HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED - REVIEW

HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED

Yep, there be changes in the air, changes of all sorts, I imagine. This change that I’m talking about, however, concerns a headphone. Yes, in the scheme of things a small change, unless of course you are a dyed-in-the-wool lover of headphones. Well, if you’ve ever thought about coming over to see what the whole headphone thing is about and you have sufficient scratch, dinero, lettuce, bing-bings, moolah, benjamins, coin now may be the time. 

There’s a new headphone in town and word is it’s the fastest in the west and so gosh darn clean and distortion-free, that headphones of all types, even electrostatics, are fleeing town in droves. Well, I should know. I’ve spent the past several months with this new fangled headphone and it is something special. Its’ called the Susvara Unveiled. That’s right, it doesn’t wear a grill mask and you see that’s the beauty of it. It gives you everything free of distortion—reflection/refraction—all natural, and beautiful like. I’ve listened to a lot of headphones, owned a lot too, and not a one measures up to this here Susvara Unveiled, not even its brother—Susvara original.

Well, that’s the other side of the story. Up until now, its brother, the Susvara was holding down things here pretty nice like. There’d be the occasionally popups from an old sawtooth or a young upstart headphone, but it fizzled out pretty quickly and things were back to normal. The Susvara would then go about its daily business dispensing the tunes with a speed and naturalness, that just made folks smile. Now, there’s feuds and there’s family feuds and this here is the latter, a family feud. And one might ask, well, how does it turn out? 

REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a  non-linear movie— In the Shadow of the Moon, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.

THE HEADPHONE REFERENCE SYSTEM

• Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer

• Silent Angel Rhein Z1 Streamer

• Silent Angel Forester F2 Power Supply

• Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch

• Silent Angel Genesis GX Master Clock

• Bricasti Design M1SE DAC

• Border Patrol SE-i DAC

• Aurorasound HEADA Headphone Amplifier

• Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier

• HeadAmp CFA3 Headphone Amplifier

• ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC Headphone

• MEZE Empyrean Headphone

• HIFIMAN SUSVARA Headphone

• Kubala Sosna—cabling and wires

• RSX Beyond Power Cables

• Audience Hidden Treasure CAT7 Ethernet cables

• TORUS RM20—Power Generation
  

THE SOUND

Natural. The HiFiMan Susvara is exceptionally natural in its ability to communicate music. And this translates to the naturalness of tone and timbre to air and atmosphere (of a given venue) and to staging, and the Susvara’s ability to, well, ensnare one for long hours of listening and very comfortably I might add.

Yes, natural is a term consistent in my notes as it surfaces continually over the course of my review of the HiFiMan Susvara. One does not have to ‘listen’ or seek it out, as it is always there, setting itself apart from the various headphones attempting naturalness and almost getting there, save coloration or soul-sucking neutrality (a coloration as well) or tonal/timbral inaccuracy, however slightly off. This ability with the sum of its others abilities, listed below, allow the Susvara to transcend simple music playback and provide instead a you-are-there presence and the resultant palpability or of a ‘genuine’ interaction.

The Susvara’s tone and timbre relative to voice and instrumental notes is superb and, in truth, calls attention to itself for its incredible, again, naturalness, relative to all other headphones. The Susvara, marginally, even pushes past the the ABYSS AB1266 Phi TC and the STAX SR-X9000, two stellar headphones and given the talents and abilities of the aforementioned headphones, this is truly saying something. And did I mentioned how beautifully refined the Susvara is?

But there is a good deal more to the Susvara that lifts it to a rather commanding position. It is incredibly quick/fast as in its microdynamics are on the level of an electrostatic headphone and its ‘speed’ folds everything in with the proper pacing timing, and rhythm, again a vaunted electrostatic ability. But where electrostatics can, in general, seem more ethereal, lighter, the Susvara brings a concurrent weight and solidity that, again, find it more natural, grounded.

And then there is its dimensionality. I’d spoken of this often with the electrostatics and then with two non-electrostatics—ABYSS AB1266 and the ZMF Atrium—that came to within a rather thin patina of an electrostatic’s abilities. The Susvara, however, pushes even more closely, in regard to dimensionality, than the prior headphones making live and choral music imminently more enjoyable. Transportive was a term I often used in describing electrostatic headphones or Tardis-Like, a Dr. Who reference, which meant that you were being transported to the venue where the music was first recorded. Few audio components of any kind can do this, so when one does, it is truly exceptional.

For the past few months, there’s been a pow-wow of sorts here at Casa Heartsong. Yep, I sat down with both the brothers—Susvara and the Susvara Unveiled—to figure out their like and their dislikes—differences—in a peaceful and friendly manner. And though change is most certainly the only constant that I’m aware of, some take to it better than others.

