Taking flagship to a new level, The Susvara Unveiled takes the already reference-class Susvara to the limit. Uncovering the driver allows pure performance without refraction or distortion from grills or covers. You get pure performance with nothing in that way! Want the best? These are it!
Highlights:
- Nanometer-thick diaphragm - weighing micrograms is light and rigid, giving it the accuracy and speed needed to provide unprecedented detail.
- Designed Without Grills - to provide the best sound without diffraction or reflections from a grill that can disturb the ultra-light planar diaphragm.
- Window Shade Magnet Design - The magnets in the Unveiled are rounded like window shades to reduce diffraction and reflections further. This design offers more detail and musical accuracy without a grill than any other headphones on the market, period!!
- Metallic Silver Conduction Layer - Susvara’s gold-plated conductor area was already impressive, but the Unveiled took it to the next level with a Silver Conductor layer. Silver has the highest conductivity of all metals and allows the best performance possible with Susvara Unveiled.
- Special Earpads - Susvara Unveiled has earpads designed and shaped to conform to the human ear, allowing maximum performance and comfort.
- High-End Cable - The Susvara Unveiled supports 6.35mm and XLR and is compatible with about any headphone amplifier. Its crystalline silver and copper construction ensures that the cable transmits audio signals with zero loss.
Specifications:
Frequency Response: : 6Hz - 75kHz
Sensitivity: : 86dB
Impedance: 45Ω
Weight: 430g (excluding Magnetic Veils and headphone cable)
This article will discuss the new HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled Reference Headphone and why it is considered one of the best headphones ever created. We will discuss the technology and design behind this revolutionary headphone and why sometimes taking extreme measures is needed for the ultimate performance.
HIFIMAN was founded in 2007 by Dr. Fang Bian and was instrumental in the headphone listening explosion in the mid-2000s. Their work developing planar magnetic drivers has allowed them to garner several awards for their headphones. From the HE-5, which was HIFIMAN’s first planar headphone, to the award-winning HE400s and HE-1000, HIFIMAN has always impressed with both their level of engineering and their value. Today, HIFIMAN has headphones at almost every budget level, so anyone interested in excellent music reproduction can find a model for them. Plus, with their work in both IEMs and true wireless headphones, you can take your HIFIMAN sound with you! But this article is not about travel headphones or headphones you take to the pool. This article is about a headphone that shocked the community when it came out.
Like speakers, designing headphones involves compromises and decisions regarding sound quality, design and aesthetics, and comfort. Most high-end headphones are designed with sound quality first, as long as the looks, comfort, and driver protection are in place. The Unveiled series from HIFIMAN takes a different approach. They make sound quality the most critical outcome regardless of design. While comfort and looks are still well appointed, they designed the Unveiled series with open driver sections without any grill or protection. Grills or covers over the driver introduce diffraction and reflections that can take away from the planar driver's natural response and cause anomalies in the response.
This is the most apparent difference between the standard Susvara and the Unveiled. Without these grills, the frequency response is even smoother than the already great Susvara, allowing the Susvara Unveiled to produce the best sound possible. While these are arguably the best planar magnetic headphones on the market, they come with some special care requirements that you must be aware of to get the ultimate music reproduction. With exposed drivers on the earcups, special care must be taken to prevent driver damage. (There are covers for the headphones that protect them when not in use.) However, one of the benefits of the Susvara Unveiled is that at 430 grams, they are about 20 grams lighter than the original Susvara. Plus, with a redesigned leather headband, they are very comfortable for long, extended use.
Why Unveiled Matters
One of the most critical design aspects of headphones is allowing the driver to function without any reflection or diffraction from the frame, magnets, or grills. HIFIMAN’s Window Shade design enables the grills to cover the outer magnets and protect the driver, but they stay out of the way of the driver acoustically as much as possible.
This design is excellent, and many HIFIMAN headphones benefit from this grill design, but HIFIMAN wanted their Susvara Unveiled to be even better. They found that while the Window Shade grill design removed most of the refraction, it was imperfect. After many tests, HIFIMAN found that removing any protective grill offered the best performance and a near-lossless sound quality. HIFIMAN knew that this new headphone series would not be for everyone. People traveling with their headphones, using them outside in the elements, or active people that are hard on headphones need not apply. While there are magnetic aluminum covers to use when the Unveiled’s are not in use, these are for serious music listeners willing to deal with entirely open drivers and the extra care and use that these headphones need.
Good. Now that you have accepted these headphones' special needs, we can discuss what makes them unique and different from other flagship headphones on the market. Everyone knows that objects in the way of the soundwaves of a speaker or headphone driver cause issues. With the Window Shade grill design, HIFIMAN did all they could to mitigate this issue with the Susvara. However, when HIFIMAN looked at this design, they knew that even their excellent window shade grill had minute refractions that could effect performance. These refractions are very small; most normal listeners might not hear them. But seasoned music lovers who know what their music is supposed to sound like will notice these improvements.
HIFIMAN knew they needed to pull out all the stops for their endgame flagship planar headphone, so they did something crazy! They designed the Susvara Unveiled entirely without grills to kill any chance of reflections or refractions. You get all sound and no distortion. While this is unheard of for most headphone buyers, sound quality-addicted DIYers have been doing these things for years. Sometimes, when the sound matters most, drastic measures must be taken!
