MAGAZINE
The larger of the two new HiFiMan headphones, "Audivina", is a closed magnetostatic model mainly intended for studio use, while also said to be suitable for audiophile music enjoyment. Inside the earpieces made of beech wood, a special design is supposed to eliminate resonances, among other things, as well as provide a wide soundstage. Furthermore, the magnetostatic design of the drivers with extremely thin foil is also supposed to reduce resonances. HiFiMan promises high and long wearing comfort for both the headband made of steel and aluminum as well as the interchangeable ear pads made of synthetic leather and polyethylene.
The new HiFiMan Audivina comes including three different connection cables and a travel case at an MSRP of around €2400 in Germany.
The second new product are the electrostatic headphones HiFiMan Sundara Silver, the successor to the Sundara. According to the manufacturer, the predecessor was tailored to the Asian audience in the high frequencies, which is why European listeners found this range occasionally too pronounced, as HiFiMan states; which has now been taken into consideration in the development of the new model. The damping of the diaphragms is said to have been changed, as well as the perforated grille and the protective fleece of the headphones. Ear pads and earpieces, on the other hand, are said to have been taken directly from the Sundara.
According to the manufacturer, the Sundara Silver works better with a powerful headphone amplifier. The MSRP of the new headphones is around €400 in Germany, and it comes with a cable, adapter and travel case.
In addition to the two headphones, HiFiMan introduces the new EF600 headphone amplifier with integrated D/A converter. The DAC featured in the device is developed by HiFiMan itself, and is named "Hymalaya Pro". According to HiFiMan, this special R2R DAC is supposed to surpass normal, modern DACs in terms of sound quality, but at the same time also perform better than other R2R DACs in terms of measurements and energy consumption. The amplifier section of the EF600 is said to be powerful enough to drive even power-hungry headphones: HiFiMan specifies 1.8 watts (32 ohms) for the 6.35 mm jack output and 5.1 watts (32 ohms) for the 4-pin XLR output. For inputs, the headphone amplifier carries USB-B and -C, coaxial as well as analog RCA and XLR. Outputs in RCA and XLR are also available for the DAC.
Furthermore, the HiFiMan EF600 can also receive Bluetooth signals and offers settings for high and low gain as well as oversampling. The new EF600 DAC/headphone amplifier from HiFiMan is stated to be available for around €1,050 (MSRP for Germany).
