HIFIMAN Sundara Review: Still an Exceptional Value Planar, if Your Ears Fit

Named Best Overall in our Best Headphones Under $500 guide, ahead of 7 others.

The HIFIMAN Sundara used to be priced at $500, which was an okay deal back then. Later they slashed its price to $350, which made it a really great value purchase, considering its outstanding audio quality and the state of the market back then. Then, they made it even better with the new silent revision. And now, its price has dropped to just $300 - which sounds just crazy. Let's take a closer look at it.

Price note: $300 was the price when this review was published in July 2023. What US stores charge today is in the price section after the review.

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The Sundara is an open-back, full-size, planar magnetic over-ear headphone from HIFIMAN. Its first revision was released in 2017. The latest version features HIFIMAN's NEO Supernano Diaphragm, which is supposed to result in a faster, more detailed response. As far as I know, it does not include Stealth Magnets.

An all-metal build with a suspension strap

It's built extraordinarily well - metal parts, a solid feel, a suspension strap, and a dual 3.5mm connector that can take a single-ended or balanced connection.

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Comfort depends on the size of your ears

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In terms of comfort, it can be hit or miss for some of you. The hybrid pads are great, but their inner diameter is rather small, likely too small for many ears, and they can get warm inside after some time. The suspension strap helps reduce hotspots on top of your head, but it doesn't swivel. There's quite a bit of clamp force - which helps to distribute the weight more evenly, instead of making it all hang from the top of your head... ahem, Edition XS. It's also quite lightweight, at 342g.

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Easy to drive, with a balanced tuning

With an impedance of 32Ω and a sensitivity of 92dB, it's rather on the more efficient side. Not the most efficient in the world, but pretty easy to drive nonetheless. It can be powered from mobile devices, though there's some benefit to using higher-end external, especially clean, amplification.

Okay, how does it sound? Tonality-wise it's balanced and neutral in a good way - it's not boring sounding. The bass is definitely present, but not artificially boosted. There's good sub-bass extension, sloping downwards from 50-ish Hz - and you can hear 20Hz, it's there! I prefer the bass being deep, rather than artificially boosted without extending far into the sub-bass territory, and the Sundara definitely delivers on that.

The mids are a bit above the target and the highs are a little below it, which results not only in the lack of sibilance but also leans slightly on the warmer side.

A wide soundstage and real slam

The soundstage is great, wide, and decently accurate, which is unheard of at this price. It puts you in front of the sound source and surrounds you with it. It doesn't sound disconnected though. It's not extremely wide like some higher-end headphones, but the way it goes about the soundstage is just really well done. And it does not sound as open as HIFIMAN's bigger planars, but it's still pretty wide.

Sundara has a great dynamic range, with a strong punch or slam in the bass and mids that make it enjoyable to listen to. It's one of the things this headphone especially packs above its league. It's also one of my favorite aspects of it. Without it, I believe it would be much more boring sounding.

Separation trails the Edition XS

Sound separation is at a decent level. Sounds aren't getting blended in with each other, which leads to a clean and pleasant presentation. It's not as good as something like an Edition XS - with Sundara you can't differentiate all the instruments in the mix as easily. You can absolutely still tell that there are drums, strings, and all that - it just doesn't scream at you with the sound separation.

Micro-detail is the standout

That's another area where it truly shines. The level of detail, especially micro-detail, is impeccable. This headphone doesn't sound too bright, so it doesn't give a forced sense of detail - it just comes naturally, and you're able to hear a lot more than with other headphones, even at a slightly higher price point.

It's simply done better than on most, even more expensive, currently available headphones.

Fast transients, above-average decay

Sundara is just a really fast headphone. It doesn't lack in the speed department at all. The decay is also above average. All that, in combination with great dynamics, makes for a really fun and kind of unique audio presentation.

Vocals with a slight warm tint

Both male and female vocals sound neither boring nor energetic, but definitely not dull - I would call it a typical performance in this category. It gives all vocals a slightly warmer tint to them, but we're talking really slightly. It's not an inherently warm or thick-sounding headphone in the vocals.

Is the Sundara worth $300?

HIFIMAN's Sundara presents an amazing value proposition in the current open-back planar magnetic headphone market, considering that you can get an improved version that performs exceptionally well for $300. It's just a steal.