Today we review the Sivga SV023 dynamic headphone, which goes for $449 USD.
Disclaimer: The Sivga SV023 is sent to me by Sivga Audio. Much thanks for the opportunity. This review reflects my honest opinion as always.
Sivga Audio
Sivga Audio is a brand from Dongguan city in China, and it was established in 2016. It is a comprehensive enterprise integrating R&D, production and customer service. Sivga focuses on the innovation and production of high-end headphones.
Sivga is committed to making refined products and producing different high-end headphones. Made up of teams who worked in the audio industry earlier in China, they adhere to the use of traditional craftsmanship, coupled with the selection of high-quality natural solid wood as the material for the housing.
The color and texture of each headphone housing is unique, which adds unprecedented extraordinary charm to the product.
There are threads and reviews on Head-Fi, Reddit, Amazon, and many other sites about Sivga Audio. They became reasonably popular recently and their landmark was the Phoenix model, as you might remember.
SV023
The Sivga SV023 is Sivga Audio’s new dynamic open headphone. Its driver is a 50mm dynamic driver made of LCP composite diaphragm plated with Beryllium. If we go into detail;
“The driver housing is made of aviation aluminium alloy. The periphery of the diaphragm is LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer) Composite film, and the central part of the diaphragm is plated with Beryllium. The magnet is high-performance NdFeB material.”
For materials of the chassis, Sivga used a leather band made of high-end goat skin. The headband is made of stretchable stainless steel. The bracket is made by CNC process with aviation aluminium alloy.
The headphone housing is made of selected high-quality walnut wood. It is carved by CNC and goes through processes such as grinding, polishing, painting, natural air drying, etc. There is a CNC processed metal aluminium ring and gunmetal colour stainless steel mesh in the middle of the housing.
This headphone can make music dynamic with sense of depth.
Package, Design, Build
The headphone arrives in a hard cardboard box, which stores the brown-coloured bag which is very high quality. Inside, you have a carrying pouch, one cable adapter (4.4 to 6.3), and the stock cable. There’s nothing else to mention, and expectedly so. The carrying bag is made from genuine leather with bronze accessory details. A nice one.
Looks-wise, I think the SV023 is very authentic. 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 a bit old-school, but relatively modern at the same time. There’s some resemblance with their other models and also with the models of sister brand Sendy Audio. I think Sivga and Sendy brands have already established a nice brand image so far.
The build quality is excellent as well. Sivga cuts no corners there, the headphone overall is fabulously well-built. There are no plastic parts as far as I can tell. The headphone either has wood or aluminium material. The yokes and the headband are all metal.
So Sivga has created a headphone that can serve the user for many years to come. One thing I liked about the design is the harmony between the grills and the walnut wood. This detail completes the design nicely and elegantly. You might prefer more industrial or professional-looking headphones, but there’s no doubt that the design of the SV023 is unique.
Comfort
The SV023 weighs just 318 grams, which is quite light. That’s the weight advantage of dynamic driver headphones. Hence the new Sivga headphone is very comfortable with a nice weight distribution with a good headband design. Apart from that, the size adjustment mechanism is different to most headphones. Instead of sliding the earcups, you only slide the headband. And you can do that while wearing the headphone because the headband slides itself when you’re applying the force of wearing it, so that’s a nice ergonomic touch.
The earpads are made from goatskin and memory foam. The shape of the earpads is very ideal and your ears comfortably sit inside them. Thanks to the design and weight distribution, the SV023 sits on your head comfortably. The headband is quite well-made in that regard, and I didn’t have comfort issues. My ears touch the inside of the cups a bit, but thanks to the excellent materials, it does not cause any discomfort. But still, it has to be kept in mind.
Cable
I want to mention the cable that comes in with the SV023 here. This is one of the best stock cables I’ve ever seen by far. It is a 6N OCC braided cable, and it’s built fantastically well. It looks great too and completes the headphone’s actual design nicely.
I didn’t expect this kind of cable supplied with the headphone and I congratulate Sivga Audio. Cable is a very important aspect of headphones and IEMs, and I think more companies should look into that.
However, the sockets of the headphone are 2.5mm. So aftermarket cable rolling is quite difficult because the 2.5mm connection for headphones is ultra-rare. I’m sure there’s an engineering or design reason for this choice, but I think a 3.5mm connection would suit better if possible.
Page 2: Sound Quality
Page 3: Technical Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion
