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Sound
Sound – Intro
This is the chapter in which we find out how the companies describe their products’ sound. For Hifiman we find the following:
In terms of sound, the Susvara Unveiled focuses on pure musicality. The bass reproduction is powerful and precisely contoured, while the treble appears incredibly free and airy. No other headphones manage to reproduce the musical message of a work with such clarity and unity. The combination of the finest materials and technical sophistication ensures that this model is only for those who seek nothing less than the best.
Let’s find out!
Sound – General
The Hifiman Susvara Unveiled is a high-resolution headphone and it has a neutral, reference tuning. That said, it with its fulness and full-bodied presentation does tend to go to the warmer side of neutral. It’s not a warm sounding headphone – like the OG Empyrean – at all though.
The Unveiled has exemplary clarity, speed and control. It combines that with good amplitude as well as body. Bass, mids and treble all sound weighty, exciting and engaging. If you like the highest resolution and excellent dynamics, then you can expect the very best. The beauty of the Unveiled also is that it does everything effortlessly, and it mixes that with a highly precise, yet musical and engaging delivery.
Sound stage wise the Unveiled outperforms the OG, and it is a very wide and open, spacious sounding headphone. The mids are a pure pleasure to the ear in this regard. The depth and layering are equally good, though it will also depend on the rest of your setup. Vocals in this new version have more presence (weight) and there is more focus on them. Both the top end and bottom end extension is really good.
Where the OG Susvara’s attention often went to the bass and higher regions, I find the Unveiled version to be more balanced. It is a quite linear performing headphone, and only starting from around 2k will you find some elevation. You will mostly see this on paper however, as it’s not that audible. When looking at the measurements of my Unveiled drivers, their performance is very close to each other, and I am really impressed in this regard (not the case for the HE1000U though).
Bass is both present in quality as in quantity. The Unveiled always is in control and bass is tight, fast and punchy. Bass reaches nicely down to sub levels where it has a nice rumble. Personally I find the bass layering in the lower regions to be better represented in the OG Susvara. The mids in the Unveiled really shine, and with their spacious, natural yet full presentation they will please a lot of ears. The vocals here carry more weight and there is a bigger focus on them. But that said, it does work with the rest of the presentation. The treble section of the Unveiled connects perfect to the mids weight wise and it has the usual spikes most of us like so much. I have to say though they sound quite balanced, as well as spacious and precise. They do extend nicely as you would expect at this level.
Looking at its performance and presentation, the Susvara Unveiled easily competes with the best in the market such as the AB1266 and the Immanis.
Sound – Amplification
The Hifiman Susvara Unveiled has a sensitivity of 86dB and an impedance of 45Ω. The original Susvara has 60Ω impedance and 83dB sensitivity. This makes the Unveiled version a bit easier to drive.
According to Hifiman the Susvara Unveiled requires substantial power (amplifiers with 5-10 watts of power per channel should be used) and they recommend the EF1000 DAC/AMP. I personally feel the Susvara Unveiled does scale up nicely with better amplification, but the performance from less powerful amplifiers, also is very impressive.
For this section I have chosen the following units: SAEQ Armageddon, Auris Audio Headonia, Feliks Audio Envy, Hifiman Prelude and the Niimbus US4. I am using a balanced connection everywhere unless specifically mentioned and the DAC used for this test was the highly dynamic and musical Violectric V850. Source is my laptop with ROON and the connection is over USB, using a Chord EPIC Digital cable.
First up is the Auris Headonia and with the Susvara it on low gain already gets loud fast. The combo is dead silent and the background is fully void of any noise. You can actually easily run both the Susvara’s at the same time from the Headonia, it will not break a sweat. The combo sounds powerful and energetic, but in a controlled an natural way. The spacious presentation and sound stage here are remarkable, in all possible directions. Layering is equally impressive, as is the general technical level. I really like the bass tightness and punchiness in this set. Overall the combo has good body and weight and you get a natural and musical presentation, which is easy and very addictive to listen to. The vocals here really shine and the top end section has tube richness and softness. All-in-all this is one of my favorite combos, though I have to admit that the Unveiled sounds even better on the original Headonia, where you get even better spaciousness, a higher technical level with better extension and more tube goodness. But ok, the most recent Headonia and Susvara unveiled are an excellent combo. It combines a high technical level with a musical delivery and it really shows what the Susvara Unveiled is capable off.
