SENDY AUDIO AIVA II: Exquisite Well-Crafted Headphone

Sendy Audio is an audio company that specialises on producing premium headphones and they are a sub-brand of SIVGA. All of its well-crafted headphones assuredly that they are made with the finest materials that were carefully selected for demanding audiophiles looking for a high quality set to be used for their listening pleasure.

Since their establishment in 2015, they have already received an honour from a reputable award-giving body that specialises in audio-visual products and technology, VGP. And it shows its dedication to craftsmanship, innovation and enthusiasm with the audio community that increasingly enhances the reputation of the brand.

This is actually my first product review on this brand and what I've got is their latest midrange headphone, the Sendy Audio Aiva II. This headphone model is the successor model of the previous model, Sendy Audio Aiva and this one was released way back in 2019 and it retained its driver configuration but Sendy Audio did some improvement on the structure of its transducers and using new materials for better audio quality.

Like its predecessor, the Aiva II is an open-back headphone with a large planar magnetic driver inside of its wooden chassis and it has a detachable cable. It uses a new generation planar magnetic driver in a 97mm x76mm diameter size with a dual-arrayed magnets that holds a very thin diaphragm with a measurement of 1 micron that were applied with nepheline coating for better response on delivering faster transients and a more crystalline sound quality.

The drivers were then encased in a solid ear cap made of zebrawood, a type of hardwood tree that are native in Central America, Africa and Asia  which are known for their distinctive fine line grains and its properties as a sturdy and dense that they were use on furnitures, veneering and gunstocks. This kind of hardwood is actually difficult to work with because you need a specialised tool just to make some carving on it and Sendy Audio uses a CNC-machining process for better precision work, more efficient on production and capable of crafting and fabricating more complex geometry outlines. Zebrawood like all hardwoods, have an excellent acoustic properties as it has good sound-dampening capabilities that reduces unwanted resonance and vibration within the internal confine of its ear cap for a cleaner sound quality, better clarity and detail on its audio signal and a well-amplified dynamics as it was able to produce a sharper attack, a consistent sustaining and a more accurate decay of its overall sound and adds more warm character to have a more natural tone that usually identified with analogue-ish type of sound profile.

Since this is an open back-design headphone, it has a large cavity opening on its ear cap chassis with a silver-coloured stainless steel mesh and black-coloured grill with an intricate fish scale design that adds more character to its overall aesthetics that seems pretty industrial and minimalist. The ear pads that were used here are made of high quality goatskin leather and memory foam that ensures ergonomic fitting that an over-ear design could have as it rests well into my ears with its soft cushion and also, it is hypoallergenic too that we won’t encounter any discomforts at all. As for its detachability, it uses a 3.5mm connector in a TS configuration as its interlocking mechanism.

Its headphone band are made of aluminium alloy in a parallel design structure with an underneath leather scalp strap slider that provides an evenly-distributed weight from its ear cap chassis into my head as it rests well in the skull cup area with a less force clamp for longer listening session (I was able to wear this can for over 3 hours). Although as a supporting base that holds the ear caps, it only provided a limited swiveling angle on its ear caps with just 30 degrees.

Regarding on its stock cable, it uses a 3.5mm TS configuration plug and its overall build quality is quite premium as it has a 4-core structured 6N OCC copper wiring with a PET insulator coating that is quite supple, flexible to hold and entangle-resistant along a wooden chin slider and a 4.4mm balanced termination plug. Sendy Audio included a 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter for audio output adaptability although I wish that it includes a 6.3mm for audio professionals. The cable ensures a stable audio signal transmission for clean and clear sonic output and I don't encounter any microphonic effects at all.

The product packaging of Aiva II is quite elegant as it befitting for its caliber as a midrange set and the contents are well-organised inside of its huge packaging box with minimalist design.

 Here are the following contents we can find inside of its packaging box:

• Sendy Audio Aiva II Headphone
• Stock cable with 4.4mm balanced termination plug
• 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter
• A hard leather headphone storage
• A cloth sack for additional storage options.

Just for fun, at first glance, what do you think of the rounded bottom design of its hard leather storage case, a cleavage or a butt cheek? But despite its unintentional suggestive fashion appearance, it is actually a well-thought design as it was able to store a headphone without worrying any nicks, scratches and dings to the ear caps and also to some other parts.

