SUNDARA Closed-Back Over-Ear Planar Magnetic Wired Hi-Fi Headphones with Stealth Magnet Design, Detachable Cable, Wood Ear Cups for Home, Studio, Recording

The HIFIMAN Sundara Closed-Back are a lot better than their reputation suggests. They look fantastic — the wood cups are genuinely beautiful and give them a premium, standout appearance. Build quality is solid and familiar if you’ve used HIFIMAN before: sturdy, well assembled, and confidence-inspiring without feeling overly heavy. I think these headphones get a bad rap mostly because of the name. People expect them to sound like the open-back Sundaras. They don’t — but that doesn’t make them bad. They’re a closed-back planar, and once you judge them on that basis, they make a lot of sense. Sound quality shows many of the strengths planar fans appreciate: Tight, controlled bass with good extension and no boominess Clear, well-defined mids, especially for vocals and acoustic tracks Smooth, non-fatiguing treble that stays detailed without harshness They aren’t exaggerated or V-shaped. Instead, the tuning is balanced and easy to listen to for long sessions. Soundstage is naturally more intimate than an open-back, but separation and detail are very good for a closed design. One important note: these really benefit from proper amplification. They’ll play from weaker sources, but they come alive with an amp. I’ve had excellent results using them with a Schiit Magni, Schiit Vali, and a Topping L30. With enough power, dynamics improve, bass tightens up, and overall clarity steps up noticeably. Comfort has been good overall. Clamp is reasonable, the pads are soft, and weight is well distributed. Like most closed-back headphones, they can get a bit warm during longer sessions, but nothing unexpected. At their current price, these are a strong value, especially if you want planar detail in a closed-back headphone without spending flagship money. Go in with the right expectations and proper amplification, and these are easy to enjoy. A very solid and underrated option from HIFIMAN.

Most closed backs are dynamic headphones. This allows them to stay on the dark side with deep base. They roll off the highs and increase the base. There are cheap and expensive dynamic closed back headphones all over. Too many to even count. You don't see many planar closed back headphones and you don't see many inexpensive planars open or closed. It is very challenging to design planar drivers to work in a closed back. The Sundara did an excellent job especially at this stupid low price of $149. They are a very mids signature sound. Nice medium size soundstage, punchy lower and mid base. Kicks, snares, toms and other percussion is where these really shine. They are articulate with accurate separation. The highs are not rolled off and I did not notice any Sibilance/hiss using quality recordings. A high hat and cymbals sound like they should. Vocals are where most headphones struggle as they are so diverse. These were as good as anything even remotely close to this price range. I would not recommend these for a total basehead or those who listen to mostly Rap etc with tons of synthetic sub base. Probably not the best fit for heavy metal with massive instrument and vocals distortion. I EQ all headphones regardless of price and once a little EQ is added to these with a couple of days of burn in these really sound great. Thus you get the deeper base and keep the beautiful mids. I listen to all lossless recordings. It cracks me up these guys who play some poor production from some 1970's rock band in 128kbps quality then say they don't like some headphones. At least leave what equipment you used, specific recordings and recording quality/source as well as what headphones in that price range they loved when they leave negative feedback. The Sundara closed are quite comfortable with a good suspended headband and soft cushion cups that seal well. The softness just absorbs hair or glasses and keeps a solid seal. A person next to you would not hear anything unless you are blowing your ears out. The round shape and size leave a wide variety of 3rd party cups available. The construction is great for sitting in a room and listening to headphones. They are not for dropping them, forgetting you have them on and walking away, traveling all around with them or letting the kids/dog play with them type build. Basically fine for people who respect their gear and have a controlled environment. These are NOT a $1000 open back planar. As a total package these absolutely blow the doors off headphones like AKG 361/371 the DT770 pro's or anything else in the $149 price range as I have many of them. You have to buy closed headphones in the $500 range to compete. Outstanding buy

