INTRODUCTION:
Hailing from China Sivga is known for their high quality headphones with a touch of wood in them. They raised their head a few years ago and have a handful of headphones under their belt. Sivga has been delivering eye-catching designs as well as intriguingly equipped headphones since their arrival. The Phoenix reviewed by Ryan has been one of their most popular headphones and their flagship open back headphone SV023, which I reviewed last time, still is one of the best headphones under $500.
What I am reviewing here is their latest closed back headphone Peng, is this a closed back version of the SV023? Just like any other Sivga headphones, Peng too has wooden cups but unlike other budget options it doesn’t have any color options. It houses a 50mm dynamic driver and is currently priced at $449. Peng competes with the highly popular Sennheiser 6 series of headphone and I will be comparing it with Meze 109 Pro.
Get one for yourself from here:
https://www.amazon.com/SIVGA-Peng-Dynamic-Closed-Back-Headphone/dp/B0F9KPT5RQ
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256809044085374.html
UNBOXING AND ACCESSORIES:
When I reviewed the SV021 there wasn’t much to talk about when it comes to accessories but this time around we have a few interesting things inside the box (Peng has the exactly same set of accessories as the SV023). First of all, unboxing is fairly straightforward. Lift the top and a beautiful looking semi-hard carry case with leather like texture greets us and all the accessories along with the headphone are placed inside it. Its 4.4mm pentaconn cable, 6.5mm adapter and a 4.4mm to 3.5mm single ended adapter are safely tucked in a drawstring cloth pouch between the headband and protective foam.
I have a small issue with the case though. It barely can fit the headphone and can’t be closed if the cable is attached. This is not a serious issue but unplugging from the sockets every time I put the headphone in the case is not very convenient.
BUILD QUALITY AND COMFORT:
Sivga does not make clunky or shoddy headphones and Peng is no exception. Built around a light weight frame and the African Zebrawood cups this headphone feels light enough. At 341g this isn’t exactly feather weight but its minimal looks do give an impression of that. It has rotating cups and will fit any head without many issues. There is no excessive use of metal or padding but it still is very sturdy and flexible. What I didn’t like is the sliding faux leather padding. It has no stops and slides freely on both sides according to the pressure applied which can lead to asymmetrical movements on the metal band. If this thing is looked over, Peng has no weak points when it comes to build. Its wooden body adds class and thanks to its closed back design it offers very good ambient sound isolation. We get a large vent on the upper side of each ear cups, this helps the large 50mm drivers to breathe.
Comfort wise there is little to no complain. Just like the SV023, Peng has an ergonomically design hybrid pad with cloth like texture on the face side and faux leather on the sides. I am not sure if the curves on the pad will fit all heads but it’s reasonably designed. These pads are fairly comfy but can get a bit ticklish after a while, I had it on when I was doing some twists and it started to feel a bit funny after sometime. I should not complain but this is a possibility, especially in humid conditions.
CABLE:
Peng ships with the exactly same cable as the SV023, it ships with an excellent looking high quality 4.4mm 6N OCC copper cable with 3.5mm mono connectors at the headphone. Length of this cable is somewhere around 6 feet. This cable has no microphonics at all and is very supple and doesn’t bounce either. Most of the headphone cables are stiff and have horrible memory problems but this barely has any. Components used here are of higher quality (metal) with reasonable protection at the headphone jack. Both the cable splitter and cable slider are fairly smaller to get in the way or weigh the cable down.
Use of metal jackets on all the connectors do make this cable feel a bit heavy but it’s still is fairly lightweight. All in all its one of the best looking stock cables for sure.
PAIRING WITH SOURCES:
Even with an Impedance of 340ohm (SV023 has 300ohm) is not a very hard to drive headphone but pairing still is vital to extract good performance from it. What I observed is not the power but it’s the signature and timber of the source that matters more. When I used the DDhifi TC44 Grip which has a very precise and neutral tonality Peng sounded slightly off, especially tonality and timber were not great. Notes felt a bit compressed and held back somehow. When paired with similarly powered Shanling UA6, Peng opens up like a friendly neighborhood headphone and when I switched to the Fiio K17 it was a party in my head, excellent pairing with this beauty. K17 makes this HP more accurate and technically capable, adding more transparency and finishing energy while tightening the notes across the spectrum, offering mor air between instruments. The stage gets even bigger and the layering and separation takes it to the top of its class. This is a highly capable headphone after all. So in short, Peng is not a very whiny headphone though, pair it with something jolly or crisp and watch it dance to the tunes!!
SOUND QUALITY:
Housing a 50mm LCP surrounded, sapphire composite DD, Peng sits between the Luan and SV023 when it comes to tonality and coloration. Sivga is mastering the tuning for this 50mm driver and it seems, they are very comfortable with this. If you inspect what the similarly speced SV023 offered, it’s clear that Peng uses a similarly capable (if not same driver with small tweaks) driver with similar sensitivity (105db, up from 102db) and resistance (340, up from 300ohm) but in a closed back setup. The main question is how does this affect sound?
I do not know if they have retuned it or it’s just the closed back which is responsible for a slightly different presentation but this does sound a bit warmer and slightly less dry than the SV023. It has a bit more meaty notes and has a bit less energy at the finishing regions. We still get a nicely balanced sound with little to no coloration to worry about. Lets expand.
I have used Fiio K13 R2R and K17 for this review but my opinion is based on its pairing with the slightly warmer sounding K13 R2R.
BASS:
This 50mm dynamic driver has a reasonably balanced yet aptly musical approach, it doesn’t exaggerate the lower end but delivers very good details, good punch with accuracy. It has better sub-bass extension and rumble than the open back SV023 but doesn’t over do it with unwanted volume or heft. This lower end is aptly tighter and precise. Mid bass is slightly fuller and voluminous than the sub-bass but is still not in the bassy side for sure. It has very good slam, big enough area of impact, moves good amount of air while offering very good control over the notes. It has the right balance between musicality and precision. It doesn’t try to bring the bass body unless the track asks for it, exhibiting its control and dynamic abilities. Upper bass is equally energized, tight, as capable as the SV023 and doesn’t have any issues with dynamics or contrast of back and foreground notes. Peng doesn’t skimp on technicalities either, delivering nicely layered notes without slowing down or dropping frames. Decay speed is slightly on the faster side and is neck in neck with more expensive headphones like Focal Clear and Hifiman Arya.
If you are looking for hard hitting bass with vim and vigor, this might not be it. Peng doesn’t have a lot of intensity to please the bass heads.
MID RANGE:
I have heard a lot of headphones, extensively in this price range of $150-600. There was something off with most of them. But that streek was broken by the SV023 and Peng carries this impeccable all round performance forward. This HP has one of the best presentation and imaging in this price range and can easily outplay similarly priced open back headphones with both its technical and sonical abilities.
Sivga has tuned this mid range with superb precision and accuracy, I was slightly skeptical about its abilities but once I A-Bed with Meze 109 pro it left no doubts in my mind this headphone can take on more expensive open back headphones with ease. First thing that caught my attention is its pleasingly natural and cohesive timber. There is little to no aggression and the aggression it has is either well controlled or necessary. It has an excellent balance of attack and calmness with very good amount of air between instruments maintaining cleaner, clearer presentation too. I was surprised by the stage expansion and instrument distribution of this closed back headphone, it’s more evenly spread and has very good definition of individual notes.
Unlike most of the headphones Peng has a nicely balanced vocal region, giving it a more accomplished and mature tuning. Both male and female vocals have no aggression, maintain a very good balance of energy and body while sounding more emotional and organic than the SV023. Tonality and timber too are slightly warm yet accurate with high quality texture. While I was listening to “The Avener : Castle in the snow” Peng impressed me a lot with its back and foreground separation of both male and female vocal and layering of instruments. The way it creates a stage with accurate instrument placement, aided with subtle background movements and cue placement is what makes this a high quality headphone. It doesn’t have any deformation or unnecessary attack to worry about. There is no uncomfortable aggression in the upper mid either. It’s accuracy with instruments like guitar, triangle, tambourine and similar percussion instruments are aptly vivid, yet, not sharp. If anything, there is no dull feeling with the Peng but it isn’t on the face either.
