Hifiman Susvara Review

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All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#susvara #audiophile

[@nyvoreviews5443]

Update: i've heard Voce + BHSE again but this time it was using a different DAC, and it sounded bad, and the stage was small.... much worse than Chord Dave + M-scaler which did have the best stage i've heard so far.

[@tomvu9353]

Hello NyVo, hope you are have had a great holiday!, have you had a chance to try the Enleum amp 23r, benchmark ahb2, ferrum oor hypsos with the Susvara. And besides the above mentioned which other amps have you found to bring the Susvara to its full potential.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

I tried ahb2 out of that list and it is surprisingly really good with Susvara (ahb2 is not known for sounding good on my things, except susvara). But Susvara on Mytek Empire is another level….bigger stage better layering, no edginess to notes that ahb2 has.

[@tomvu9353]

@@nyvoreviews5443 would love to hear your thoughts on the Oor and hypsos

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@tomvu9353 no, I didn’t. They were sitting next to me but I didn’t bother trying because I was fanboying over sus on Mytek empire haha. The consensus from my sus buddies is that ahb2 is a bit better than oor for sus, but both are good.

[@tomvu9353]

@@nyvoreviews5443 Thanks for the reply!

[@botwally2954]

Thanks for the review! Since you mentioned that you want to siwtch to the Shangri la sr I was wondering if you have tried the Shangri la jr. The sr is so much more expensive than the jr and thus it is not a very realistic end-game system for most people.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

I haven’t tried the JR, but I’ve heard good things about the Jr and the Jade2 (just don’t buy a Hifiman branded energizer)

[@williamcodywinter]

How do you know if the DAC/Amp is powering the Headphones to their full potential? I have the Ananda Nano and the Fiio K9 (not pro).

[@nyvoreviews5443]

That’s a good question. You don’t. But there is also another thing you need to consider, how much should you spend on an amp before it doesn’t make sense to use those headphones anymore, and upgrade the headphone instead… this is another thing you won’t know unless you try things on different gear. The easiest way to do that is to find an audiophile store with headphone gear.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

Ananda Nano, from what I can tell so far is not scaling very much on different amps.

[@williamcodywinter]

@@nyvoreviews5443 ah ok thanks

[@flazederg6800]

susvara headset when

[@nyvoreviews5443]

Duct tape closed back mod

[@flazederg6800]

@@nyvoreviews5443 putting duck tape on the diaphragm also completely removes the ringing and raises its sinad by 20db fr fr no cap

[@prabinpaudel5572]

finally saw this through my laptop to comment lol.. on my phone I use ad free hacked version where you cant log in 🤣🤣

[@hemispherecompensation]

What pre with AHB2 Holo May

[@nyvoreviews5443]

Not sure how much it mattered in this case, because I didn’t compare it to another with this chain but it was HPA4.

[@Ibraheem224]

Thanks for the great review. What headphone do you recommend for the SA-1?

[@nyvoreviews5443]

So far, there has not been a headphone I’ve tried that I thought was a good option on sa-1. But my preference is always stage and technical ability over tonality. So I’m not a fan of sa-1 in general. I do like sa-1 a little bit better after the mod, but it is still not competing in technical ability over the other headphone amps in its range. I’ve done a few chain shootout videos already for specific headphones and that hopefully can give you a general idea. I would only recommend sa-1 to people that don’t care about technical performance at all, and want treble rolled-off heavily and smooth mids. 400se did okay on sa-1 but the bass was slightly weaker than 400se’s full potential.

[@Ibraheem224]

@@nyvoreviews5443 I bought the SA-1 because it was recommended by a lot of KZbinrs but it turned out to be probably not the best option at the price point, would you recommend the Jot2 or Topping A90D over the modded SA-1? Or is there a better Amp for less than 1000$?

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@Ibraheem224 I do prefer jot2 over sa-1. I would generally avoid topping. Iha-6 is one of the better amps under $1000. In some cases speaker amps are better as well. The Hk770 speaker amp beats sa-1 but may need restoration. I have an n86 speaker amp in the mail which should be a great option but I will find out shortly.

