HIFIMAN ISVARNA HYBRID HEADPHONE - REVIEW
HIFIMAN ISVARNA HYBRID HEADPHONE
This is my third go with a HIFIMAN headphone and it’s been a blast, I must say. For one, its Susvara Unveiled and its Susvara headphones are in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions on the Top Components List for AudioKeyReviews. This is no small task as the competitors stacked below them were exceptional contenders in many ways. There is just something so wonderfully natural and musical, technically superb and aesthetically pleasing about the Susvara and the Susvara Unveiled.
In this respect, I am always interested in the opportunity to review new HIFIMAN headphones and am on the ready lookout for what the next reviewed product might be. Well, I didn’t have to wait long as HIFIMAN’s new Isvarna Hybrid headphone recently made its debut.
The Isvarna Hybrid is unique in that it utilizes HIFIMAN’s nanometer thick diaphragm for speed, dynamic range, frequency response, and minimal distortion. Collectively, the traits have come together in the previous headphones that I have reviewed in sublime naturalness, outstanding technical abilities, immersiveness, and a truly wonderful musicality.
But there’s more. In addition to its nanometer-scale diaphragm, a dynamic subwoofer driver has been added to the Isvarna’s design to help it more easily and accurately portray bass response. This represents a first in terms of a hybridized headphone and not an In-Ear-Monitor (IEM).
And my initial impressions, I must say, are very good. Not only is the Isvarna aesthetically beautiful and clean, its voice, straight out of the box and hooked up to my Aurorasound HEADA HPA was very good. I imagine that there are other headphones quite worried on the Top Headphone list and based upon this one short listening, they should be.
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the component actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review, then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc.—that likewise starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The System - HEADPHONE
Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer
Baetis Audio Revolution X4 Streamer
Silent Angel Rhein Z1 Streamer
Silent Angel Forester F2 Power Supply
Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch
Silent Angel Genesis GX Master Clock
Bricasti Design M1SE DAC
Border Patrol SE-i DAC
Aurorasound HEADA Headphone Amplifier
TRAFORMATIC HEAD2 Headphone Amplifier
HIFIMAN ISVARNA Headphone
HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED Headphone
HIFIMAN SUSVARA Headphone
ZMF Atticus Headphone
Kubala Sosna—cabling and wires
RSX Beyond Power Cables
Audience Hidden Treasure CAT7 Ethernet cables
TORUS RM20—Power Generation
RSX BEYOND, MAX Power Cords
SEISMION Amplifier Stand (powered)
TORUS AUDIO Power Conditioner
The Sound
There have been about 15-18 pairs of headphones sitting about Casa Heartsong with most gathering dust, because you simply can’t listen to that many pairs of headphones even if you wanted to. That said, once an exceptional headphone hit the Casa, it was necessary to reduce the crowd. Who wants multiple pairs of headphones pouting and moping around, when you’re not listening to them? Not me, so I’ve either given them away or I’ve sold them. Done.
And thereafter, it’s the cream of the crop—Susvara, Susvara Unveiled, Abyss—that remain and/or those you’ve just taken quite a fancy to—ZMF Atticus (love the camphor smell), Dan Clark STEALTH. And, of course, there are the electrostatics.
Well, the new HIFIMAN Isvarna has quickly found itself among the cream of the crop. It’s very first audition and my first listening was impressive. It wasn’t nearly broken in yet and still it easily left many of those 15-18 pairs of headphones sobbing in the dust. And then after a few weeks of break-in, it had sidled up to its brothers—Susvara Unveiled, Susvara—like it belonged with them and it did in more ways than one would like to believe given the price disparity.
Suffice to say, that there have been many long nights spent listening to the Isvarna on this system and that system and always the music was splendid, regardless of genre. Its naturalness, its musicality, its technical aptitude across all relevant areas—transparency, resolution, detail retrieval, soundstaging (relative to a headphone), its refinement—was superb. And in terms of its tone/timbre what the Isvarna heard was passed through or ‘sung’ with scarcely an edit at all.
And what its hybrid nature—the coupling of a bass driver to its planar magnetic diaphragms—brought about was a decidedly extended lower frequency response that brought bass-rich recordings to life. Yes, to life far beyond what one would expect for a planar magnetic headphone and even a dynamic headphone! Eiji Oue’s Stravinsky (Reference Recordings) had never sounded this bold, tight, or explosive with another headphone. Not even its sibling could muster this and not even the Abyss. Yikes!
