Doing some quick impressions of the sarda since someone asked and I realized I’ve never really done one, one of my fave iems for fun and casual listening without getting up too far up the price bracket
Some of the stand out things right away are:
Impact and slam, this thing can kick and punch with ease without getting out of control, very tight and clean too
Speed and separation, very speedy and separates things pretty impressively too, pretty pinpoint there
Bass texture, a ton of nuance and information in all aspects for the low end
Overall dynamics, very dynamically impressive, can handle big macro swings well while also not sacrificing it’s micro performance either
Overall clarity, never feels like it lacks clarity but also doesn’t feel like it goes into the point where it sounds sterile or lifeless for that clarity either
Extension, digs extremely deep for bass and also has a ton of air and extension with the treble, neither sound strained
Some things that are good but not stand out:
Resolution, it reveals a good amount of low level information and presents in a nonoffensive way
Depth and placement accuracy, reasonably deep while also being pretty sharp with imaging
Timbre is good although sometimes sounds slightly not as organic as I like
Some of the things it could improve upon:
Stage size and overall space, can feel somewhat smaller and less open at times even if it is pretty accurate in it’s space
Presentation while fun isn’t that organic but it depends
Midrange could use a bit more forwardness and fullness at times
It ends up leading into a very enjoyable iem as long as you like a more slightly u/v shaped iem that is forward, impactful and dynamic, and on the slightly more clean and clear side of things, but has a lot of impressive things for what they go for
For a few quick things about cable pairings, I would really suggest either going with PW or Plussound upgrade cables, I have liked the PW blackicon silver gold and 1960s for something to add more width, body and richness, warmth, bump midrange prominence a bit, and still elevate the iem in what it does best and not lean it too far (although you do lose a bit of clarity and tightness). For the plussound it depends but I’d personally go for a GPC for more warm relaxed, GPH for more warmer v forward, tri copper for more smoothness.
Source gear wise they do scale, but I have enjoyed them on more entry high end daps like lotoo paw 6000 or ibasso dx300, also really like them on a lpgt ti or p6p if you want to take them to the extreme lol. Other daps are solid but they will hiss with things with more noise floor, so you may need an ifi iematch to either remove hiss, get more usable volume range, or both
Sarda is a superb iem that pulled me down the rabbit hole that is iems. It has some of the best bass I’ve heard aside from my speaker system and d8kp. Extends very far deep and has ton of texture. On the other side, there is a lot of air and detail. As m0n, mentioned the presentation isn’t the strength and can be sibilant if you are sensitive but really good for fun, pop, modern, and edm music
I had the pleasure of owning the Sarda for a while. I enjoyed it a lot and everything that people have said about the bass is true. It’s powerful, controlled, textured and fully awesome. The highs are a bit elevated but not harsh and they extend very well. For rock and electronic these are killer. I didn’t enjoy them quite as much for acoustic and vocals but that is a minor gripe. I would most likely still have these if I didn’t have issues with fit in one ear. I discovered that I really need shallow fit IEMs if I’m going to wear them for an extended amount of time otherwise I get some inner ear discomfort which distracts from listening enjoyment. I don’t think that was unique to the Sarda, just my ears.
Here is a pic of my set that I picked up from @Towa.
Was getting fed up with the tips I typically use, stock black small ibasso it03 wide bore, and while I do like w peel I was never really satisfied with the sound, but I swapped to some epro ep01 and while they aren’t as v shaped as the ibasso, I really end up liking what they do for both sound and comfort, pretty great. They help boost the midrange performance overall and still give the intensity and substantial depth that deeper insertion tips give without having to go as deep. Pretty solid option for overall comfort and sound balance, kicking myself for not trying this combo earlier lol
Only clear downside so far is that I don’t think they have as much subbass slam and tangibility as the ibasso, also isolation seems a bit worse even though seal is no issue (thinner tip material? less deep insertion?)
So I’ve got some initial thoughts after listening to the Hyla Sarda and Lotoo PAW 6000 pairing for a couple days, but they’re really not different from m0n’s impressions in the first post, lol, so I’ll keep it pretty short.
The sound is very noticeably crisp and clear and fast. The bass is fantastic, very punchy and impactful without sounding bloated at all. (I’m generally not looking for a “warm” signature.) And this is going to be specific to my head, but like, these fit my ears really well, so I’ve been listening to these kind of a lot!
The mids aren’t bad, but they can sound a little boxy to me on some tracks. Also, between the Allnic and the Quicksilver, I think maybe my ears are just used to hearing a certain sweetness that definitely isn’t present here. Probably not the best choice if literally all you listen to is orchestral and “organic” music, but it still does a fine job there and it sounds great with like, pop music and such.
In general, I would say that the Hyla Sarda feels easily a tier up from the other IEMs I own (MMR Gae Bolg, oBravo Cupid, DUNU EST112, etc).
Also, even though this is the wrong thread, I’ll touch on the PAW 6000 a little: I have no big complaints about the UI, like, it could definitely be better, but it’s easy enough to find an album that I want to listen to, etc, and I can just plug the PAW6K into into my computer over USB-C to transfer files which is really nice. Something about the Bluetooth is a bit noisy, so I’ve been dropping to low-gain when using Bluetooth from my phone, and I don’t think I’d recommend the PAW6K if your primary use case is listening over Bluetooth. (EDIT: The Bluetooth isn’t as bad as I initially thought! Carry on.) But I’ve only listened to it paired with the Sarda which is also new to me, so I can’t really give sonic impressions of the PAW6K yet.
You should try an Ifi IEM Match with the Sarda, they are a 7 Ohm load, and overly sensitive to me the change was very noticeable, and I preferred them with the IEM Match on the Chord Mojo, addressed the sometimes edged presentation for me.
I owe some impressions for a few items I’ve gotten recently and the Hyla Sarda is definitely a standout for me in the price range. Basically listen to almost all EDM/dance music on these throughout. The majority of my listening was done with the following chain:
As many of the posts above me illustrated, the sarda really excels with bass texture and the leading edge/decay of those lower level impacts are well defined. The first few hours were really night and day to other cheaper iems I used during travel. Mids are not hallowed out but are not as present as low or top end sound. Instrument separation is detailed and I can pick apart each one. I think having that crispy defined low end helps me here since in some cases it would bleed into mid bass with those cheaper options too. I understand why these have a V-shaped signature but its not as distinct as I would have thought, maybe its because I am non-stock tips. I did notice that softer jazz/acoustic tracks provided more of that V-shape that these are known for. Something surprising during my listeing is that I really liked trumpet on the sarda for whatever reason, most brass/horns sounded great
Overall, I really keep coming back to these for their amazing bass texture and definition. Just can’t get this from other options I have and whenever I’m feeling the any bass centric genre this is going to be my first pick hands down
These also really just fit exceptionally well for me. I can wear these for hours without having to adjust them which is something I’ve not found in other iems thus far. Another side note, I liked the ep01 tips so much I’m using them on my other pair of iems now. Love the softer material that gels to the shape of my ear canals, super comfortable.
