HiFiman high end thread, HE6 / Arya / HE1000 / Susvara / Shangri La

Headphones
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My Susvara cable expenditure is not at Prion4 levels, but I actually prefer the Susvara with a copper cable, I think it can get a bit aggressive with the silver cables I tried.
The Dave probably doesn’t help the cause, it’s a fantastic match for the WA33, but it can come across a bit thin at times.

I will agree with this, there are weeks I prefer the mySphere’s, depends on what I am listening too.
I like the 1266, but despite what I hear from a lot of people, it’s neither as resolving as the Susvara, nor is it as refined. It is the king of sub bass though, so I can understand those into very bass heavy genre’s preferring it.

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Agreed. They really need a proper upstream chain to shine, and they can shine like no other.

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I’m gonna get a danacable if I can find one on the used market for a good deal. I’ll also try to use it for utopia using an adapter.
Yeah the prion4 is probably not the best match with the dave, but its still extremely good and still served its purpose of answering if cables matter for me. I wouldn’t mind using it for a while until I get something else.

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For me the prion4 hits an awesome balance in most of my setups, but I can easily see it being too far for something like a Dave + wa33, so yes a danacable would definitely be worth looking into

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Really my only complaint with the Lazuli Ultra is the bulk/weight. I prefer my DHC cables in that category, but swapping from the Complement C to the Lazuli Ultra, the only thing the Complement might take the lead on is impact on the low end, and it’s subtle. The Lazuli opens up the mids and adds a level of clarity and depth the Complement can’t quite achieve. Hadn’t done a direct compare yet between the Lazuli Ultra and Molecule Elite 19 Fusion, which may be a little closer.

Chain for reference is using Susvara out of laptop>La Voce S3>Crayon CHA-1 streaming Amazon HD

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darn, I was hoping the lazuli would be lighter than my prion :upside_down_face:

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47

I feel like the Sundara / XX / XS need a home thread… here? (Psst any thoughts on the XS?)

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Here let me make one, one sec. Just a note to anyone who’s reading, if you feel like something needs a thread that doesn’t have one, just make one to get some discussion going

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Took a couple hours enjoying the susvara from my amber 3 > Jot 2 before I decided to switch between my other amps. Also, before I start, I know the susvara deserves a much better amp than what I have right now, just figured it would be fun to test my different amps with the Susvara.

The Liquid Platinum did not play well with the susvara. I guess it just couldn’t handle the load. I wasn’t turning it up high either, I had it at about 10 o’clock (pot starts at 6:30 o’clock) to get to a decent listening level with the sus. It was just okay though, it sounded fairly dry and a little compressed. I kept listening to it to get a feel for the sound until a song of mine came on called “A Light Is Never Dim, Cold or Alone” by City Girl. This song (should) have a decent sense of space in the intro and then a fairly heavy bassline, and everything was fine while I was listening the first 40 seconds of the song, once the bass came in the LP made light clipping sound, yippie. I turned the LP up just a bit more to make sure it wasn’t a volume issue and welp that just made the clip a bit louder. Not what I expected from the LP, but at least I have options and now I know the LP is a straight up no-no for the Susvara. (thinking back I did have my amber 3 pushing high gain into it, so that may have been the issue. But since I prefer sound of the amber 3 in high gain, and the sound of the liquid platinum wasn’t that great with the sus anyways I still wouldn’t rec the LP with the sus. Especially if you are driving it with an amber 3 DAC in high gain.)

Next up is the SW51+, I was surprised to discover the output impedance for the hi-z is 54 ohms. And since the susvara is just over that at 60 ohms I figured I’d have the best experience with the hi-z output with the susvara. Anyways, how did it sound? I thought it was pretty decent. And guess what, it didn’t poop its pants when bass came on, wow! The sw51+ definitely needed to be turned up more though, I was listening to it at about 1-1:30 o’clock with the sus. The sw51+ definitely had a better sense of space than the Jot2 and LP, but on the other hand the sw51+ also was a lot more lax with its treble when compared to the other 2. So while the sw51+ was warmer overall compared to the other 2 which was nice for a couple of songs, I was quickly starting to miss the information and detail I was getting from the other 2 amps. Another downside was the loose bass presentation, while yes it was able to give bass quantity, it wasn’t the most detailed or controlled. I’m pretty sure this is due to the sw51+ just not being able to push that much power. Anyways, SW51+ was slightly better than the LP with the sus imo.

