THE PLUS
-dynamic and balanced tonal balance
-warm lush and crisp enough W shape signature
-well define and rounded punchy mid bass
-well layered sub bass
-lush, full bodied and natural mid range
-very beautiful male and female vocal that embrace the listener
-great layering with decent imaging
-wide holographic soundstage
-you are part of the music, not distant from it
-dense natural timbre
-full tone of instrument with proper low harmonic and fundamental
-smooth, creamy yet snappy and energic treble
-more musical than going cold technical
-good note weight for piano and drum
-extremely versatile
-very comfortable design
-nice packaging
THE MINUS:
-not end game in term of technical performance
-not the cleanest macro resolution
-bass bleed for mid coloring might not be for everyone (i love it)
-not for treble heads or those seeking high amount of micro details
-not the most airy and sparkly treble
-sustain decay have hint of warmth
-the included cable is a bad joke
-lack of proper eartips (use wide bore to get proper good sound)
-2pin connector are too tight
TONALITY: 9/10
TECHNICALITY: 8.6/10
MUSICALITY: 9.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
ACCESSORIES: 7.5/10
SOUND BENEFIT: Medium sound benefit level (not end game technicalities, yet very high dynamic musicality)
INTRO
Hifiman doesn’t need lenghty introduction, since they are a very well know chinese audio company making DAP, DAC-AMP, IEM and what they are the most famous for: Planar headphones.
Yet, it make a long time they haven’t release new earphones and this is why i’m very excited to review their latest flaghip IEM release: the Hifiman Svanar.
In all honnesty, until now the only earphones that truely charm my ears are the Hifiman RE2000 Gold, which I try for about a month, years ago, so the memories are fading away, but let say it wasn’t plain bright and bass light like the more neutral RE400, RE600 and RE800 and I find the tonality both fun and musical as well as capable enough in technical performance, the female vocal were lush and energic and bass was well rounded and punchy, this is how I remember them.
And my wish when I receive the Svanar was them to be as good or even better than the RE2000.
Priced very same price as the RE2000 ,which is 2000$, the Svanar use as well as ”topology driver” which can ”carve” the diaphragm surface with precise nano coating that permit to achieve a customized control of it’s transient response. You can try to imagin a plastic pellicule with different thickness on it’s surface floating on water, the wave will not inflict on the pellicule the same way on thicker vs thinner part, this is how I imagine the DD diaphragm mecanical properties. But this isn’t all, Dr Fang believe the chemical properties can inflict on sound rendering too, which will be more about timbre and definition edge rendering perhaps, since for example, titanium diaphragm really tend to deliver brighten more abrasive texture to timbre, so, chemical properties of carbon seem indeed limitless when we play with it’s molecule.
Now, the big question as said is: is this the RE2000 upgrade we are waiting for? Let see in this very detailed review if it’s the case!
CONSTRUCTION, PACKAGING & ACCESSORIES
Svanar mean ”swan” in swedish, and it inspire the shell design of this IEM. The similarity is a bit abstract, but indeed when we put it upside down it does have a swan shape but just lack the head which is, well, your ear tips choice.
The construction is made of 2 part. Front cavity is made of a mix of zinc and brass which is gold plated. Brass is a material which is know to have high density and low resonance, but it’s heavy too, so the fact it’s in front part make the weight pushing into your ears instead of being prompt to fall easily.
Back plate is made of alluminum alloy with a mate brused grey finish, it doesn’t look easy to scratch but I wouldn’t say it’s the most refined or beautiful material for an IEM of this price range.
It most be noted that my quality judgment become more severe when an IEM go above 1000$, so, this will explain what is about to come.
The 2 part of the housing aren’t perfectly matched and craftmanship is average, we can even see some space and glue between the 2 part. Let say its not a perfectionist built. The gold plating, unlike alloy back plate, is very easy to scratch and will most likely become less elegant and impressive to look at when time pass.
