The HIFIMAN SUSVARA has long been considered the pinnacle of Planar Magnetic Headphone design, with few competitors in the market, so when the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone was announced I immediately said “I need to review this”, and my sneak peek at T.H.E. Show 2024 only reinforced this desire.  So when we received a review sample, Frank forwarded it to me.

The HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone

So what sets the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED apart from the HIFIMAN SUSVARA? Well two things actually, critically the nanometer thickness diaphragm incorporated in the SUSVARA is so sensitive due to its light weight that sound waves reflected and refracted by the standard mesh normally used can disturb the diaphragm, so the standard SUSVARA employs a “Window Shade Design” acoustically transparent grill to protect the diaphragm and magnet structure, unfortunately even this minimalistic Window Shade Design grill is not perfect, therefore this grill has been removed on the UNVEILED, hence the name. The second deviation is the material of the diaphragm conductor layer, the standard SUSVARA uses gold due to its ductility which allows for an extremely thin layer, whereas the UNVEILED uses silver which has a significantly higher conductivity improving the overall sensitivity of the headphone.

Due to the removal of the protective grill magnetic shields (“Magnetic Veils”) are provided which are meant to cover the driver when the headphone is not in use. (Note: listening with the covers in place is not recommended as it greatly changes the sound characteristics)

Like the standard SUSVARA, the UNVEILED employs HIFIMAN’s ‘acoustically invisible’ “Stealth Magnets” which optimize and reduce the air turbulence and diffraction between the magnets.

In appearance, the most striking departure from the standard SUSVARA is the missing grills, though the wood accents are also not present and the leather is an elegant tan rather than black. The ear pads are asymmetrical to match the contours of the human head for comfort and the UNVEILED uses the same adjustable floating Leather strap and gimbaled earcup headband design as the standard.

The cables employ a single crystalline copper wire alongside a single crystalline silver wire and there are two, one with 4-pin XLR Balanced and the other with ¼” TRS connectors.

Living with the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone

As one would expect of a flagship piece from a company of HIFIMAN’s reputation, the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone came in a form-fitting satin lined hard shell box with separate silky suede-like microfiber sheaths around the earcups and the Magnetic Veils and included a velvet carrying bag and a hardbound book owner’s manual along with a gold embossed card stock thank you note and card stock warranty card.

Per usual I burned in the headphone and both cables (since my reference amplifier is single-ended) using the HIFIMAN EF600 R2R DAC & Headphone Amplifier for about 100 hours, then did a lot of general listening to get a feel for the headphone. I did once accidentally put the headphones on with the Magnetic Veils in place and noted the output was significantly reduced and the overall sound was compressed. I don’t recommend doing this as you might overdrive your amplifier damaging the amplifier and headphones.

As is my wont I began my listening session using the EF600, the balanced cable, and “New Releases” on Qobuz. My first selection was “One Hand Clapping – The Backyard (One Hand Clapping Sessions)” (24-bit/96kHz – Qobuz) a “live in-studio” recording of Paul McCartney and Wings from a previously unreleased 1974 film. This turned out to be a series of solo acoustic guitar songs with Paul playing and singing. It had a very intimate in-a-quiet-room vibe, with extremely natural tone, excellent detail and dynamics, and a smooth musicality to the presentation.

“Möbius Morphosis” (24-bit/96kHz – Qobuz) by Jean-Benoît Dunckel caught my eye next. Billed as Classical, presumably because it is a Ballet Score and was released on a Classical label, it is pure Progressive Rock madness with heavy synth bass and extensive percussion, mixed choir, and general electronic keyboards. The SUSVARA UNVEILED produced a massive sound stage with a very neutral tonal balance and deep bass extension not often seen in open-backed headphones.

Next up was Deep Purple’s “=1”, while it is hard to imagine Deep Purple without Jon Lord or Richie Blackmore, classic ‘60s/’70s style Metal is well enough outside the SUSVARA’s traditional wheelhouse to make it a fitting challenge. Handling the dynamics and thumping bass with ease the SUSVARA UNVEILED truly rocks giving weight and authority to a band that has had its ups and downs.

It was time to break out my reference system, my LSA VT-70 Tube Integrated Amp, Audio-gd R2R-1 DAC, Black Dragon Cables, Core Power Technologies A/V Equi=Core 1000, and  Vera-Fi Audio VBH-1 (Vibration Black Hole) isolation feet which entailed switching to the single-ended cable. Bringing up my regular playlist I started with “America (2^nd Amendment)” (DSD) as performed by the Nice from their live album “Elegy”, the soundstage was epic, giving you the full feel of the huge hall, you could actually hear the rear wall reflections. The percussion was crisp, tight, with impact, and the dynamics were jaw-dropping. And the musicality kept making me want to turn it up louder and louder.

Moving on to my sub-bass track “Can-utility And The Coastliners” (“Foxtrot” – Genesis – DSD), while not accentuated the sub-bass was the best I have heard on an open-backed headphone delineating the note bend that is often slurred or glossed over and the tonal balance in general was laser flat.

Now for music that the SUSVARA UNVEILED is all about, I cued up my 24-bit/96kHz vinyl rip of “The Firebird Suite” (“Stravinsky: The Firebird; Borodin: Music from Prince Igor” – Robert Shaw & the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), right away it passed my “chill test” wringing out every bit of resolution and detail offered. The timbre of the instruments were spot on with solid imaging and air around the players. The unique tonality and resonance of each instrument was lovingly displayed making the usual confusion of instrument played impossible. This was definitely a collection of individual musicians playing in unison in a massive hall. The impact of the tympanis was palpable.

The detail was such that I was drawn to play my detail torture test “Birds Of Fire” by Mahavishnu Orchestra (“Birds Of Fire” – DSD) where each musician doubles up on their instrument to create a cacophony of competing melodies, two guitars, two basses, two violins, two keyboards, and two drummers, each masters of the art if they were only laying down one track, much less two. Each note came out distinct.

One thing that is difficult for headphones is to reproduce old recordings that can often sound tinny, so I put on my all-time favorite Judy Garland singing “Over The Rainbow” (“Miss Show Business” – 24-bit/96kHz). Despite this being a mono recording you could hear the humongous soundstage of the theatre, the orchestra full and rich, and Judy’s voice magical, with an uncolored musicality.

Conclusions on the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone

HIFIMAN has certainly succeeded in their upgrade of the SUSVARA, the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone is one of the finest if not the finest open-backed planar magnetic headphone I have heard to date. It has a linearity and bass response I only ever heard in an open-back before with the HE6se and it leaves those wanting in both respects. To that, it adds an openness and airiness almost unparalleled in a planar magnetic with rare musicality.

As you would suspect it is not a forgiving headphone and requires very careful selection of amplifier and DAC, that being said it worked well with the EF600 though the HIFIMAN EF1000 would probably be a better match. The UNVEILED also worked extremely well with the two tube amps I tried it with (see my upcoming Wells Audio V8 Level II Tube Headphone Amplifier review for further details).

While $8,000 might seem like quite a lot for even a flagship reference headphone I think you will find the HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Planar Magnetic Headphone is well worth it especially when you consider that many will be pairing them with electronics costing several times as much, in fact, they may be the only offering out there to really justify the expense of those electronics. I am more than happy to give them a full recommendation.

Price: $8,000

Manufacturer’s Webpage: https://hifiman.com/products/detail/347

Specifications:

Frequency Response: 6Hz-75kHz

Sensitivity: 86dB

Impedance: 45Ω

Weight: 430g (including Magnetic Veils and headphone cable)