Sivga, originating from China has been making some of the most technically capable headphones under $500 in recent times. They raised their head a few years ago and have a handful of headphones under their belt delivering eye-catching designs as well as intriguingly equipped headphones since their arrival. The SV023 I reviewed a couple of years ago has been one of their most popular and highly regarded headphone by both reviewers and consumers.
What I am reviewing here is the SV021 Pro V2. It’s the follow up to their popular non pro variant. This is their answer to the competition at $200. Just like any other Sivga headphones, SV021 Pro too has wooden cups and comes in two colors, Beechwood and Zebrawood colors. It houses a 50mm dynamic driver and is currently priced at $189.
I will compare it with a couple of popular headphones like Shure SRH 840A and Sennheiser HD569.
Get one from here:
ACCESSORIES AND PACKAGING:
SV021 Pro V2 ships with an all black box with some infographics on it. Unboxing experience is straightforward, and doesn’t have any tricks here. First thing that shows up inside the box is the headphone. A compartment within the headphone cavity contains the HEMP carry pouch and externally braided cable. There is a quarter inch adapter to use with AMPs.
HOW IS THE CABLE:
Sivga doesn’t have much information about the cable except the fact that it’s an OFC copper cable and it’s 1.6 meter long with protective fiber braiding over it. This braiding will keep the cable safe for a lot longer than other without it, giving into general wear and tear and keeps the cable safe from unwanted tangling too. On the down side this makes the cable stiffer than expected.
Components used in this cable are of very good quality. All the connectors and even the Y splitter is made out of metal, giving it a premium feel.
BUILD QUALITY AND ERGONOMICS:
SV021 Pro V2 has a highly sturdy build quality. It uses a metal frame to hold the cups and head bend. They have used protein leather on the top of head band and sides of earpads while inner sides have swede material and the ear cups are made out of wood.
Even when the egg-like shape of the wooden cups look eye-catching it is slightly on the smaller side and sits partially on the ear lobes of my bigger than average ears but thanks to the soft and supple pads it does not bother at all even after long hours of usage. Another problem is, it doesn’t have any sidewise movement. The cups do move vertically but that barely compensates for the uneven bone structures around the ear. It kind of feels like there is some gap and feels a bit odd, compromising it’s closed back nature. I will like a bit of side wise movement or a slightly bigger cup especially when it feels a bit odd on my bigger ears.
PAIRING WITH SOURCES:
Sivga SV021 Pro V2 has an impedance of 45ohm (10ohm higher than OG) with a sensitivity of 106db (1db higher than Non Pro), making it harder to drive out of mobile phones. It doesn’t show any anomalies when driven out of weaker sources but it doesn’t sound effortless when not powered properly. Using a powerful DAC/amp is advised. Good amount of power opens up it’s stage as experienced with the Muse Hifi M3 Ultra and Fiio K13 R2R. Giving it a much more powerful source doesn’t make much sense though.
SOUND QUALITY:
I was actually expecting a lot from this. It’s the successor of the SV021 and that was an excellent headphone at $150 and that raises the bar for this. I have a few headphones in this price range, while all of these are very good, none have the unique signature of the Sivga. The SV021 Pro V2 with it’s 50mm dynamic driver delivers a well rounded performance. It’s not bass heavy, has a well balanced vocal performance while the treble region is a bit more forward. All this without suppressing or trimming out resolution or definition.
Just like most of the head-gears of recent times the SV021 Pro V2 too doesn’t have much coloration while having a neutral timber.
I have used Muse Hifi M3 Ultra for this review.
BASS:
This 50mm dynamic driver has a balanced approach and doesn’t exaggerate the lower end while delivering very good details. It has very good extension and sub-bass rumble but doesn’t have the volume or weight behind the notes. Mid bass is fuller and more voluminous but is still not in the bassy category. It doesn’t try to bring the bass unless the track asks for it, exhibiting it’s control and dynamic abilities. In fact dynamics is class leading, it can hit harder notes with excellent clarity and control. Upper bass is slightly less voluminous but is equally capable as the SV021 Pro V2 uses it to place notes more dynamically. It has the layered feel without slowing down or dropping frames. Decay speed is on the faster side and is neck in neck with more expensive headphones like Fiio FT1 pro. It moves okay amount of air and even though they move in and upward it can give them direction depending of the track.
