Depends on your taste but iād go for the 99s, overall better sound In my book.
Its an overall more pleasing sound, if I had to compare the 2 iād call the 021 like a kit-kat the chocolate is nice but the wafer is a little too āsnappyā for my taste, while the 99ās are more like a Mars bar, filled with gooey goodness and is always fun
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Ok but in terms of sound. Which one has wider soundtage?
Neither one is what i would call wide compared to something like an openback, but I think the 99s is wider
also you can swap pad to the 99ās you cant really with the 021 unless you tear off the pad from the adapter ring and glue it to a new one
Iāll throw in that I had both and dollar for dollar the Robin is way better better stock pads better build and I preferred their sound
meze would only have wider soundstage if you pad swappedā¦the pads are way too shallow
Well for me Robin has an airy sound than Sundara.
Like i said its a matter of taste, thatās why I said its like a kit-kat (the hollow fairly airy wafer compared to the gooey center)
I just published my review over at Head-Fi:
Itās not what I would consider a positive review, but it is a review with positive intentions!
I agree on pretty much everything (particularly the whole bending issue) though I think you were a little harsh on the sound part, its far from great but some folks like it,but like I said, ill take the 99ās every time over the 021. One thing iād throw into the review is mention that you cant pad swap them without that adapter ring (if I missed it, sorry)
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Itās possible that I was harsh, but itās my genuine opinion. Perhaps I lack some of its direct competitors like Mezeās 99 series. The overall sound performance was quite heavy and fatiguingā¦ but I guess it depends on your mood. One day I can live with it, the other I cannot stand it.
You are right! I forgot to mention about the pad swapping system (which is actually quite nice!)
it could be that im more forgiving to it since i have less experience with a wider selection.
Anyway, the 021ās pad system is a double-edged sword, sure its easy to change pads, but if you want to pad swap to something that isnāt Sivga you have to somehow jerry-rig that adapter ring to a new pad.
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Wow, you tore them up pretty good. So, are you really surprised and shocked that a $300.00 pair sounds a lot better than a $150.00 pair?
As far as bending headphones goes you should probably stay far away from Kennerton headphones then. I recently got a pair of LSA HP-2ās from Underwood HiFi that are manufactured by Kennerton. I had to spend a LOT of time bending my $800.00 headphones for better seal and more bass. Was I happy about that? No! Do they now sound awesome? Yep!
The Robins are a very cheap, nice looking headphone with some big bass. I was thinking about grabbing a pair when I get working as something to wear at lunchtime without having to worry about an expensive pair disappearing at work.
I really donāt get people comparing these to Meze headphones. My Classics were more than double the price of these. I suppose the Drop models are closer in price.
Here in Canada the Meze 99ās are $399.00 (I owned them for a couple of years and loved them). The same company regularly sell the Robins for $169.00 to $179.00 in Canuck bucks.
Are they crappy headphones at the $150.00 price point?
personally, I compared them to the Neoās 200$ vs 150 (sometimes 170), so its a fair comparison.
But even with the cheap price that does not negate some of the points the @voja brought up, and im not just talking about the bending. even in sivgaās own line up there are better headphones, like the 006 and the 007 sure they design isnāt as refined as the 021 but in terms of sound I prefer them.
As far as "
No, and no one said they are crappy but there are a lot of things that Sivga could (and have done) better
I think that at that price point, you are going to get pretty basic.
A set of Drop Noirs would be almost $300.00, landed in Canada (exchange and shipping), while the Robins are currently on sale for $179.00. All in Canuck bucks. That is a sizable difference.
Ignoring/not comparing them to Phoenix would be pretty ignorant from me, considering they share the same driver.
However, you do make a valid point!
Does Kennerton use plastic? Are there any concerns when bending them? @ShaneD Iām genuine interested about this one.
My perspective is very customer-based. When I write an article, I really put in a lot of effort into whether I would want someone to spend their hard-earned money on something. When you take Sennehsierās HD598 into consideration, SV021 seem like aā¦ letās not even go there.
There are a lot of sub $200 options that way outperform the SV021.
Is it fair to compare an open-back (HD598) headphone against a closed-back (SV021)? No. But you get the point Iām trying to make. There are a lot of headphones on the market that do not suffer from such flaws.
I know damn well that SIVGA couldāve done a better job and I am not happy with the way they tried to brush it off. This release felt like āoh, we know people like our previous releases, letās just release this and they will buy it tooā.
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neos are 200$ on amazon, not 300 (unless you are talking on CAD)
I owned some cheapies a while back including the X2HRās (sold within a week) and the HD598cās (best $99.00 headphone I ever heard, back then). I donāt think I would recommend either one to someone today.
At this price you are almost looking at Best Buy and Beats for closed backs.
Just seemed you were pretty harsh. I still might pick them up as a cheapy closed back to throw in a kit bag and not worry about.
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As I said, āCanuck bucksā. That is in reference to Canadian money. I guess I should have been more clear.
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Ya that reference went over my head 
Harsh, I was. However, I do think that the harshness was well-deserved.
I havenāt had a chance to hear Sennheiserās 660s or 58X, but I could recommend the HD598 to anyone. Iāve been an owner of them for over 6 years (I believeā¦ at this point I donāt even know how long Iāve had them for).
A very well-built headphone that doesnāt disappoint sound-wise, and has the best rubber cable (lol! yes, I am obsessed with HD598ās cable).