I made an offer, letās see how it goes. Hopefully it will pair well with the ifi zen dac/amp.
so these are the specs. I havenāt committed since theyāll only get back to me tomorrow, but they seem adequate as far as I can understand, which isnāt very far. Any red flags?
ā¦ with PRE-GAIN: -4 / +8 / +14 dB
Frequency range: 0 Hz ā¦ 150 kHz (-3 dB)
Slew Rate: > 8V / usec
Dynamic range: > 129 dB (A-wtd)
Noise: < -101 dBu (A-wtd)
THD+N: < -100 dB @ 10V in 100 Ohms (1W)
< -100 dB @ 18V in 600 Ohms (5W)
Crosstalk: < -110 / -100 dB (@ 1 / 15 kHz)
Max. output level: > 18.8 Veff in 600 ohms = 590 mW
13.8 Veff in 100 ohms = 1900 mW
10.7 Veff in 50 ohms = 2300 mW
7.8 Veff in 50 ohms = 1900 mW
3.7 Veff in 16 ohms = 410 mW
Outputs: 2 x 1/4ā³ phone jacks
Power supply: 230 / 115 V AC 8 VA
Dimensions: 168 x 49 x 145 mm (W x H x D)
Case Material: Black anodized aluminium
Just wait till you get a hold of the hifiman edition X v2s lol. These slam pretty damn well for a planar.
3 Likes
Re Sundaras. Just listening to Snarky Puppyā¦Quartermaster. Really starts cookin at 3:00 and VERY busy. There are NO holes in the Sundaras soundstage. Have confirmed this before, but this is a good track to test with.
3 Likes
Took your advice WaveTheory. The Lake People G109a should arrive tomorrow. Used and less than half the new price. Any thought on pairing it with the zen dac/amp? I have the sundaras on loan too, so the chain will be ifi zen --> LakePeople --> Sundara. Iāll update anyway. will the balanced/unbalanced option be an issue with these? I mean will it make any difference using the balanced out to the Lakepeople instead of the rca out?
Awesome! I donāt think the LP amp has balanced inputs. So that should answer the balanced/unbalanced question. Will it all work well? It should. Itās hard sometimes to predict how different gear will synergize but thatās all quality stuff. I donāt know much about the Lake People other than itās on the list @M0N recommends to EU buyers. However, given itās price point itās likely on a performance tier one or two notches above the Zen and the Sundara. It will probably be all the headphone amp you really need until you start getting into well over 1000Euro cans.
Now, the Zen has a warmer sound color. The Sundara - and are you still getting 600ohm 880? - and the 880 are both brighter sounding headphones. The Zen will balance that out a bit. It might be worth seeing if you can borrow or just buy sometime soon a more neutral dac like a Topping E30 for comparison just to see if you like the bright sound.
For a beginner, though, youāre in a really good place. Enjoy!
1 Like
Thanks a lot! That solved that. Itās good to know that Iāll have headroom with this amp. The 880 600 is still on the horizon but since the sundaras sound much better than the 880 250ās to my ears I want to give them some time. Since Iāve never listened to planar magnetic before Iāve noticed that Iām taking some time to adjust to the sound, even though I like it better than the Beyers. They feel new, somewhat foreign sounding, almost like hearing a second language, or maybe a different dialect since itās not an incomprehensible gap. They are expensive though, so I might end up going for the 880 600ās anyway, but later on. For now I can enjoy these for free.
The Topping E30 is on my radar, especially since here in Europe itās cheaper than the zen. I could return the zen and try it out or just buy it used down the line (a long way down the line).
The Zenās True bass button fills things out and somewhat closes the language gap between the sundaras planar sound and dynamic driver sound so thatās something Iāve noticed. When I turn it off and also turn off the power match/gain switch, the combo sounds cooler, more neutral, which I like for some tracks.
Anyway, I need time to accustom my ears but Iām really enjoying it all. And, at the risk of being repetitive, thanks a lot, itās a massive help to have your input and that of the others on the forum in exploring this rabbit hole, and lots of fun too.
2 Likes
I canāt imagine getting there in this life, but I hear theyāre discounted in the next
Thatās where we all start. Then weāre like āI hear really great things about those ZMFsā¦ā
3 Likes
too true, a month ago I was looking to spend $80 max on audioā¦
1 Like
@Bmn1251 Iām curious if youāve received your Sundara and how you think it compares to the AKG.
1 Like
Just got it yesterday and was able to get a couple hours in with the atom amp. First impressions compared sound wise to the 712:
there is overall more clarity than the 712, however the bass is better on the 712. Vocals however is where I think the sundaras really shine, vocals are so good compared to the 712. Vocals sound more natural. Very very good. Soundstage is a little less than the 712 but on the sundaras its done better and Imaging is better and more accurate than the 712. Over all I view the sundaras as a decent/slight upgrade sound wise. Im waiting for the asgard today to see what it does with that. Sundaras do need more power than the 712 from what i can tell using both on the atom amp. Comfort wise the 712 edges it out but only because the clamp force on the sundaras and the pads arenāt as good as the 712 which isnt bad, just the 712 are so comfy. That said, my head is big and for the sundaras I have to use the biggest setting. Funny enough though, if the akg had the clamp force of the sundaras I would say it would be the perfect comfort hahah. Defenantely want to get a new cable though. Pretty awful lol. The angled conector is nice and seems like good quality but the rest of the cable is bad. Pretty happy with the sundaras. Had a blast listening to music last night with them.
6 Likes
For any Canucks looking for used Sundaraās in good shapeā¦
1 Like
K712 are a warm hug, love the to death because of that. Interesting comparison, the HD58x are my pair for precision and vocals, so maybe the Sundara will substitute them.
Also, I already wanted to upgrade on power for the K712, so good to know the Sundara is also a power hungry boy.
1 Like
Sundaras have more brightness than the k712 for sure but with that comes better vocals and guitars. I donāt think I would want a headphone with any more brightness than the sundaras though haha. Messing around with eq i was able to smooth out the sundaras and give it a little more bass. Was much more enjoyable for all types of music that way. The atom amp on high gain worked fine with the sundaras and the asgard gives the sundaras just a bit more stage and clarity.
I have the Sundaras and an atom, too. Works fine. Interesting info re Asgard. Which dac are you using. I am thinking of getting the E 30 as I have none now. ( new jds dac has no optical in and I want that flexibility for TV etc.)
E30 is definitely the way to go
1 Like
These headphones start to hurt my ears after a little while. Hard to keep these on after 30 minutes. Are there any aftermarket pads that donāt alter the sound? Iām guessing something from dekoni would be my best bet but Iād like to hear from any of you who have pad swapped these.
Are the pads resting on the top of your ears? I havenāt seen anyone successfully pad swap the sundara
The tip of my ears touch the drivers. Gets a bit uncomfortable. Definitely need thicker pads. The clamp Iām not bothered by just the pads arenāt deep enough for my ears.