I guess a third time really is a charm. Because this is the third time with these headphones. The first time failure was with the right channel balance, I exchanged them and the other model didn’t have the extension and reach the other had in soundstage and failed to beat my 660s. Fast forward 6 months later and the sale price of $269 dropped for a brand new pair of Sundara’s and I had to purchase them. They sounded good but the magic didn’t kick in until today. OMG… it hit and kicked in after an overnight burn-in session and EQ. It completely opened up in every way possible. Mids were so spacious and present and the soundstage was so outreaching without losing intimacy in the vocals which were actually right at the Sennheiser levels, maybe only just under at the very least.
And then I dropped my EQ for it and it took off and doubled all its previous strong points to a whole other level. Now the bass structure, quality hit, and decay were perfect on my 789 THX balance setup. This is the same EQ set I have for all my other headphones but on the Sundara’s it enhanced them like nothing that I have heard before. Now, I finally hear all the praise I had heard about these from others. They truly do have so much life and possibility with EQ and burn-in time. I really don’t know why Hifiman has all these different results and inconsistencies in their product line. Some people get this version and others get other versions with shortcomings. None of the previous two versions I had prior sounded anything like this one. I mean it’s an outright blessing from Heaven difference.
And if I’m honest I knew that this would be something I bought again. Something inside just kept pulling me back to it. Not a week went by these past 6 months that I didn’t miss or regret not having the Sundara’s. The build quality, look, feel, and packaging was so great to me. I just always felt that these were the ones but couldn’t hear what others explained about them online until this pair. Every single song, every single thing played inside these headphones is so much better than anything experienced with anything else, including the same unit’s variations I had before. If only they had just got it right the first time. And because they didn’t get it right the first time I can’t, with confidence tell others to buy it. They might not get the same variant as I. So all I can do is be happy and feel blessed that on my third time, I got the right one…finally. And if you want to take the chance …just purchase it at a returnable store. This way you can exchange it if it doesn’t live up to what it suppose to do. Hopefully, it won’t take 3 tries to get the variation that works as intended.
In conclusion, all I can be responsible for is what I hear and see with any product. Adding this headphone to XLR balance side of things also probably helped me come to this conclusion as well. I have more power available and the soundstage is wider than on 3.5 connections. So this could have easily been the issue I had with them prior. But regardless, as I sit here today with them plugged up balanced with the XLR cable, I have not heard better in my life. I thought the 660s were better but they weren’t with each day that passes by. The bass, imaging, separation, soundstage, and decay are way better than the 660s, even the tonality just about on par for the 660s which is a feat in itself. I don’t think I’ve experienced any other product in history more rightly and justly named in my life(Sundara meaning… Beautiful). Even the feel of them on my head and around my ears is nothing short of euphoric. This perfect comfort in headphones has never been duplicated in my life better than this. There’s literally isn’t a single thing I would change or make better about the setup(My Custom EQ and Sundara’s) I have on this day.
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