The kind of mesh used is the kind that can collect moisture or ear was easily I feel, which will be more problematic in hot and humid place. A screwable nozzle filter would have been a better idea, like Unique Melody Mext have.
The 2pin connector is recessed and will not match all type of cable. While it’s stated to be 0.78mm, i think it’s perhaps 0.01mm wider which explain stock cable is super easy to connect but any other 0.78mm cable are super hard to connect, this make cable swapping very cumbersome and even prompt to break the pin inside or outside of the connector. I’ve take the risk to force it and now most of my cable match, but this isn’t user friendly.
In term of comfort, the Svanar are excellent. The front shell share is organic and very smooth, it fit perfectly my inner ears and stay there securly due to gravity push of brass weight toward my ear canal. This is thinked to have a shallow fit since the nozzle is very short. I don’t encounter any discomfort even after more than 3 hours of use. As well, isolation is above average but not the most intense. Noise leakage do occur and will be noticeable at high volume mostly.
And now, before going into packaging, it’s time to talk about the included cable which is a real shame. Hifiman praise it as being ”finest silver coated crystalline copper wire” cable which is their poetical way to say its a cheap silver plated cable with poor insulation, cheap rubber coating with loose wire in it and cheap plastic 2pin connector that can be repair if you want, with included extra plastic cover. Only decent part of the cable is a L shape plug made of metal, which cost about 1$ on Ali express.The cable holder is loose, the Y cable wires are very thin, they kept their bent easily, don’t go around ear well, and i’m pretty certain the rubber will go dry and fragile after a year or so.
While the worst cable golden palm go to the Aroma Thunder, Svanar cable is closed second. I advice to get rid of this cable as fast as you can and use a good quality one, since the sound quality will improve too, having cleaner resolution, more open spatiality, and more vivid and balanced dynamic with less noise in texture.
The fact Svanar is 60ohm and 100db of sensitivity would have justify the inclusion of a balanced cable too.
I might seem overly grumpy here, but I put myself in the skin of somebody that do a serious investment in a kilobuck earphones, not of an ultra wealthy audio enthusiast that doesn’t care about real money value.
Hifiman need to be more serious about the cable they include, which will be underline in my review of their Arya too, but to a less extend since it’s less of an insult as stock Svanar cable.
Now, let’s talk about the fancy looking packaging!
It come in a big jewellery like box, which is very beautiful and can be used to store your prime earphones and cables. It’s made of false leather and look great. This is pure luxury that feel very welcome as a consumer investing in flagship IEM. The golden plate with Svanar and Hifiman logo give it even more luxurious appeal. Yes, this unboxing experience feel special, and this is very nice.
Then inside this we have an average basic round protective case. It’s very small, and will barely fit the Svanar with it’s cable.
I already talk about the cable, so let’s give a pass here.
Other accessories are rather basic, we have 5 pairs of silicone eartips, 2 triple flanged, 2 double flanged and 1 small wide bore. I don’t even care to try them since Svanar have wide nozzle and triple flanged with small hole is strangest choice for these. Other ear tips are too small, so, this is a bit ridiculous choice for eartips and I can’t understand the logic behind it if any.
Then we have a silicone ear hook, if you feel like using the stock cable.
We have a nice booklet with beautiful picture, as well as this extra 2pin connector for potential cable repair.
All in all, it’s more of a superficial luxury experience than proper one, since accessories included are basic, their not enough ear tips models and size, the carrying case isn’t impressive and the cable…i rant about it enough.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
Just a little about me and why i find it very complicate to find IEM that have a versatile musicality to my ears. The fact is that my music library is very huge and very diversify in genre. I have for goal in life to be able to find band I love in Every music genre possible, yes, this is how much open minded yet ”fine bouche” I am about music passion and curiosity. This is surely due to my main music genre I listen too which is Jazz, since Jazz can mix up any music style when it go into fusion or experimental road. But I listen to alot of classical and electronic too, as well as soul, R&B, rock, world music and even some metal, mostly progessive and instrumental. Its very rare that a single IEM can handle all music genre of planet earth and with time, I learn cold or analytical or Harman target don,t cut it for versatility, it’s very easy to show presence of instrument, what is hard is to inject soul to them, which is hide within fundamental of each instrument so it can achieve this tactile and envelopping fullness of melodic harmony or fully restitute pitch range.
All this to say, my audiophile life is complicate and I tend to collect different sound flavor to be able to cover all this music genre.
One thing of main importance for me is this: bass need to be full, well define enough and have minimal to fun impact weight. Mids need to have body and enjoyable timbre. Treble need to be fast enough, detailed enough and open enough yet not too agressive or bright.
Piano is my benchmark instrument for mid range and I listen to alot of female singer. For bass, im capricious because i tend to need impact and extension so contrabass and cello (for jazz and classical) sound natural and well bodied, not just about presence since I hate that even more when it come to low pitch instrument.
Then, i wish all IEM offer sparkle and natural decay and extension up to 20khz, but thats a crazy utopia.
Well, let me tell you the Hifiman Svanar is one of those IEM that favor musical versatility before technical prowess or bright presence boost.
And this is good, since even if they are warm, it’s not in a dark way, nor in a muddy or technically underwhelming way.
The Svanar nail piano and vocal tone, both being full, natural in tone, good in presence but not in a distant way. No, these aren’t IEM that pull you far of the stage so you can have a clean macro vision, you are part of the band with Svanar, and lift by it’s dynamism in a euphoric engaging way.
The Svanar are opposite of cold sounding, they aren’t neutral but balanced, bassy, yet near mid centric too, they achieve this special sound presentation by letting the bass warmth embrace mid range in a magical way I will try to explain more in this review. I do think topological tech have something to do with this.
The tonality can be summarize as warm W shape with heavy punchy mid bass slam, lush and thick mid range and a crunchy sometime snappy but never overly offensive treble. As a whole it’s thick and rich with sound layer info, and the dynamic is very hefty. Nothing sound thin or light with the Svanar.
The bass is far from shy with the Svanar, yet it’s not an intense basshead IEM since it’s too cohesive and organic in balance for that. While big and chunky in punch, it will not tend to stole the show of vocal or mid range instrument. The slam have good enough definition even if a hint warm, it’s round in shape when it hit and the rumble will be impressively well layered too, but not the longest or deepest. Here, we have more mid bass than sub bass but not in a sharp way, their no sudden scoop to make the lower mid range super clean in presence, instead it will warm it a little and thicken it. I hesitate to consider this bass as guilty pleasure, but since it color a bit the mid range perhaps it is. Yet i can’t say the contrabass is perfectly restitue with the Svanar, tone and timbre and even texture is right, it have the lead attack bite we need but then the extension down to 20hz will cut short a little, but this extension will be beautifull still, vibrant and rich in sound info, this explain why the Svanar are near Jazz master in fact. The cello will have similar presentation, unlike an harman tuned IEM like the budget Moondrop Aria, it will not sound like a violin, we have the grunt, we have the density of air, we have the natural tone and effortless presence and a wide presentation. Anja Lechner cellist in Ojos Negros album sound magnificent in fact, the amplitude diversity of her playing isn’t compressed or damped, i feel very near her instrument and thethe Bandoneon of Dino Saluzzi sound marvellous too, full in body, tactile in texture and not overly pushed in presence. I’m hooked by lead attack of Lechner cello and how the 2 instrument have wide presence and perfect layering even if thick in timbre.
