HIFIMANSUNDARA Closed-Back Over-Ear Planar Magnetic Wired Hi-Fi Headphones with Stealth Magnet Design, Detachable Cable, Wood Ear Cups for Home, Studio, Recording

Ordered my Argons about 2 years ago; it was January and I figured they would be worth the wait, according to the reviews. On the order form/website, I wrote: "could you boost the mid range and sub bass, if possible" before hitting submit. My Argons came back in April and were the closed back kings of my collection, battling for my auditory affection with my DT880s (250ohm) and my Fidelio X3s. The X3s have great staging and reach really low on bass (with a pad swap; all my headphones have either sheepskin or microsuede pads, except for the Sundara closed, more on that in a bit) while the 880s have a better treble response. I have 15 pairs of over ears (now) and what genre I was about to listen to, until now, dictated what headphone I reached for. I told myself I wasn't buying any more headphones after I bought the Shure 1440s (an impulse purchase after a gift card came my way, also great cans, very bright but detail retrieval is 2nd to none, easily the best gaming headphone I have ever heard, if you want to know exactly where the footsteps are coming from in Duty, get em) but I saw these hit $229 and went to check out the reviews which...weren't good. The Youtubers were thrashing these headphones, which was really surprising to me. I have the 400SEs and they are a great value (also bright, no good for gaming imo). I saw the word "honky" used to describe them several times and wasn't quite sure what people meant as it just isn't a way i would describe any of the headsets i own. I looked at a headphone blog where users/owners of the headphone left reviews and they were all glowing; everyone talked about this incredible mid range...so i took the plunge, I am a (former basshead turned) midrange junkie, after all. So i get where the term 'honky" comes from, when you first put these on they do lend a kind of nasal quality to some vocals. The Treble is also different from any other headphone I own; its not bright per se but certain instruments would pierce if i really pushed the headphone...with the stock pads on. 1st nitpick: Hifiman changed the pad mounting system on these (different from the 400SEs) and there aren't any mounting brackets for these, even direct from Hifiman) so in order to change them, I had to destroy to stock pads (glued on) to replace them with some of the many pads I own. I landed on a pair of Protein Leather Audeze replacement pads (not sure why i have these) and maaaaaannnn, adds a little sheen to the treble while smoothing out that honky in the vocals. And the bass...the bass... i don't have the words for it really, faster than all the headphones I own, reaches allll the way down without any resonance or distortion and gives you rumble where it should be. The true star of the show, though, is the incredible mid range. Stage is more wide than deep, and not as good at the 880 or 400SE (how could they be?) but very convincing to me. Every background vocal, every instrument is present and uncluttered, I mean, the only thing that comes close are my 660s but they are missing the sheen (by design, a little less treble in the tuning imo) and width. The mids are so prominent that if I wear these for a few hours and then try to switch to another headphone the mids feel like they are scooped out of the 2nd pair of cans. The bass has also completely spoiled me; my other open backs (except the X3s, but they are much darker up top) sound anemic next to them and the resonance is clearly there on my other closed backs. I end up getting through half a track before putting the Sundara closed back on. I remember when LeBron was half way through his career and people talking that "better than Mike" crap (not crap anymore, sorry Mike) and it quickly split basketball fans into two camps, you either thought MJ was the best ever or LeBron, and people were dissing the other guy just because. I think that is what happened here; if the OG Sundara is the MJ of Mid Fi, then naming another headphone after it is asking the public to color their opinion of the cans before they even put them on. These headphones are simply put, fantastic. Music sound like music when they are on my head. Male and Female vocal are equally fantastic and detail retrieval is just insane. This should have been a stand alone product, period. Another nitpick, and this one is a little more relevant than the others, is the clamping force. Almost unbearable out of the box (my head aint that big). I prefer micorsuede pads (Dekoni) to any other pad material but the pressure on my head with them on I just couldn't take. Me thinks if the pleather strap was adjustable this wouldn't be an issue (like the 99 Classics). I have had them for about 3 weeks and it has cooled a bit but is still pretty tight. I would recommend amplification with these even with the lower impedance, dynamics just aren't the same without the amp. They are also a little heavy, too. Sound great through an Atom but I love them on the Asgard 3. I only have 2 pair of headphones that are more than $400; the 177x Go and the 660s; the Sundara Closed crush (yes, crush) both of those cans, regardless of genre. If you want more treble and bass out of your 660s, buy these. If you want Planars you can use at the Library, buy these. If you have $500 and want a good portable and home setup, buy these and a THX Onyx (have that too, lots of power for a dongle). For all my Mid Fi peeps out there, these are a steal at $229. A great, and very unique sound signature that may not be for everyone, but I can't take them off.

