Closer Examination

There's a QC pass badge in the box alongside the two cables provided by HIFIMAN for the Susvara Unveiled. The original Susvara, as with the HE1000se and other HIFIMAN headphones at the time, shipped with notorious cables which sounded nice but were a pain to actually use and look at. HIFIMAN has since been improving its headphone cables continuously to where I mentioned before that recent iterations have reached the point where end users may well be satisfied enough to not bother replacing them. With the Susvara Unveiled, I am happy to note that the stock cables have gone beyond satisfactory into the "good" realm too! Both are 3 meter black cables to where clearly by now we should realize the Susvara Unveiled is not intended to be a portable set of headphones. HIFIMAN offers a single-ended 6.35 mm (1/4") or balanced full-size 4-pin XLR termination to choose from, depending on your source, leading to a durable sleeved cable which is—finally—not memory prone and is easy to route without kinking. It's still stiffer than I personally prefer, and perhaps a softer sleeving that is also braided would be the next step to take. The cables use a combination of single crystalline (high purity) copper wiring paired with single crystalline silver wiring, incorporate a low profile splitter, and then we see two thinner sections leading to the expected dual 3.5 mm TRS connectors with L/R markings to indicate the channels. The metal plugs are all gold-plated for oxidation resistance and are built-into metal housings that have good strain resistance too.


We now get our first proper look at the HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled, and it certainly looks very similar to the Susvara as well as many of the higher end HIFIMAN teardrop-shaped headphones thanks to the use of this particular headband system. The all-silver colorway used for the aluminium chassis is now met by a tan suspension band and matching ear pads similar to the HE1000 Stealth, and this is likely to be a divisive move based on comments online so far. Personally I think it looks fine, especially since HIFIMAN tends to rotate between black and tan, and this colorway makes the Susvara Unveiled distinctly different looking from its predecessor. More importantly, the functionality throughout has not changed and this is a good thing—the headband is effectively a thin piece of sheet metal bent twice and used as a flexible brace the ear cups are attached to, with a cutout in the center reducing mass. This is accompanied by the relatively long leather suspension band stretching with the headband to support your head. There are holes in the support band to help prevent hot spots on the top of your head and the stitching is well executed, and the support band does its job by providing ample support. On the outside we see the HIFIMAN logo and "Susvara" etched above the ear cups, and L/R markings on the inside indicate the left and right channels. Notice how the entire headband assembly is held in place with screws, making this an easy set to disassemble and maintain with available spare parts. There was definitely an opportunity here for HIFIMAN to perhaps come up with a completely new design language for the Susvara Unveiled, but it decided to play it safe here given the bolder moves done elsewhere.


The suspension band on either side terminates in two slider mechanisms that go up or down the steel headband for vertical sizing. There are several punched-out holes which allow for discrete clicky steps, thus allowing both sides to be easily matched up. I noticed that the sliders are extremely smooth on this sample, compared to the more stiff movements on any other HIFIMAN product using this headband assembly, so this also helps set it up easier if you already have it on the head. There is a lot of room here to accommodate small or large heads, especially as the suspension band moves with the slider.


There are articulating points where the frame meets the ear cups allowing for some ear cup rotation in either direction. This is less than usual for HIFIMAN, and this time it is a deliberate move to prevent the Susvara Unveiled to lie flat on your desk when not in use. HIFIMAN is clearly wanting to prevent any dust or other contaminants from entering the bare drivers on the outside, or even have accidental physical damage happen as a result. The ear pads can still swivel around the C-clamps as before though, so we still have plenty of movement to accommodate ear positioning on the side of your head on top of further rotation up or down, resulting in very good flexibility on all three axes regardless.