It’s just one example of the bass versatility of the Svanar, since kick drum and punch lover are in for even more fun. I’m way too often underwhelmed by kick drum roundness which is lacking with lot of IEM, either because its swallow by sub bass, too warm in definition or too light in impact, here we have both definition and well felt punch, this punch is special and have a loud attack lead edge to it, this inflict on sens of speed and definition of impact in the spatiality and it boost macro dynamic too inducing intense headbang or dance move…
This is where I think the topological diaphragm inflict on transient response of the bass, and permit this special layering between bass line and kick as if their just a volontary mistep between both, my french brain isn’t able to explain in english this acoustic phenomenon but let say it feel like have 2 dynamic driver covering the bass section, yes, it’s that good. It’s very evident with the album Not tight from Domi&JD Beck, the fast bass line are textured, fast in articulation yet the kick drum too have sharp definition, fast punch and can keep up with crazy speed of drum when asked for, I really urge you to listen to this album if you are a Svanar owner, it’s just too intensely good.
Do you love jazz and mid range instruments? I love jazz and their multitude of instruments which include saxophone, contrabass, drum, piano, sometime violin like with klemzer jazz, trumpet i’m less of a fan but Miles Davis and Arve Henriksen contemplative playing can be nice, I listen to guitar trio too, Charlie Hunter for ex, which is blues influenced. I even listen to jazz with harp (Isabelle Olivier). And well, female jazz singer too, from Melody Gardot to Madeleine Peroux to Diana Krall to Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald, which mean if an IEM excell in this wide genre it’s because they offer a full sounding mid range with natural timbre.
And this is exactly what the Svanar offer, add great sens of dynamism and good note weight and your in for an audio experience boosted in musicality.
The mids are smooth without being dull, dark or lacking in bite or texture, all instrument are fully bodied and well layered, but not in a crisp or very transparent way, more in a holographic and euphonic way.
This is all about fullness of instrument or voice, tactile naturalness of timbre and a wide sens of warm presence that embrace and cuddle the listener.
With the Svanar, both male and female vocal are fowards and meaty, all instrument have their fundamental full cover to offer colorful tone with rich texture that is free of grain, noise artefact or texture spike. Mids are gently fowards, it’s not agressive and shouty, nor overly boosted in upper mids, i would not say it’s dark nor too warm, but velvety in definition and the amplitude diversity of instrument are well rendered in dynamic.
This is a thick and sirupy mid range too, you are put in the middle of instrument so you don’t have same resolution cue than brighter tonality that will boost presence and offer more edgy definition with thinner timbre, no, here all instrument are grand in rendering, stretched in presence, the vocal aren’t ultra centered and compressed at all.
So, if I can nit pick something, it would be a slight lack of transparency that will affect macro-resolution fidelity, this will happen when their alot of instrument in similar spectrum, but not to the point of going messy since the Svanar are technicaly competent when it come to fast layering, it’s just not a cold or analytical mid range.
The piano dynamism is heavy, well felt, with vibrant sustain that is highly engaging but definition of note lack a bit of edge as well as long natural clean resonance. Violin are lush and tone prevail over texture yet attack lead is great, just not ultra abrasive but it’s not liquid neither. Saxophone sound wide open, dense with air and very beautiful.
All in all, this is a luscious mid range that have no timbre or tone fault, but isn’t ultra clean, transparent or boosted in details.
If I praise that much bass and mids, their should be a big trade off in treble response right? Be reassure it’s not the case, but one this sure: i would not suggest the Svanar to treble head, nor for audiophile seeking end game details retreival or long airy sustain in sparkle-decay.
Since I describe the tonal balance as W shape, it mean their some treble energy, which belong mostly in lower and mid treble section to give more bite to instrument attack, more snap and energy to snare and just enough excitment and energy to percussion. This isn’t a treble that will reveal you every single details of your music, nor one that add lot of air ,yet, again, it doesn’t feel lacking since even acoustic guitar sound great with the Svanar, which really surprise me since they are full bodied yet have this attack snapp and enough brilliance and edge, just not a long and clean resonance.
