Today, we review the Sendy Audio Aiva 2 planar magnetic headphone, which costs $599 USD.
Disclaimer: Sendy Audiowas so nice to send us the unit in exchange for our honest opinion.
Sendy Audio
Sendy Audio is a sub-brand of Dongguan Sivga Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. It is committed to making refined products and producing different high-end headphones. It was founded in 2015. They adhere to traditional craftsmanship, coupled with the selection of high-quality natural solid wood as the material for the housing.
Threads and reviews about Sendy Audio on Head-Fi, Reddit, Amazon, and many other sites exist. They became reasonably popular recently, and their landmark was the Aiva, the first Sendy Audio product I know of. Now, we have the second version to review here.
I reviewed their flagship Peacock headphone back in 2021. You can check that out just below:
Sendy Aiva 2
The Aiva 2 is Sendy Audio’s new planar magnetic headphone, the successor to the Aiva model. The technical design has double magnets, with diaphragms as thin as 1 micron. Sendy claims that the ultra-thin design of the diaphragms allows for a very clear sound and good transients.
Here are the specifications:
- 97×76mm Double nepheline magnetic array planar unit
- Impedance: 32 Ohm
- Sensitivity: 96dB
- Weight: 420g
Other than technical points, the headphone design, in typical Sendy/Sivga Audio fashion, has genuine wood earcups, a steel headband and assembly parts. The external design is similar to previous Sivga offerings.
Package, Design, Build
The headphone arrives in a cardboard box, which stores the brown-coloured carrying bag, which is of very high quality. You have a carrying pouch, one cable adapter (4.4 to 3.5), and the stock cable. There’s nothing else to mention, and expectedly so. The carrying bag is made from genuine leather and is of excellent quality. It’s a nice one.
The Aiva 2 looks good but is less impressive or flashy than the flagship Peacock. This is a bit more understated design, but it looks cool. From the genuine wood earcups, the grill, and the headband, it’s a luxurious-looking piece of equipment—no doubts about that. It’s somewhat old-school, but to each their own, I suppose. Sendy Audio has a distinctive design language; you can see it with the Aiva 2.
The build quality is excellent as well. Sendy Audio cut no corners there, and the headphones are fabulously well-built overall. As far as I can tell, there are no plastic parts. The headphones are made of either wood or aluminium. The yokes and the headband are all metal. The ear cups are made from high-quality zebrawood. Excellent quality there.
So, Sendy Audio has created headphones that can serve users for many years. You might prefer more industrial or professional-looking headphones, but there’s no doubt that the design of the Aiva 2 is authentic.
Comfort
The Aiva 2 weighs 420 grams, which is not a high number for planar magnetic headphones. However, we all know that planar magnetic headphones are a bit heavier, nonetheless, so they are a bit heavier than a Sennheiser HD660S, for instance. One should understand that when you get a planar headphone, it won’t be very light.
The Aiva 2 has a nice weight distribution and a good headband design. Apart from that, the size adjustment mechanism is different from most headphones. Instead of sliding the earcups, you only slide the headband. And you can do that while wearing the headphones because the headband slides itself when you’re applying the force of wearing it, so that’s a convenient touch.
The earpads are made from goatskin and memory foam. Their shape is ideal, and your ears comfortably sit inside them. Thanks to the design and weight distribution, the Aiva 2 sits comfortably on your head. The clamping force is light, so that also helps a bit. The headband is exceptionally well-made, and I didn’t have comfort issues with it.
Cable
I want to mention the cable that comes with the Aiva 2. This is one of the best stock cables I’ve ever seen. It is a 4-core 6N OCC braided cable, and it’s built fantastically well. It looks great, too, and it nicely completes the headphone’s design.
I didn’t expect this kind of cable to be supplied with the headphones, and I congratulate Sendy Audio. Cable is an essential aspect of headphones and IEMs, and I think more companies should look into that.
Page 2: Sound Quality
Page 3: Technical Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion
