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Sound Quality
The Aiva 2 is a bright, fun-sounding headphone with good dynamics and technicalities. It has good dynamic range, harmonics, and crisp sound across all ranges. Its planar magnetic driver design has many strengths, but some of its sound can be improved since it sometimes sounds too bright. Let me share my thoughts about that below.
Bass
Although the Aiva 2’s bass response is not on the Peacock’s level, it is still impactful and quick. You don’t often find these two terms together, but the Aiva 2 manages to do that. The bass is capable of excellent texture, speed, and decay. This is one of those headphones with impressive bass quality over sheer quantity.
The Aiva 2’s bass presentation is not the most impressive since it doesn’t have a fantastic impact or rumble. The bass doesn’t dominate the sound, which is a plus for specific genres, but it doesn’t have much presence. So, if you need a very impactful and rumbling bass response, this is not the headphone.
Also, you need a powerful setup to have the best and tightest bass presentation. I tried to listen to the Aiva 2 from different setups, particularly DAPs and dongles, and the results weren’t good enough. So even though the headphone looks not so hard to drive on paper, be sure to feed the headphone with plenty of power with good amplification.
Overall, the bass performance is impressive in a technical sense, but it’s not remarkable in terms of pure musicality or enjoyment. There’s good bass balance, control, resolution, and texture. To say the least, it is an ideal bass presentation for reference sound lovers. This is an excellent candidate if you’re after an analytical and flat sound.
Mids
Again, the mids are pretty clean, like the bass, and the tonality is very neutral. The mids are very smooth-sounding, crisp, and transparent. There’s a good definition here, especially with vocals, and the positioning is quite lovely. There’s also an excellent timbre that is very realistic and lively. The instruments are an absolute joy since they sound natural and organic with an analogue-like approach. The tonal accuracy and quality of the Aiva 2 are excellent indeed.
I liked the mid-range performance regarding these factors above, but some areas can be improved. Lower mids lack presence and definition a bit compared to the upper midsection, and they need more clarity and openness in this lower area. Mids sound veiled and cramped in that particular region, and you wonder what would happen if there’s more transparency and clarity here. Sure, the Aiva 2 has excellent tonality and definition in mids, but it would’ve been great if it had a more definitive lower-mid-range presentation.
Treble
Aiva 2 doesn’t reproduce the treble in a controlled and smooth way. It blasts the treble very crisp and sparklingly, with excellent micro-detail presentation and definition. This is the most substantial aspect of the headphone. However, the treble lacks control and is too lifted to sound clear and impressive.
The highs have good definition and sound articulated. However, the performance here could be a bit polarizing with this brightness and fatiguing approach. Even so, the treble has good resolution, especially compared to the lower mids.
Also, this treble presentation creates a contradiction in terms of coherency. The presentation feels uneven and incohesive since the lower-mids are a bit behind, and the treble is full-on. While that’s fine since not every headphone manages to do that ideally, the Aiva 2 reproduces the treble very brightly, so this effect is even more amplified. However, this signature may suit many people nicely, depending on the genres they prefer to listen to. When I look at this from a purist audiophile perspective, though, there needs to be more consistency, and the treble should be more relaxed and refined.
Page 1: Info, Package, Design, Build, Comfort
Page 3: Technical Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion
