Headphones · Side-by-side
Sivga Anser vs Verum Audio Verum 1
Dead heat on score. The Sivga Anser costs $150 less, so it's the default.
See which one to buy
Too close to call
Sivga
Anser
A $200 open-back dynamic with real wood cups and a tuning that delivers springy, bouncy mid-bass you won't find on $2,000 headphones - musical, fun, and built to last.
Too close to call
Verum Audio
Verum 1
A $350 open-back planar that goes the opposite direction from most of the market - smooth, refined highs, full warm mids, and ruler-flat bass to 20Hz.
Which one to buy
Short version: the rubric calls this one too close to split - but what's upstream, what you listen for, and what your budget allows can each flip it. Here's the case for each.
The case for the Anser
Sivga Anser
- Solid wood earcups with aluminum grilles and yokes
- No plastic - just wood, metal, and leather
- Cheaper by $150, and it gives up nothing on the score
- The Verum Audio Verum 1's main trade-off is one you'd rather not live with: 8Ω impedance demands real current from the amplifier
The case for the Verum 1
Verum Audio Verum 1
- Stunning wooden earcup design with metal cut-out grills
- Real leather pads, magnetically attached for easy swap
- That $150 premium buys character and build, not a higher score
- The Sivga Anser's main trade-off is one you'd rather not live with: Soundstage is on the intimate side - not super wide
Sound signature, overlaid
Nothing here is hand-placed. Each axis is derived from the review's own prose by the model that anchors every review on the site.
| Axis | Sivga Anser | Verum Audio Verum 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Warm to Bright | leans warm | sits near neutral |
| Relaxed to Analytical | sits near neutral | leans analytical |
| Polite to Aggressive | leans aggressive | leans aggressive |
| Lean to Bass-heavy | leans lean | sits near neutral |
| Intimate to Wide stage | leans wide stage | sits near neutral |
Specs, side by side
The 3 specs both reviews record come first, so the rows you can actually compare are at the top. Manufacturer figures unless a measured value is noted; N/A means we haven't recorded that spec yet.
| Spec | Sivga Anser | Verum Audio Verum 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Dynamic | 82 mm planar, 28 rare-earth magnets |
| Impedance | 38 Ω | 8 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 105 dB | 96 dB/mW |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz - 20 kHz | N/A |
| Weight | 342 g | N/A |
Pros & cons, side by side
Anser
Pros
- Natural, warm midrange with great vocal body
- Easy to drive (38Ω, 105dB sensitivity)
- Eco-friendly hemp bag and minimal packaging
- Solid wood earcups with aluminum grilles and yokes
- No plastic - just wood, metal, and leather
Cons
- Soundstage is on the intimate side - not super wide
- Treble could be a bit more refined
- Sub-bass is present but not the main focus
- Hemp bag offers limited protection
- Upper mids may stand out on some tracks
- Soundstage feels centered vs. holographic options
Verum 1
Pros
- Full, warm, inviting midrange with forward vocals
- Ruler-flat bass extension down to 20Hz, fast yet with long decay
- Can place sounds behind your head
- Stunning wooden earcup design with metal cut-out grills
- Real leather pads, magnetically attached for easy swap
Cons
- 8Ω impedance demands real current from the amplifier
- Needs ~2W/ch to truly open up - scales heavily with power
- Treble may sound a touch veiled on first listen
- Soundstage is fairly closed-in, not super wide
- 90-degree connectors make many aftermarket cables awkward
- Only single-ended cable in the box - balanced sold separately
How they were tested head-to-head
The Sivga Anser met the Verum Audio Verum 1 on one chain, not two, driven from the same HIFIMAN Serenade amp/DAC (Himalaya Pro R2R), fed bit-perfect from the Hermes 12th digital transport over USB. Levels were matched at the output before any listening, then both pieces were swapped across one fixed playlist: acoustic, vocal-led, dense modern, and large-scale orchestral. No demo-room verdicts, no half-remembered impressions from an earlier listen: this is a direct head-to-head, scored against the published headphones reference list at the matching price tier.
What the identical scores actually mean
On the rubric these two finish level, and that is the finding rather than a dodge. A tie here means neither piece is doing anything the other cannot; what separates them is character. The pros and cons below are the useful part, because the place one piece gives something up is the place the other one earns your money.
What would flip the verdict
Neither piece scores higher in any audible way, so the choice is character and context. Take the Sivga Anser if its pros sound like the system you're building; take the Verum Audio Verum 1 if its first paragraph reads more like the music you actually play. System pairing - amp synergy for headphones and DACs, room behaviour for speakers, software stability for sources - is where these two diverge in practice. Read both reviews end to end: the pros and cons summarise, but the prose tells you which one belongs in your chain.
Common questions about this comparison
What's the real-world difference between the Sivga Anser and the Verum Audio Verum 1?
Scores first: the Sivga Anser and the Verum Audio Verum 1 land level, 8.0 and 8.0. Where they really split is voicing: the Verum 1 runs a touch more analytical, the Anser more relaxed. Each review flags something different - the Anser's "Earcups rotate 180 degrees for fit adjustment" against the Verum 1's "Suspension-style leather headband adjusts beautifully". Those, not the decimal, are the real decision.
Which should you buy, the Sivga Anser or the Verum Audio Verum 1?
On the rubric it's a coin-flip (8.0 and 8.0), so price and fit break the tie. The Sivga Anser is $150 cheaper for the same measured performance - make it the default, and pay up for the Verum Audio Verum 1 only if its standout, "Smooth, non-fatiguing treble - almost impossible to make sibilant", is something your setup actually needs.
Is the Verum 1's $150 premium worth it?
Not on the numbers - $150 more for no rubric advantage. You're paying for what's specific to the Verum Audio Verum 1 - "Full, warm, inviting midrange with forward vocals" - not for measured performance, so it's worth it only if that solves a problem the Sivga Anser leaves open.
Where they rank
This page is the head-to-head - the buying guides put both of these up against the whole field.