This isn’t thin sounding guitar, and you will get this dense low harmonic sustain when needed too, which magnify sens of naturalness, life-like way this time. The electric guitar have same treatment, it’s full and distortion inherent to realism of it’s rendering is full restitute without over emphasis it. Yes, this mean the Svanar are great for rock music and even metal. I hope you begin to understand why I rave about it’s versatile musicality now.
Clavichord, while just slightly smoothed in edge and perhaps to damped in sparkle-decay, is very please because it doesn’t sound distant or lifeless like lotta IEM that are either to thin or too warm, it’s just not very sharp in note definition, which can make fast playing of Scarlatti composition lacking immediacy and perfect timing pace. Nonetheless, tone, timbre and dynamic of the clavichord is very enjoyable and non fatiguing.
The highs are simply well balanced, not lacking in energy, yet not being offensive. It’s lukewarm highs that doesn’t scream for attention, yet permit rich soundscape discovery if you dig in.
The fact all high pitch instrument sound right with the Svanar is a miracle in it’s own right, but at this price I would have expect a bit more speed and control, I mean, end game level, which isn,t exactly what we get here since their hint of sustain warmth and scoop as well as a roll off around 12khz, which stole some extra airy openess that would be welcome too.
The Soundstage isn’t exactly the main highlight of the Svanar, but if well amped it will open up greatly. It doesn’t feel stock in your head, offer very good wideness and tallness, have an holographic feel to it but lack sens of deepness and clean air.
It’s rare that imaging impress when the spatiality doesn’t feel crisp, deep and open and this is the case here. I mean, if it was a 200$ IEM, i will rave about it’s imaging, but it’s 10x pricier, so I consider it average. The fact you are in middle of music make the competent layering less accurate in positioning, you are part of sound layers if we can say.
Side notes:
At rather high impedance of 60ohm and low sensitivity of 100ohm, the Svanar aren’t what I would call easy to drive IEM. But it’s not a Final E5000 either, so I would just suggest a minimum of 150mw@32ohm as main audio source. My favorite pairing with the Svanar is Moondrop Dawn 4.4, it have very high dynamic range, it’s vivid and open sounding and tend to indeed improve soundstage. So, i do think crips or bright source with lively dynamic is good match for Svanar. Questyle M15 pair well too. Hiby RS6 not so much (low dynamic range and hint too smooth) and SMSL SU9+SH9 is too lean and tend to damp bass joy too much.
Ear tips will inflict on soundstage too, my choice is wide bore eartips like the KBear KB07.
As well, changing cable is a MUST. Stock one is bad in all way including current transmission, it tend to add noise to silence, make the mids a bit more recessed, bass more bright and boomy and treble less clean and snappy. I use Tri Grace S balanced mostly, but even a 40$ cable like the TACables Peony modular silver plated cable is a consequent upgrade.
COMPARISONS
VS FINAL AUDIO A8000 (1 pure beryllium diaphragm DD-2000$)
Those two are near polar opposite in term of tonality, the A8000 being more treble centric W shape, near analytical, yet, not lacking in bass but not as boosted and heavy in punch. What is evident at first listen is how faster is the attack speed of the A8000 and edgier it is in definition contour. So, resolution is notably more resolved, timbre is brighter and have more upper mids bite and texture have more details but less density and natural warmth.
In fact, A8000 have better bass performance and dig deeper, it’s cleaner in definition, have less excited and thick mid bass punch but a more flexible transience that even offer more rumble, at least, we perceive the sub 40HZ frequencies physicality and air moving better, in a more stable way, so for contrabass it will extend more naturaly. Svanar have a warmer, chunkier and more heavy low end, near basshead we can say compared to A8000 more neutral with slight mid bass boost but fully extend sub bass, this mean that Svanar tend to warm lower mid range more, thickening it, but darkening it’s fine details.
