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

I was quiet skeptical after reading all the reviews of these headphones. For £119 I thought it is a must try ... if no luck will be returned. I really wanted a good-sounding closed back for everyday use, which is comfortable to use for many hours of listening, gaming, video conferencing while having some isolation from home noises. First impression: Extremely comfortable, good weight/support balance. Breathing pads, with good seal even with thick plastic glass temples. Soundstage - exceptional for this price range. I just love it - being a huge soundstage fan. Treble - average, with good separation, noting exceptional. Mids - a bit muddy but actually fits well into the overall sound signature of thh headphones. Bass - very good, detailed and punchy, especially for planars. Overall - no fatigue for long time with a broad range of listening (movies, music (most genres (probably not for rock and vocals)). Compared to: Beyerdynamic DT770Pro 250ohm closed back. The HifiMan has more detailed treble and punchier bass. Equally comfortable. For the same price I would go with the HifiMan. Sony MDR-1AM2 closed back. Different league. The Sony is my travel companion, very versatile and VERY comfortable. Interestingly the overall sound signature of the HifiMan is so uniquely and well balanced that it is easy fall in love with. At home the HifiMan will have more head-on time. Monolith M1060C closed back. The HifiMan is way more comfortable. The Monolith is heavy and difficult to keep in place if I move my head around a bit. Also I had to modify it by replacing the internal foam inserts with wool which actually achieved similar sound signature that the HifiMan has out of the box. For almost third the price the HifiMan is probably better out of the box.

This is a preliminary review, and it should be noted that I haven't given these a massive amount of burn-in time yet. I would expect with more use that the sound should "fill out" a bit. Still, they've had about 10hrs so far, enough to form some first impressions. Build quality seems basically good, though my pair appear to suffer from "planar crinkle" in the lefthand driver if the ear cup is moved in and out around the ear - the suction seems to cause noise from the diaphragm. Doesn't seem to affect the sound as such. The wood cups are an interesting feature, the headband is pretty sturdy, the supplied cable connects via a pair of 3.5mm jack plugs and seems un-necessarily thick. There's no tactile indication of left/right, except for the earpads being thinner at the front and the cable plugs angling slightly forward. They're not easy to get the right way around in the dark, or if you're visually impaired. Similarly, the left/right indication on the two plugs at the headphone end of the split cable are almost indiscernible - very faintly moulded L and R. Physical sound isolation isn't all that good for closed cans, and they are large and fairly heavy, and don't fold down. But they are nonetheless very comfortable. Moving on to the sound, my expectations are set by competition from conventional dynamic headphones at a similar price. I paid around 120 pounds for the HiFiMAN SUNDARA closed-back, and I'm comparing them with both over-ear and on-ear Sennheiser Momentum II headphones. I paid around 170 for the over-ear Momentums, but they dropped to around 125 when discontinued. These Sundaras apparently originally had a MSP of around 300 and, had I paid that, then I have to say I would have been disappointed. Details of the way they sound to me are, obviously, subjective and personal. I've enjoyed the Momentums for years, and you get used to a particular presentation, and the way the headphones physically couple to your ears - which depends on the individual shape of your ear canal as well as the ear pad design etc. - is significant. The closed-back Sundaras are to me bright sounding, very crisp. The soundstage is better than expected for closed-back cans, albeit a bit imprecise. There's not much by way of extended bass, especially compared with the Sennheisers. And despite the extended bass response of the Sennheisers, to me, the Momentums also sound snappier/punchier in the bass. It might be a consequence of separating out the sounds pretty well (presumably because of planar diaphragm speed) but the sound of the Sundaras is slightly "hollowed out" seeming, to me. It's hard to pin down - everything is clear enough, but midrange and vocals lack emphasis, and to some extent realism. Maybe they are accurate and un-coloured, but I'm not at all certain thats the case. Bass stuff seems to lack detail, compared with the Sennheisers, and there's less of it. HiFiMAN claims a response down to 6Hz, but these are definitely not "bass monsters". To some extent the jury is still out, because as I mentioned, I haven't yet given the Sundaras time to burn in, but right now, while I think they're impressive for £120, I nonetheless still prefer my old Sennheisers. Note that I don't have the open-back Sundaras to compare, but other reviewers report that these closed back ones sound very different, have different drivers, etc. They are styled similarly, they're still planar magnetic, but they're not the same headphone with a closed back. Still, planar magnetic headphones for a small amount over a hundred quid, that's some kind of bargain I think. It's not like they sound *bad* - they're way better than most in this price bracket. However, my personal preference in modestly priced closed-back wired headphones remains my Sennheiser Momentums. [UPDATE] After many hours of burn-in (estimated over 100hrs) these started to fill out in the midrange, and they're now much more balanced. They're still not quite as involving as the Sennheisers (and don't have the (probably unrealistic) bass extension), but they have do a pleasantly transparent quality to them. The "planar crinkle" seems to have disappeared - it may be that as the ear cups have worn in, they don't make such an airtight seal. They're not wearying to listen to, and they remain super comfortable, if enormous. I'm still not convinced about the cable, and I'd prefer a single sided cable entry, but with 3.5mm jacks on the cans, the cable ought to be pretty easy to replace if necessary. Possibly with one that has a remote for devices.