HIGHS:
Treble region retains all the goodness of the mid range and make it slightly milder. It’s lively, crispy and agile yet clear of any offence or aggression. Peng brings out the melodious yet accurate side of tracks with its highly capable sonic and dynamic abilities. Its ability to distinguish central and surrounding acts is superlative. Treble extension too has little to desire but yes, the upper treble region is slightly relaxed yet retains excellent definition and resolution. It’s redundant but we get very good layering and separation with very good amount of air between instruments. It has highly accurate instrument placement but isn’t as clear or as pin pointed as the SV023.
SOUND STAGE AND IMAGING:
As mentioned in the mid range Peng is very capable headphone when it comes to imaging. It has high quality contrast between back and fore ground instruments and the layering and separation is top quality. Peng delicately places subtle notes further from the head adding up to its technical and sonical abilities.
Stage size too is above average for a headphone in this price. Initially the stage was a bit intimate, I though, okay.. This is not bad but it opened up with burn-ins and after 120+ hrs it has a well developed stage with evenly dense instrumental distribution. No part of the spectrum feel heavy or over crowded. This stage has very good expansion in every direction. It’s more holographic than the Meze 109 pro thanks to its wider and deeper stage. Height is very good too but is not as tall though.
COMPARISON:
VS Sennheiser HD650:
This has been one of the crowd favorite under $500 and I can understand why but this headphone has started to show its age. Both the headphones have high quality details, and resolution but HD650 is a hit or miss when it comes to energy and consistency. Those who like tighter notes and do not worry about sharper notes might like the Hd650, for other Sivga has the Peng. Due to its leaner notes HD650 lacks natural tonality, timber and body, notes feel a bit compressed yet tall giving it an unnaturally developed stage height while the Peng has these things presented in a more natural and cohesive manner. Notes have precise yet fuller body and do not have extra finishing energy either. Peng does not try to make thing lean to bring better transparency like HD650 but still maintains very good clarity. It might hurt a few but Peng has a slightly wider stage than the HD650, it feels overall bigger, delivering better air between instruments. Thanks to its delicate nature Peng has better sonics and feels more dynamic while the HD650 can feel a bit monotonous and flat.
Yes, definitely, HD650 needs expensive tube amps to tame its excessive energy while retaining good amount of resolution and detail but the Peng does not need anything like this and is happy with most of the sources.
VS Meze 109 pro:
An open back again.. And the matchup result is very similar too. Meze 109 pro is more transparent and clarity oriented while the Peng balances everything nicely.
109 pro slightly lacks with sub-bass depth and body while Peng has better depth and rumble. Mid bass is a bit more aggressive, slightly dry and forward with the 109 pro while Peng is less compressed and offers better layered notes, texture, definition with meatier and fuller body. Upper bass are equally clean on both. Mid range is where it gets more interesting. Peng sounds a bit calmer, has better texture, more pleasing tonality and timer, offers better vocal texture and has better emotions. 109 pro on the other had is a bit more forward with the attack and slightly less airy, can sound a bit flat with a dry timber and the upper mids can be fatiguing too. Treble is where the Peng just simply pulls ahead, not because it has more energy or transparency but with its stage expansion and air between instruments. It sounds a lot more effortless and cleaner than the energetic yet clumsy sounding 109 pro. Both have similar extension but the layering, separation, and imaging of Peng is just on a different level.
CONCLUSION:
If I have to sum it up, Peng is a very capable headphone to say the least. It has nearly everything one can ask for. It has the right amount of clarity, vividness, transparency and details without compromising with dynamics, sonicality or comfort. All this is held together in a well developed stage. Yes, it is slightly warmer and fuller sounding when compared to the SV023 but offers better poise and lower end body too while maintaining similar technical and sonical capabilities.
In short Peng is a jolly yet aptly detailed headphone that can be easily labeled as one of the best closed back all-round performer in the market under $500.