But the tone and timbre of Svanar mid range is more natural, less boosted in brightness, free of sibilance so both male and female vocal are fuller sounding and smoother. Female vocal can be near shouty with A8000, which isn’t the case with Svanar lusher presentation. While mid range feel cleaner, more open and notably more resolved in presence with the A8000, the timbre is thinner, the note weight is less felt, and spatiality is less holographic in center stage so a bit more distant and lean. As well, the vocal of A8000 sound less wide, more compressed in density, less envelopping, euphonic and well, prompt to trigger emotional response.
Then the biggest persona difference is the treble, and this is where technical performance of the A8000 take a serious lead since highs doesn’t struggle to keep their pace and definition in ultra fast and busy track like ”Skink” from Elephant9, where the Svanar will go a bit muddy, blurry, overly thicken with sound layers that lack a bit of sharpening in definition edge, but still, the result is very musical and listenable, just a bit more warmed in macro resolution while percussion like cymbals can go a bit hot with the A8000, but not to the point of veiling anything, this complex track can’t be dealt properly with any other single DD than A8000 in fact.
So the treble is more vivid, edgy, their plenty more micro details and sound info, the attack speed and control is superior, more snappy. The extension is farer too, we have more sparkle and cleaner sustain-decay, but it mean the Svanar is smoother, more buttery on top, less fatiguing too. Svanar doesn’t try to impress us with details yet doesn’t lack minimal bite needed for violin, electric guitar and snare, it’s the percussions that will lack a bit of metallic brilliance and proper sens of air and crisp openess, at they end, we can say treble is more cohesive and balanced than A8000 since it’s free of spike that can sometime bother or distract me with A8000.
Now, the soundstage surprise me with the Svanar (once well amped), since it’s wider and taller than A8000, but notably less deep, especially when bass (warmth) occur. Center stage is more distant with A8000, and spatiality is airier.
Then, as expected with a more resolved IEM, the A8000 take the lead for precise imaging, the layering is more transparent and static instrument more accuracte is sharp positionning.
All in all, hum, I would say tonal balance of the Svanar is more even, natural and cohesive as well as less prompt to fatigue or treble distraction. The vocal are notably more enjoyable, timbre is thicker, bass is more fun. But their zero doubt technical performance of A8000 is superior in all department: resolution, imaging, attack speed-control and transparency.
VS DITA FEALTY (1DD-1300$)
The Fealty is brighter, crisper, more neutral and transparent sounding and notably more focus on treble. Biggest different apart polar opposite tonality is the soundstage, which is way bigger, deeper and airier with the Fealty. The bass is way less boosted with the Dita, its lighter in punch and more rolled off in sub bass, it feel more boosted in texture and definition but don’t offer any sens of impact and feel very very thin compared to chunkier punchier Svanar, it’s dry, anemic and very flat, don’t expect fun with the Fealty nor proper amount of lower mids. So, the mids are brighter, thinner and dryer, it feel more open and recessed, piano lack note weight, female vocal are less smooth and prompt to harshness and sibilance, timbre is too brighten in presence and can have noise artefact like background track hiss that dominate this very presence too…no doubt the Svanar mids are fuller sounding, more natural in timbre and more intimate in presence. Then the treble is more energic, bright and boosted in fake resolution, it feel more metallic and lower treble can be fatiguing due to greater gain than softer Svanar, violin sound very thin and overly boosted in texture details compared to lusher better rounded violin of Svanar, which I greatly enjoy while I can’t stand it with the Fealty. So, treble is notably more vivid, harsh and unbalanced with the Fealty, sens of air is boosted, we have a bit more sparkly and brilliance and overall resolution feel higher with the Fealty, but to the cost of sounding more noisy, fatiguing and artificial.
Soundstage is way more open, tall and deep with the Fealty, this is it’s highlight and here the Svanar feel more intimate and lacking clean air as well as any sens of deepness. Imaging to is superior with the Fealty, it’s more transparent in layering and instrument have wide spacing, a bit like Final A8000 but with less eviden bass instruement positioning.