The differences between these two brothers—Susvara Unveiled and Susvara—are a great deal more substantive than many would have believed. I know this because as I began get to the bottom of things,  to learn more about the Susvara Unveiled one thing popped up and wouldn’t go away—“distortion-free”. Well, truth be told, when I heard this I kinda smiled. “Your brother is supposed to be distortion free”, I said to the Susvara Unveiled. It just smiled back in a knowing sort of way and didn’t say a word. Whether that was just plain confidence or a brewing family feud, I didn’t know at the time, but I took things slow from there.

Folks will gossip. And you can bet there was plenty of that around town concerning the brothers. Some of the folks gossiped about ‘relative’ bass response, midrange forwardness or not, treble ascent, and increased sensitivity and decreased impedance between the brothers. All important aspects to be sure, but not a one hit the nail on the head or gave detail to what is by far the most important aspect of the Susvara Unveiled. Its raison d’etre—reason for being—via the removal of its grills, was to free the music in its entirety and to place it on another higher level of, well, naturalness than any other headphone out there. Now sometimes you don’t know quite what something means until you've experience it up close and personal like. Well, over the course of several months, I did. And oh my gosh I don’t think that I was quite ready for the results.

As I sat listening to Rachel Podger’s  Teleman: Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin (Channel Classics). It is one of my new favorites to which I have grown quite fond of, mind you. One of the things that I do like about it is the ambient noise of the church—St. Michael’s, West Compton, Dorset, England— where it was performed. Well, first I listened to the entire CD with the Susvara and then with the Susvara Unveiled. There’s a turning point in all of our lives, I reckon. So, as I sat there listening with the Susvara Unveiled, I noticed a quiet, an ease, a peace, if you will, that had not been there with its brother. I now understood the church, her violin, the notes that sprang forth from it, even their tone/timbre came through much better. The best way to describe it is something like this. Imagine a radio’s white static, its noise, at barely audible levels in the background, while your listening to a piece of music on the radio. It’s there if you concentrate hard enough on figuring it out. Now imagine that noise gone, completely and simply not there. The Susvara Unveiled delivered the music with the noise gone completely. At that point, I just shook my head. I couldn’t ever look at its brother, the Susvara, the same way again. Yes, standing up next to every other headphone in town and beyond, and even most electrostatics, it was the boss of ‘em all. Its brother was just next in line. A tough thing to be on top of the world one moment and number two the next. But that’s life I imagine.

And on it went with every CD or stream played—Sarah Jarosz, Undercurrent, Olafur Arnalds, Island Songs, Charlie Mingus, Tijuana Moods, Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, etc.—it was right good, of course, with the Susvara, but it was always better with the Susvara Unveiled. And it was better in a way, that made going back to the Susvara, well, quite a bit tough. Another thing that happened as a result of the lack of noise or what is probably better called a lack of distortion—reflection/refraction—was more detail. It’s like I could hear more air and the teeny-tiny pieces of music with the Susvara Unveiled that I couldn’t before. It was, of course, all the new detail, well, that brought me closer to the music. It was more intimate like, more natural and I was into the music like I hadn’t been before. 

Now on aspects of the frequency range of the Susvara Unveiled versus the Susvara, which I can cover here pretty quick like, because it matches its brother and then some, mind you. The treble and the midrange are easy peasy to talk on, they’re simply better as they don’t abide distortion any where near what its brother does. So treble extension reaches to high heaven. Its pristine like a brand new, sparkling silver sheriff’s badge. It does not abide a mote of distortion, that isn’t on the CD and every teeny tiny bit of information is intact and available to hear (And this wasn’t even with the Grimm Audio MU2!). And when the midrange is freed of radio white noise—grill covering—and all them there microdynamics are happily free and available, well, you hear everything—breaths, whispered words, etc. And there was some grumbling, gossip mind you, about the Susvara Unveiled’s bass, but that too was put to bed right early, because, again, more information via less distortion is available here too and it as just at tight and a just whisker more potent too!

Now I have owned open-back headphones before and, yes, there has always been an expansion of the stage upon which the musicians perform, which some folks call the soundstage. And the music has been more natural and open with the open-back headphones. What this here Susvara Unveiled was doing was beyond even that, and by a far shot mind you. Seeing as not a one of them grumbling, gossiping headphones could stand toe to toe with Susvara, matching up to the Susvara Unveiled was nothing more than a pipe dream. 