Magnets in Stealth Mode!
With dynamic driver headphones, the magnet and voice coil are behind the driver, so the cone is entirely free from abstraction. This is usually not possible with planar magnetic drivers. Even though there are single-sided magnet planar drivers, the best headphones use double-sided magnet designs. This is great, except for the magnets getting in the way of the driver's output!
Instead of using square or rectangle magnets, which would cause issues with refraction and reflections, HIFIMAN devised their own design. The Stealth Magnet design is curved, which allows a smooth transition through the magnets for the sound waves, allowing a better frequency response and a cleaner overall sound.
HIFIMANS Best Driver Technology
When HIFIMAN decided to design its new planar flagship, it wanted to take the driver to the ultimate level. The Susvara already had an excellent driver with HIFIMANS Nanometer-Thickness Diaphram technology. This extremely light diaphragm is stiff and light, making transients super fast and dynamics effortless. Due to the very low distortions and accurate response, hours-long listening sessions are possible.
The driver's conductor layer is one of the most essential parts as it conducts the electromagnetic flow between the magnets and the diaphragm. The material it's made from ultimately decides how conductive the driver will be. The HIFIMAN Susvara uses gold, which is a great electrical conductor and is only rated under silver in the metals conductivity ratings. So for Susvara Unveiled, HIFIMAN went with a silver conductor layer, the best-rated conductor material. This will allow better driver control, better sensitivity, and a lower impedance, making it less demanding to partner amplifiers. We still feel that headphones with these credentials deserve the best amplification. Still, you won’t need to sweat about drivability nearly as bad(we even ran the Susvara Unveiled with a portable DAC/Amp just to see if it was possible, and it sounded great).
Cables are important, and HIFIMAN knows this. To fully take advantage of these conducting materials, they include a cable made with single-crystalline copper and single-crystalline silver in its construction. This will allow a seamless transition of power from your amplifier to the Susvara Unveiled. Two cables, XLR and 6.35 mm, come with the Unveiled, allowing more connection flexibility.
Performance
We were excited to try the Susvara Unveiled, as the original Susvara is one of our favorites here at RockOn. Unboxing was simple, as it is with every HIFIMAN headphone. The storage bag is excellent for storing the headphones when not in use(but many people use headphone stands to show them off!). We took them out of the box very carefully, as should any new user, as with no grills, these are delicate. Once we were comfortable using the Unveiled and putting the cover plates on when we weren't using them, it was no big deal(what we do for the best sound!). The natural amplifier to use with the Susvara Unveiled is our flagship Audma Maestro HPA-1, our flagship headphone amplifier.
Let's take a minute to discuss the tuning of the Susvara Unveiled. It is a linear headphone throughout and is not tuned to show favorites. Some who are used to a bloated or inflated bass might think the Unveiled lacks bass, but in reality, it doesn’t; it just has as much bass as the recording. The midrange follows the preference targets very well, except for a slight dip at around 1.5 kHz(still within preference targets and is a tuning choice). So, the Susvara Unveiled is a very neutral-tuned headphone focused on detail and clarity. So if this is what you are looking for, the Susvara Unveiled are a true flagship known as one of the best headphones ever made!
Playing All Them Witches' song “Harvest Feast” we knew we were in for a treat. It's not very often you hear a guitar so good you could almost reach out and touch it! Yes, the midrange has magic clarity and realism that needs to be heard to be believed. All the instruments had great energy, drive, and clarity, above many other headphones on the market, and they should be at this price. The imaging was fantastic and among the best we have heard at any price, as were clarity and focus. Music lovers wanting to drill into the mix and hear everything will have the right tool with the Susvara Unveiled.
Headphone listeners often discuss bass. Most true music lovers want a bass that sounds natural and is fast enough to convey all of the details. If this is you, then you are in for a treat. The frequency response of the Susvara Unveiled is ruler flat from 20Hz to 1kHz. This means the bass and midrange are accurate to the source, so the sound is flat and clean. This is very important to many audiophiles and one of the main advantages of planar magnetic headphones. They are very linear and only change due to tuning in the ear gain needed to sound natural to the human ear. Depending on your thoughts on neutrality in the bass, HIFIMAN headphones take EQ very well, so add a bass shelf if you wish. So, the bass is tight, detailed, and about as fast as you can make a driver. For headphone enthusiasts looking for a midbass bump, or a fun tuning from a dynamic driver need not apply. This linear bass is for folks looking to hear precisely what is on their recordings in its original strength!
We loved the Susvara Unveiled. Shedding the grill makes the unveiled version lighter and improves the sound. We will caution users who are hard on their headphones that these require extra care and attention to keep them pristine. But, if you can swing that, the Susvara Unveiled will make you a delighted music listener for years to come!
Conclusion
We are very proud to be a HIFIMAN dealer and to be able to provide great products like the Susvara Unveiled. If you are a headphone enthusiast who wants the best available and is willing to treat the Unveiled with the care needed to keep them in excellent condition, the Susvara Unveiled are it! We can’t think of a planar magnetic headphone with more detail or that allows you to drill into the music more than the Susvara Unveiled. These are a true marvel! If you are in the market for a flagship headphone and have both the budget and the ability to care for them, call, email, or chat on our website here at RockOnAV, and let us help to give you the best music-listening experience of your life!
