Closer Examination

Next to the stock cable inside the soft hemp pouch is a handy 3.5 mm to 6.35 mm (1/4") adapter for a typical desktop or living-room source. The cable is nothing to scoff at, but clearly of the same budget-class as the cable for the Sivga Robin, and Sivga once again doesn't provide any details about it. It is a black cable with a 3.5 mm connector for your source. A substantial housing on this end distinguishes it from the other two connectors on the other side, with the Sivga logo on it, and metal coils add durability. I suspect a standard copper cable inside the braided fabric sleeve. It feels thick and durable, but somewhat prone to kinking and resistant to re-shaping. No microphonics were felt in use except when rustling the cable quickly and inadvertently along on a desk. The physical Y-splitter is equally imposing, and it leads to two thinner cables headed to the two channels, each with their own large plastic housings with knurled finishes for better grip. These are for the headphones and respectively marked "L" and "R" for the left and right channels. Sivga is using 2.5 mm TS connectors with a single ring (green for left, red for right), and the connectors are all gold-plated for oxidation resistance.


Tell you what, the Sivga Phoenix is a very attractive looking set of headphones, certainly one of the best lookers I have ever handled in person. It takes elements of what the Sivga Robin got right and bumps them up for a nice balance of aesthetics and build quality. This is an open-back, over-ear set with wooden ear cups that have an aluminium trim and black-colored steel grille, which works quite well with the black suspension headband design. The headband consists of a steel band with two thin strips curved to fit over your head, and there is a protein leather suspension strap with foam filling in eight discrete nuggets, if you will, for consistent support all around the top and sides of the head and gaps in the middle for airflow, which minimizes hot spots. This suspension band is connected to the steel band on both sides, and the stitching on both sides of the suede leather is well done. The headband assembly meets the ear cups in a fairly elaborate connection on either side, and L/R markings on the outside indicate the channels.


Vertical headband sizing is done via points where the suspension and steel bands meet, with the notch on either end also the region of movement for the sizing bar. There are no discrete steps, so getting both sides right can be cumbersome. However, this step is so forgiving in practice that you can just eyeball it. Shown above are the two extreme points of the vertical sizing, both about average for headphones, and the Sivga Phoenix may be used with small and large heads alike.


Sivga put their white logo where the headband and ear cups meet, but branding has been kept clean overall. The part leads to a C-shaped clip connecting the ear cup at two points for ~45° horizontal swivel in either direction. There is also a pivot point for small amounts of angular inward and outward movement, so there is some flexibility on all three axes—as such, the Sivga Phoenix is one of the more customizable options when it comes to a good fit over the ears.


Sivga is using Zebrawood for the ear cups on the Phoenix, which is effectively the housing. The wood is CNC-machined and put through a combination of grinding, polishing, and touch-up painting to make for an open-pore wood design that feels higher-end than is actually the case. The stainless steel wire grille on the outside contained within a polished trim on an indent and given a black lacquer coating on the outside will have the Phoenix survive the test of time, I think, as the open-back design has the finer mesh on the inside designed with both acoustics and elemental protection in mind. The ear pads are lightly contoured on the sides to match the positioning of human ears, and the large circular design allows an over-ear configuration. I also really appreciate the large L/R markings for the two channels here; there is no way you will be wasting any time identifying which side is which. The stock ear pads are hybrids with a protein leather side and skin-friendly velvet on the contact surface, and the pads have a medium-density memory foam filling. These pads sell for $16 a set, which is plenty reasonable, and Sivga also offers a replacement set of thicker pads that cost the same, with more leatherette and perforations on the surface touching the ears.


As expected thus, Sivga has gone with removable pads on the Phoenix, and it is one of the simplest implementations as you just rotate the ear pads anti-clockwise slightly to separate the plastic interlocking tabs. As such, replacing the ear pads is extremely simple, though the simplicity may impact the seal and clamping force, which we will discuss more on the next page. Removing the ear pads confirms a large circular shape to the ear cups, too. It gives us a closer look at the ear pads, as well as the 50 mm dynamic driver.


The separate mesh grille over the 50 mm dynamic driver is exactly the same as on the Sivga Robin closed-back. Sivga claims most of the driver components are in-house developed, and we will go over this in more detail on the next page. Four Phillips head screws hold the driver assembly in place on the wooden ear cups, removing which confirms the open-back nature of these headphones and machined zebrawood. Two wires connect the cable connector to the driver PCB, and the wires are far thicker than usual, which should appeal to those complaining about internal wiring being too thin and delicate. The solder job could be better, which won't impact functionality.


On the bottom of the ear cups and towards the front is where we find small cutouts for the cable connectors. These have the cable plugs connect easily enough, which in turn naturally directs the cable away from your body and comfortably sets it down at the splitter on your chest, or a desk when sitting down. The Sivga Phoenix utilizes dual 2.5 mm connectors, which increases compatibility with aftermarket cables and is handy if you don't like the stock cable; however, note that TS connectors are preferable. With the two cable sections combining at the splitter, weight balance is still centrally placed as it then heads to the source. The cable is a weird 1.6 m long, making it too long for portable use and generally on the shorter side for desktop use. Still, the provided 6.35 mm adapter is handy for using it with more prosumer gear, and most of my listening was done at home with the likes of the JDS Labs Element II. I will also point out that Sivga offers a new cable with an in-line microphone.