HIFIMAN Susvara

Measured

Every rig agrees on the shape. Against its own 200 Hz–1 kHz level the Susvara sits within about a decibel from 20 Hz to 1 kHz on every squig database that holds it (sai, Kuulokenurkka, a B&K 5128, VSG, IEM World, Passion for Sound). Against an HD 600 on the same rig it carries about 5–6 dB more at 20–40 Hz and 3.3–4.2 dB less at 1.2–2.2 kHz. Against Harman over-ear 2018 the GRAS-class rigs read it about 3.9 dB short at 1.2–2.2 kHz, and Crinacle's EQ to that target is a +5.7 dB bass shelf plus a +5.7 dB peak at 1,876 Hz. Crinacle still files it as 'Neutral' and S-tier.

vs. listeners — Nobody is misreading a graph; they are choosing different rulers. Against a bass-boosted target the Susvara is measurably short of bass and short through the presence band. Against its own midrange, a diffuse-field target or the listeners' ears, it is close to a straight line. On Audio Science Review's own member poll, 57 % rate it 'Poor' — most of them without having heard one.

Measured

The distortion benches disagree with each other. Audio Science Review (2023) finds distortion over its target between 4 and 5 kHz at 94 dB SPL and calls the group delay messy. Resolve's 2024 re-measure on a B&K 5128 and a GRAS finds harmonic distortion under 2 % even at 114 dB, higher-order products under 0.2 %, and excess group delay 'Shockingly not' an issue. DIY-Audio-Heaven's 2017 flatbed reads 'The distortion levels are very low', and Soundnews' MiniDSP EARS rig 0.27 % overall.

vs. listeners — Four benches, one outlier. Audio Science Review's resonance-and-distortion reading is the only objective basis for doubting the resolution everyone else hears, and the three other benches that published distortion — including the newest, on a different head simulator — find it low. Unit variation and seating may explain part of the gap; HIFIMAN has revised the headphone quietly since 2017.

Measured

Relative to its siblings the data is consistent: on three rigs that also hold an Arya, the Susvara sits about 2–3.5 dB lower at 2.5–4 kHz and about 2–3 dB lower at 6–9 kHz, and Resolve writes that it is 'quite a bit less bright than say the Arya or HE-1000 series headphones'. Relative to a target it is not flat: both GRAS-class squig rigs read 10–16 kHz about 1.8–1.9 dB over Harman over-ear 2018, Crinacle's EQ trims a −1.5 dB high shelf at 10 kHz, and SBAF's purrin notes 'a tiny bump at 8kHz' that sits 2 dB below the lower mids. Against an HD 600 on the same rig, the 10–16 kHz delta runs from −1.5 to +2.0 dB depending on the rig.

vs. listeners — Both camps are reading real data. The Susvara is measurably the least bright of HIFIMAN's flagships, which is the comparison its admirers are making; it also carries a small top-octave lift against a Harman-style target on GRAS-class rigs, which is what its critics hear. Above about 8 kHz rigs, seatings and ear canals disagree by several decibels, so which camp a given listener lands in depends on their ears as much as on the headphone.

Measured

Measured the same way everywhere: against an HD 600 on the same rig, 1.2–2.2 kHz sits 3.3 dB (sai), 3.4 dB (Kuulokenurkka) and 4.2 dB (B&K 5128) lower, and Crinacle's EQ fills it with a +5.7 dB peak at 1,876 Hz. Resolve describes 'a slight forward character to the lower mids, followed by a dip around 2khz', typical of HIFIMAN. DIY-Audio-Heaven reads the same dip as smaller in the ear than on the plot, and hears the mids as laid back yet very real.

vs. listeners — One curve, two experiences. The dip sits below the ear-gain region rather than on it, so vocal body steps back while articulation stays clear — which some hear as space and others as distance. Pads move it: an owner who has had three units says the post-2020 pads sound warmer and more forward.

Measured

Flat extension, no shelf, on every rig: within −1.7 to +0.1 dB of its own midrange from 20 to 40 Hz across six squig databases, about 5–6 dB more sub-bass than an HD 600 on the same rig, and about 5–6.5 dB under a Harman-style shelf. DIY-Audio-Heaven found the seal has little effect on bass quantity, and Resolve's driver-resonance test shows a broken seal adds bass rather than losing it — good news for glasses wearers.

Measured

The power requirement is arithmetic: 60 Ω at a rated 83 dB, measured at 80 dB/mW by DIY-Audio-Heaven. Passion for Sound's calculation puts 80–90 dB at a few milliwatts and 120 dB above 5 W. The ceiling is disputed: Audio Science Review heard the drivers 'bottom out' one dB past 114 dB SPL in 2023, while Resolve's 2024 re-measure reads 'Turns out things are still below 2% harmonic distortion, even at 114dB' with no clipping even on infrasonic tones.

vs. listeners — Two things are true at once. It needs unusual voltage to reach a given loudness, so a weak source runs out early and sounds compressed. Whether it needs a speaker amplifier to sound RIGHT is preference: owners who A/B'd say the gain from a premium amp is 'both small in magnitude and immediately obvious', and no measurement shows a power-dependent change in the headphone's response.

Measured

No rig measures imaging, but channel matching is measurable and generally excellent: SBAF's purrin reports 'Channel matching is excellent', DIY-Audio-Heaven 'The channel balance is excellent', and Soundnews under 0.5 dB. One owner's unit measured 1–2 dB apart across the band, and HIFIMAN declined to call it a fault.

Measured

No rig measures stage. Sources offer mechanisms instead: the open Window Shade grille and stealth magnets keep structure out from behind the driver, and HIFIMAN uses essentially no damping material — which SBAF's purrin credits for how open it sounds. The pre-2020 pads are reported as more spacious than the current ones.

Measured

450 g per HIFIMAN (Resolve weighed 487 g with the cable attached). DIY-Audio-Heaven rates the clamp low to medium, with inner pad openings of roughly 70 × 55 mm and 18 mm deep; one reviewer measures the pads 15–20 mm deep front to back, which is why some ears touch the driver cover.

Measured

Construction: CNC-milled, hand-polished metal headband and yokes, wood-veneer cups, Window Shade grilles, clipped pads and detachable dual-entry cables (6.35 mm and 4-pin XLR, 3 m). The owner record is thin but specific: one Reddit owner's unit measured 'with 1-2 dB deviations across the whole frequency response', another heard 'The left side started to make rattling noise', and a forum owner found 'flakes of different size and shapes inside the drivers' of a unit bought from HIFIMAN's site. Two owners in one thread confirm the pad leather is glued to its clip frame and tears easily.

vs. listeners — Loan units do not fail in a review cycle, and the camps divide almost exactly there: reviewers judge the object in their hands, owners report what happens over months. No source documents a failure rate, and a forum owner who went through three units by warranty swaps says HIFIMAN replaced them — so the risk is real but its size is unknown.

Measured

Fully open by construction: the grille protects the diaphragm while leaving the rear of the driver clear, and the stealth magnets are shaped to let sound pass between them. One reviewer estimates 1–3 dB of passive attenuation.

Measured

HIFIMAN lists it at $6,000, in stock, as of October 2026 — its 2017 launch price. The new unit is never discounted; HIFIMAN's own refurbished stock runs $3,299 (2.5 mm sockets) and $3,599 (3.5 mm), open-box $4,599, and a $4,000 trade-up moves owners to the $8,000 Unveiled. headphones.com lists it at $5,999 and Thomann at $6,299. Owners who bought through other channels report paying around $4,000–4,500. The amplifier is part of the cost for most sources.