Despite knocking out affordable headphones for many years, Chinese audio brand Sivga has somewhat fallen off the radar. But that could all change with the release of a duo of striking new wood-cup headphones.
Sivga’s new Robin and Oriole wired cans feature 50mm drivers – larger and more powerful than those found in most of the best mid-priced over-ear headphones, yet weigh just 208 grams.
Both earphones share the same headband, soft memory foam padding and almost exactly the same distinctive wooden cup casing (Oriole has a circular design on the cups while Robin has a tilted square motif), with both options being light or dark brown finishes with high gloss.
The two models differ in sound, with the Oriole having a balanced and wide tuning that Sivgi says is ideal for classical and jazz music, while the Robin has what the company has described as a more “live, forward sound”. aimed at listeners of rock, pop and dance music.
Both sets of cans come with a hemp travel bag, 1.8m color-matched braided cables with a 6.3mm adapter and an optional balanced cable to connect them to headphone amps, DACs and high-end personal media players.
Robin and the Oriole is now available via Amazon and is currently priced at £149/$149 (or about $231).
Analysis: These cans could be a breakthrough release for Sivgi
The mid-range headphone market is a crowded battleground these days, but these new headphones from Sivga stand out to some extent.
The wooden cups seem to follow the growing trend of using tonewoods (these new Sivgas use rosewood, more commonly used on guitar fretboards), which can often result in better resonance as well as being a bit better for the environment compared to using plastic shells.
While the classic wooden finish is eye-catching, these 50mm drivers also caught our interest, with both models said to be capable of 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response, with an untaxed impedance of 32ohms and a high sensitivity of 108dB – a real rarity in the this price range.
While Sivga may have been around since 2016, it hasn’t made much of an impact so far, but as the sister brand to the respected, higher-end Sendy Audio, they seem to have some pedigree, and we’re fascinated to see if both models live up to those promising specs.
Are the Sigvas ready for Black Friday headphone deals? Probably not – but on the other hand, considering the materials and specifications, they are affordable to start with …