TLDR, incredibly happy with the quality off a decent headphone amp. Background: I have about 40-50 headphones between myself and my 2 kids. When I think I have outgrown my older cans, I upgrade if I see a deal and have passed a couple down to my kids. Some of my current headphones are Beyerdynamic T90's and DT770 Pro 250 ohm, Sennheiser HD-1, Hifiman RE400 Waterline, Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, Bose OE, Vmoda Crossfade M80, Amazon Echo Buds, Audio Technica M40x and DSR7BT's, several gaming headsets, several more IEM's. I have had several headphone AMPs including Schiit Magni Uber, and Racoon SG-300, and currently Sabaj D4. I would like to preface my thoughts by stating that my first pair were bad. The right cup connection was not as tight as the left cup. I didn't notice anything in the beginning, but after a couple songs I noticed that it went severely left biased a couple of times and wasn't quite sure if it was the song or buffer. Turns out that after I started shaking my head, it would drop out and I finally figured out that the right driver was very muted. Once it stabilized I was able to modify the balance to correct it. I had to lower the balance on the left driver to 61% and then it was centered. I tried several sources, but unfortunately I didn't have any other cables for these headphones, but I did swap the left and right cables and the sound was exactly the same. Right driver was down 39%. Amazon was great on the return, allowing me to order new ones before I even boxed the old ones up. The return was great and I got the new ones in a few days. The stock cable is too short for me, so I ended up buying a silver plated 8 conductor cable from Youkamoo: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VS2XJ9D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details This gave me 16-18 more inches and allows me to route the cable around my G13 so I have no cables getting in the way. Sound was not improved at all, but the quality of the cable is amazing for $20. I have spent about 8 hours with the new ones at this point and am very happy with the Sundara Closed Backs. I have the open T90's, so I needed something with some decent volume that was closed. The Audio Technica DSR7BT and all of my IEM's can't get loud enough for me to enjoy them as much. These Sundara's are exactly what I was looking for. I haven't heard super expensive headphones, but I have have listened to Sennheiser HD700's and HD800's before, but I was not that impressed by them for the price. $150 for these headphones is nuts. They are extremely comfortable. The pads are amazing feeling, and the perfect size for my ears. I wish that they hadn't done the mount like they did with the pads, but I highly doubt I will be upgrading the stock pads. They are a little warm, but nothing too bad. The reasons why I am so happy is that the slam in the bass doesn't bleed into the mids at all. It isn't as low and punchy as I would have hoped, but I can't imagine keeping that clarity with more bass. I feel this is about as good as it can get without dipping into the midrange. The mids hit you hard. There are some songs where the midrange instruments just pop out and are super accentuated. I was not expecting that at all. Maybe some wouldn't like that, but I think it is a very dynamic sound that I was not expecting. The highs are good, not spectacular, but not fatiguing at all like the T90's can be. A slight rolloff at 14k is perfect for the Beyers, whereas the Sundara's don't need any EQ. So, I am comparing these Sundara's to a more laid back T90. I feel the decay of the 100-400hz range is by far more revealing than the Beyers. While the T90's seem to go a little lower overall, they don't have the slam or level of detail in that range. Maybe that's the magic of Planar Magnetic, but it just allows you to fully hear low male vocals much easier. I have also hooked these up to a crappy HP laptop (crappy as it is a $300 Black Friday Special) and they sound terrible. The mid range slam is there, but the bass is gone, and the airiness of the treble is completely gone. You need a decent dac/amp to drive these. Even though they are 20ohms, the Beyer T90's at 250 ohms are like 3-4 db higher at the same volume level. The teslas in the Beyers are amazing in that regard. But I would bet that any decent dac/amp will do fine. I don't have an audioquest dragonfly any longer, but the other combos I had were plenty for this headphone. Overall, I am super happy with the outcome here. I am worried that they will crap out on me in the future, but at $150 I am willing to take the risk. Very happy with the Sundara Closedbacks.

Maybe the best balanced headphone I got with some good bass. I have lots of under $300 headphones. AKG701, Blues Mofi, Bowers & Wilkins p5, senheniser gaming mic, Razer, and sony ps4 headset. Bass power: 1. Blue Mofi, this Hifiman, Razer (rumble) but is terrible bass sound, Average: Bowers & Wilkins and the Weak: Akg701, sen sony. Midrange: 1. AKG, Blue, Hifiman Sundara, Bowers & Wilkins, Senn, and the rest, with the raxor being the worst sounding. Hi: 1, AKG, hifiman, blue, Bowers & Wilkins and then the rest, Razor coming in last again. Soundstage: 1. Blue, AKG, Hifiman, Bowers & Wilkins and the rest. If had to pick for sound quality, Blue is the best. This Sundara maybe my favorite for it bass overall. AKG maybe the most accurate, but it lack of base is bad. Using the amp or not. this may be the best without the amp. Bowers & Wilkins p5 is design for laptop so that is on the same. So Sundara is #1 here. With the amp the Blue and AKG really need it to sound great with the Sundara do sounding a little better. Bowers & Wilkins didn't read it. The other cheaper headset: sony, senn, razor didn't really need an amp. Comfort: 1. senn, they always fits me the best and is light. Sundara may be #2 or the cheaper plastic sony and razor fit well. AKG band hurt in the beginning but got better. Blue Mofi is over-engineered and is the worst fitting. Bowers & Wilkins is kind of small for my big head. Built quality 1. Sundara, then Bowers & Wilkins, blue, razor, and akg are second tier. Blue may be better, but it is over engineer again and hurts my head and the faux leather falls off. This is the best overall headphones I have in terms of sound, bass, built quality, and fit. I say Blue may be a tad better in sound. Bowers & Wilkins may be the best average i would buy, other cheaper gaming headphones and mic combo I have aren't the best in sound quality.

