Today I’m reviewing HIFIMAN Sundara, a well-known pair of headphones to every audio enthusiast. This sample was sent to me by HIFIMAN in exchange for my honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions in today’s episode are my own.
The HIFIMAN Sundara is an open-back headphone with planar magnetic drivers. It offers an impressive frequency response range with a lot of dynamic realism and a relatively balanced sound signature. The headphones come in a beautiful box. On the front of the box, we have an illustration of the headphones. On the back of the box, we have a list of technical specifications
In the box:
- HIFIMAN Sundara headphones
- De-attachable cable
- 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter
- User manual
- and a warranty card
The impedance of HIFIMAN Sundara is 37 Ohm, sensitivity is 94dB. Compared to some other planar magnetic headphones, Sundara has relatively high sensitivity. It allows it to be driven with some ease by headphone amplifiers and even DAPs. But it truly scales and opens up when connected to a powerful source.
Design & build
HIFIMAN Sundara has a very solid build and it’s almost completely made out of metal. The Sanskrit word “Sundara” literally means beautiful and that fits well to this pair of headphones. The headphones weigh 372 gr without cable.
The outer part of the headband is made from a steel spring. It has a black finish and a small cut in the middle. The inner part of the headband is generally a head strap made from elastic pleather. The outer headband also has some plastic inserts with the HIFIMAN logo. And that’s the only plastic part of the build that meets the eye
The headband is quite ergonomic and comfortable and it’s good at distributing the weight of the headphones. The clamping force of the headband is average. The yokes that attach the headband to the cups are metal too. They are made from a single piece of metal, which makes them very durable. To adjust the headband, you simply move each ear cup up or down. The headband size-adjusting mechanism works well
Ear cups
The ear cups are made out of metal and have metal grills to protect the drivers. The grills were designed with three key aspects in mind – sound, protection, and aesthetics. I honestly think the glossy grills look well with the black matte finish on the ear cups. There is almost no horizontal swivel of the ear cups, but surprisingly, the ear cups rotate 360 degrees vertically. Each ear cup has a 3.5 mm connector socket built in and is located slightly towards the front of the ear cups.
The earpads have a round shape. They are 100 mm in diameter and the opening of the ear pads is 55 mm. HIFIMAN updated the Sundara’s ear pads in 2020 and made two changes. The ear pads are now significantly thicker on the back side compared to the part that is closest to the cheek.
In addition to that the ear pads are now a hybrid type. The outer ring is made out of pleather, the inner part is made from perforated pleather, and the side touching your ears is made out of velour. The changes have made the ear pads more comfortable. Overall they provide a good comfort for a long listening session.
Cable
The headphones come with one detachable cable which is 1.5 meters long. The cable is made from crystalline copper wire. It has an angled 3.5 mm TRS connector on one end and two 3.5 mm TRS connectors on the other ends. The connectors have an L and R marking, so you can easily distinguish the side of the headphones by just looking at them
By the way, both ear cup connectors are located slightly forward to the front of the earcups. When the cable is connected, is draps across the user’s chest for better comfort. The cable has a little bit of memory if you know what I mean, so I’d personally wish it was a little bit more flexible and relaxed. At the same time, the cable has minimal microphonics which is good. In addition, if you are not happy with the stock cable, you can purchase a replacement, which is easy to find.
Fit & comfort
Despite the fact the headphones weigh 372 grams they are very comfortable. I have an average size head, I wear a motorcycle helmet size L and the headphones fit me well in addition I liked how the headband distributes the weight of the headphones. But if you have a really big head, the size and shape of the headband might be a problem
The headband clamping force is slightly above average, but in my case, it provides a good fit and I’m not having any discomfort even during long listening sessions. The ear pads having a hybrid design are comfortable too, I have large ears, and still they almost completely fit inside the ear cups.
HIFIMAN Sundara sound overview
Please note that all the sound impressions I’m sharing on this channel are completely subjective, so please take them with a grain of salt.
In general, the HIFIMAN Sundara has a very neutral tuning, with just a little pinch of additional warmth. The headphones are quite perfect for me in terms of sound because they excel at handling many of the genres that I like and they work well for jazz, soul, classical music, rock and metal music.
