HiFiMAN Sundara Closed

The reviewer finds the HiFiMAN Sundara Closed to be a disappointing closed-back version of the Sundara, as it lacks the open-back's signature sound and instead sounds dark, closed-in, and less detailed. While it offers good comfort and easy driving efficiency, its bass, imaging, and soundstage are subpar for the price, leading the reviewer to recommend other closed-back options or the original Sundara instead.

The reviewer concludes that the HiFiMAN Sundara Closed is a fundamentally flawed product that sounds nothing like the open-back Sundara, with severe treble spikes and a woolly mid-bass. They found that removing the cups made the sound worse, and while EQ can improve it, the required adjustments are so fine-grained and unit-dependent that the headphone remains categorically bad. They strongly advise against purchasing it.

The reviewer finds the HiFiMAN Sundara Closed to be a solid, well-balanced closed-back planar headphone for the price, with good bass control, clarity, and soundstage width. However, they note a slight unnatural 'plasticky' sheen in the upper frequencies that affects female vocals and can make energetic genres sound a bit splashy. Overall, they consider it a good value, especially for genres like classical, jazz, and folk, though not without minor trade-offs.

The reviewer finds the Sundara Closed-Back to be a comfortable and well-built headphone with mostly neutral tuning, but notes it has a mixed sound performance with some mid-forwardness and subpar isolation and sound leakage for a closed-back design. They consider it a decent but not outstanding effort from HiFiMan in the closed-back category.

The reviewer finds the Sundara Closed Back to be a well-built and comfortable headphone, but notes that it sounds noticeably worse than the open-back Sundara, with a less natural and less detailed tuning. It is recommended only for those who specifically need closed-back isolation, and the reviewer suggests the open-back version for better sound quality.

The reviewer finds both headphones disappointing, with the HE-R9 being particularly poor due to its cheap build, overwhelming bass, and unnatural sound, while the Sundara Closed offers better build but still suffers from a bloated bass, thin mids, and a generally lifeless presentation. Neither lives up to their original price, though the Sundara Closed is more acceptable at its sale price.