My advice for those happy with their own personal Susvara headphones, is don’t you dare listen to the Susvara Unveiled. Unless, of course, you can afford it and it Ain’t cheap. Because if you do listen and you own the original, there’s going to be some hurt feelings until you can forget the experience. The good thing is our listening or ‘aural’ memory, as they say, is short. Besides, the Susvara has been my compadre for as far back as I can remember and there have been long and friendly hours of listening between us. We kind of formed an understanding of what good music is, which we heartily agree on. I will keep it or give it to a loved one with enough juice in there HPA to make it sing. Of course, I can’ ever let them hear the Susvara Unveiled, that’d risk me losing a family member or a good friend, for giving them the lessor.

COMPARISONS

Well, there ain’t none to be had, which is as simply as I can put it. If the Susvara Unveiled, kindly enough, unseated its brother, which had unseated everything else in whole of headphonedom, there ain’t no sense in going down this road, as it’d be a waste of words and your time.

DESIGN—LOOK, FEEL, AND TECHNOLOGY

More Elegant. Beautiful. Clean. The HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled headphone continues to embrace a certain elegance that runs in the family. The large, grill-less, headphone cups are beautifully designed and clearly expose the silver membranes within. The wooden rim of the Susvara is on a long siesta replaced by a rather nice and clean aluminum rim. Like its brother it is a well executed, industrially designed planar magnetic headphone.

In terms of the technology the Susvara, reportedly, incorporates a driver/diaphragm that is a millionth of a meter with correspondingly low mass, and this translates to “tremendously low distortion levels” whilst “providing a highly dynamic response.” And, when coupled with HiFiMan’s ‘stealth magnets’, distortion levels are further reduced relative to both electrostatics and dynamic headphones. No doubt, this is, at the very least, a main reason for the Susvara Unveiled’s unparalleled naturalness.

SPECIFICATIONS

HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED

• Driver type: Planar Magnetic

• Design: Over-ear

• Weight: 418g

• Sensitivity: 86dB

• Impedance: 45 Ohm

• Frequency Response: 6Hz – 75kHz

DRIVABILITY

One of the major differences of the Susvara Unveiled is its increased efficiency and decreased impedance (86dB, 45-Ohms), which make it easier to drive and allow it to pair with a broader array of headphone amplifiers. In the case of Casa Heartsong, the Pass Labs HPA-1 now enters the fray and is able to drive the Susvara Unveiled much more easily. I have not, however, paired it with Digital Audio Player (DAP). So the Susvara Unveiled presents a noted improvement in drivability! Bravo.

CONCLUSION

The absence of the window-shade grill in the Susvara Unveiled has led to decreased levels of distortion—reflection/refraction—that are easily heard. This offers up music pristine relative quality and, in turn, freed greater detail, ambient cues, micro-dynamics, transparency, and resolution not previously imagined. The result is greatly improved intimacy and immersiveness and naturalness to a far greater degree than even the Susvara! I had reckoned on improvement, but I did not imagine that making the original Susvara seem noisy in comparison was a possibility. It is.

Playing a CD or stream, any CD or stream, with the Susvara and then changing to the Susvara Unveiled always brought a change of greatly reduced distortion. This not only made listening to music less of a task but also immensely more pleasurable. Again, it was as if having a radio’s white noise in the background with the original Susvara, just at the edge of perceptibility and then removing the white noise altogether with the Susvara Unveiled. Now imagine what that would do to your listening experience. Until the Susvara Unveiled, I hadn’t the foggiest notion of there being white noise in the background with the original Susvara. Word of advice, if you have no plans on buying the Susvara Unveiled, then don’t listen to it. Or that’s on you.

The Susvara Unveiled is a towering improvement over the Susvara. Further, the Susvara Unveiled is also easier to drive and thus able to work with a greater variety of headphone amplifiers. And its clarity, level of refinement, its nuance, and its distortion-free music provides reproduction that is, to date, unmatched. What’s not to like?

The Susvara Unveiled is one of the easiest DIAMOND AWARD winners, an easy BREAKTHROUGH AWARD winner, a PRODUCT OF THE YEAR for 2024, and a BEST PRODUCT of the YEAR for 2024, as well. You heard it heard folks. Now hear it for yourself.

Pros: Distortion free to a degree that not even the original Susvara can dare match, which makes it more natural, while offering outstanding technical abilities. The HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled displaces the original Susvara from my desert Island perch! And it may well displace the original Susvara from your deeply buried, post-apocalyptic-bunker. It’s also much easier to power, which will save many batteries in the bunker! Hooray!

Cons: It ain’t cheap folks.

THE COMPANY

HIFIMAN

SUSVARA UNVEILED HEADPHONES ($8,000)
customerservice@hifiman.com
1-201-HIFIMAN (1-201-443-4626)

https://store.hifiman.com/