If you are looking for hard hitting bass with lots of vim and vigor, please look at something else. Robin doesn’t have any interest in pleasing the bass heads. It is more into accuracy and precision while keeping the air clean. It is the subtle nuances delivered by this headphone that keeps me sested.
MID RANGE:
After coming from a neutral lower end we are treated with an mid range with very good transparency and clarity and unlike the OG this doesn’t have any obvious weakness. That’s what we call an aptly tuned successor.
The transition from upper bass to lower treble is nicely done with very good energy and clarity. Vocals have accurate notes body with a very neutral tonality. Both male and female vocals are aptly accurate without trying to be overly thick or thin. Finishing definitions are spot-on. Texture and details are very good too. Yes male vocals could have been slightly throatier but can’t complain about that on a $150 headphone. Female vocals are more true to the nature. Both have a bit of warmish undertone that helps with body and texture. What could have been better is the balance. The vocals could have been a bit more leveled. Tonality and timber are a bit on the drier side but they still offer decent natural characteristics.
Instruments around the vocals are clean and transparent with very good height and clean air between them. They have nice finishing definition and the back and foreground separation is good too. They have a bit of bite and offers very good micro details too. Upper mids are aptly agile and sparkly while staying away from any sharpness or aggression. Now, one should keep one thing in mind, this is not exactly bright but is not for those looking for a smooth warm or laid-back presentation.
HIGHS:
If we see the whole spectrum, SV021 Pro V2 has a V shaped signature and it’s mostly because of the slightly elevated treble region. The rise in energy we see with the upper mids is carried over to the treble region. It has very good contrast and details. It’s sparkly with a livelier feel. Notes are agile and clean. We get very good air between instruments. Layering and separation is class leading too. It can place one instrument behind another without veiling any of those. We get very good positional accuracy too. It’s an excellent sounding headphone for those who are looking for class leading clarity.
SOUND STAGE AND IMAGING:
Surprisingly this budget headphone has a much bigger stage than its counterparts like Sennheiser HD598. SV021 Pro has a tall and wide stage with nice Z-axis depth. We get a very 3D like stage where most of the bass and vocal notes are placed inside the head with some mid range instruments and most of the treble notes make it out of the head. It has very good cue placements and the sonics are simply outstanding with the right kind of subtlety to them.
COMPARISONS:
vs Shure SRH840A:
840A is another headphone I admire a lot. It’s not as good as the SV021 Pro with the build quality. Pads are good, little bit larger but the whole headphone is made out of plastic. Good thing is it folds flat.
Sound wise both of these headphones have similar signature but the 840A has a bit more U shape to it, the vocals and mid range instruments are not tall enough. Vocals are a bit smoother though, tonality has a bit of warmer undertone with less energy up top. Instruments too are slightly less energetic. Overall timbre though is a bit more drier.
840A has a bit more weight behind the lower notes. They move a bit more air too but the area of impact is smaller. Highs too are not as transparent as the SV021 Pro but offer similar layering and separation with a bit less air between instruments. Sonics on the SV021 Pro are better with a wider stage.
It’s easy, SV021 Pro clearly has the upper hand here.
VS Sennheiser HD 569:
CONCLUSION:
SV021 Pro V2 is easily one of the best closed back headphones available under $200. It’s nearly perfect and has very good transparency and details across the spectrum. It has fantastic control over bass notes, mids are clean, clear and details with very good background instrumental decay that makes this sound very was engaging and musical while maintaining excellent technical capabilities. Highs too are done right. They are aptly extended with very good layering and separation. Yes, there is a little bit of problem with the plane where the notes are originating from, it’s not the cleanest but doesn’t sound veiled either.
If you are in the market looking for a well balanced, detail oriented closed back headphone under $200, get this. I don’t see anything performing as good as this, not even planar headphones like fiio FT1 Pro have the clarity and accuracy, so.. Yes, definitely recommended.
