Sound Impressions
Summary
To generalize, the HIFIMAN Audivina does two things upfront very well, and that’s detail retrieval plus they also provide a very large and precise soundstage, especially for a closed-back design. Words that I can also use to describe the overall sonic characteristics are fast and crisp.
The HIFIMAN Audivina sound signature portrays a bright presentation but one that’s balanced and doesn’t become majorly peaky in any area. At least not in an obvious or obnoxiously intense sense.
One could say the Audivina is a headphone with an almost straight-line frequency response that has a slight upper 2-degree tilt or gradient. This gives off a bright presentation but it’s done tastefully so as not to bother a treble-sensitive listener or underwhelm the lower frequencies.
The bass overall is clean and fast responding but maintains itself around the flat line, the midrange is present, slightly forward, and vivid and there are some very well-defined highs up on top.
What gets me is the space the Audivina portrays in the sense that they sound larger than most other headphones even though they’re closed-back. They’re certainly one of the largest and widest-sounding closed-backs I’ve heard.
Bass
One characteristic that carried on into the HIFIMAN Audivina from other HIFIMAN headphones is the level of neutrality in the bass output. It seems these headphones are tuned for neutrality but if you apply some equalization below 100Hz of around 3 to 5 dB the drivers become bass-warm and visceral.
Not so much in the sense that the bass will exude impactfulness and overwhelm you but rather in a way that they will certainly demonstrate an ability to produce a high amount of deep tones along with another keen ability which is an excellent ability to handle complex and fast bass riffs.
The Audivina produces bass that’s fast, tactile, accurate, and well-toned with a quick rebound. There’s good midbass punch but it needs at times a slight 3-decibel forward push below 100Hz, especially for someone like me who prefers a beefier bottom-bass presence.
The bass does gradually dip below 32Hz. However, the rest of the bass frequencies are all there, present, and evenly presented up to the midrange transition. A tone sweep did not produce any peaks or dips in the bass area and remained generally flat. The drivers also demonstrated an absence of coloration in this area.
Midrange
The star of the show is the entire midrange section because of its true-toned, smooth presentation that contains a high level of detail. It’s not perfect in a flat-toned sense since I did notice 2 small rises around 1 to 2 kHz and one around 6k but they were not major peaks at all.
Perhaps if pushed at high volume levels those rises could forcefully take the front stage on tracks with those frequencies panned upwards. But overall, I would say by maintaining a volume level that’s not considered painful then the Audivina will certainly remain smooth, uncolored, and neutral.
The overall midrange response of the HIFIMAN Audivina has a slight tilt upwards giving more presence to the upper midrange over the lower portion. But the accuracy of the pitch is what keeps you interested along with the interestingly portrayed soundstage.
The midrange tones are produced with a well-placed and sizable character that paints a large lifelike panorama that seems to cater to realism. One can say that those light-as-air diaphragms certainly play a large role in emitting a speediness that accurately reacts to the input signal which in fact, is the selling point here.
Treble
Far as the high-frequency production characteristics of the HIFIMAN Audivina are, there is a sense of forwardness in the high-frequency department and they certainly cater to those who prefer a well-defined top end like I do.
The Audivina is not a dark headphone in any sense but it’s a revealing one up on the top end. Once again, it seems that the lightweight NsD diaphragm is the culprit here since speed seems to be the common denominator of HIFIMAN Audivina’s accurate pitch and tone.
The overall tonality of the high frequencies remains natural, well-behaved, and controlled even at higher volume levels. You don’t get the sense of fatigue due to their natural ability to keep the high frequencies correctly represented. The Audivina certainly has an enjoyable high-frequency reproduction.
Timbre
There’s a lot to like about the overall HIFIMAN Audivina experience. This is mostly due to their natural-sounding characteristics. There’s also a pleasant musicality and emotion extraction aspect involved in the fact that when a song needs to deepen in tone to tingle your senses, the Audivina portrays it well proportionately.
But on top of the natural timbre, there’s a ton of detail that’s produced in the forefront and background. I can give an example of what I mean. Stevie Wonder’s “Vision” track has a silent section almost at the end of the track that on good gear produces a resonant tone through the supposed silent section.
Well, on the Audivina I heard Stevie take a deep breath, not once but a few distinct times within that passage which is something I never heard before on this track which is very familiar to me. There’s your investment at work.
Staging & Dynamics
The HIFIMAN Audivina has an interestingly large soundstage for a closed back. It’s sort of the kicker since you wouldn’t expect it to be so by just looking at those enormous cups. Then again, their size would imply that they will sound cavernous but it’s not so.
The Audivina can certainly portray a 4-point dimensional space that seems to place elements anywhere in between front and rear, Up or down, and can portray anywhere within multiple diagonal angles and positions.
If you listen closely to, for example, a drum session, you get a clear sense of placement and where those sticks are. I have no complaints here far as the soundstage. It’s amazingly portrayed considering it’s a closed-back headphone. I would say the Audivina can compete with several open backs far as its soundstage is concerned.
Genre Pairing
The HIFIMAN Audivina says to bring it. The speediness of the drivers works well for hardcore and gentle Indi Pop alike. Especially if you bump up the bass to get that extra wallop when called for and needed.
One other genre that the HIFIMAN Audivina can do very well is Classical music since the drivers can maintain a high level of coherence when the recording gets complex and multifaceted.