With the Feliks Audio Envy, we test the Unveiled with another 300b driven tube amp. Here you get an ever heavier presentation, with a slower pace and a fuller weight presence. Bass is bigger in amplitude and the vocals are smoother as is the top end. While the technical level here is lower than in the previous pairing you here do get an even more natural presentation, with more warmth and smoothness. Listening to this combo is easier and more pleasant to the ears, but you don’t have the full precision, extension and layering from before. It is a lovely combo and depending on my mood and music I am listening to, I love switching between these amplifiers. The difference in sound between both amplifiers is quite substantial with the Susvara unveiled, it really depends how you prefer your Susvara to sound. Both are excellent, just different as it is Technical excellence vs more tube characteristics.
Switching to solid state amplifiers, the first one up is the SAEQ Armageddon. This is a beast of an amplifier and it’s very (even too) powerful. Like the Headonia, it can drive multiple Susvaras at the same time, even four if you have those available. In all seriousness though, for a reviewer this is quite handy as you don’t need to plug headphones in and out all the time, you can just switch sets. But back to the Armageddon. When I reviewed the SAEQ, I had just received the Susvara Unveiled and I then preferred the direct output. Now I prefer the -5db one more as it gives more room to play with. The synergy between the Unveiled and the Armageddon is remarkable, especially if you like a powerful, fast and very energetic presentation. The technical level is good, but it is not always as pronounced because of the powerful presentation. The precision and extension can be hidden. Bass and layering here are incredible and you get good body from top to bottom. Next to the bass presentation, I adore the mid timbre and overall layering. Rock guitars and the vocal delivery here are jaw dropping. It is a real high-end combo which shows what the Susvara Unveiled is capable off, and it is a lot. You do have to take the energetic and forward style with it however.
With the Niimbus US4+, the Susvara Unveiled gets a warmer and more analog sound which the Violectric/LakePeople/Niimbus gear is known for. You get a full and weighty Susvara Unveiled, with a slower pace and a warmer and smoother delivery. It is very natural, soft and very easy to the ears. The musicality and delivery are pleasure to listen to. The combo might not be the most resolving, extended or precise, but it makes up for that in pure musicality, dynamics and engagement. Listening to Neil Young, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash is a pure delight with this setup. While this setup will not show you the full technical capabilities of the Unveiled, it will shower you with musicality and emotions. It’s not a setup I use all the time, but on the right day with the right music and mindset, this is so enjoyable.
Unfortunately I don’t have the recommended EF1000 here with me, but I do have the Hifiman Prelude which I reviewed a couple of months ago. Here the Susvara Unveiled sounds more energetic compared to the Niimbus, and the overall technical level is a bit up, aided by the higher level of clarity and a more neutral tuning. The combo is still more analog sounding but the note extension, decay and spaciousness here work better with the Unveiled than it does on the US4+. The vocal presentation is a bit more explicit but it works and still sounds natural. While the technical level is good, amps like the SAEQ, Auris and Feliks still easily trump it. So it is a nice combo but it wouldn’t be recommended amp for the Unveiled.
An amplifier I have been enjoying a lot is the tube driven AudioValve Solaris. Unfortunately the company no longer exists but the units are still highly used and sought after. The synergy with this amp is good and you get a sound which is somewhere between the Envy and the Prelude. Another amp I have used regularly with the Unveiled is the ZMF Aegis. The beaty there is that there are so many tube roll options, that you can really tune the sound to your liking. The only thing really missing in that combo to me, is the technical level.
So yeah, the Susvara Unveiled can be driven by many amplifiers, but they will all make the Susvara U. sound differently. In that regards the Unveiled is a transparent headphone. It’s also clear that the better amps, or should I say technically stronger amps, really make the Unveiled shine. When using a lower resolution DAC or bad files, you will immediately hear that so make sure your full setup is up to the task.
The part on sound continues on the second page. Click here or use the jumps below.
Page 2: Sound – Intro, General, Synergy
Page 3: Vs Susvara, Conclusion, Summary