I figured I’d skip my BHC+SB altogether after listening to the Susvara off of the SW51+. Besides, the BHC really should be used with headphones that are at 100+ ohm impedance anyways.

Finally, I made my way back to my Schiit Jotunheim 2. After testing the other amps I can definitely say that I prefer the sound of the Jot2 with the Susvara. Its able to give just barely enough power to the susvara to open up a bit. The Jot2 also lets the susvara give the detail it wants to give which I really enjoy. The bass is also nice and controlled when compared to the SW51+. Love what I’m hearing, and I can’t wait to give my susvara an amp to really bring it to the next level. But for now, Amber 3 > Jot2 will be my goto. Deciding on that next amp is going to be fun haha.

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There’s a wealth of first hand information you’ve gained there. IMO that’s the best way to do it. I’m sure that you’ll get a lot of good recommendation from the crew here about a good next step amp, or better yet, you might get someone to loan you or offer to sell you something they’ve got sitting on a shelf going unused. :slight_smile:

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I totally agree, I think first hand experience process is what makes this hobby fun. Trying different things and figuring out what works best for you according to your ears and tastes is loads of fun. Just like trying different kinds of soda can be fun lol. And hey, any recommendations would be sicc.

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Rofl. The first thing I did when I got sus was throw it on my 155mW mass kobo 428. I too just like to experiment just to do it so I get you. Will be curious to see how your other pairings end up

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53

Have you run it P6P>C9 yet? I was honestly pleasantly surprised for portable. It’s not very weighty, and dynamics are somewhat tempered, but not a bad experience.

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54

I generally preferred HPA-01M but I do see the appeal of c9. Ultimately though c9 really excels in depth though so the utopia feels like a more natural pairing. I suspect the DTC will work well there also but I haven’t tried it yet

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Follow up to my first impression post now that I’ve heard an ample amount of both 4S EP and 6S HE-6 variants. I tried to use equivalent pads, chain, volume, etc…

The 4 screw (EP) is cleaner. Treble is cleaner, it’s airier, and it is more polite and refined. It’s more reminiscent of Susvara. Though Susvara took the politeness too far for me to want them despite the far more realistic presentation Susvara brings. This low key might be what I’d consider a baby Susvara.

The 6 screw is gritty. It slams slightly harder and rumbles more. Treble is certainly grainier. It’s more of a fun tuning that really distinguishes itself. Is that due to the excess glue on the driver or slight tweaks Hifiman made over the years when the HE6 was in production? I can’t really say. All I know is I really like it.

Pads used were stock pads (yuck), Sundara pads, Audeze Vegan suede, and HE400S Velpads (best sounding imo).

In the future I may 3.5mm detachable cable mod both instead of being forced to use the awful stock wire with my 6 screw which I unironically think is actually affecting the sound. Of course there are only so many variables I want to control without basically modding the headphone to an unrecognizable state.

And since this is the Hifiman high-end thread, I may as well throw this out there:
Susvara bass and macrodynamics leave a lot to be desired for me. I’d take 1266TC, LCD-5, either HE-6 I have or Utopia over it for that. That being said, outside of the ‘earspeaker’ type cans out there like Raal SR1a, Susvara in my experience brings the most realistic presentation to music I’ve heard from a headphone.

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Would agree here, the 6 screw is more fun to me as well

What amps have you heard it on? It can be very lackluster in those regards depending on the amp (and dac as well). I would agree that I’d take a he6 for impact and also macrodynamics, but for other aspects in bass like texture, speed and separation/layering, microdynamics, linearity, and overall liquidity I would much prefer the susvara. Would also agree the utopia and 1266 have better macrodynamics

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I’ve heard Susvara on AHB2, Hypsos+Oor, Bakoon 13R, and my Raal PDA1a at this point.

The bass texture, liquidity, and separation part I may agree with.

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I think that’s why, I was personally only really impressed with the bass on there going higher. Still never getting to the level of slam and macrodynamics of the he6 though lol

Edit: not heard a pda1a though, looks interesting

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Fair enough. Going higher is kind of out of my reach for the foreseeable future lol

Oh also I heard susvara on Bakoon 13R. Almost forgot lol

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60

Yes that was my experience, I think the Bass can be quite impressive, and it can be very dynamic.
It’s never going to be a 1266 in that regard, but I find the 1266 is a bit OTT in your face about everything.

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