Hifiman Sundara Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones - Official Thread

I am sorry, to see that you don’t like the sound of the Sundara!

The problem is likely the same as that of YouTuber’s Oluv.
He uses an Earstudio ES100 as a playback source and is surprised that the headphones do not reproduce bass and that the highs are too sharp. He does not believe that headphone amplifiers make any difference in the sound of headphones.

This is, with all due respect, a big mistake, because the Sundara in particular needs a bit of additional power, although the technical values ​​do not necessarily suggest that.

I use the original cables, for example on my ifi Zen Dac / Can combination, my Rebel Amp, my Questyle and an SPL Amp, each with high gain and relatively high volume control settings.

The headphones sound “really“ very good and, for my taste, they sound technically above Sennheiser’s 600 series.

But if you want to have a decision about the cable, then it is the cable with the headphone connections of the second photo, paired with a 4.4, 2.5 or 4-pin connection on the amplifier side.

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Thanks
As a matter of fact I’m using the new Khadas Tone 2 Pro DAC/AMP. They dont have a soundstage and imaging isn’t there. Other than that the sound is fine. No complaints on the bass. Look. Im a Magnepan speaker guy.

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I have had the Sundaras for a couple of months and I’m very happy with the imaging and soundstage.I am coming from the Hd6xx which is known for a narrow soundstage.I use the Topping E30 and L30 stack.

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Great. Maybe i got a bad pair

Oidio Sound makes some cool looking cables. Lots of custom options for colours and materials. https://oidiosound.co.uk

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Sundara are not the best for imaging… I think the Sennheiser 6x0 headphones actually can outperform the Hifimans here. What amp are you running those Sundara off of? They can benefit from some power as they are not very efficient (they get some more bass punch and a bit wider). I didn’t notice a ton of improvement with burn-in from mine.

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Thanks!
DAC/AMP Khadas Tone 2 Pro. It’s Full MQA and runs off of a power bank or computer.

Thank you very much. I’ll check out

Nice! I have heard good things about the Khadas stuff. When I first demoed the Sundara at my local HiFi store I ran it off of my phone, their stack (which was a musical fidelity headphone AMP and DAC), a Dragonfly Red DAC, and a Chord Mojo. It was underpowered by my phone and the Dragonfly DAC, the Mojo (which is what I ended up buying for it) got it loud enough and was a noticeable improvement, and the Musical fidelity LX2 (which I wasn’t willing to buy due to the cost) was, again, a noticeable improvement. I think those cans benefit from lots of power! Either that or I just liked them on the warmer source… I’m not sure how much power comes out of the Khadas but you could always try a Schiit magni 3+ with it.

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Thanks for sharing. Listening right now.

How about Kelly Lee Owen’s Arpeggi?

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Hi @mikecheck95 I just thought that I would give a nostalgic nod of the head to the often underated Dragonfly Red. I know that it has now been superceded by cheaper better measuring options, but at it’s release it was a great starting point for a lot of folk. It gave a real step up in quality at a time before I had a Dap. I remember it fondly.

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I fully agree with your impressions. I actually sold my Sundara to try the Focal Clear. Guess what? Ended up selling the Clear and re-purchasing the Sundara. Definitely my favorite can. Gets way more headtime than the 6XX and HE-500, even though the latter is also quite special.

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Well, I also have a Topping e30. Last night I played both through my speaker system (Maggie’s) and even though the Khadas is MQA I preferred the e30. Why? Better imaging and instrument placement and more air around them. Now I’m thinking of the L30.

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I’m listening to Coltrane last/posthumous records (Ascension, Kulu Sé Mama, Meditations, Sun Ship, Infinity) with Sundara. It’s incredible how these headphones bring clarity to the intricate superposition of sounds in these pieces. Wonderful.

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Guys.
Sundara "Revised / Stealth” myth?

Serials with 7 digits vs 8 digits
7 digits are from 2020? 8 digits are from 2021?

Thank you very much

More than likely just an indication of how many have been sold. @Resolve recently re-measured a pair from our inventory that was delivered last month and there were no changes between it and the version he measured at the beginning of 2020.

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At this point, @resolve must hold some kind of record for most measurements of the same headphone :wink:

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Not sure about the serial numbers, but a community member sent one in from 2018 and it very obviously has the older pads on it, and they measure differently.

Old unit:

Unit from 2021 (they most likely made the change to the pads sometime in 2019):


And side by side. You can even see that on the newer one (right) the front part is thinner as well.

So, yeah it’s not a myth. Let the issue be put to rest.

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THANK YOU!
I posted the same question on an Audio Enthusiast Group in the Philippines. Got one reply. It read:" There is no such thing as a Stealth revision.” I replied with a screen shot of your Nov 20th post.

So here are pics of the Sundara’s.

Top 7 digits S/N
Bottom 8 digits S/N

They look and sound the same to me.

One set is an open box purchase. They are less tight. (Maybe already burned in)

The other set is brand new. Much tighter and causes ear lobe to “fall asleep”. Fully burned in.

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Hello all! Have followed the forum for a bit and dig the vibe y’all got, so thank you–

I just purchased a pair of Sundara’s (which, for anyone interested, are run through a Khadas Tone 2 Pro as a DAC & Geshelli Erish, all balanced). I really enjoy these for all the positive qualities mentioned in this forum as well as Resolve’s review.

Originally, I had the intention of buying 2 sets of headphones, one planar and one dynamic, and I’m still holding to that approach. In the sightlines are either the Focal Elex or the Focal Clear (original). Which of the two would you recommend as a pairing with the Hifiman Sundara (or another set I haven’t mentioned at or around the Clear price range)? Thanks for all your help, time and effort you put into the hobby =)

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