šŸ”¶ Sendy Aiva

I think the sundara has less issues than a m570 or blon b20 from what I have seen

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I agree. Even though Iā€™ve had 3 Hifiman with issues, Iā€™d still take the Sundara over the Sendy Aiva or their clones. I like the sound of both of them, but that Sendy driver seems to encounter issues in the long termā€¦lots of reports of channel imbalance and driver failure months later. Iā€™m just lucky Amazon accepted my return, even though I was past my window.

I hope not my pair runs into that :grimacing:

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I was listening to my Sendy Aiva last night and there has to be something wrong with it. Itā€™s horrible. Thereā€™s a very pronounced tinny sounding ride symbol in one of my test tracks that none of my other headphones exhibits. I own the Ether CX and the my Aiva and my CX are not even close sounding because of this weird tinny sounding frequency. I canā€™t listen to the Aiva for long because itā€™s so annoying. It kills me because I love its look and comfort.

I love the comfort my Aivaā€™s have, I can wear them for hours with no fattigue.
It sounds like a flaw, so better contact the shop of purchase.

Does it happen on both channels equally? Also does it happen on only one or all amp/dac setups?

If you are rating the quality of the headphone simply on the amount of bass it puts out, the Ether CX is probably never going to make you happy. Most of my headphones have more bass than the CX. But the Ether CXā€™s detail retrieval and sound quality are on another level. Iā€™d have to say the Ether CX is the most similar to the Focal Elex but in a closed back.

If you havenā€™t already, youā€™ll want to get your hands on a Fostex bio cellulose to satisfy your bass cravings.

Weā€™re going into detective mode are we? :slight_smile: Thanks for the help M0N. I only test out the Aiva on my desktop when Iā€™m bored and just want something different. Iā€™ll try it on some of my amps. From memory last night, the ride symbol was on the left side. So it may something to do with the right driver. Iā€™ll have to investigate further.

Honestly, when I listen the Aiva, I just get them off my head asap because I canā€™t stand them lol. So I usually donā€™t listen for extended periods of time. Last night was maybe 2 minutes tops.

Gotcha, also perhaps do a couple sine sweeps to see if you can pinpoint the offending frequency

I am sick right now and just got to the plugged ear phase, so I wonā€™t be doing any critical listening until Iā€™m better.

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Lol, well I guess the sendy isnā€™t the highest priority at the moment, hopefully you are feeling better soon :+1:

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Iā€™m not using bass as a metric for what is a better headphone. Iā€™m just curious how the Ether CX right now doesnā€™t seem to compete with the Blon B20 during this break in period. And for detail retrieval, I canā€™t say the CX compares yet (sub 30 hours on break in). Iā€™m just shocked because I would call the Aiva and clones to be a bit bass anemic but present. The CX (at the volume I prefer to listen at) seems to be missing the bass entirely. Iā€™m just shocked at the difference is all. If I really have a bass craving, I have my LCD X which is good enough for me.

Iā€™m glad you brought up the Focal Elex because Iā€™ve been wondering if I would like it. If theyā€™re really like the Ether CX is good for a data point.

My B20 have a slight presence as well. I wouldnā€™t call my exposure tinny but there is a some weird metallic reverb that is subtle and only noticed some of the time. Regardless, I still enjoy the B20.

Honestly I much prefer the elex over the cx, the only mrspeakers/dca I would recommend at the moment is the aeon 2 closed, ether 2, and voce

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The CX definitely is not a bass cannon, but the bass is present and very well detailed on my CX. Iā€™d have to say it is very well balanced in comparison to everything else. Iā€™m using the 2 notch white & the thin black foam.

As for the Aiva & clones, I agree. Their bass quantity is on the low side in favor for cleaner crisper highs. In comparison to the Ether, the Ether definitely has stronger more defined bass than the Sendy.

As for the Ether vs the Elexā€¦ Personally, both of these headphones sound very similar to one another with each one slightly edging one another out for specific pointsā€¦ The Ether might sound more detailed than the Elex but the Elex might have a bit more bass. In general, Iā€™d have to say that the Ether CX and the Elex sound more similar than the Elex and the Elegia do to one another. I think of the Ether as a closed back Elex and the Elex as an open back Ether.

Really? I find them very similar sounding. What was it about them you did not prefer?

I really donā€™t think they are that much similar from my experience. The focal are way more dynamic and also have much better soundstaging and more accurate presentation with more detail, also it tends to be a faster driver from my experience. The ether cx is fairly compressed and also more even sounding where the elex is more w shaped from my experience. Not exactly that similar enough to compare for me

That is my experience so far as well. I am just glad I have contrasting headphones in my collection.

Not too impressed with the quality of the LS markings. My power and gain sign is completely off. I did add a small dab of white paint to the volume knob as the indicator is just not clear enough. Do I tell monoprice to check this or what? Really not impressed

Also while waiting for my D10 i moved my LS closer to adjust the volume easily. I was bored one night lol

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