Great if you don't want to disturb people around you. Nice sounds, decent quality and well worth it at the sale prices.

i dont have any other planar headphones to compare, but comparing them to my other 'normal', these are great. These are well-built, and sounds great - ok - they need very slight more bass, but the clarity is new experience ;-) make sure you have good source as spotify, youtube or mp3s are not enough ;-) as well as good 'sound card' where higher resolution and sample rate 'unlocks' the benefits of these headphones. ...and they are really nice and confortable

Simplemente una opción muy buena por este precio sonido claro y suave, un sonido más juguetón y cálido qué hermoso, pero no deja de ser muy bueno, el único contra que tienen es que te presionan la cabeza y más aún si eres cabezón como yo, y que la unida qué me llegó tiene un defecto y es que el auricular del lado izquierdo es mucho mas rígido qué el del lado derecho por lo que al momento de ponérmelo el ajuste se complica, incomoda y cansa con largos periodos de escucha.

Once you've EQ'd them they sound fantastic. They are very competent headphones. They're also very comfortable and leak very minimally on my head. For their discounted price, they are a steal. If you're up for EQ, I recommend you give them a go.

Looks fine, better in person compared to the product photos. It sounds a little honky stock, but cleans up remarkably well after Oratory’s eq. It’s definitely a recommended buy if you eq it. It sounds cleaner and more spacious than my Beyer DT770 and a lot more fun than my Senn HD650.

The Sundara CB (closed back) is an underrated hi-fi gem. Pairs very well with the Fiio Q3 (AKM4452). The Sundara CB is paradox in itself, smooth yet detailed, closed yet open sounding. Well suited for long listening sessions. Bass has a solid slam that doesn't muddy or colour the mids, sub bass adequately rumbles, mids for vocals and pianos deliver very well without any of the 4khz peaks or honkiness, trebles have a good sparkle without any glare or sharp discomfort to the ears. As a design package, the Sundara CB provides good clamping force that is just about right, headband rests on top of the head without additional pressure, the ear cups are round but large enough to accommodate my Dumbo ears. The earpads are soft hybrid leather-velour combination which provides comfort, bass seal and stays cool. The only gripe will be the yoke length adjustment. It's very, very tight. But once you have that set, you won't have to do it again. I highly recommend it. 5/5 stars. *other headphones I have used as a means of comparison* Hifiman HE400i 2020 AKG K612 Pro Audio Technica R70x Audio Technica AD900x Audio Technica M40x Sennheiser HD598 Sennheiser HD58x ISK HF2010 ISK HD9999 HyperX Cloud 2

Acheté suite à des tests lus sur le net je ne regrette pas mon achat, le son est bien équilibré et convient parfaitement à mon type d'écoute, métal et jazz. Testé sur smartphone avec dac, pc et Yamaha RV4a avec source Qobuz hi res, donc FLAC 24bits 192khz. Le casque est confortable.