Since this is a planar magnetic headphone, a large planar magnetic driver in general is a power guzzling type of transducer that is less efficient as it requires more power output than a usual dynamic driver of the same size. Pairing it to a source with medium gain or high gain output will ensure its full optimisation on its audio performance to sound more dynamic that encompasses a full frequency range. DAPs, USB DAC dongle/portable headphone amplifier and desktop headphone amplifiers are the best possible set-up that I could suggest if you want maximum performance from this can.

As for its tonal profile, this one has a mild U–shaped sound signature with balanced-warmish tonality on its overall tuning with a hint of planar energetic sheen on it.

LOWS/BASS:

Since this is an open back design headphone, it won’t have that clear and deep sub bass presence that you will only feel on the closed back design headphones and IEM earphones but it has enough depth and a decent felt reverberation and rumble. It has an ample mid bass texture enough to give a sense of denseness and volume on the notes of selected  bass-clef instruments and low-octave male vocal types.

The bass guitars sound rasping and resonant while double basses have an added a bit of heft to sound more weighty and sustaining, and then, bass kick drums have a resonant and thudding sound for every beat as it adds more rhythm and impact. When it comes to deep male vocals, it has an adequate richness and resonating depth on both bass and bass-baritones to their distinctive gravelly, dusky and dense which quite a feat for a planar magnetic driver but it doesn't offer that dark timbre that these vocal type should also possessed.

Overall, this headphone delivers a clean, precise, incisive with satisfying punchiness on its bass response that will be satisfying to listeners who want a more balanced sound presentation but for ardent bassheads, its bass quality will be underwhelming for them as it lacks authority and impact. And we should remember that planar magnetic drivers delivers a faster transient that its note decay will simply dissipates instantly as it is more focus on precision while enhancing its clarity and detail definition rather than it lingers a longer duration like most dynamic driver

MIDRANGE:

The overall presentation is a little bit recessed on the entirety of its tuning profile but it has a bit of warmth character which is quite unusual for a planar magnetic set that gives some fair texture and volume on male vocals to have smooth sound, and a blaring and ringing sound on brass instruments. In general, the midrange quality of this one seems  pretty balanced, clean, transparent and energetic which will be ideal for female vocals, woodwinds and strings as they sound more expressive, lively and expansive.

On the subject of male vocals, while some vocals seems a bit leaner in terms of depth and texture despite of some warmth on it, baritones have a smooth and soft sound, while tenors have a dazzling and tinny sound, and then countertenors with their defining falsettos sound tender and glowing. As for female vocals, contraltos have smoky and rich sound, a fiery and coppery sound from mezzo-sopranos, and then, a silvery and gleaming sound on sopranos from dramatic up to coloratura types.

The instruments on how they sound on this one, as I pointed out a while ago that strings and woodwinds fare well on this type of tuning due to its energetic nature but I would address first on other types of instruments. The brasses like trumpets, trombones and horns, in corresponding order, they sound brilliant, sustaining and metallic, while on the percussives ones such as snares, tom-toms, field drums and kettledrums, they sound sharp, resonant, majestic and deep albeit a bit dry respectively. Regarding on strings, guitars have those crisp and bright sound every pluck, strumming and flicks like rasgueado technique on flamenco guitars, cellos have clear, cantabile and lively sound, and violins have their  bright, vibrant and sweet sound on every motion on their bowstrings. As for woodwinds, piccolos have brilliant and intense sound, concert flutes sound rich and light, clarinets have these pale yet explosiveness on their sound, and last but not the least, saxophones have forceful and reedy sound. Pianos seems to have a balanced tone as they sound crisp, rich and full-bodied.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

While the treble response of this one is definitely on the brighter side of tuning as they sound radiant but without being too offensive as it has that smoothness that it has glossiness on them  but I noticed that its airy extension is rather modest for a planar magnetic driver. It has a bit accentuated upper-mids and presence treble section that highlights the clarity of vocal articulation and attack on instruments and I didn't encounter any stridency nor sibilance but treble-sensitive folk should still take caution on this one as it might be too sensitive for their hearing capacity.