All in all, i can’t even conclude the Fealty is superior in technicalities even if resolution feel higher since attack control isn’t as good, it’s less snappy and more distorted and screamy in sustain. So, there zero doubt the Hifiman Svanar is superior in all department, including the most important which is: musicality and dynamism.
VS UNIQUE MELODY MEXT (1DD+4BA+1BC-1100$)
Ok, this might be 2 times cheaper IEM, but it’s evident the Svanar can’t compete technically against this tribrid power beast which offer crisper resolution, better imaging, cleaner cleaer mid range and more extended and snappy treble.
But technical performance isn,t what will dictate sens of musicality so let begin by saying the bass of Svanar is better in both quality and quantity, it’s better rounded and define, less warmish in impact, less sub bass focus than the Mext, more weighty and fun in punch, where kick drum is amore about presence with UM its beefier in body and more define in dynamism with the Svanar, but it does warm the mids more too since UM have sticken mids presence uppon the bass resonance shelf.
This mean the mids are crisper but thinner, yes again, but not recessed, in fact even more fowards but in-your-head way with the UM, resolution and separation is from another league but timbre have a slight metallic sheen to it, so vocal are way more enjoyable with the Svanar even if we see less ”pixel” of it. For busy track, Um will feel less muddy and thicken by warm sound layer, due to superior transparency. Note weight is notably lighter with Um too. Then, treble is sharper in edge, yet not harsh because of bone conduction magic, their alot more sound info and micro details, it feel more open and 3D than Svanar too, but lower treble will be thinner, so violin are less bodied and natural in timbre, yet more detailed in presence.
Soundstage is a hint wider and taller with the Svanar, while more in your head and deep with the UM.
Imaging is intensely superior with the UM, it’s analytical positioning, crisp and accurate, it make the Svanar feel quite dark in positioning.
All in all, bass and mids are fuller, more upfront and dynamic and more enjoyable in term of musicality with the Svanar, but technical performance of a single DD can’t compete with this exotic tribrid. Even the Final A8000 can’t in fact…so it tell alot!
CONCLUSION
I think it’s evident I have a big love affair going on with the Svanar, and it doesn’t fade away even after more than 100H of intense listening.
The Svanar favor musicality over technicality, yet doesn’t lack in attack speed, resolution, spatiality or details amount, it’s just not the focus of the show here.
I think the goal of Dr Fang was to tune an IEM that will offer great versatility, exciting and engaging sens of dynamism, beautifully natural tone and timbre and an intimate and immersive spatiality.
If it was the goal, it certainly achieve it gloriously!
Fans of bass and vocal will be amaze by the Svanar, but those that are all about treble and instrument definition presence (and boost) will perhaps wish for a more technical IEM at this price range.
My main con about this IEM is the pathetic cable this is included, I find it unacceptable for a flagship IEM of this price and if I underline it that much, is to convince Hifiman to solve this cable issue that spoil lot of their products in high price range. I mean, my next review is for a 200$ IEM that include a prime modular cable from Hakugei, and guess what? I use this cable with the Svanar and it make it not only sound better, but look better too!
All in all, it’s not a big deal breaker for me since I have 300 cables, but for those that don’t have balanced or good single ended cable, this will be shocking. I know, because I already read complaint about this.
Nonetheless, if you are all about the sound and seek for a TOTL IEM offering lush and full bodied mid range and vocal, chunky thumpy bass with good layering and smooth but snappy enough treble, the Hifiman Svanar is highly recommended and most likely the best IEM Hifiman ever release.
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PS: I want to thanks Hifiman for sending me this review sample after I manifest my curiosity about them. As always, i’m not officialy sponsored or affiliated to this audio company and after 7 years of reviewing, i’m not affect by generous IEM gift. Those are my 100% honest and unbiased subjectivist audio impressions.
You can order the Hifiman Svanar directly from their official website store here:https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/svanar.html
No Borders Audiophile 