Today, we review the Sivga Anser dynamic driver semi-open-back headphone, selling for $199 USD.
Disclaimer: Sivga Audio sent me the Anser directly. Thank you for the opportunity. As always, this review reflects my honest opinion.
Sivga Audio is a brand from Dongguan City in China, established in 2016. It is an all-inclusive enterprise that combines research and development, production, and customer service. Its main focus is on creating innovative, high-quality headphones.
Their team is comprised of professionals with prior experience in the audio industry based in China. They follow traditional craftsmanship and use only the best natural solid wood when making the housing for their products.
There are many reviews of Sivga Audio on popular sites like Head-Fi, Reddit, and Amazon. Their Phoenix model was the first product to gain popularity; other models followed.
I reviewed their SV023 headphone in 2022. You can check that out just above.
The Sivga Anser is Sivga Audio’s new dynamic, open-back headphones. Its driver is a 50mm dynamic driver made in-house, which is ample for a headphone this size. The headphone housing is combined with natural high-density rosewood and metal parts. CNC carves it and goes through processes such as grinding, polishing, painting, natural air drying, etc. The earpads are super soft memory foam and skin-friendly leather earpads.
It’s an open-back version of the Oriole. The cable is detachable and has 3.5mm connectors.
Package, Design, Build
The Anser arrives in a sturdy cardboard box inside a precisely cut foam piece. This time, there’s no leather carrying case, probably because of the 199$ price. You’ll also find a carrying pouch, a cable adapter (3.5mm to 6.3mm), and the stock cable, with no additional accessories included.
Looks-wise, I think the Anser is very authentic. From the genuine wood earcups to the soft earpads and the metal headband, it’s a luxurious-looking piece of equipment—no doubt. It’s somewhat old-school but relatively modern at the same time. Overall, I liked the design attributes of this new model. The best thing is what you get from this price range. The headphone looks more premium than the price suggests, especially for the wooden cups shaped fantastically.
The overall design is similar to the Apollo and SV023 models, particularly in constructing the earcups, headbands, and other materials.
The build quality is excellent as well. Sivga cuts no corners there; the headphones are fabulously well-built overall. As far as I can tell, there are no plastic parts. The headphones are made of wood, leather, or aluminium; no plastic is visible. The yokes and the headband are all metal. You might prefer more industrial or professional-looking headphones, but there’s no doubt that the design of the Anser is unique.
Comfort
The Oriole weighs just 342 grams, which is very light. That’s the weight advantage of dynamic driver headphones. Hence, the new Sivga headphones are very comfortable, with a nice weight distribution and a good and light headband design.
The earpads are made of soft leather. Their shape is ideal, and your ears comfortably sit inside them. However, these headphones have smaller earcups than the previous models, so you start to feel them pressuring your ears after a while. It’s almost like an on-ear headphone, but it just manages to cover your ears around.
The Oriole sits comfortably on your head thanks to its design and weight distribution. The headband is exceptionally well-made, 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
The cable of this particular model looks and feels like an ordinary headphone cable. The insulating material is fabric, which brings softness and good strength overall, but it’s pretty microphonic. Especially from the 2.5mm connectors to the y-split, every move you make with your head brings a certain amount of microphonic noise, but it’s not too much.
Besides that, the cable, although nothing spectacular, is good in terms of build and comfort. The headphone sockets are 3.5mm, so aftermarket cable rolling is quite possible, but since this is a budget offering, that is unlikely for anyone.
Page 2: Sound Quality
Page 3: Technical Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion
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