HIFIMAN has
HIFIMAN SUNDARA Over-Ear Planar Magnetic Open Back Hi-Fi Headphones (Refurbished)
+ RE400 In-Ear Monitor or
RE400a In-Line Control Earphone for
$169 when you follow the instructions below.
Shipping is free.
Instructions:
- Add HIFIMAN SUNDARA to cart
- Add RE400 In-Ear Monitor or RE400a In-Line Control Earphone to cart
- Proceed to checkout
- Redeem coupon code SLD20
- Total will be $208.99 - $39.99 = $169 + free shipping
HIFIMAN also has
HIFIMAN Edition XS Over-Ear Planar Magnetic Open Back Hi-Fi Headphones (Refurbished)
+ RE400 In-Ear Monitor or
RE400a In-Line Control Earphone for
$220 when you follow the instructions below.
Shipping is free.
Instructions:
- Add HIFIMAN Edition XS to cart
- Add RE400 In-Ear Monitor or RE400a In-Line Control Earphone to cart
- Proceed to checkout
- Redeem coupon code 19OFFRF
- Total will be $258.99 - $38.99 = $220 + free shipping
Thanks to community member
BeigeRoad455 for finding this deal.
Condition:
- The refurbished products have been thoroughly inspected and are all tested in good working condition but may have parts replaced by the factory (as needed) and cosmetic defects.
- All refurbished products also come with accessories and are securely packaged. If the original packaging is missing, we will ensure they are packaged in a brand-new brown box.
- Every HIFIMAN Refurbished product includes HIFIMAN's standard warranty, the same as brand-new products.
Top Comments
Sundara rtings review: https://www.rtings.com/headphones...nd
Edition xs rtings review: https://www.rtings.com/headphones...ed
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The edition xs use the standard hifiman headband, have substantially larger oval earcups, and at 405g are a fair bit heavier than the sundara. If your head is on the smaller side, the edition xs may not fit well. The sundara uses a hammock style headband, has smaller round earcups, and is more compact than the edition xs; the sundara weighs 342g.
The edition xs has an impedance of 18 ohms and a sensitivity of 92db. The combination of quite low impedance along with fairly low sensitivity means these headphones are current hungry and moderately difficult to drive, but as long as you're not planning on using eq (equalization) you can probably get away with not using an amp if you have a high quality integrated audio solution on your motherboard. Don't expect something low end like the alc987 to work though. To be clear, sound will likely be improved with a dedicated audio setup, but these headphones aren't hard enough to drive that an amp is 100% necessary to get good sound, just recommended. The sundara are a bit more power hungry due to having a higher impedance of 32 ohms with the same sensitivity, and due to needing more of a bass boost with eq. The same advice as with the edition xs applies, just to a greater extent.
These headphones are not designed for portable use, and most phones and cheap usb-c to 3.5mm dongles probably won't do a very good job of driving them. If you'd be eqing these headphones to any meaningful degree (negative preamp of more than 3db or so), an amp is even more highly recommended. As planar magnetic headphones with low distortion they take rather well to eq, so eq is highly recommended if you have an amp.
The largest issue with these headphones is hifiman's quality control, unfortunately hifiman is infamous for poor quality control and poor product longevity. Poor driver matching, driver failure after months (or less) of use, crackling or rattling sounds when moving your head, and more are all relatively common complaints with hifiman headphones including the edition xs and sundara. This is not by any means guaranteed, the majority of purchasers receive headphones without glaring issues or premature failures, but hifimans quality control and product longevity still stands out as being distinctly worse than that of other major brands.
Both the refurbished edition xs and refurbished sundara come with a 1 year standard warranty, from what I've heard hifiman's customer service tends to be decent (at least in the US), but obviously ymmv.
Hifiman's warranty policy can be found here: https://store.hifiman.c
In my personal experience, the refurbished headphone I ordered previously from hifiman came in essentially pristine condition and have not had any issues whatsoever after months of use. That being said, this is only a single anecdotal experience, so ymmv.
Overall, if these headphones would fit your use cases and you're willing to purchase refurbished, either of these headphones are an excellent deal.
34 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank BeigeRoad455
Sundara rtings review: https://www.rtings.com/headphones...nd
Edition xs rtings review: https://www.rtings.com/headphones...ed
A few basics to get out of the way first, since I know people wander onto these headphone deals not realizing these are audiophile cans for critical listening: these headphones are wired only (no bluetooth or wireless connections of any kind), have no form of active noise cancelling, have extremely poor sound isolation (you can hear whats going on around you, and everyone around you can hear what you're listening to), and are heavy and bulky. They are designed to be used at home with a dedicated audio setup.
