Sendy AIVA planar Headphone

The Aiva is a beautiful looking planar headphone. You can tell that there was (and is) some serious love and pride put into such an attractive design with those premium wood cups and excellent form factor.

I am not sure there is a better looking planar headphone under $600 and it puts some $1K plus headphone builds to shame. Despite its 420g weight, it is perhaps one of the comfiest planar headphones under $1k. The headband and pads pressure displacement is hugely satisfying.

In terms of performance, the Aiva is not the hardest to drive but I do strongly suggest you demo widely because the tuning requires a level of control on its treble to stay in balance that I found best achieved with around 1W into 32Ω and a natural to slightly warm amp stage. DAP’s such as the HiBy R6 Pro and amps such as the Xi Audio Broadway were my preferred matchups. Tube Amps also will give you a nice sweet tone to the Aiva’s timbre.

Overall, the Aiva plays for modern pop, R’n’B, synth wave and some genres of EDM such as traditional trance. It has a punchy fun-sounding low-end, clean and clear vocals, and an upper-treble that is very airy and articulate. Though not a choice for the midrange purist with that upper mids/lower treble dip, the Aiva remains an exciting ‘contrasty’ modern music planar headphone with a unique and competitive performance for this price point.

To those who declare the Aiva anything but a great pair of headphones, I say, “What ineffable twaddle!”

Surely, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better constructed or nicer designed pair of headphones. Full stop. Their exotic looks may not necessarily float your boat, but no one is going to complain about how these things are put together, or about the materials used in their construction. The Aiva spoke to me from the first time I glimpsed pictures online and they more than live up to their beauty shots in person.

I’m satisfied that we’ve embodied our inner Sherlock Holmes and investigated this case thoroughly. The vital clue as to why some folks may not appreciate the Aiva became apparent when I tried them with the variety of portable and desktop devices that I have on hand.

If you are willing to provide them with a powerful and warm source, the Aiva shine. Pairing their planar drivers with an amp that can control them properly transforms the Aiva into a resolving but balanced and fun-sounding pair of cans. I hesitate to recommend them to anyone unwilling to properly power them, however. Smartphone users sporting average DAC/amp dongles may well be disappointed in what they hear.

The Aiva aren’t perfect, but at their price point they set the high-water standard for design, materials, comfort, and construction. Expectations can be damning; the Aiva don’t sound like other planar magnetic driven headphones that I’ve tried. But, if you are a fan of their own particular take on a detailed presentation anchored by punchy mid-bass, you’ll absolutely love them.