I’ve seen a few mixed reviews on the Aiva’s and since there aren’t that many reviews out from the reviewers I follow and trust I was wondering if anyone has a pair and thought they were overhyped or just as amazing as Zeos says?
I brought one, and I recommended it to a friend of mine whom also purchased one.
Short answer: it’s an amazing headphone, and together with it’s price it’s a no brainer for me personally.
Before I talk about my experience I will just like to say that I am not an expert in any way, I am simply sharing my own experience, also for disclosure the only other headphone I have is HD58X. I have BGVP DM6 for IEM as well, and the rest are not worth mentioning. I have a very basic Desktop DAC, something like the Topping D30 and a mid end single ended Desktop Amp.
So here is my experience with Aiva.
I didn’t brought it blind off the reviews online, as I am currently living in China I was fortunate enough to find a shop that have them on demo so I went and tried it out.
I will skip the build quality as you can see it from Z Reviews pretty clearly, and yes it is absolutely amazing. Even as compared to all other high-end headphones that I have found at the shop.
So the shop I went to is a true High-End Audio shop, it’s a small and a very quiet place, you can only go with one day advance booking so they can make sure it’s not too crowded. Hence the listening experience is absolutely amazing.
At the shop, they had Aiva hooked up to a High-End DAC and Full Balanced Amp from Xii Audio. And it freaking blew me away, as someone who don’t own any High-End gears this was something I never experience before.
I asked the owner for another pair of “entry” level Planner for comparison, and the Owner looked at me goes: “Isn’t Aiva entry level?” me:"…". It turns out Aiva is the cheapest headphone that deserve to be in that Shop according to the Owners’ high standards. So I took the Mr Speakers Aeon Flow, Open Back version to compare, and in my own opinion Aiva was slightly better.
So I preordered a pair with the Shop (China currently have no ready stock for Aiva, I suspect they reserved all the stock for Amazon), and left as a happy man.
So Aiva is my first High-End grade headphone gear, and it probably will be for a long time as other High-End is just too expensive for me to own.
One thing to note is Aiva takes a lot of power to drive, you will want an Amp that can at least push out 1watt at 32ohms to get the real beauty out of Aiva.
As for my friend, he lives in Singapore and got it without trying it out. And he loves it as much as I do too.
So there you go, that’s my own experience just for sharing.
2 Likes
Oh just to add, hearing the Aiva at home with my basic setup is defiantly not like the experience I had in the High-End store, it was so much better there. But, that being said Aiva is an amazing headphone and I enjoy the hell out of it. Plus, knowing that it can only get better when I upgrade my DAC and AMP is so exciting to me.
1 Like
The Sendy Aiva has incredible build quality and comfort. The pads are fantastic! Its sound signature has a boosted upper mid to high frequency. These are not bass cans. Because of the boosted upper midrange, these can become fatiguing after a while if you are sensitive to higher frequencies. I would not call them laid back or smooth. They sound very detailed but it’s my opinion that the boosted upper frequencies are the reason they sound the way they do. All in all, I really love the Sendy Aivas but if you’re sensitive to high frequency, be cautious. They bother me after a while.
2 Likes
Agree with everyone so far about the Aiva.
Wanted to add that i am treble sensitive and at time it does touch on almost unbearable high side of the treble but not enough to dissuade me from keeping it. If your looking for a large sound stage i would look elsewhere. If your looking for detail, speed,sparkle and in your face sound the Aiva is for you.
Also i recommend buying them where you can easily return them. The first set I purchased (Amazon) had a issue with the left diaphragm crinkling with the slightest slow movement.
(This should be moved to the Headphone section)
how do the Aiva compare to the HD58X im looking for my next headphone and the Aiva is high on my list.
Aiva is on another level for sure. Even with my current setup I can clearly tell the difference between HD58X and Aiva.
Aiva has a better build, HD58X is most plastic while Aiva is metal and good quality wood.
Sound wise, it’s really hard to describe because Aiva is like better on every aspect than HD58X. If someone cannot tell the difference between them or failed to feel the big amount of improvements, I will be questioning the AMP the person is using.
On top of that HD58X is super value for money already, adding that to the comparison shows just how good Aiva is value for money too.
Comparing the HD58X with the Aiva is like comparing a Toyota Camry to a Toyota Supra.
Like a Camry the HD58X does everything well enough but doesn’t excel in anything. While the Aiva like a Supra it will blow you away in its detail, speed and sparkle compared to the 58x. The Aiva is more intense and forces you to give it your undivided attention but will never be warm set of HP that you can sit back and relax with. Sure you can try to do some easy listening with them but will ultimately fail like trying to drive a Supra in the dirt (it just isn’t made for it).
The Aiva has a place in my collection when i want that intense listening experience but by no means is it a replacement for my 58x.
1 Like
Im really wondering why the SendyAudio Aiva doesnt have its own thread on the Headphones section. But anyway, i wonder if any of the Aiva owners have tried their pair with the ZMF pads (the ones that fit the T50RPs) to maybe tone down the highs a bit and boost the bass hoping it would make it a bit less fatiguing maybe?
ZMF vs Sendy Aiva… large round vs small oval.
I think Zeos was very kind to the Sendy Aiva’s in his review. When it comes to value for money, the Sendy Avias are an incredible value especially in build quality and comfort (the pads and especially the headband are magic) but I can’t drink the cool aid when it comes to sound.