But the hybridized coupling also appeared to maintain a musicality that was incredibly immersive and right, refined and natural, so as to, again, mount a challenge to its siblings. However, given the pedigree of the Susvara Unveiled and the Susvara it was a challenge that always fell short, with the exception of the Isvarna’s bass response, which won the day against both!
It really didn’t matter the album played and I played a great many over the months from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (Blue Note) to Arne Jansen’s The Pilgrimage (Traumton) to Elina Duni’s Lost Ships (ECM) to the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take Five (Columbia) to Sophie Hunger’s 1983 (Two Gentlemen Records) to Eiji Oue’s Stravinsky and all were superbly ‘transduced’ by the HIFIMAN Isvarna headphones. All the albums became the truly captivating music that I have known them to be over long years or relatively short meetings. What more can one ask for?
The Isvarna’s are not open-backed headphones, which generally throw a more expanded staging of one’s music. However, I never thought about the fact that they were closed-backed when listening, as everything was there and in a staging that never limited the performance or the music’s magic. The HIFIMAN Isvarna is truly, if not on the same level, then in the same league as its exceptional siblings and for a great deal less! Don’t have the scratch, bing-bings, lettuce, moulah, benjamins, coin for the Susvaras, then know that the HIFIMAN Isvarna is a very good place to land. Bravo!
Comparisons
The Isvarna is exceptionally good and outside of its big brothers—Susvara Unveiled and the Susvara—it’s going to be very difficult to beat by any other headphone.
Of the 15-18 headphones that have sat about at Casa Heartsong there’s not a one that comes close with the exception of the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC and even that’s a very close call. The Isvarna is that good and, in truth, its comfortable fit, its lightweight nature, and its non-Frankenstein-like feel edge the Isvarna a wee bit ahead of the Abyss. And the Isvarna is more natural than the Abyss.
In terms of its brothers, well, they’re just more natural, more detailed, more refined, though they are also much harder to drive. You’re probably 70% there with the Isvarna for half and a good deal less than half depending on the Susvara.
Design—Look, Feel, and Technology
The HIFIMAN Isvarna features lines and angles and subtle curves not unlike certain vaunted, battery powered vehicles. It embraces a modern industrial design that speaks both to stealth and minimalism, while incorporating unique hybridization beneath its ‘hood’—headphone cups. Said hybridization allows the Isvarna to nicely extend its frequency response relative to many if not most planar headphones and match or outdistance dynamic headphones.
The Technical Specifications
HIFIMAN ISVARNA
Frequency Response: : 6Hz - 60kHz
Impedance: : 16Ω
Sensitivity: : 93dB
Net Weight: : 462g
Drivability
Unlike its revered siblings—Susvara Unveiled, Susvara—the Isvarna is exceptionally easy to drive and can even be driven by portable digital players given its 93dB/16Ω specification. So, it’s a piece of cake to drive.
Conclusion
The HIFIMAN Isvarna is a truly exceptional headphone with great technical aptitude, extended frequency response, via its hybridization, a sublime naturalness in line with its brethren—Susvara Unveiled, Susvara—though not quite at their level, and it too is truly immersive. I’ve listened for long hours via the Isvarna late into the night and was alway happy and content.
Given my experience with multiple headphones over the years, housing upward of 18 pairs here at Casa Heartsong, the Isvarna represents the very top echelon of those headphones. And from time to time it even gives its siblings—Susvara Unveiled, Susvara—a run for their money, while moving a wee bit past the outstanding Abyss AB1266 Phi TC.
HIFIMAN has done it again with the Isvarna as has, like its siblings, won the DIAMOND AWARD for excellence and considering its relative cost to other Top-of-the-Line headphones, it is an excellent headphone. Bravo!
Pros: Exceptional technical acumen, superbly musical and natural and incredibly engaging. Will definitely plumb to sub-bass depth more easily than most planar headphones and even a great many dynamic headphones.
Cons: None.
The Company
HIFIMAN
ISVARNA ($2899)
customerservice@hifiman.com
1-201-HIFIMAN (1-201-443-4626)
https://store.hifiman.com/