Now we get to the most contentious part of the Susvara Unveiled, which is the back of the ear cups. Open-back headphones usually have a grille to help protect the drivers, and many talk about the grilles being acoustically transparent—as does HIFIMAN about its other headphones. However, anything in the pathway of sound waves will still result in some reflection back into the ear cups and these waves are not necessarily going to be in synergy with those being fired the other direction from the drivers into the ear canal. It's not the biggest problem in the world necessarily, and yet when you have mostly exhausted the routes of improvement in the never-ending quest for the most natural sound reproduction, removed the grilles altogether to create a fully open-back set of headphones feels logical. The Susvara Unveiled uses the shorter version of HIFIMAN teardrop-shaped ear cup design, which is also seen on the original Susvara as well as the Shangri-La Jr., and allows for a direct view at the back of the planar magnetic drivers employed here. This includes the nine stealth magnets with the rounded design, as well as the diaphragm with the silver conductor layer—more on this soon. To protect the drivers when not in use, HIFIMAN provides two metal magnetic veils that easily hold on to the ear cups in place and I dare say the combo looks like a stunning set of closed-back headphones, except for the part where you should not use the Susvara Unveiled with the veils on. These veils are held in place by relatively weak magnets in the frame which do not impact the driver functionality.


The ear pads are deep enough for most ears not to touch the inner fabric lining separating the magnets and diaphragm, but some have managed to make a strand of hair poke through the fabric, which you should remove right away lest it touch the diaphragm and create artificial crinkling noises in use. The ear pads are held in place by clips, which provides a good balance of a seal and replacement of worn-out pads. Removing the ear pads, we get a closer look at the driver assembly, albeit still with the "Window Shades" on the front side and the nine magnets which appear to be less rounded compared to those on the back. I've also seen people question how open the drivers are when there is clearly a solid border on the back around the magnets and diaphragm, but they seem to forget the ear pads themselves take some room on the front side, and thus the actual driver area exposed to the ears is still more open here compared to the older Susvara.


The stock ear pads are called HIFIMAN HarmonyPads and are the same as what is used on the Susvara, although these are of course more tan in color compared to the black there. This does mean you can replace the tan pads with black, and also get a black version of the suspension band by contacting HIFIMAN support, should you wish to have a black and silver Susvara Unveiled. These pads are contoured (24 mm at the thickest part, 16 mm at the thinner point) to better conform around the ear and are composed of a polyester and pleather cover with medium-density foam filling. The polyester is fenestrated on the inside to help prevent further unwanted resonance from entering the ears. There is a protective screen on the inside and we see the pads are slightly oval too, with the inner diameter going from 70 mm top-bottom to 63 mm left-right. I will say that the open nature of the drivers here means that it is not trivial to install the ear pads back on the Susvara Unveiled, mostly because I kept being cautious about where I can place my hands on the ear cups for grip without touching the drivers. This ended up being the case in general to where it did take away from my usual listening experience—I now had to be more diligent about removing the veils, removing the drawstring bags which I found myself putting over the ear cups each time between use, and carefully holding the headphones to place them over my head and ears before being able to enjoy my music.


In fact, this is also why I ended up having the veils on each time I was taking photos here where the drivers need not be in the picture. It made me feel more secure about these very expensive headphones, and I am not sure this is the feeling one wishes to have. I am hopeful that customers will get used to this over time, and it will simply be a cause of having the headphones on a headphone stand, say, and removing the veils in a matter of seconds. On the bottom of the ear cups angled towards the front is where we find small cutouts for the cable connectors we covered earlier in this article. These have the cable plugs connect easily, naturally directing the cable away from your body and comfortably setting them down at the splitter on your chest. The HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled has dual 3.5 mm TRS connectors on the ear cups to increase compatibility with aftermarket cables, which is handy if you don't like the stock cables. With the two wires meeting centrally at the splitter and moving to the source, weight balance is still centrally placed. The cables are 3 m long, so you may want to invest in a shorter aftermarket cable that can also match your aesthetic preferences in case your source is closer to where you generally sit. If you are going to use a headphone stand, keep in mind that supporting the Susvara Unveiled off the suspension band isn't recommended for longevity and I also recommend getting one that does not add pressure on the ear pads such as those omega-shaped stands—something closer to the stand in the photos above is my preference. I do feel like now the three colors (silver, tan, black) don't exactly mesh as well though, and I can see sales of the black ear pads and suspension band going up as a result.