I’ve had my Sundara’s for a few months now and love them. The best headphones I’ve ever had. I built a balanced cable for them using Canare cables and Rean (Neutrik) connectors and now being powered by my recently acquired Topping A90, they never sounded so good. So good amplification is definitely a requirement.
Texan Range Sorry, I’ve built my own, but I know there are custom cable shops that can build them for you. Can’t recommend any since I haven’t used any.
Texan Range I used Canare, their slim microphone cable, the L-2E5. It’s a 2 conductor plus braided shield. They have a much smaller outside diameter and are easier to work with when trying to fit two runs in a XLR 4-pin plug. You can find the pin configuration and instructions on how to DIY your headphone cables online for balanced cables. I connect the cable shield at the 4-pin XLR chassis lug only. I buy all parts from Markertek. You’ll need a soldering station and some other tools together with some experience soldering electronics and terminating cables.
I found myself enjoying the video so much that for a second I thought this must be from some really big channel. I can really see you growing into a famous RU-vidr for headphone review!
Love your review Chrono, you touched every aspect of what's important in a headphone review and even compared it to others. Although you did mention the DT1990 and HD660s. It would be nice if you reviewed those headphones individually too.
Kariel PR thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it :D I am now making more reviews on The Headphone Show RU-vid channel if you wanna check out some of my more current videos!
The review reminds me of the headphones. Clean 👌 tho i wish you had a small segment comparing the old version which was just mainly pad changes, but nice either way
Great review. I'm gonna get these. But I have a question no one seems to mention what power requirements are? I have a Sony STR-DH790. Definitely not a high end receiver but also not cheap. As hard as I look, I can't find what the phone jack offers. Just curious.
I am a classical music lover that aim to upgrade my openback headphones. Currently I own the Sennheiser HD 598 and I feel quite pleased with them; soundstage is quite ok and the sound feels quite warm. Even though this headphones can be easily driven even with a phone, I use the amp-dac EPH-O2D which improves the signal dramatically. I was thinking to upgrade to Sennheisser HD 650 at first but tons of reviewers are praising the Hifiman Sundara. Do you think the Sundara has a good profile for classical music or I should stick to Sennheisser HD 650?
If you like Classical live get the AKG 712, or Sundara. But u have to know SUndara have many quality problems , Personally i am on third pair now . I have all 5 and 6 series from Sennheiser . My loved ones are HD 660s that is the only headphone that is good on everything (not perfect) . Other than that HD 650 are warmer and the veil helps a lot bad recordings . If you have many headphones and dont care about broken Sundara after some time then Get Sundara . If u dont want to risk it then ... In US get the HD6XX that are only cost 200 . But if u are like me EUropean then ... HD660s are the best option because they imaging best of all of them , seperation is better than 650 but not better than Sundara, they are faster than 650 and close to Sundara, the soundstage is smaller than sundara but more realistic to me. And the midrange is also better than all of them ... Highs are a little more detailed on Sundara also but HD 660 have smoother presentation that makes them perfect for bad Classical recordings... That will help u because already know that if classical live perfomance is bad then with a none forgiving headphone will be a disasster.
Oh by the way ... 598 and 599 that i also have , are to me amazing Headphones for the price and u have to know HD 599 have more warmth and soundstage compare to HD 650,660,Sundara. But they are worst on everything else not by a lot but sure u will feel the upgrade from them to the others. In my advice KEEP the 598 ... if u take the Sundara because when they broke u gone have a pair of headphone waiting 1 month for replacement .
Excellent review! I’m looking into getting my first good pair of headphones. I listen to music and game. Have you used them for gaming at all? I’m torn between these and the AKG 712 pro. Thanks
Hey man awesome review! I know im a little late, but do you think I could run these off of a MacBook Pro m1 14inch (as its marketed to support high impedance headphones) as my main device? And maybe even a phone or desktop until I get an amp down the line?
