Sivga Oriole Review

Technical Performance

The soundstage is the biggest drawback of the Oriole. You feel trapped inside a small room, so it’s not a wide and deep experience with the Sivga Oriole. In addition, stereo imaging, while being precise and clean enough, lacks separation through complex recordings where you have a lot of elements in a song, despite the bright and crisp frequency response. So the layering performance is not at the same level as mid-fi headphones.

So those two aspects are not very good overall. The headphone provides a nice focus in the midrange and the resolution is very, very high for the price which is hugely impressive. The mid-range and treble are also clean/transparent, but it all happens in a small and boxy space.

The tonal balance of the headphone is not very ideal for reference listeners and audiophiles. Sure, it has an exciting and fun touch and forwardness in the mids, but it’s not very realistic in terms of tuning, especially in the mid-range.  So coherency is not a strong point of the Oriole. The transition from the mid-range to the treble area is good though, opposite of bass to mids where you lack the mid-bass emphasis

The mids sound very transparent, whilst the treble area is splashy and crispy. The result is a nicely clear presentation and openness in the mid-range and treble. One strong aspect of the headphone is the excellent detail retrieval. With a sufficient desktop setup or a good portable source, every nuance and every detail is easily audible in a precise manner. Since the overall resolution is good, the overall performance is satisfying, except for a few issues I’ve mentioned just above.

Comparisons

The Beyerdynamic DT770 is still one of my favourites to this day. The 32Ohm version is both easily-driven and very well-balanced in terms of presentation. The design part is subjective but one can say that the Sivga offering looks more premium with its wood cups. Also, the Beyerdynamic model is not that portable since the Sivga offering has 180-degrees rotation with its yokes, whilst the Beyerdynamic doesn’t. Another issue with the DT770 is the cable which is not removable.

However, there’s a reason we still keep it on our best headphones list. The DT770 has excellent resolution, a good sound-stage for the price and for a closed model, and it has excellent transparency and imaging. It doesn’t have the fun factor of the Sivga Oriole, but it sounds like a real audiophile headphone in terms of tonal balance. You won’t get the elevated upper mids, diffused mid-bass and boosted sub-bass with the Beyer, but you’ll find great imaging, space, layering and tonal accuracy. So it’s basically an audiophile tuning versus an exciting tuning comparison.

If you forget about style, portability or isolation, the HD 560 S is one of the best budget headphones you can get. Again, the Sivga model has a much better look and premium materials, whilst the Sennheiser is all plastic except the grill. Both are comfortable, both have good cables, and both have good prices.

Sound-wise the HD 560 S plays analytic when compared directly. It’s borderline a boring headphone. But to me, the important thing is realism, honesty in the recording, and overall balance. In all of these factors, the HD 560 S performs well. The Oriole on the other hand is completely a fun headphone and these two can’t be more different than this.

So for popular music, the Oriole fits better, while the HD 560 S is better for Classical and Jazz, and also Classic Rock. You can also add Blues and Soul to this mix. The Oriole is better for EDM, Pop, RnB and Vocal Pop. However, if you just want more headroom, balance, and basically more audiophile tuning, check out the HD 560 S.

Conclusion

The new Sivga Oriole is exciting and fun. The sub-bass is rumbling, the mids are forward and the treble is crisp. Other than sound, the design is fantastic with premium materials, which is rare to see for this price level.

However, the headphone is for popular music lovers who can attach it directly to their smartphones or wireless sources. The technical performance is very strong, especially in terms of resolution and transparency, but the tuning choice is obvious here.

If you want an audiophile headphone from Sigva, check out their SV023. It is a very good headphone with a strong performance at a competitive price. If you enjoy popular tunes and seek isolation with mobility, the new Oriole would be a good choice.

Page 1: Info, Package, Design, Build, Comfort
Page 2: Sound Quality
4/5 - (38 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

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