Ordered my Argons about 2 years ago; it was January and I figured they would be worth the wait, according to the reviews. On the order form/website, I wrote: "could you boost the mid range and sub bass, if possible" before hitting submit. My Argons came back in April and were the closed back kings of my collection, battling for my auditory affection with my DT880s (250ohm) and my Fidelio X3s. The X3s have great staging and reach really low on bass (with a pad swap; all my headphones have either sheepskin or microsuede pads, except for the Sundara closed, more on that in a bit) while the 880s have a better treble response. I have 15 pairs of over ears (now) and what genre I was about to listen to, until now, dictated what headphone I reached for. I told myself I wasn't buying any more headphones after I bought the Shure 1440s (an impulse purchase after a gift card came my way, also great cans, very bright but detail retrieval is 2nd to none, easily the best gaming headphone I have ever heard, if you want to know exactly where the footsteps are coming from in Duty, get em) but I saw these hit $229 and went to check out the reviews which...weren't good. The Youtubers were thrashing these headphones, which was really surprising to me. I have the 400SEs and they are a great value (also bright, no good for gaming imo). I saw the word "honky" used to describe them several times and wasn't quite sure what people meant as it just isn't a way i would describe any of the headsets i own. I looked at a headphone blog where users/owners of the headphone left reviews and they were all glowing; everyone talked about this incredible mid range...so i took the plunge, I am a (former basshead turned) midrange junkie, after all. So i get where the term 'honky" comes from, when you first put these on they do lend a kind of nasal quality to some vocals. The Treble is also different from any other headphone I own; its not bright per se but certain instruments would pierce if i really pushed the headphone...with the stock pads on. 1st nitpick: Hifiman changed the pad mounting system on these (different from the 400SEs) and there aren't any mounting brackets for these, even direct from Hifiman) so in order to change them, I had to destroy to stock pads (glued on) to replace them with some of the many pads I own. I landed on a pair of Protein Leather Audeze replacement pads (not sure why i have these) and maaaaaannnn, adds a little sheen to the treble while smoothing out that honky in the vocals. And the bass...the bass... i don't have the words for it really, faster than all the headphones I own, reaches allll the way down without any resonance or distortion and gives you rumble where it should be. The true star of the show, though, is the incredible mid range. Stage is more wide than deep, and not as good at the 880 or 400SE (how could they be?) but very convincing to me. Every background vocal, every instrument is present and uncluttered, I mean, the only thing that comes close are my 660s but they are missing the sheen (by design, a little less treble in the tuning imo) and width. The mids are so prominent that if I wear these for a few hours and then try to switch to another headphone the mids feel like they are scooped out of the 2nd pair of cans. The bass has also completely spoiled me; my other open backs (except the X3s, but they are much darker up top) sound anemic next to them and the resonance is clearly there on my other closed backs. I end up getting through half a track before putting the Sundara closed back on. I remember when LeBron was half way through his career and people talking that "better than Mike" crap (not crap anymore, sorry Mike) and it quickly split basketball fans into two camps, you either thought MJ was the best ever or LeBron, and people were dissing the other guy just because. I think that is what happened here; if the OG Sundara is the MJ of Mid Fi, then naming another headphone after it is asking the public to color their opinion of the cans before they even put them on. These headphones are simply put, fantastic. Music sound like music when they are on my head. Male and Female vocal are equally fantastic and detail retrieval is just insane. This should have been a stand alone product, period. Another nitpick, and this one is a little more relevant than the others, is the clamping force. Almost unbearable out of the box (my head aint that big). I prefer micorsuede pads (Dekoni) to any other pad material but the pressure on my head with them on I just couldn't take. Me thinks if the pleather strap was adjustable this wouldn't be an issue (like the 99 Classics). I have had them for about 3 weeks and it has cooled a bit but is still pretty tight. I would recommend amplification with these even with the lower impedance, dynamics just aren't the same without the amp. They are also a little heavy, too. Sound great through an Atom but I love them on the Asgard 3. I only have 2 pair of headphones that are more than $400; the 177x Go and the 660s; the Sundara Closed crush (yes, crush) both of those cans, regardless of genre. If you want more treble and bass out of your 660s, buy these. If you want Planars you can use at the Library, buy these. If you have $500 and want a good portable and home setup, buy these and a THX Onyx (have that too, lots of power for a dongle). For all my Mid Fi peeps out there, these are a steal at $229. A great, and very unique sound signature that may not be for everyone, but I can't take them off.

