šŸ”¶ HiFiMan Sundara

Canā€™t say about the 1070, but I have both the 4xx and Sundaras. The 4xx has a bit deeper bass, but the Sundara is overall a much better headphone, imo. Greater detail, a bit better soundstage width, but also has AMAZING depth. Also the midrange clarity is much better, thus vocals are more present and defined.
They are a bit brighter but I find the top end is never harsh. Also the instrumental timbre is spot on. For me at least they
are definitely worth the extra money.

1 Like

To my ear the m1070s are overly warm and ā€œveiledā€. I am told they should improve with burn-in ā€” I am not sure I buy it, but to be honest havenā€™t given them enough time to know for sure.

I think if you like a warm and ā€œrelaxedā€ sound you might appreciate the m1070s more than I do. To me, the Sundaras are far more listenable. Not close.

1 Like

The M1070 is a step forward in terms of build quality for monoprice hp. The metal of the headband could be a little bit thicker, but i donā€™t think that build quality is problematic on the 1070.

I think it depends which sound signature you prefer. But i think like wagstaff and others above- that sundaras performs stronger in most acoustic categories.
Read my post #691 for a comparison between the sundara and the M1070

2 Likes

TLDR at bottom:

Hey everyone. Tried searching through comments and many threads but still canā€™t come to a conclusion. New to headphones, always been a speaker guy. Picked up the Sundaraā€™s recently. There was a lot of debate on if these needed to be powered or not. Some poeple said absolutely, others said the could get away playing them on their phone. I have a solid motherboard, Sabre ES9023 DACs and I thought would have enough power if poeple were getting good sound on their phones. Sadly for whatever reason, while they sound good, I just cant get volume that high. Ironically I can get higher volume and more depth of sound on my Samsung Note 8 than my expensive Motherboard. I have no idea why but thatā€™s just how it is.

Anyways as I really didnt want to spend this much for headphones I was going to return them and just order some 500 series Sennheiserā€™s. When I got the Sennheiserā€™s I was immediately turned off by how forward the mids ( and I thought I liked mids ) were and thereā€™s just this subtle feel about the Sundaras that makes listening to things feel like more of an experience, and now I canā€™t go back to using anything lesser. Which brings me to my main point of the post.

I need help picking out a DAC. I was originally going to go the Modi/Magi route, but after reading some threads on this form Asgard 3 seems the way to go. I was pretty excited as I saw you can get it with a DAC built in, until further research it appears the DACs included are a bit shit. So Iā€™m looking for the best DACs to pair with the Sundara and Asgard 3 for 100-200 dollars. Preferably closer to 100, but Iā€™m sure thatā€™s a stretch, 200 I can do if itā€™s really worth it. If it helps, I have a pair of LS50s with a Marantz SR7010 Powering them and I like teh sound signature of that. I like bright speakers with a touch warmer power/processing behind them to dull them down juuust a touch. One reason I got the Sundara is it actually reminded me of the LS50s from everything I was reading. So yes. 100-200 dollar DACs recommendation for Sundara + Asgard 3. Thanks!

TLDR: Looking for $100-$200 DACs to pair with Sundara and Asgard 3.

For what you describe you could get the modius to stack with the asgard if you have the budget, a solid upgrade and nice compact stack imo. If you didnā€™t want to do that, imo a liquid spark dac or topping e30 tend to be pretty solid for the money imo and fit your sonic goals. Thereā€™s also the new modi 3+ which looks interesting but I havenā€™t heard it yet so canā€™t comment there

3 Likes

Appreciate the quick reply! I looked at the Modius but came across one of your posts actually about the implementation of the 4493 in the Modi, made me think to look other than Schiit for the DACs. Is the Modius actually decent? and a solid step up from the LS and E30? Are there any others in the Modius price range you prefer, my preferences aside? Thanks again, I really appreciate all the assistance.

So yes, I donā€™t like the internal dacs in the amps, and I also am not a fan of the modi 3 at all, but the modius is a pretty different step from when I tried one out imo, they did a much better job there. I really like the higher end schiit multibit stuff the most but thatā€™s out of budget here. To me it is a solid step above the liquid spark and the e30, not massive but a noticeable one.

So honestly not too many, there is the geschelli jnog but I havenā€™t heard that yet but I have heard the enog and that was pretty great and the jnog seems to be an upgrade from that. I really really like the allo revolution dac but thatā€™s more around 300 than 200

2 Likes

Thanks again! Iā€™ll be on the lookout for one of those. If I could get my hand on a used good condition enog do you think it would pair well with A3 or would Modius pair better with it?

Hmmmm, so the enog is more of a neutral brighter dac, it is resolving and capable, but personally from what you descrive you like your source gear to be, the modius better fits that more warmer relaxed signature without going overboard, the enog + a3 would more lean towards just pretty neutral toned imo

1 Like

Great insight. A3 + Modius it is then. Iā€™ll report back my subjective thoughts when I get them. Hopefully the convo helps others n00bs in the future.

1 Like

Will be curious to see what you think :+1:

2 Likes

I have 4XXs. I love the sound but cannot stand the comfort. For me, the headband presses on my head to much and the earpads are itchy. Are the Sundaraā€™s better in comfort compared to the 4XXs?

My Sundaraā€™s came in (Schiit Hel). First impressions.

Whatā€™s that sound Iā€™m hearing? When did they put THAT in the song? Well that sounds clear. Iā€™m hearing moreā€¦MOAR!!! This is what all of you mean when you hear sibilant sounds without sibilance?

The only complaints I can give right now is the cable is all weird and twisty and the clamp force is a bit much (and small ear cups for my small ears). Iā€™ll put them on a box for the night or is there a better way to reduce that clamp force?

This makes my wallet sad, because it means higher level gear isnā€™t just snake oil. :wink:

7 Likes

What headphones are you coming from?

Congrats! LOVE my Sundaras.

KPH30iā€™s with SR225/GS1000 pads (I like the SR225 pads better) and SHP 9500ā€™s.

The first thing I noticed was the crystal clear but not overpowering upper mids and highs. Incredible.

Plenty of bass too, not too much, not too little.

3 Likes

I gradually and very carefully bent the headband from the top, using both hands with the index and middle fingers (one on each metal strip) near the center of the metal headband and the thumbs underneath. This was done several times in different days as the metal felt safe to bend until the pleather headrest was completely extended. Now the clamp is much less.

Only do this at your own risk, ive done this with most of my headphones and never broken anything, but its not failsafe.

Also turning the earpads upside down improves the comfort on some people, as mentioned a few posts above.

Hey, Iā€™m using the Sundara on my BTR5 at the moment. Would I benefit from getting a Magni 3+/ Liquid Spark?

Thanks

If you can, the Sundara pairs well with the Asgard 3 amp, imo. Love mine.

Just got in a pair of Sundaraā€™s w/ the revised / 2020 pads. No idea what they sounded like before, but these are pretty great. Makes my Sivga P-II (perforated hybrid Sendy pads) sound lifeless. Currently listening on a M200 => A90.

3 Likes