Specs
- Impedance: 37Ω
- Frequency response: 6 Hz ~ 70 kHz
- Sensitivity: 94dB / mW
- Weight: 372g
Packaging
Broadly speaking, HIFIMAN’s packaging tends to look and feel more premium than that of the competition. In the case of the Sundara, the packaging isn’t quite as sweet as that of other products in the HE-line, but by no means does it look and/or feel cheap.
The outer lid is rather minimalist, but very professional nonetheless. A large image of the Sundara’s grill is spread all over the top, and the Sundara text is printed in thin gold font. Very nice indeed!
After lifting up the lid we are welcomed by the warranty card and full-colour Owner’s Guide booklet, both of which sit atop a thin foam layer.
Underneath the foam layer lies the beauty that is the Sundara. Surrounded by what appears to almost be some kind of silky material, the product is displayed with a genuine sense of pride by the manufacturer. When someone takes pride in their product, that’s when I’m interested.
What’s in the box?
- HIFIMAN Sundara
- 1.5m removeable cable
- 1/4″ adapter
- Owner’s Guide
- Warranty card
Accessories
Well, errrm….what accessories? Other than the 1/4″ adapter, there really aren’t any extras included with the Sundara. Would’ve been nice if it perhaps came with a balanced cable too. Oh well…
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Design
Right off the bat, kudos to <a href=”https://www.samma3a.com/en/hifiman.html”>HIFIMAN</a>. Upon first impression, the Sundara manages to accomplish something that very few other HIFIMAN products have been able to do. The accomplishment in question is the ability to make you say “Oh wow, these feel really well-built”. Of all the HIFIMAN products that I’ve either reviewed or handled, the Sundara has quite possibly the best build quality. It’s mostly metal (including the earcups), and only a few pieces of plastic used on the headband. OK, perhaps it’s not up there with the likes of the Edition X (I genuinely can’t remember), but it’s indeed very, very good nonetheless.
The large earcups (and nearly all of the other metal parts) feature what seems to be a matte black PVD coating – making for a rather stealthy look.
One area of the design that needs mentioning is that, due to the way that HIFIMAN designed the frame, hinges/yolks, the Sundara conforms quite well to the shape of the wearer’s head. Clamping force is perhaps a bit higher than average out of the box, but it’s still very comfy. With repeated use the comfort-levels will likely go up for longer listening sessions.
The (what seems to be) pleather headband also disperses the weight nicely across the head, which avoids creating any “hot-spots”. The earpads too aid in in the comfort department.
Left and Right markings are situated on the inside of the headband.
A noticeable departure from other HIFIMAN headphones is the more normal-looking headband system. The metal frame itself is less obtrusive – no longer looking like some sort of galactic communications aerial.
Overall the fit and finish is superb. The slightly rounded edges of the metal framework, along with the chamfered edges of the earcups exude a sense of attention to detail and a desire to create a premium-feeling product.
The only area of complaint is a slight creaking from the plastic parts used on the headband (at the adjustment system). If that was fixed, the Sundara genuinely would feel like an absolute top-notch premium product.
As with HIFIMAN’s other headphones, the Sundara is of an open-back design, and features planar-magnetic drivers. These drivers, in particular, allow the Sundara to have a ridiculously wide frequency response range which digs as low as 6Hz and as high as 70kHz.
Sound
Test Setup
Source: Shanling M2s, PC
DAC/Amp: Fiio A3, IFI Micro iDSD Black Label
Ok, first up, it needs to be mentioned that, due to the combination of impedance, sensitivity, and open-back design, the Sundara might require more power than you might expect (if you’re unfamiliar with open-backs) to really get the most out of it. Portable devices such as low-powered DAPs and smartphones are still perfectly capable of powering the Sundara to enjoyable sound levels, but the Sundara certainly scales well when extra power is thrown at it. This was particularly evident in the bass notes, where the Sundara just sounded a little thinner and less authoritative straight out of the M2s as opposed to how it sounded when you throw a more powerful amp in the mix.
Overall, the Sundara offers a wonderfully enjoyable listening experience. As you might expect with an open-back set of cans, the Sundara is best suited for home use rather than in an on-the-go setting. They leak sound, and sound leaks in. If you were to try and use them in a less private environment you will, first and foremost, likely annoy people, but more importantly, you will not be able to enjoy what it has to offer. Typically of open-backs, it’s got a wider and deeper sound-stage than what you’d get with the vast majority of closed-backs and IEMs. It’s not super wide, but it’s there…just beyond your head.
The overall response of the Sundara is rather well-balanced, with what sounds like just a mild U-shaped response curve. It’s tonality is on the warm side, generally giving you a lush presentation. However, despite the overall smoothness, details are still aplenty, and I feel that HIFIMAN really did a good job with the tuning. It’s actually rather refreshing to have a departure from from headphones that are focused on accuracy. Whilst accuracy is fantastic when monitoring, the fact is that most recordings out there aren’t perfect. And as such, a little bit of added smoothness and warmth tends to make those flaws less noticeable, allowing you to get back to what the whole point of music is…ENJOYING IT!
Honestly I can only pick up on one flaw that really bugs me a bit which ultimately hinders my enjoyment. Around the 8kHz-10kHz region there seems to be just a bit too much energy. This can make some recordings sound just a bit harsh on the top-end. Lowering that region with use of an EQ offers some very satisfying results. It restores a sense of balance to the sound, removing the rough edges, yet leaves the details and that wonderful lushness.
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Value
In the world of Hi-Fi and Audiophile equipment, $500 may not seem like a lot of money for a set of headphones. Heck, there are some headphones out there that cost considerably more but couldn’t hope to touch the build quality and overall premium feeling that the Sundara gives you.
And yet, $500 is still quite a chunk of change for the vast majority of people out there to be spending on a set of cans. So, making sure their money is well-spent is a big factor.
There’s a British phrase, “penny wise, pound foolish“. The intention of the phrase is to bring across the idea that it’s silly to be prudent about small change, yet wasteful of larger sums. Where this applies to the Sundara is that, yes, it does cost $500, but it may also be the last $500 you’d ever need to spend on what is truly an incredibly enjoyable set of open-backs. This would be pound wise.
Sure, if you need absolute accuracy, then look elsewhere. But, if you’re in it for the music….for the pleasure, rather than the “correctness”, then the Sundara is a fantastic piece of equipment that deserves high praises.
The only area that the Sundara really loses points is in the fact that it isn’t particularly portable. However, that’s not really a flaw, since it was never designed to be your typical on-the-go type of product. As such, whilst it might score comparatively low against closed back headphones, as an open-back it truly is a great product.
Rating
The TECH MERIT rating system is designed to take as many aspects of the device into account as possible. As such, we have a basic rating, as well as a final rating. The basic rating rates the product purely as a high quality portable audio device, and is generally a good indicator of how it stacks up to its rivals in terms of standard features and specs. The final rating, however, grants bonus points for any extra features and specs that aren’t quite as common, and is a great way to judge the product as a complete package.