These are excellent for the money. A good entry into planar headphones, these do need a decent headphone amp and EQ to shine. These are not studio monitor headphones (meant for a flat EQ to accurately represent the recording), and as such expect some coloration. Bass response is typical of planar headphones, greater accuracy and punch than dynamic drivers. Until broken in (I suggest pink noise for 50 hours) the highs are a bit brittle, a 5-10% attenuation with a slight bump in mids seems to produce a flatter response on high dynamic range masters. The weight, build quality and clamping force are all far better than their price point.

TLDR, incredibly happy with the quality off a decent headphone amp.Background: I have about 40-50 headphones between myself and my 2 kids. When I think I have outgrown my older cans, I upgrade if I see a deal and have passed a couple down to my kids. Some of my current headphones are Beyerdynamic T90's and DT770 Pro 250 ohm, Sennheiser HD-1, Hifiman RE400 Waterline, Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, Bose OE, Vmoda Crossfade M80, Amazon Echo Buds, Audio Technica M40x and DSR7BT's, several gaming headsets, several more IEM's. I have had several headphone AMPs including Schiit Magni Uber, and Racoon SG-300, and currently Sabaj D4.I would like to preface my thoughts by stating that my first pair were bad. The right cup connection was not as tight as the left cup. I didn't notice anything in the beginning, but after a couple songs I noticed that it went severely left biased a couple of times and wasn't quite sure if it was the song or buffer. Turns out that after I started shaking my head, it would drop out and I finally figured out that the right driver was very muted. Once it stabilized I was able to modify the balance to correct it. I had to lower the balance on the left driver to 61% and then it was centered. I tried several sources, but unfortunately I didn't have any other cables for these headphones, but I did swap the left and right cables and the sound was exactly the same. Right driver was down 39%.Amazon was great on the return, allowing me to order new ones before I even boxed the old ones up. The return was great and I got the new ones in a few days. The stock cable is too short for me, so I ended up buying a silver plated 8 conductor cable from Youkamoo:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VS2XJ9D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsThis gave me 16-18 more inches and allows me to route the cable around my G13 so I have no cables getting in the way. Sound was not improved at all, but the quality of the cable is amazing for $20.I have spent about 8 hours with the new ones at this point and am very happy with the Sundara Closed Backs. I have the open T90's, so I needed something with some decent volume that was closed. The Audio Technica DSR7BT and all of my IEM's can't get loud enough for me to enjoy them as much. These Sundara's are exactly what I was looking for. I haven't heard super expensive headphones, but I have have listened to Sennheiser HD700's and HD800's before, but I was not that impressed by them for the price. $150 for these headphones is nuts. They are extremely comfortable. The pads are amazing feeling, and the perfect size for my ears. I wish that they hadn't done the mount like they did with the pads, but I highly doubt I will be upgrading the stock pads. They are a little warm, but nothing too bad.The reasons why I am so happy is that the slam in the bass doesn't bleed into the mids at all. It isn't as low and punchy as I would have hoped, but I can't imagine keeping that clarity with more bass. I feel this is about as good as it can get without dipping into the midrange. The mids hit you hard. There are some songs where the midrange instruments just pop out and are super accentuated. I was not expecting that at all. Maybe some wouldn't like that, but I think it is a very dynamic sound that I was not expecting. The highs are good, not spectacular, but not fatiguing at all like the T90's can be. A slight rolloff at 14k is perfect for the Beyers, whereas the Sundara's don't need any EQ. So, I am comparing these Sundara's to a more laid back T90. I feel the decay of the 100-400hz range is by far more revealing than the Beyers. While the T90's seem to go a little lower overall, they don't have the slam or level of detail in that range. Maybe that's the magic of Planar Magnetic, but it just allows you to fully hear low male vocals much easier.I have also hooked these up to a crappy HP laptop (crappy as it is a $300 Black Friday Special) and they sound terrible. The mid range slam is there, but the bass is gone, and the airiness of the treble is completely gone. You need a decent dac/amp to drive these. Even though they are 20ohms, the Beyer T90's at 250 ohms are like 3-4 db higher at the same volume level. The teslas in the Beyers are amazing in that regard. But I would bet that any decent dac/amp will do fine. I don't have an audioquest dragonfly any longer, but the other combos I had were plenty for this headphone.Overall, I am super happy with the outcome here. I am worried that they will crap out on me in the future, but at $150 I am willing to take the risk. Very happy with the Sundara Closedbacks.

Great sounding headphones for audiophiles. They work great if you have an amp or stereo receiver. They work with your phone but need a bit more power than a phone provides to get the great sound out of these headphones.They are comfortable on my head but are built sturdy and this makes them a little heavy.