As I stated before about the quality of its brilliance section, its airy extension is just average but it has an ample sparkle on which the entirety of instrumental harmonics are situated. On treble-clef instruments, cymbals have lustrous yet sizzling on every stroke, hi-hats have a sustaining and resonating  tick tone on its distinctive chick-y sound, celestas appears to have a sweet and velvety sound, and glockenspiels have their bell-like and lustrous sound.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

Given that it is an open back headphone, it will give that spacious head stage as it will have a relatively wide lateral span, good height reach and a nice depth as this is also a planar magnetic can too. As for its imaging, It presents a concave-like presentation rather than a 3D-like atmospheric stereo presentation and a fairly layered soundscape along with a good sense of separation of musical elements like instrumental section and chorale lines in which I can locate them accurately in a pitch-black sonic canvas.

In regards to driver coherency, we know the capabilities of the planar magnetics as they deliver a fastest transient response in all types of headphone transducers, a wider frequency response and a lower chance of producing distortion due to the consistent and constant motion on its diaphragm. About its resolution capabilities, it has good clarity and precision on how it was able to exhibit a firmness on its macro-dynamics as it was able highlight the varying degree of loudness from chorale lines and instrumental passages, and as for its micro-dynamics, it has balanced sharpness and crisp definition as it was able to extract subtleties, nuances and grains from its background sonic like notational attack, vocal ends and instrumental reverb tails.

PEER COMPARISONS:

FOSTEX T40RP MK.II (DEMO)

• An old model from Fostex that was introduced around the 2010s.
• Cheaper than AIVA II as it was priced under US$200/£140 at the time of its initial release.
• It has a closed-back configuration and a unique industrial look.
• The ear cap chassis is made of high quality plastic and it has an expandable headband arm on both sides, but if it will be compared to Aiva II in terms of design, this one looks too bog-standard and a bit cheap looking too although it has a lighter weight.
• This one has a V-shaped sound profile as it has a bit of a boomy bass response, too recessed and lean sounding midrange, and a bright but even less airy treble quality.
• As for its technicalities, it has an intimate soundstage as it has these compressed feelings, a less layered soundscape with a bit of veiled resolution capabilities.

HIFIMAN EDITION XS (DEMO)

• A midrange headphone from HIFIMAN that was released 3 years ago and it also has a planar magnetic driver.
• This one is also quite cheaper than AIVA II as it was priced at around US$400 as far as I remember.
• It has an open back design just like the AIVA II and follows a design language from more expensive models like the Arya and Ananda in which I also include in this peer comparison section.
• Its overall build materials are made of plastic and metal, and it has a huge, ovular design on its ear caps as it also offers comfortable wear.
• This one has a similar tuning with the AIVA II which is a U-shaped balanced-warmish tonality but it has a bit tighter bass response, a bit leaner noticeable recessed midrange but it has a warmth on its characters for male vocals and percussives, and a brighter and a bit more airier treble response.
• Regarding its overall technical performance, it has an above-average sound/speaker staging with just decent layering and separation of musical elements on its soundscape as I’m a bit struggling on pointing out their exact placements especially in a complex multi-instrumental tracks like orchestra and jazz recording and less resolving resolution capabilities due to a bit blunted micro-detail definition.

HIFIMAN ANANDA (DEMO)

• An old favourite from HIFIMAN and one of the few planar headphones that truly impresses me in terms of tonality.
• This is a high midrange one that was around US$900 at the time of its release in the last quarter of the 2010s.
• It has an open back profile and it is one of the “power-efficient” designed planar magnetics of its time as it can be driven by devices like portable headphone amplifiers or a DAP with at least a medium gain mode.
• The overall design structure of this headphone is made of plastic and metal and it appears lighter than the AIVA II but the structural integrity of its headband design is rather uncertain in terms of quality as it is made of plastic.
• This one has a balanced-neutral sound signature as it has sufficient punchy bass response, a neutral presentation on its midrange with a well-balanced texture and clarity for all vocal types and a more natural tonal colour on instruments for a planar driver, and then smooth, linear and airy treble presentation.
• This one is truly a technical monster as it can project a spacious, well-layered and atmospheric sound field with an impressive resolution capabilities for its well-rendered micro-dynamics on detail retrieval.