I'm sitting here listening to all sorts of music on these, and felt compelled to write this review. I initially purchased these as a Christmas Gift for an Audio Enthusiast who showed direct-interest in them. At the same time, I also bought more expensive cans from Fiio, for myself. He was so ecstatic and pleased with these (and me so-disappointed in the FT1s), he made me try them. I was blown away, and almost-immediately ordered myself a pair (and returned the FT1s). Having more than mere-minutes with these cans now, I can solidly say: "These are what I expected Three-Bill+ cans to sound like" Note: I'd only ever spent up to about twohundred on headphones; and those were outdone by thirty to seventy buck cans I'd had prior. These Sundara-C's though, they're special. -the latest of maybe 2 or 3 headphones ever-tried, to make me *experience* the sound [across about two-decades and a dozen+ nine to ninety buck headphones] The Isolation is fantastic. I can listen to music without bothering others, finally. When muted, you can hear outside sounds sufficiently for a 'situational awareness check' without having to fully remove an earcup. Bass is incredible, and responds well to boosting (if you're a lush for bass). Bass stays insanely clear and they (somehow) can reproduce subsonic frequencies. At least for my taller/wider head and my friend's shorter-narrower heads, we both find these very comfortable (at entirely different headband settings). In my opinion, the clamping force is perfect. Smidge more than needed to make a good seal but, they feel great. Construction feels very solid, especially where most-commonly failing (in past/other headphones). They are weighty vs. Phillips open-backs but, the headband and clamping distribute the load very well. I've been wearing them for over 2 hours straight w/ no fatigue. The Cable is 'sufficient'. I appreciate the right-angle end, as I needed that for the I/O of my PC. Unfortunately, it's a little short. Only gripe (not worth subtracting a star), L/R is determined by the cable, not the earphone. It's easy to get reversed. Least Complaint: I do wish they came in other colors/finishes but, they're very easy to disassemble/assemble; I might just have to do some aesthetic mods. 'Would've preferred a lighter woodstain or a brushed metallic finish earcup but these do look and feel 'premium wood'. Overall: Best closed-back headphones over/around a Benjamin and under 2 bills. Privacy. Comfort. Power. (Mod-ability?)

First, these aren't the absolute pinnacle of sound quality, but they do deliver for the price (~$140 at time of purchase). These headphones use planar magnetic drivers, which deliver some very detailed sound. As other reviewers have noted they have a strange frequency response. The best thing about these is probably the build quality. The materials are nice, and so is the fit.

Addendum: I switched to the IFI HIP DAC/AMP with this Sundara Closed. Turned on the extra bass and extra soundstage located on the portable dac/amp. My intention was to accentuate the fun sounding nature of this headphone. The sound completely opened up, with the bass hitting stronger along with the continued highly detailed aspect. No more partially opened sliding door (visualized sound effect) that I describe below. YOU NEED A GOOD DAC/AMP WITH THIS HEADPHONE. Additionally, a source that is too analytical will not do justice. The right combination produces desirable results. I change my original 4 stars to 5 stars. The audiophiles that panned this headphone do not have much flexibility in their evaluations of sound. Hifiman has a reputation for research and expertise in producing more diversified offerings. I may be tempted to buy the HE-R9 to experience the topology diaphragm in their dynamic offerings. Highly satisfied. Oh, I like the rubber cord as well- perfect for this headphone. Original review: Dark sounding headphone, yet there is clarity. Most Hifiman headphones present a Yin Yang balance. With Sundara closed, the Yang is present but secondary to Yin, the dominant female. A very fun headphone, and Hifiman accentuates this with an Orange wood back superimposed on a traditional Sundara, albeit containing a new driver with the most advanced technology this company offers. Hifiman mostly makes house sounding headphones with incremental improvements coinciding with significant increases in price- the Yang aspect of the company with a lesser Yin presence. There is a need for in-house headphones that balance the offerings. This is a different, very good sounding headphone. Neither perfect nor heavenly. Much closer to darkness. At first, I thought of thin dual sliding doors opened partially. The sounds are just beyond the doors with the midrange in fhe center. Imaging is very good. Resolution and detail depend upon whether instruments are facing the opening or just beyond the opening of the partially open sliding doors. That is my visualized experience with this headphone. Build quality is great- it looks like a beautiful solid toy. The suspension band and side adjustments work great and feel long lasting. If you want different and unique in a positive way, you very well could be pleased. I use Beyerdynamic's only portable dac/amp with dual 3.5mm connectors- a great pairing with power.