline” from Fleetwood Mac’s album Tango In the Night showed off how well the Sundaras handle when multiple elements combine. The song has a sub bass line that is frequently unproducible to a strong enough quality. The Sundaras smash this notion away from the moment the song starts. You can feel the impact and rumble of the sublime sub-bass as it accompanies the rest of the song in providing more body. This song is like CrossFit gym workouts in action with multiple sonic elements shooting out in every direction. They sound like twinkles of a star shining bright. What astounded me here was how well the Sundara handled the intense separation of the twinkle sounding instruments in the mid-range with the vocals. Each had their own personal space and detail without stepping on each other. The vocalist’s singing of the words “Caroline” had marvelous detail to them; they sounded real with the proper timbre. The grills on the cups have also had an upgrade from the previous thin wire open honeycomb plate design to a stronger lattice designed wire grid which looks a lot stronger than before. Dimensions & Handling

HiFiMan Sundara (2020) Review: The Planar Standard HiFiMan Sundara (2020) Review: The Planar Standard

By doing away with the numbering sequence Hifiman has been able to craft a specific pitch for the Sundara that breaks the numbering chains of their previous headphones. The only thing we have to go on is the price. Mid-way through, the sounds of angelic entities intrude on the primary act. Impeccable is one word to describe the sweet and delicate sound required to reproduce it. With most headphones, the delicateness is not reproducible or will have latent elements of ghosting in the speed. This can be heard with a slightly lagging reverb accompanied by extra distortion and noise. The Sundaras were effortless and transparent without any added distortion.I do live the “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it“ rule, but I always give thanks to all the pioneers for pushing the envelope on our behalf. Even though the break-in period has expired weeks ago I still hear some peaks and dips. For example, when I ran a tone generator sweep I noticed a significant dip in bass response below 50Hz. The dip is gradual but below 40Hz there’s very little energy. This produces a timid bass response impression. The Sundara I will be reviewing today is the 2020 model. There is some confusion around whether or not there is a new, different 2021 model. I reached out to HiFiMan support and as it turns out, there’s actually no other version of the Sundara. What’s in the Box? The Sundara is not just an iterative upgrade on either though. Hifiman is pitching two key areas that I think will resonate with Hifiman fans; build and sound quality. All of this is wrapped around the phrase “beautiful” which is the literaltranslation of the word Sundara (Sanskrit). Despite both having a similar weight the Sundara is a bit easier to work with and handle. A lot of that has to do with the redesigned headband and pivot system. Hifiman has actually gotten rid of the swivel function of the older HE series headphones so it no longer folds flat.

HiFiMan Sundara - Review 2023 - PCMag UK

In one of our previous writeups, particularly the Edition XS review, we casually mentioned within the comparison section the thought-provoking possibility of a Sundara Stealth Edition. From the outset, the build quality of the Sundara is leaps and bounds above that of the HE400se. While the overall shape of the headphone is the same, the Sundara has a full metal build that feels substantial in hand. Here we get a large leather suspension strap that spreads out the weight of the Sundara over a wide area to minimize pressure spots. As such, I find the Sundara to be very comfortable, moreso than the HE400se. The pads of the Sundara are a perforated fabric/pleather mix that’s soft to the touch. The metal connection between the yokes and the cups is significantly more robust than the HE400se’s plastic to metal approach. I don’t expect any snapped cups here unless a user is careless with setting them down after use. Instead, Hifiman has elected to continue with the HE400S box-type design which they have been using for a while now on their budget models though with a nicer satin-type finish on the inside to create a case-like effect. As part of that neutral bright tuning, there is a good helping of lower treble energy on the Sundara. Yes, it does get sibilant at times and yes, certain notes have a piercing quality to them. But note that this is different from the 7 kHz peak on the HE400se that’s clearly prevalent. On the Sundara, it’s a general spiciness without a specific culprit. I personally don’t think this is an issue but if you’re especially sensitive to treble it is a point of caution. While I like the Sundara’s treble as it continues the lively, energetic sound of the mids, there is a brittleness the timbre that’s noticeable on the hats and cymbals. It can be a little immersion ruining when it appears. Not a deal breaker for the Sundara as a whole but it does diminish the experience for me. Presentation The Sennheiser HD 600 (and later HD650) changed the playing field of headphone audiophilia in 1997 for what you should expect for five hundred dollars. Exactly two decades later in 2017, HIFIMAN has done exactly that with the Sundara; a beautiful legend has been born.HIFIMAN should need no introduction at this point in 2018. They’ve been around since 2007 and under the leadership of Dr. Fang Bian, have become a powerful force in headphone audio. They’re a name right up there with the likes of Sennheiser if you ask me. They have reached all across the planet with their fantastic sounding headphones and DAPs. If you’re serious about headphone audio, you know the name HIFIMAN . For example, the driver itself looks to be a never before seen driver design, different from all the other drivers within the HIFIMAN lineup. The driver is not a round type and it seems to be oval and around 80mm x 60mm in diameter or at least the frame does. Also, instead of the driver being installed vertically, it’s mounted horizontally. The Sundara is a dual entry headphone as with all of their full-sized headphones. However, the connectors have changed from 2.5mm TRS mono to 3.5mm TRS. I am in two minds about that because whilst I recognize the 3.5mm TRS plugs are a setup in quality over the 2.5mm mono plugs it does mean aftermarket cables previously used on the likes of the HE1000 are now redundant on the Sundara. I long since campaigned for the coax system of the older HE4/5 series cans to be ditched and thankfully they did but the transition to 3.5mm is another running change that cable rollers might prefer not to have happened so soon. Materials

Hifiman Sundara - A Breath of Cool Air - Headphonesty Review: Hifiman Sundara - A Breath of Cool Air - Headphonesty

To get the ruff out first, the lower bass response needs some assistance to be up to my taste since it seems almost absent until you use some equalization and turn those frequencies below 50Hz up at least by 5 decibels. A lover of music, audio gear, and a Computer geek. I have an eclectic taste in music and a particular passion for great sound. I've spun vinyl as a DJ in New York City and New Jersey, worked in electronics manufacturing and sold The sound signature of the Sundara can best be described as clear with a wide soundstage, solid bass response and extension while still fun enough to be non fatiguing. It’s not only a balanced signature on all frequency ranges but also dynamic enough to sound good with close to any genre. There’s also a nice peak in the upper mids which adds a sparkle onto most string instruments. It is a brand new headband system which in my eyes is much simpler in functionality and also a lot sturdier than the old HE series headbands. The headband has what I would describe as a more normal curve and is less extravagant than the older headband.As you have tested both Vali and Sundara, do you think that Sundara would be a nice complement to the Vali ? Or the Vali is superior and the Sundara would not bring anything ? I took a peek inside the cups and there is little damping material inside the cup and there’s a minimum amount of tuning inside the cup but the driver itself seems to have some visible tuning tweaks. This is part two of review series where I will look at the HiFiMan HE400se, Sundara, and Ananda. Stay tuned for the final installment with the Ananda! Despite the healthier infusion of metal in the Sundara design, the weight has not gone up too much, if at all. The Sundara weighs in at 372g compared to 370g for the HE400i and still 3g less than the HE560. The handling though has changed slightly.