AUDEZE LCD-2 (DEMO)

• An old model from Audeze that was released around 2018 or 2019 and it also has a magnetic planar driver.
• This one is also a high midrange headphone that was priced under US$1000 at the time of its release.
• It has an open back design with a circular shape and a slightly slimmer ear cap chassis with comfortable ear pads.
• Like the Aiva II, the materials that this set also has are made of wood, metal and leather and if my memory serves right, this one is a bit heavier too but I can tolerate its weight when I tested this set.
• This set has warmish-neutral type of sound profile in which I also consider it as mid-centric one too as it has balanced bass response with enough punch, a lush, warm and pretty well-textured midrange, and a neutral and a bit overly smooth treble response that treble-headed individual will surely frown upon.
• It has an above-average head stage that somehow presents a concave-like stereo imaging presentation, a well-defined layering on soundscape and excellent solid macro-dynamics.

Sendy Audio deserves some praise and accolades on how they produce this well-crafted headphone and it truly distinct itself from its sister brand as its premium-tiered sub brand. This headphone has its own identity like a robust build quality, the quality of materials that were used to craft this set, the overall presentation like packaging and inclusions and a solid tuning with good tonal balance and commendable technical performance while retaining its fun and musical factor of its comprehensive tuning.

There are some slight nitpicks that need some improvement and refinement on this headphone particularly on its tonality but Sendy Audio seemingly has its own take as it delivers more of a character on this one as it differentiate itself to its contemporaries from other brands. And also, I think that this one's pretty competitive and quite an alluring in terms of craftsmanship.

Sendy Audio Aiva II is now available and you can buy them in your favourite online vendors.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/SENDYAUDIO-Aiva-Planar-Magnetic-Headphone/dp/B0F1FQZR24

Musicteck Link:

https://shop.musicteck.com/products/sendyaudio-aiva-2-planar-magnetic-headphones-like-new

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: SNEDY AUDIO AIVA II

IMPEDANCE: 32Ω

SENSITIVITY: 96dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 40KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 2M

PIN TYPE: 3.5mm CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 4.4mm, 3.5mm (ADAPTER)

DRIVER UNIT(S):  97mm x 76mm PLANAR MAGNETIC DRIVER

PROS:

● The overall build quality screams premium and deluxe.

●  It uses zebrawood for its aesthetics and at the same time, it has excellent acoustic properties.

● Outstanding woodwork on its ear cap structure with comfortable over-ear earpads made of goatskin  leather and memory foam.

● Pretty ornately-design grills

● Solid stainless headband with a cozy leather strap.

● Less clamping force for comfortable wear.

● Detachable high quality cable with a 4.4mm termination with a 3.5mm plug adapter

● Fully-packed with quality accessories.

● High quality stock cable with modular termination feature.

● It has two options for headphone storage, a sackcloth pouch or a hardbound leather storage case.

● This new generation planar magnetic driver has something to offer in terms of coherency performance.

● A warmish-balanced sound profile that will be more engaging and fun sounding.

● Precise, incisive and somehow a bit clean bass response.

● Warm, textured and energetic midrange presentation. 

● Smooth, spicy and rich sound on male vocals and bright and expressive on some female vocals.

● This can is highly recommended in the classical music genre on how it portrays the woodwinds, brasses and strings in an almost life-like manner.

● Bright and clear treble response

● Well, it's open back so expect a spacious headstage but with some caveats in which will be put down on the cons section.

● Somehow it has a good layering and separation.

● It has detailed and clear resolution capabilities.

CONS:

● Quite weighty and planar magnetic drivers require more power output to drive it at optimal level.

● Might be too coloured sounding for some adherent neutral heads.

● Lacking a bit of punchiness on its mid bass texture. 

● Treble-sensitive folk should take caution on its tuning as it might be a bit delicate on their listening threshold.

● Open back headphones have a sound leakage therefore it does not isolate well from external noises from the outside.

● As I mentioned that it has good layering, it is not class-leading as I've tested with headphones that have excellent layering quality.

TRACKS TESTED: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *

Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to SENDY AUDIO nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to Mr. Collin Yang for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.