This is an introduction to Sivga Audio, a China-based audio brand based in Dongguan city in China. This city is quite close to Hong Kong and I have actually been there when I was in China and based in nearby Guangzhou. They describe themselves as an ‘engineering team…formed by many…from the electronic and acoustic field’. The site is here and if you want detailed information. I’ve been sent a pair of their new Sivga Robin SV021 and a pair of planar magnetic (PM) Sendy Audio Aiva headphones, that I will ‘introduce’ to you.
Two Pairs of Headphones
Needless to say, I was keen to have a good old listen but it was immediately clear the headphones needed to acclimatise and have a proper run-in which is fairly common in these cases. Suggested times were 100 hours for the PM Aiva and a rather exact 48 hours for the Robin.
The Robin SV021 is the most recent product to be offered by Sivga Audio. They are closed-back, with a 50mm dynamic driver with a dark cherry wooden cup design. At an indicated €149, they are very competitively priced and are well worth a listen. The Robins come with a nice fabric carry bag and a well thought out fabric sheathed cable that is a good length for portable use. I must say the Robins are very comfortable and have a nice balance between fit, and pressure on the ear, though made of wood they are light enough, at 275g, in my view. I have the black wooden pair but there is a natural rosewood finish available that might be a little too obvious on the street.
The Aiva headphones are open-backed and planar magnetic, they are heavier, at 420g. The Aiva headphones have a premium feel to them that is reflected in the €649 guide price, there are no retail prices in the UK as Sivga have no distributor as yet (the Robins are on Amazon.com). The Aiva I have come with the new balanced 4.4mm pentaconn connector as standard but also included is a 4.4mm – 3.5mm standard jack adaptor, this is quite flexible, and they even include a gold plated 6.35mm adaptor for the small jack, very thoughtful.
Sivga Robin SV021
The Robins are a fine performer at this price and I feel they are good value for money in what is a very competitive space. I get a very good performance from them, with my portable Pioneer XDP-100 which is probably where you would use them the most, on the move. The headstage is weighty and fulsome and they drive very easily. Being closed back you’re not going to upset anyone either, out and about. In a more detailed listen with the Chord Hugo 2, using a 2Go, I get a very satisfactory level of performance too. The main takeaway here then; these appear to be excellent value for money.
Aiva
The pricier Aiva have a more engineered headband and they are clearly designed for more sedate listening, all the more odd then that they come with a hard carry case that I can only describe as looking like udders but I guess for travelling somewhere the case is necessary. The headphones are quite comfortable and have the right fit (for me). I feel the Aiva need a bit of oomph to drive them, despite having the same impedance as the Robins they have a much lower sensitivity at 98db/mW compared to the Robins at 105db. Subsequently, I have found the Aiva perform much better with a headphone amplifier which, I guess, is the idea Sivga have. With the iFi Pro iDSD, which has a gain switch for headphones, I get a solid performance with excellent channel separation and resolution to match. I would prefer a more dominant headstage in my case but with the right headphone amplifier, I feel there is plenty to be delivered by these headphones. I suspect many will prefer a little more bass in the profile with these headphones but I find them very balanced indeed. The Aiva performance with the Chord Hugo 2 was a little disappointing for me with the volume heavily cranked up but the compensating feature was the Chord 2Go which allowed me to move around the house to find the quietest spot with young adults doing their best to disturb my introduction to Sivga Audio.
The main takeaway – find the right headphone amplifier and you could be very happy indeed.
Overall
My introduction to Sivga Audio has been very enjoyable indeed. The Robins are at a very competitive price point but they certainly will give some brands a run for their money with a quite balanced frequency profile. If you can get an audition with them I think you will be well served. The Aiva are rather comfortable and have great potential but they are going to need a suitable headphones amplifier to get the best out of the good levels of resolution on offer. As a first pass on Sivga Audio though I’m keen to hear more and see where this brand is going.
About Sivga Audio
Sivga focuses on the development of professional audiophile headphones. The whole team has more than 10 years of experience in the audio industry, and they are very passionate about audio products. The amazing sound quality you hear is tuned many times by our engineers. Every single progress is a result and achievement from their pursuit of perfection. The direction for product design is pursuing nature, which returns original and natural sound to ears. Combined with a professional driver and top quality wood, every music detail can be reproduced very well.
Sivga always pursues “returning original sound to ear”, which motivates us to make better sound quality. With the spirit of determining for making progress and exploring human being’s pursuit for better acoustic feeling, Sivga is striving hard to make the most professional audio products