The edition xs use the standard hifiman headband, have substantially larger oval earcups, and at 405g are a fair bit heavier than the sundara. If your head is on the smaller side, the edition xs may not fit well. The sundara uses a hammock style headband, has smaller round earcups, and is more compact than the edition xs; the sundara weighs 342g.
The edition xs has an impedance of 18 ohms and a sensitivity of 92db. The combination of quite low impedance along with fairly low sensitivity means these headphones are current hungry and moderately difficult to drive, but as long as you're not planning on using eq (equalization) you can probably get away with not using an amp if you have a high quality integrated audio solution on your motherboard. Don't expect something low end like the alc987 to work though. To be clear, sound will likely be improved with a dedicated audio setup, but these headphones aren't hard enough to drive that an amp is 100% necessary to get good sound, just recommended. The sundara are a bit more power hungry due to having a higher impedance of 32 ohms with the same sensitivity, and due to needing more of a bass boost with eq. The same advice as with the edition xs applies, just to a greater extent.
These headphones are not designed for portable use, and most phones and cheap usb-c to 3.5mm dongles probably won't do a very good job of driving them. If you'd be eqing these headphones to any meaningful degree (negative preamp of more than 3db or so), an amp is even more highly recommended. As planar magnetic headphones with low distortion they take rather well to eq, so eq is highly recommended if you have an amp.
The largest issue with these headphones is hifiman's quality control, unfortunately hifiman is infamous for poor quality control and poor product longevity. Poor driver matching, driver failure after months (or less) of use, crackling or rattling sounds when moving your head, and more are all relatively common complaints with hifiman headphones including the edition xs and sundara. This is not by any means guaranteed, the majority of purchasers receive headphones without glaring issues or premature failures, but hifimans quality control and product longevity still stands out as being distinctly worse than that of other major brands.
Both the refurbished edition xs and refurbished sundara come with a 1 year standard warranty, from what I've heard hifiman's customer service tends to be decent (at least in the US), but obviously ymmv.
Hifiman's warranty policy can be found here: https://store.hifiman.c
In my personal experience, the refurbished headphone I ordered previously from hifiman came in essentially pristine condition and have not had any issues whatsoever after months of use. That being said, this is only a single anecdotal experience, so ymmv.
Overall, if these headphones would fit your use cases and you're willing to purchase refurbished, either of these headphones are an excellent deal.
That said, their "MSRP" prices are a running joke in audio circles. These deals are good - especially with additional free stuff, but ignore the MSRP. Both OP and other commenters have correctly pointed out the going rate for these.
Might be OK on regular sources, though I always run mine on a headphone amp - dongle or desktop. Note that all these open backs have no privacy at all. Anyone nearby will 100% be able to hear what you are listening to, but it will sound awesome to you.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
They sound phenomanal though. More bass than something like a Drop HD6XX, bit cleaner on my Fiio K11 DAC/AMP.
The coupon stacking up, I think if anyone confused about coupon stacking it might be because earphones are one or the other not both (RE400 or RE400a), the OR condition
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I would like to think that the XS at this price is probably one of the best buys you could make in audio if you have decent souce gear to pair with it. I find that my best preference of source pairing for the XS is something that has a warm, natural timbre and slightly subdued highs that are still aggressive and sparkly. Naturally these kinds of sources may not be clarity monsters but that's what the Sundara and XS is going to make up for by creating a outstanding synergy and the warmth will help give these headphones a bit more bottom end, note weight and less excess treble brightness since both models lean neutral-bright which can be a problem for source gear that also lean on the brighter side of neutral. The more musical the better I say.
I might suggest the Hifiman EF499 open box going for $239 ($299 new) and has a $19 off coupon for open box models.
https://store.hifiman.c
Code: 19OFFOB
This would be a great pairing that matches the characteristics I have mentioned and a excellent price for a R2R DAC w/ a powerful amp on board. The next cheapest R2R would be the FiiO K11 R2R however that one is a bit more neutral compared to the EF499 and the extra bit of warmth and naturalness from the EF499 (or EF400 model) always wins me over. For the K11 to get close to the EF499 (or EF400) you would need to pair it with something like a Schiit Asgard 3 which has similar characteristics and grunt to the EF499 imo but now you are in a completely different price bracket and about double the cost over the EF499. Open Box EF499 is a fantastic deal.
For a added bonus you simply have to try Dolby Atmos for Headphones with these guys, bumps up the bass and gives the stage even more holographic presentation. I'm addicted.