SENDY AUDIO PEACOCK HEADPHONES REVIEW

Stuart Smith takes a listen to the £1300 Sendy Peacock headphones.

A good looking headphone from sendy that clearly has high-end aspirations.

We reviewed some Sendy headphones some time ago in the shape of their AIVA headphones which you can read here. Those cans were a little over €650 but the PEACOCK headphones by Sendy are nearer the €1500 in Europe or around the £1300 mark in the UK. That’s quite a big step up in performance and puts these headphones amongst some serious competition.

As I said, I’ve reviewed the Sendy AIVAs before and I don’t intend to write all about the Chinese company over and so here is a direct lift from that review outlining a little about the company.

Sendy Audio are a Chinese company, but, rather than the mass-produced, production-line kind of manufacture, it seems, if the company’s website is anything to go by, that they are a little different and a little more artisan in their methods, with the opening gambit of the site claiming “Each unique Sendy Audio headphone is made by hand with traditional crafts, using high-quality solid wood materials…”. Sendy is, however, a part of Sivga Electronic Technology Co and my immediate thought was “Ah, I get this – big, faceless Chinese electronics manufacturer creates a sub-brand to look more artisanal and in turn gain more audiophile credibility points.” Actually, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case, and Sivga makes just a relatively small range of what look like nicely put together headphones and in-ears. All in all the backstory looks a credible one and the theme is very much along the lines of pushing a product that is carefully crafted and thoughtfully put together. As I’m trying to picture the Sendy factory in my mind’s-eye, I see a small group of craftspeople in a quiet and bijou workplace where each worker is head-down over their bench putting together jewel-like products for a discerning clientele. There is a lot on the website to back this up and to push the idea that this is a small team of dedicated people, where tradition and technology merge to create a brand with traditional values. I can see this appealing to many consumers.

So there you go.

SENDY PEACOCK HEADPHONES BUILD QUALITY AND COMFORT

The Peacock headphones come in a nice box that contains a hard shell carry case and which is very nicely finished, a couple of plug adapters, the cable for the headphones, and, of course, the headphones themselves.

The whole package.

The Peacocks use planar-magnetic drivers and Sendy are calling their specific implementation in these headphones “Quad-Former Technology” whereby the driver is made from double magnets, double sides of coils on the diaphragm and then double coils on each side of the diaphragm. So there’s actually a coil on each side of the diaphragm and two coils on each side of the diaphragm making four coils in total per driver. These four coils are said to double the magnetic power which in turn Sendy claim leads to lower distortion, excellent energy conversion, and “high music reproduction ability.” Sendy reckon that the diaphragm design is down to two years of experimentation where they chose the best thickness and hardness of materials that make up the diaphragm to make it ultra-thin and ultra-rigid.

The diaphragms are housed in “aviation” aluminium with all holes having been designed for uniform sound distribution and consistency of sound. The design on the outer of the headphones is black and gold with Sendy claiming it is not only for decoration (it’s supposed to look like a peacock’s fanned tail) but also to tune the headphones appropriately.

The aforementioned cables are 8-core OCC and are all braided. The connection to the actual headphones is by mini XLR and they are obviously detachable. The 2m standard cable termination is a balanced 4.4mm but then you get adaptors for 6.35 mm and a standard-sized four pin XLR. Pretty much all connection bases are covered there then.

Build quality is very good and the headphones are very comfortable on the head. The actual over-ear pods are also well-padded and comfortable for extended listening. They are also pretty reasonable weight-wise at 578g.

Impedance is 50 Ohm nominal and frequency response is 20Hz to 40KHz.

A good looking and quality cable is included…of course.

SOUND QUALITY

I’ve been using the M2Tech Marley II and the associated dedicated PSU now for a few months and it’s what I’ve used for the duration of this review. This allowed me to switch quickly between the headphones we have here.

Wooden cups are large and cover the whole ear.

