Thank you. A dedicated amp stack or even just a dac-amp setup like mine is a need for this Sundara. A 1500w power supply in a PC won't change how the circuitry in any PC motherboard steps down the supply to a certain power level for a certain device (built-in headphone jack or the USB ports for example). The PC motherboard circuit is designed to reduce that supply power to a small specific value for each devices no matter how large the supply is. Typically these headphone jack output power ranges are lower than what you will see in a dedicated DAC-amp or amp. The Sundara will definitely work with your motherboard headphone jack, but it will sound quiet and you will lose a lot of details. Source: I tried out of curiosity with stock 3.5mm stock cables and my PC running a rm1000x supply (1000w). Even on unbalanced mode with the stock cables plugged into my dac-amp, the Sundara still sounded quiet with a lot of details and sub-bass not present. That is just how power hungry this is. So please also think about factoring the additional cost of getting a balanced cable (4.4mm to dual 3.5mm) as well if anyone is interested in this headphone.
I regularly use my sundara with the apple dongle dac. however much power that makes is how much you "need"... you'll get good sound from anything with a dedicated output. an external dac/amp is nice, but it's not required.
I only have my Fidelio X2HR as my point of reference. First impressions: bass is very much lighter and quicker. Treble sounds very much higher. If someone loves the bass thump and "rumble" of the X2HR they will be disappointed (I was). But, I think it makes up for how everything sounds clean and crisp, unlike the "muddy" or bloated feeling my X2HR often gives off sometimes. Now, with TrueBass I feel like its a different story. Having the TrueBass analog bass boost on the Zen DAC v2 really unleashes the potential of the Sundara imo. It makes the Sundara sounds like an X2HR with better bass rumble/thump and without its bloatiness and muddiness. I feel like I end up with a "rumbly" and sometimes even a tactile bass sensation where I can slightly feel the vibration on my jaws to some of the music I listen to when I have the TrueBass turned on. Soundstage wise I think it depends on people, but I think the X2HR still has it. However for some reason it feels very very close I don't even notice most of the time.
Yeah. The Hifiman Store amazon listing stated that this is a supposedly 2020 version. However, I've noticed that this has the 32ohm impedance, 92dB sensitivity (it can be seen around 5:21). The first 2020 rev seems to have the 37ohm, 94dB. I wish other users can also take a look at this and note the new changes.
Is an amp a must with them? I use a gaming desktop with 1500w power supply if it changes anything.
Great video👍
Thank you. A dedicated amp stack or even just a dac-amp setup like mine is a need for this Sundara. A 1500w power supply in a PC won't change how the circuitry in any PC motherboard steps down the supply to a certain power level for a certain device (built-in headphone jack or the USB ports for example). The PC motherboard circuit is designed to reduce that supply power to a small specific value for each devices no matter how large the supply is.
Typically these headphone jack output power ranges are lower than what you will see in a dedicated DAC-amp or amp.
The Sundara will definitely work with your motherboard headphone jack, but it will sound quiet and you will lose a lot of details. Source: I tried out of curiosity with stock 3.5mm stock cables and my PC running a rm1000x supply (1000w).
Even on unbalanced mode with the stock cables plugged into my dac-amp, the Sundara still sounded quiet with a lot of details and sub-bass not present. That is just how power hungry this is.
So please also think about factoring the additional cost of getting a balanced cable (4.4mm to dual 3.5mm) as well if anyone is interested in this headphone.
I regularly use my sundara with the apple dongle dac. however much power that makes is how much you "need"... you'll get good sound from anything with a dedicated output.
an external dac/amp is nice, but it's not required.
How much is your amp cost ,and is topping 1 enough to power them
how are they?
I only have my Fidelio X2HR as my point of reference. First impressions: bass is very much lighter and quicker. Treble sounds very much higher.
If someone loves the bass thump and "rumble" of the X2HR they will be disappointed (I was). But, I think it makes up for how everything sounds clean and crisp, unlike the "muddy" or bloated feeling my X2HR often gives off sometimes.
Now, with TrueBass I feel like its a different story. Having the TrueBass analog bass boost on the Zen DAC v2 really unleashes the potential of the Sundara imo. It makes the Sundara sounds like an X2HR with better bass rumble/thump and without its bloatiness and muddiness.
I feel like I end up with a "rumbly" and sometimes even a tactile bass sensation where I can slightly feel the vibration on my jaws to some of the music I listen to when I have the TrueBass turned on.
Soundstage wise I think it depends on people, but I think the X2HR still has it. However for some reason it feels very very close I don't even notice most of the time.
This is 2022 or 2023 version and not 2020 i guess
Yeah. The Hifiman Store amazon listing stated that this is a supposedly 2020 version. However, I've noticed that this has the 32ohm impedance, 92dB sensitivity (it can be seen around 5:21). The first 2020 rev seems to have the 37ohm, 94dB. I wish other users can also take a look at this and note the new changes.
What is the difference between them?
@@mwwnlight Even mine is same... 32ohms
conrgats
thank you