The impedance of this pair is 37 Ohm, but they are still a bit inefficient rated at 94db of sensitivity which means that they need some amplification. And while they can sound quite ok with some DAPs, they truly scale and open up when paired with a good amplifier.
The bass on Sundara is well-extended, it’s tight, fast, and quite neutral. It’s got a nice amount of impact, but don’t expect too much rumble from this pair. The bass rolls off slightly at 40Hz. The sub-bass region is very transparent, clear, and has a lot of detail.
The mid-bass is more prominent and offers quite a good control. It adds a nice body and warmth to the overall presentation, and because of that the headphones don’t sound too dry or analytical. The bass is also quite textured, so you can distinguish individual bass notes. If you previously had only experience with closed-back dynamic headphones, it will take you some time to get used to how the bass sounds on Sundara.
Found this review useful? Read more full-size headphone reviews here
The midrange on Sundara is transparent and airy and they offer a great level of detail. The mids are also quite linear up to 1Khz followed by a relatively small recession until around 3kHz. The lower midrange is slightly less detailed compared to the upper midrange which shows a moderate amount of depth and intensity, but there is no bass bleed into mids which is a plus. The upper midrange is fairly soft, and transparent and also has a good level of extension and detail retrieval.
Overall mids on Sundara are well controlled, smooth and sound slightly laid-back. They bring a lot of musicality into overall presentation and both vocals and instruments sound natural and are very pleasant to listen to. In addition the headphones offer a good performance in terms of instrument placement and separation
The frequency response of the treble is relatively smooth and it shows slightly energetic and bright tonality. Treble offers a good level of extension and details, without being sibiliant or sharp. Even with the busy passages that have many instruments playing. The treble can produce a good amount of clarity. The percussion instruments such as hi-hat are slightly in the background but have pretty distinctive hits, while for example, cymbals are generally fairly well controlled.
The upper treble has a lot of air and sparkle and is quite crisp and detailed. Details retrieval is excellent for this price range and micro details retrieval is also impressive. With well-recoded music Sundara treble sounds just gorgeous – is very detailed, and airy, and it has a good amount of sparkle.
Details and soundstage
HIFIMAN Sundara has a natural soundstage, with relatively precise imaging and good instrument separation. The width of the soundstage is above average, and while it can’t compete with sound stage champions, the music on Sundara mostly sounds “out of your head”. On the other hand, I liked the depth of the sound stage as most sounds seem to hold their particular positions in space, even during busy passages.
Imaging on Sundara is exceptional, aided by good driver matching and no channel imbalance. The separation of instruments is also fantastic, far better than anything else in this price range. As for detail and micro-detail retrieval, I really struggle to think of any headphones in this price range that outperform the Sundara in this regard.
Conclusions
The Sundara maintains the Hifiman in-house sound, which is a combination of tight, well-extended but not overpowering bass, relaxed, and slightly laid-back mids and enhanced and detailed treble. And I’m honestly impressed by how good the Sundara sounds for its price.
It’s an amazing pair of headphones, and while I think you can find other headphones in this price range that are different to Sundara, finding the one that is unquestionably superior to it will be a very difficult task.
Pros:
- Excellent design, good build and comfort
- An amazing price-to-performance ratio
- The headphones are well-tuned and have the natural timbre
- Excellent clarity, detail retrieval, speed & control
- In addition, the headphones have a very realistic soundstage with excellent imaging
Cons:
- The bass rolls off a bit early for my liking
- While I like angled 3.5mm plugs, the cable quality could be a bit better
- And I’d also like a storage case
Overall the HIFIMAN Sundara is an excellent choice. Changes to the ear pads made it more comfortable and also improved the sound quality. Sundara easily competes with headphones that cost much more, and I believe it should be viewed as the new benchmark in this price range.
Sundara’s performance is just fantastic and I strongly recommend this pair to anyone looking for natural timbre, excellent clarity, slightly laid-back tonality, and a lot of detail retrieval.
I hope this review has been helpful and if you’d like to see more content like this, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for future updates. Thank you for joining me, and until next time, goodbye!
** As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links in my reviews are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.
