Hifiman Isvarna headphones – Planaari and dynamic bass element in the same housing

The Isvarna looks silver-plated and sharp, but also quite special – because of the oval-shaped subwoofers, the aluminum frames have been made exceptionally wide from the back. A striking feature is also the large black bass ports, which stylistically resemble the air intakes of sports cars. The metallic structure of the hero model, on the other hand, corresponds to the Hifiman HE1000 speaker series.

An expensive headset is always supposed to feel high-quality, as evidenced by the Meze Audio Empyrean models. Compared to them, the Isvarna doesn’t quite convince despite its all-metal construction; the tolerances between the parts are loose and the hinge brackets sometimes squeak like a rusty door. The inner cup is also not properly padded, so the rattling of the structure makes them sound like empty storage bins. The design budget has therefore been spent elsewhere.

Comfort is what makes a bigger difference. The Isvarna sits evenly on the head and is quite discreet despite its 462 gram weight. This is thanks to the gentle pressure of the webbing and the wide harness on the head. There would also be plenty of adjustment options for height, and there would be no need to change the soft ear pads even if some of them would certainly need to be slightly larger in the vertical direction. The pads attach to the straps with an interesting velcro tab, so they are easy to remove. Although a tighter fastening solution might improve the sound insulation of the structure, in the case of the Isvarna it hardly matters, because the sound would still leak in and out through the large bass ports in any case more than usual.

The product packaging and comprehensive equipment selected by Hifiman also deserve a mention. The box, covered in brown faux leather, includes not only the headphones, but also a hard-bound user manual and as many as three different cables. One of these is designed for mobile use thanks to its length of 1.5 meters and a 3.5 mm plug positioned at an angle of 90 degrees, while the 3-meter cables (XLR/6.35 mm) cope with even more challenging listening situations. The wires running inside the tubular casing do, however, raise doubts about the long-term durability of the cables, and the rough surface material is not the best choice due to its microphone sensitivity.

The nominal impedance of the Isvaran is 16 ohms, and the sensitivity is also relatively low at 93 dB/mW, which already sets somewhat higher expectations for the headphone amplifier’s power output. With the inexpensive headphones, it may not be worthwhile to settle for the minimum level of auxiliary equipment at all; therefore, a DAC headphone amplifier costing a few hundred dollars is a sensible choice for Isvaran.

Because of the exceptional impedance response of the headphones – crossover point 12 ohms, dynamic element 15-20 ohms and planar element about 30 ohms – the output impedance of the amplifier should also be low. For example, even with a relatively low 10 ohm output impedance, the treble is boosted by about 2 decibels overall, and the bass is also slightly boosted. Frequency response changes are also avoided most effectively with output impedances below 1 ohm, unless someone intentionally aims for them.