From Hifiman Customer Services…. Hi there, Thanks for contacting us. We have noticed online that there is chatter of a so-called “Stealth Revision” of the Sundara but I can assure you that it doesn’t exist. No headband changes, no driver changes, no cup changes, nothing. The only change, which we felt so tiny we didn’t mention publicly, was that we changed the glue used on the PaliPads (which are what Sundara uses.) That’s it, the glue on the pads. We did this to enhance the durability of them as we found in warm conditions, they would over time slowly come apart and this new glue is better suited for such environments. Therefore, you do not need to worry about whether you have the “latest model” as there is only one. Sorry if the rumour mill that can be the internet gave you any concerns about the Sundara and should you have any other questions, do please feel free to email us anytime. Kind regards. Jeff"
Why Hifiman says that there is no change whatsoever made on the Sundara since 2018 ? Pads are the same since 2018 (only the glue was changed). Here is their "official" answer regarding any changes or improvement in sound. Hi there, thanks for contacting us. We have noticed online that there is chatter of a so-called “Stealth Revision” of the Sundara but I can assure you that it doesn’t exist. No headband changes, no driver changes, no cup changes, nothing. The only change, which we felt so tiny we didn’t mention publicly, was that we changed the glue used on the PaliPads (which are what Sundara uses.) That’s it, the glue on the pads. We did this to enhance the durability of them as we found in warm conditions, they would over time slowly come apart and this new glue is better suited for such environments. Therefore, you do not need to worry about whether you have the “latest model” as there is only one. Sorry if the rumour mill that can be the internet gave you any concerns about the Sundara and should you have any other questions, do please feel free to email us anytime. Best regards, April
How are these still holding up ? I keep looking at them but am hesitant, never owned Hifiman before and the concerns over build have me scared to jump in. I do want some lighter planars though. I only have LCD2-C for that type of driver.
Hi! You guys might help me here. I bought the Sundarars and a Ifi Zen dac. I wanted to plug my headphones to the balanced output so I bought an extra 3.5mm female to 4.4mm male jack adaptater. The problem is that it got worse, so much worse... there was a buzz sound and the music got all messed up. Si I send back my adaptater thinking it had an issue... So my question is : is the Sundara stock cable balanced ? Do I just have to get a working 3.5mm to 4.4mm adaptater to use the Ifi zen dac balanced output? Thanks. Hope someone find this message
I'm 90% sure that the Sundara stock cable isn't balanced. I never use stock cables though so I'm not 100 sure... But yeah, they most likely don't have a Balanced cable included... ESPECIALLY at that price point.
Stock cable is absolutely NOT balanced. The balanced 4.4 mm pentagon port is a trrs connector and stock is trs. As you found out you can't properly run an unbalanced cable in a balanced connector. I don't know exactly what is occurring but you probably have a ground loop issue.
I pretty much take everyone's word on their sound quality. I don't doubt that they sound great. Problem is that I already own the 660s and I'm not the type that just sells stuff just because lol. Even If the sundara is "better" than the 660s, I wouldn't rate it as being a big enough difference to get rid of an already capable headphone. Especially since I got the 660s for about as much as the Sundara costs now.
Practical review. It's been a couple of days since I've booked Hifiman Sundara. The delivery is being delayed due to covid lockdown. Personally I consider this is a great choice/deal for 350$. Now all I'm worried about is the Dac/Amp. Can you please tell me whether its power hungry? If so, I'm planning for shiit fulla 3. Will that be enough? Kindly guide.
Dinny PD I’m not really sure. Do you already have the fulla 3 or are you waiting to buy it? If you don’t have it yet, I’d recommend you get a Schiit Magnii 3, a JDS Labs Atom, or a liquid spark. If your PC has decent onboard audio, don’t worry too much about a DAC at first.
J.MAGNI I bought them from a authorized HiFiMan dealer that specified that they were the latest revision. Also, I didn’t find the bass on these to roll off, and upper midrange did not come across as forward; both issues I had when I first tried the Sundara a while back.
I just got these and yeah the tonal is excellent but the resolution is so somewhat lacking. Not sure what headphones should be my upgrade path. Hifiman Ananda? Some other reviewers says the resolution on Ananda is just on par with HD6x0 series but with much better tonality.
Hmm that’s interesting. I personally found the Sundara to easily out resolve the HD 660S I’m both bass and treble resolution, lagging behind only slightly for miss resolution. Ananda is very similar in tonality, and it is definitely a step up in resolution, but not as big as one would hope (except in the treble region, that sounded like a big upgrade to me). I think that the LCD-2F is a pretty good upgrade option if you like the sound of the Sundara, and are ok with using EQ.
I see. Well, it's been a year since I listened to Sennheiser so I can't really remember the resolution of those. Right now I'm using Sundara with EQ. Overall, I'm not really complaining. The design is good, the comfort is good, the tonality is superb. The thing about resolution is just me nitpicking since my ears are quite used to listening to a more expensive IEM. But my ears easily feels itchy when using IEM so I was looking for equivalent headphone. I'm looking for a neutral with bass boost or maybe a slight v-shaped headphone without peaky treble and lower mid bloom. Sundara with 2.5 dB boost at subbass region and 1 dB treble boost is okay for the time being.