The HIFIMAN Audivina is a bit forgiving also and it doesn’t require you to feed it with the latest and greatest gear to sound well. It has a small amount of give if you use inferior music sources, for example, an internet source like YouTube which is not considered Hi-Res.
Select Comparisons
HIFIMAN Arya V2
$1599.00
Technical
Some say bigger is better. I was thinking about subwoofers by the way. But what about headphone driver size? The HIFIMAN Arya certainly has some big ones. They’re about 160mm from top to bottom.
Perhaps that’s why they sound so large and lifelike. That’s what is so likable about them besides their supersized soundstage. The Arya’s large Planar drivers are not too shabby either when it comes to staging accuracy.
There’s not much else I can say about such a popular headphone that hasn’t been said. However, it’s betting complicated now since HIFIMAN just announced another variant, the organic. As we speak there are 3 variants available, the Non-Stealth, the Stealth version, and now, the Organic.
Design
Are these two models siblings? They certainly don’t look alike at first glance. The Arya has that full blackout implementation but under closer inspection, you can see some similarities, particularly around the headband assembly.
The Audivina headband assembly resembles the one used on the HE1000 more so but construction-wise the quality is similar except for the Audivina’s headband which in this case seems beefier and has added comfort due to the perforated headband and slightly reduced clamping force.
One thing is certain, the Arya is the stealthier model appearance-wise since they employ a lower profile cup design overall. I’m referring to the overall girth of the cup and pad size here. The Arya cup size seems to be the same as the centerpiece of the Audivina cups. The wooden cups give the Audivina extra girth.
Performance
If you want a larger-than-life soundstage the Arya can deliver that, especially the second, non-stealth version. But perhaps not by much as one would expect. Listening to both reveals that the Arya paints a slither of a slightly taller sonic picture but that’s about it.
One can also detect a minuscule increase in the size perspective of each element in a recording. Every element seems larger but slightly fainter since there’s a definite forwardness to the Audivina overall whereas the Arya is more laid-back. But again, the stealth magnets seem to remove a layer of veil so add that to the mix.
However, the Arya stealth version doesn’t portray the same sized soundstage and it focuses on better bass response and a more focused soundstage which somehow describes the Audivina which does just that but in a closed-back design.
We also have to include in the mix the Arya Organic model which promises to combine the best aspects of the previous versions and provide, well, a more organic experience. We’ll see if we can hopefully verify that for you shortly.
Focal Stellia
$2990.00
Technical
The Focal Stellia is an antithesis competitor which uses different technology to obtain the same result, not that these two have any similarities because they don’t have many. Their only obviously similar characteristic is that they both use a closed-back design cup.
The Stellia uses a pure Beryllium driver in a unique mounting configuration that mostly resembles in design a home speaker since Focal made its name off its excellent speaker lineup. The in-house developed driver uses what Focal calls an M-shaped dome design and a very responsive surround.
Focal also developed the driver’s frameless design that was brought in from the previously released and top model, the Utopia. They use a similar driver, however, the Stellia has a redesigned voice coil that has a lower impedance rating which improved efficiency over the Utopia.
Design
The Focal Stellia was designed to last but the cherry on top is the top-notch trim package that decorates the Stellia which uses leather trim and displays leather behind a perforated backplate. Not that the perforations are real since the Stellia is a closed-back but they’re mostly for looks.
The Focal Stellia is certainly well-dressed but the headband assembly is also built like a tank. Most of the construction uses a high-grade alloy that looks to give the Stellia longevity and a quality feel overall.
The top portion of the headband assembly does tend to change color as you wear them and it’s because the leather absorbs sweat and body oils. I wish there was a way of avoiding that or better yet, a way of replacing the leather if needed.
Connectivity-wise, they used a common 3.5mm connection but redesigned the socket to include a twist-to-lock mechanism, and in some cases, the girth of certain 3.5mm plugs will not insert properly. HIFIMAN gives you a small advantage in the sense that it is easier to obtain an aftermarket cable for their headphones.
Performance
Hopefully, I don’t have to suffer a lynching after what I’m going to say. Having the two in front of me I would say that the Audivina would get the most use. The Stellia is stellar but they tend to sound a bit too lean and clinical.
The Stellia is a very revealing headphone, it has a smooth overall presentation but the bass output needs more presence. The Stellia might have a more realistic tonality but the Audivina offers more of a fun factor and a higher level of musicality especially if you bump up the bass.
The Audivina soundstage seems to be portrayed in a larger proportion as well. The Stellia supply a more intimate listening experience and would certainly perform best in a portable environment since they have a higher efficiency rating.
Perhaps the Stellia might be the more versatile of the two but then again, you will become an obvious target if you wear either headphone outside. More so with the Audivina since their appearance stands out more due to their larger size. But if I owned a pair, would I want to leave the house? Nah.
Our Verdict
The HIFIMAN Audivina is a pleasant headphone to listen to that offers a high level of detail, and a realistic tonality along with a larger-than-average and precise soundstage, considering it’s a closed-back design headphone.
They seem to be user-friendly in the sense that it does not require the best setup to perform well but when properly paired, will provide the listener with a stellar performance and a speedy translation of the input source through a common connectivity type.
Although I wouldn’t get the Audivina strictly for portable use, I would certainly keep them at arm’s reach in my desktop setup. They do so many things well and are all-around great performers.
HIFIMAN Audivina Technical Specifications
- Frequency Response: 5Hz to 55kHz
- Impedance: 20Ω
- Sensitivity: 97db
- Weight: 470g excluding cable