[@Ibraheem224]

@@nyvoreviews5443 Great, I can see the iHA-6 fitting my current setup very nicely, but I think I look into speaker amps first before I make a decision. Thanks so much

[@flazederg6800]

@@Ibraheem224 jot2 is pretty fun, but id probs look at the cayin iha6. the new topping a90D is deffo an upgrade over the old a90, but its still worse then jot2 and especially iha6. I also got n86 that nyvo mentioned, if youre willing to take a bit of a risk, the n86 is a great potencial option. stage on it is massive and its got a bit more micro detail then iha6, tho n86 is a bit more neutral in its presentation, and i think some people may preffer the slightly warmer presentation with a bit more body of the iha6. (had jot2, iha6 and n86 at the same time recently, tho sold jot2)

[@ruffandruff]

Hey mate, any plans on reviewing the Meze Elite? If you heard it before can you compare it to Susvara.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

I might hear it next week, I’ve heard the original empyrean and think it’s way overpriced and overrated. It basically has really good build quality and is very comfortable but the sound quality is just a little better than average (so no where near as good as Susvara sound quality wise)…. For the elite, I don’t know yet. Remind me in a week.

[@ruffandruff]

@@nyvoreviews5443 Sure. Thank you very much!

[@flazederg6800]

its not a competition. the original empy had good tuning but it had poor technicals. The elite decided to have pretty good technicals (still far behind sus), but it has absolutely abominable tuning. Elite is a pretty big downgrade to regular empy, which wasnt worth its price already

[@h.hristov]

@@nyvoreviews5443 I am reminding you 😅

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@h.hristov I did hear meze elite at can jam, I did only hear it on a woo audio amp… the build quality was superb, but the sound quality was just astonishingly bad for the price. It sounds like an okay $400 headphone but the build quality is fantastic.

[@p_adam19]

I don't quite get this estats having too little bass assumption. Once driven by a KGSSHV Carbon at the right listening volume, some of them (007 Mk1&Mk2, Lambda Pro, Gamma Pro, Sigma Pro) will have a bit too much actually.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

They can, but it doesn’t have Susvara bass. Estats are very energizer picky for how their bass performs, but Susvara bass still easily beats it as far as impact.

[@p_adam19]

@@nyvoreviews5443 I'm not disputing that bit. I'm just saying that Staxes are probably no more picky than the Susvara regarding chain (also not even that pricey in comparison), and after a certain level bass simply does not matter that much - to me anyway. Some old Staxes can really rock or play electronic music really well. I recommend the SR-507 if you are looking at the estat with the strongest punch, although also far from being the best estat.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@p_adam19 yeah. Kinda true, but I’ve never heard an estat that had bass close for Susvara. My preference are #1 stage and #2 bass… so sometimes I actually like estats more, but as an *overall* sound Susvara always wins.

[@p_adam19]

@@nyvoreviews5443 I am not sure how stage can be judged if one has no idea how it was recorded, more of a preferential thing. I used to know a classical music audio engineer and he told me the Stax Lambda stage positioning is far more faithful and accurate than the big ones. Bigger in many cases may not better, sometimes I want the sound to be constricted and intimate (but with 3D images), sometimes I prefer it to extend as far as possible.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@p_adam19 I highly disagree with Stax lambda having the best stage. I have the Stax lambda signature which is fairly widely accepted as being the best lambda and it’s stage has some issues. But yes. Stage is highly up to preference.

[@manhattansnob1483]

For those of us who spent all our money on rent and don't have multiple $3000+ amps and have one of those shitty amps you listed - would HE1000 be a better option? Thx god bless

[@nyvoreviews5443]

He1000v1 with m17 is a pretty nice combo. Not a fan of he1000v2. XS is a cheaper alternative and sounds good with iha-6

[@manhattansnob1483]

@@nyvoreviews5443 Thanks. I have an IHA-6, HK770, and XS already (SG starter pack) and was lookin at just upgrading transducer...

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@manhattansnob1483 yeah, go for he1000v1.