Kicking off with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit it is clear that these are a cut above the previous headphones I had a listen to from Sendy. There’s clarity and punch, and a deeper feeling of the band playing in and around your head than the cheaper model. In comparison to the Audeze LCD cans we have here the Sendy is actually a slightly more open sounding headphone  – it is an open design, after all, whereas the Audeze are closed back. They are also more sensitive and go louder more easily. Our PMC 1 headphones also seem a smidge closed in in comparison. This is a good start as these are very accomplished headphones. The space created by the Peacocks is pretty impressive, as is the level of detail they manage to convey. The out of the head experience is excellent, as is the blocking out of external noise. The detail on these cans isn’t really confined to one part of the spectrum either and there can be no doubting that they are fast in the bass department. The bass guitar on Breed is properly raucous (in a good way), though it manages not to completely over dominate the tune. This is a busy tune, but these headphones seem to make very good sense of it. I also note that the inner parts of the headphones don’t rub against my lugs, which isn’t always the case, and make for a comfortable listen. The bassline on Lithium is very easy to follow and hear into the tone of the instrument – the same is apparent with the guitar at the beginning of Polly. This is a good start, for sure.

Switching to the well (virtually) thumbed Random Access Memories, there is that detail that allows you to hear sounds that are coming into the mix almost before they start to be faded in – I can almost see the slider being moved on the desk. However, where Smells Like Teen Spirit felt thrilling and fresh, this record seems to be a little less exhilarating than I’m used to – a little too audiophile sounding perhaps for my own personal taste. That said, the drum track on The Game Of Love is a treat, as is the bassline. There’s no denying that overall these are a very balanced headphone. Again there’s a good degree of space around the instruments playing in and around your head with effects on, particularly, drums being easy to hear and pull apart. On Giorgio, Moroder’s little talk at the start allows you to hear his voice and inflection perfectly – it’s a bit uncanny, actually.

A closer look inside the cans.

Keeping the electronic theme going I pop on Dusty Kid III which is without doubt one of my favourite records of all time. It’s dirty, deep, and full of texture and hidden details. It’s also a pig for speakers and headphones to deal with properly and get right.  Again, there is no doubting that the Peacocks allow for bags of detail and insight into the recording – there’s a bit on the track Crepuscolaris about three minutes in where the main theme sort of dissolves into the background gradually but never actually fully disappears and these headphones capture that wonderfully, as they do when the filtered sound begins to be pushed higher in the mix. In comparison, the Oppos certainly feel as if they aren’t offering up as much of the track and it’s finer detail – I don’t know if that’s because there is a bigger cup around and enclosing my ear with the Sendy cans, whereas the OPPOs sit on the ears. I end up listening to the rest of this album and get drawn into the little bits that make it so special – the spatial cues and the trippy effects right at the very back of the mix. Take for example the track Far (around two minutes in) where there is a tiny and almost inaudible noise in the mix and to the left that just draws you in further to the tune. It’s a clever psychoacoustic trick but on the Sendy I found it more pronounced, and in turn more enjoyable, than on either the Oppos or the Audezes.

Carnegie Hall 1970 by Neil Young streaming via Qobuz is up next and, again, it’s a bit of an aural treat. On Down By The River there’s a feeling in parts that Mr Young is going to break the strings on his guitar and that comes across very well, adding to the feeling of being there. Obviously this is off the desk but there is a good aural description of him being sat centre stage and me being sat about two thirds back in the stalls, despite listening to headphones that I often find don’t convey this kind of information very well.

CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that these headphones are very accomplished and represent a very good insight in to the recording. Only on the Daft Punk record did I find them to be not wholly enthralling.

The highlights are the detail and depth of information these headphones bring to the party. This detail is apparent whether listening to the filthy grunge bass of Nirvana or to Neil Young thrashing the hell out of his steel string guitar on Cinnamon Girl.

Comfort is very good and given that they go fully over my fairly large lugs further enhances their comfort. They are very big and there is no way I’d feel comfortable wearing these whilst out and about, though they aren’t overly heavy.

AT A GLANCE

Build and Comfort:

A good package with everything you need for any set up

Very comfortable

Sound Quality:

Detailed and with a good sense of space around the head

Bass is excellent as is the very top end, but without being harsh or overbearing

Value For Money:

Not cheap but performed well when compared to the headphones we have to hand

We Loved:

Great sound

Communicative

Good ancillaries

We Didn’t Love So much:

Can sound a little less than exciting on some material but by no means all

Quite expensive, but then so is the competition

Too big to be really portable

No need to use animal leather, but again, that goes for many brands

Elevator Pitch Review: A premium product that has a premium price. These headphones offer the listener a great deal of insight into a recording and a feeling of being there. Rarely were they anything but very good indeed. Detail and bass articulation is exceptionally good. Vocals are wonderfully portrayed with real depth and insight into the tone and character of the singer.

Price: £1300, €1500

Stuart Smith

REVIEW SAMPLE SUPPLIED BY SENDY