Hi Chrono I've just ordered the Sundara off of Amazon with a 3 year warranty do you think they'll be the new revision or should I pay $49 for the stock pads from hifiman website
Nice, hope you enjoy them, too! As far as the revision is concerned, Amazon tends to hold older stock for much longer. Compare the pads on the ones you get to images online, as the new ones are slightly more angled than the old ones. If you want to make sure that you get the latest version 100%, I'd recommend you order them from authorized retailers, like headphones.com
@@chrono-headphonereviews242 Yeah I really wanted to order them off of headphones.com or Bloom Audio but they're both on back order and Amazon is the only one that had them in stock so if it's not the revision I'll just order new pads straight from hifiman!
@@chrono-headphonereviews242 I'll most definitely keep you updated they arrive Monday and also I've ordered a 4.4 pentagon cable off of Amazon as well because I'll be running the Sundara off an ifi hipdac
I got my Sundara a week ago. Also ordered from Amazon. Mines are already the new revision ones.. you can tell by the pads as mentioned in this video and another review video. I really like the Sundaras.
And also to get them to louder volumes. Sometimes even if you can get them to be fairly loud, they may still sound a little anemic especially in the low end.
Quality video and no pajama pants ? Are you Mad !!!! Getting the Nod from the legend in his own mind Metal571 can't hurt lol Great start look forward to more Reviews 👍
According to Hifiman there is absolutely no difference (pads are the same since 2018) they only changed the glue inside the pads. Here is their official answer regarding change in sound or any others change made on the Sundara since their introduction in 2018. Hi there, thanks for contacting us. We have noticed online that there is chatter of a so-called “Stealth Revision” of the Sundara but I can assure you that it doesn’t exist. No headband changes, no driver changes, no cup changes, nothing. The only change, which we felt so tiny we didn’t mention publicly, was that we changed the glue used on the PaliPads (which are what Sundara uses.) That’s it, the glue on the pads. We did this to enhance the durability of them as we found in warm conditions, they would over time slowly come apart and this new glue is better suited for such environments. Therefore, you do not need to worry about whether you have the “latest model” as there is only one. Sorry if the rumour mill that can be the internet gave you any concerns about the Sundara and should you have any other questions, do please feel free to email us anytime. Best regards, April
I can't stand it when a reviewer says a 500 msrp headphone has grain. There's no way you can hear grain in a headphone. Please don't refer to as unevenness in the frequency response as grain.
I don't understand your argument. Usually "grain" refers to the timbre of certain treble frequencies, not consistency of frequency response. Are you saying that grain is a quality of the signal itself, not the driver's response to the signal?
@@troupsterT you may be able to see grain in a graph, but it's your brain tricking you when you believe you can actually hear it on a headphone that is more then 300 dollars. It's a term that "audiophiles" use which I think is pretty damn annoying. Lol
Workin on ananda review this week, video should be up tomorrow for it. I’ve already done a written review on the Ananda, if you are interested: forum.headphones.com/t/hifiman-ananda-open-back-planar-magnetic-headphones-official-thread/3247/148?u=chrono
Dont like cheap build quality of hifiman, sound wise I doubt its better than my hd600 with otl amp. My LCD 2C are double the price but hey they are gorgeous planars in decent price tag, compliment for my HD600
I own HD660,SUndara and DT1990 ... My opinion is : DT1990 are the most excitement headphone and they have the WOW factor also i like gaming with them BUT they was so bright for listening music i put some foam to tame this Highs but i lose some soundstage clarity and imaging So i couldnt live with that and Sell them ...yes i miss them some times but again doesnt wort for everyday use . About Sundara they are the most airy and the faster of all of them i like them a lot but they broke 2 times on me and sell them ( many reviews say that 2020 version is better ) So i order them again but now with 3 year Warranty . So lets go to Sennheiser HD660s what can i say ? THese headphones are an END GAME for under 1.000 euros the reason is that they can do everything so good they are warm but with resolution they are the fastest none planar headphones , they have the best imaging of all of them by far ... better than 1990 or Sundara , the seperation of sound its also good not Sundara good but they are close, Soundstage its Not fake big its to me the natural soundstage that i want , Gaming is better with HD 660 because of the imaging also i play competative games so for my Imaging is more important than Soundstage . About music everything with HD660 sound so natural and this is the only Headphone that is good with old bad recording , SUndara and 1990 are harsh on old recordings. And last and most important Sennheiser HD 6 Series last for Years and never Break . My advice is if u have to choose one of them buy HD660s its the best all around .
Also saw the recommendation from metal571 :D. These are the first pair that I really want to buy, among Argons, and KOSS ESP 95x system. Since I am from Europe, the only reasonable place to buy them from is Thomann.de... According to your knowledge, how much of an advancement is to get Sundara, compared to my HE 4xx? :)
Sigillum I thought these had a better tonality overall the HE4XX. The Sundara also has better bass extension, more slam, and they don’t have that slightly metallic timbre of the HE4XX. I think that it’s a good upgrade overall.
